Monday, October 2, 1905 | The Globe (Toronto) | Page 1, col. 7 |
Its own at last Brantford gets.
Telephone city now on Grand Trunk main line.
A splendid celebration.
The prediction made by General Manager Hays.
Thinks that in the next ten years there Will be more miles of railway built in Canada then in past quarter century.
Special Despatch to The Globe.
Brantford, Oct. 1.—Because fifty years to some residents of Brantford insisted on receiving a price that was considered unreasonably high for their property along the route that had been surveyed for the old Great Western Railway, changes were made in the location of that line that placed the city completely out in the cold. Ever since it has been side-tracked by the Grand Trunk Railway, which took over the Great Western, and is has achieved its splendid position to-day in the list of Canadian manufacturing centres in spite of great difficulties, not the least of which has been poor railway accommodation. Now that is has a population of about 20,000 and industries which have a total yearly output of over $11,000,000 in value and which pay out over $2,100,000 annually in wages, all owing to the indomitable pluck and enterprise of its business men, it has compelled the consideration of the railway authorities and has come into its own at last.
Brantford is now on the Grand Trunk main line from Detroit to Suspension Bridge. It has been placed there at a cost of nearly three-quarters of a million dollars. The first trains on that line passed through the Telephone City on Saturday [1905-09-30], and the occasion was marked by one of the biggest celebrations ever seen in the city. General Manager Hays conducted the official opening in the presence of a large number of distinguished visitors from sister cities and thousands of delighted citizens. There was general jubilation, with all the accessories befitting the occasion.
In the course of the speeches that were delivered, predicting for Brantford greatly increased prosperity as the result of the change, two statements by Mr. Hays were regarded as most significant. After confirming Sir Wilfrid Laurier's assertion that two transcontinental lines would in a short time be inadequate to take care of the business of the great west of Canada, he prophesied that in the next ten years in the Dominion there would be a greater mileage of new railways constructed than in the least 25 years.
The new route.
The old main line of the G. T. R., as everybody knows, used to pass through Harrisburg and St. George to Paris. Now the main line will describe an arc to the south, taking in Brantford and rejoining the old line at Paris. A new track has been constructed from Lynden, the first station east of Harrisburg, four and a half miles to a point on the Harrisburg-Brantford line, thence on the latter the main line runs another four and a half miles to the city. The old Buffalo and Goderich line has been double-tracked and the grades lowered as far as Paris, where the former main line is rejoined. The reducing of the heavy grades on the latter track was done at considerable cost, and the necessary raising of the big bridge at Paris required an expenditure of about $200,000. The new main line is three and a half miles longer than the old.
The passing of Harrisburg.
All the passenger trains both ways will be run through Brantford in future, and the business men of that city, who, to use the characteristic remark of Mr. C.N. Heyd, ex-M.P., have
wasted years of their lives in waiting at Harrisburg for connections,have said good-bye to that point forever. There have been intermittent negotiations between the Brantford authorities and the G.T.R. officials extending over a quarter of a century, but it was not until the advent of the Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo Railway in 1895 that the city obtained the favorable ear of the company. Two years ago the negotiations were brought to a successful isue, and the ratepayers of Brantford passed a by-law of $57,000 to assist the company in making the change. Nearly the whole of that sum has been spent on the new station, which is one of the most complete and certainly one of the prettiest in Canada. It is built of vitrified brick, and the interior has been decorated with unusually good taste.A special train, freely decorated with bunting, left Toronto a 1 o'clock on Saturday carrying Mayor Urquhart and a number of prominent citizens and newspaper men. The private car of Superintendent Brownless was attached to the train, and all of the high officials of the line in this district and many from Montréal were included in the party [illegible] Hamilton Mr. Carseallen, [illegible] headed a delegation from that city.
At Harrisburg the train was [illegible] a reception committee from Brantford. Here there was an amusing incident [illegible] by the Brantford representatives [illegible] whole party sang
Auld Lang Syne[illegible] in the future only thehog [illegible]pass that way. When [illegible] the train special [illegible] the new main line [illegible] southeast to Brantford [illegible] to the [illegible] the officials.Guns [illegible—Boom].
The [illegible] at [illegible]
(Continued on Page 3)
Railways: G.T.Ry.
Stations: Brantford, Harrisburg