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The Kingston & Pembroke Railway History |
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History of the
Kingston & Pembroke Railway (K&PR)
The K&PR was incorporated in April 1871 by a group of local Kingston
businessmen for the purpose of constructing a rail line north to a point in the
Ottawa Valley at or near Pembroke. The railway was intended to gain access to
the natural resources (logging and mining) and potential markets to the north.
Surveying of the line began in 1872 with construction commencing soon after from
Kingston. Progress was initially slow, however, given the rough terrain to be
found to the north of the city, and the continual shortage of capital. In June
1875, the company was reorganized and the first portion of track opened 29 miles
north to a place known as Iron Junction. As well, a small branch line was built
east from the mainline at Godfrey into a mine at Glendower. By May 1876, the
project had reached Sharbot Lake 47 miles north of Kingston while, in the fall
of 1878, the railway was completed to Mississippi.
With the completion of the Canada Central Railway north along the Ottawa
River Valley to Mattawa in 1876, the necessity to build all the way to Pembroke
became less critical. Even at that time, there was no need for the duplication
of lines in the area. Accordingly, the K&PR was granted powers to make
connections with the Canada Central at any point before Pembroke. In the
interim, work continued on the rail line, opening to Lavant in 1881, Clyde Forks
in 1882, and Barryvale in 1883. As well, the Glendower branch was extended
several miles east to Zaneville. In 1884, the mainline was open to Calabogie. It
was in this area that the K&PR was forced to spend substantial amounts of money
on track construction, having to deal with major trestle, fill and rock cut
works. From Calabogie, there remained only fifteen more miles to Renfrew where
connections could be made with the CPR. The gap was finally joined by the end of
that year. This was as close, however, as the line would get to its namesake
community, Pembroke. Total track mileage amounted to about 103 miles.
The next major construction initiative for the company (in 1886) was
extending its tracks south to the Kingston waterfront, portions of the
right-of-way being shared with the GTR. Here, the company built a new station
and other terminal buildings. The volume of Ottawa Valley traffic originally
anticipated by the railway never really materialized for the K&PR, forcing the
company to rely primarily on local traffic. This became increasingly difficult
given the sparse population of the lands the railway served, in addition to
competition from motor vehicles. The main sources of revenue, however, tended to
be derived from lumber and some iron and ore traffic. In 1894, the company fell
into receivership, a situation that existed until 1899. By this time, the CPR
had expressed interest in purchasing the company, hoping to keep it out of the
hands of the GTR. Operation of the line was assumed in November 1901 with a 999
year lease being entered into in 1912. Over time, the infrastructure of the
company was upgraded and the road bed rebuilt. Under the Canadian Pacific, the
line became known as the Kingston Subdivision. The entire line has been
abandoned in the following manner: Snow Road to Calabogie in January 1962,
Tichborne to Sharbot Lake in February 1964, Sharbot Lake to Snow Road in
September 1966, Calabogie to Renfrew Junction in February 1977, and from
Kingston to Tichborne in 1986.
The meet of CP trains 7 and 8 at Sand Point, Ontario. Sand Point, is a
little town along the shores of the Ottawa River and is located just west of
Arnprior. It was not, usually, the meeting point for trains 7 and 8. The
meet we're about to read about happened in 1904, just over 102 years ago.
And, it was a "cornfield meet", or head-on collision to the layman.
Mr. R. Glenn Jamieson of Sand Point sent Branchline the following article
and photograph, as a result of going through the effects of his late Mother.
Mr. Jamieson is a retired CN-VIA conductor and a friend of a retired CP
engineman, Doug Chalmers (a former colleague of mine) who also lives in Sand
Point. So, without further comment, here is the article verbatim, just as I
received it:
TRAIN WRECK AT SAND POINT IN 1904
"Thirteen Dead, 19 Hurt, Sand Point Collision". The Citizen (newspaper)
Ottawa, Canada, Wednesday, February 10, 1904.
"In a head on collision between two C.P.R. passenger trains near Sand Point
early yesterday morning more than a dozen lives were lost and some nineteen
people were injured more or less seriously. Travelling at a rapid rate of
speed, the westbound Soo train #7 in charge of Conductor Nidd with Engineer
Dudley, collided head-on with No. 8, the eastbound Soo train in charge of
Conductor Forester and Engineer Jackson. Failure of the up-going train to
obey orders and remain on the siding at Sand Point till No. 8 passed, was
the cause of the smash.
An official list of the dead follow: Joseph Jackson, engineer, Ottawa W.
Mullen, newsagent, Montreal Robert Thompson, express messenger, Montreal
John O'Toole, baggageman, Ottawa Ernest Dubois, fireman, Hochelaga Nelson
Robertson, express messenger, Montreal Joseph Chalu, Dolphis Seguin, J.
Carriere, M. LeBrun, Wm. Pouliotte of Whitney (ON) and two unidentified.
Badly injured were G.T. Price, fireman, Brockville J.M. Dudley, engineer,
Ottawa and many others (names on file)
No. 7 left Ottawa about 3 am Tuesday, February 9, 1 904, one hour late. It
was given orders to meet No. 8 at Sand Point. When Sand Point was reached
the engineer instead of stopping and pulling his train into the siding, went
ahead.
The night was cold and frosty and the conductor said they didn't know when
Sand Point was reached. The engineer either forgot himself or was unable to
distinguish the siding when he came to it.
The train went on travelling at a rapid rate until at a point a couple of
miles beyond Sand Point it ran on the time of the down express having the
right of way. It was a frosty morning - the mercury away down below Zero -
causing the atmosphere to be filled with vapour. While the windows were
frosted or beclouded with steam and as a result the engineers couldn't see
far ahead. A minute or two later the crash came (about 5 am). Hero that he
was, Engineer Jackson shut off the steam and applied the brakes -an act
which did much to reduce the momentum of the train and lessen the number of
fatalities. The impact was awful but it was particularly No. 7 the up train
that suffered. Nearly all the cars save the rear one, were more or less
smashed though they stayed on the track space with the engines locked
tightly together and badly demolished at that. Beneath the ruins were the
mail, express and train hands and a considerable passenger list, largely
composed, however of those travelling on No. 7. Many were wedged down and
unable to extricate themselves.
On No. 8 the passengers fared much better but three being killed while the
occupants of the rear cars were so fortunate as to escape with a shaking up.
No. 7 was made up of the locomotive, a baggage car, a mail car, two second
class cars, one first class and a sleeper.
Engineer Jackson on No. 8 was looking for the siding at Sand Point when he
saw the headlight of No. 7 approaching. He applied the brakes and reduced
the speed of his train. To this is attributed the fact that No. 8 escaped
with a lighter death list and smaller damage to railroad stock. Jackson
stuck to his post according to Father Paradis, a passenger, who was one of
the heros of the post crash, and was killed instantly. The wreckage of the
locomotive and cars were piled high above him and "we could only see his
hand" the priest said.
The locomotive of No. 7 mounted the locomotive of No. 8. The tender of the
westbound train was thrown on top of the baggage car of the eastbound train
and the baggage, the express and the second class cars followed suit and
piled on top of the eastbound locomotive. It was in this mix up that the
list of casualties was greeted. It was a fortunate thing that the wreck did
not take fire as the lamps in the wrecked cars made this possible according
to Father Paradis.
It was dark and intensely cold (-30 degree F). Some of the injured froze to
death before they could be rescued even though fires were lit close by.
A hospital train was sent from Ottawa to transport the injured to that city.
Wrecking crews were dispatched.
Most of the passengers on the two trains were shantymen, hired by the lumber
companies in Ottawa, going to or coming from the shanties west of Pembroke
and beyond."
