The Northern Railroad.

On Friday last [May 28] a company of gentlemen were invited by the indefatigable and zealous promoter of this enterprise, F. C. Capreol, Esq., to visit the works going forward at the "Hog's Back," about six miles from the city. Among those present were G. P. Ridout, Esq., one of the representatives of the city [President of Toronto Board of Trade]; Kivas Tully, Esq., Civil Engineer; John Cameron, Esq., of the Commercial Bank; T. D. Harris, Esq.; and many others, besides several representatives of the City Press. The party were conveyed to the ground along the Vaughan Plank Road in an omnibus, and on arriving at the embankment were cordially received and entertained at the residence of Mr. Fuller, of the firm Fuller & White, the sub-contractors on this section.

The work at this point is perhaps the heaviest on the whole line, the embankment riding between forty and fifty feet over a valley on the farm of Mr. Geo. White. The culvert for the passage of the small stream which runs through the valley is about 118 feet long with an arch about 8 feet span, formed of four tiers of brick, resting upon a solid stone foundation; the whole being covered with cement prior to the earth being laid upon it.A substantial stone and brick arch culvert, 133-1/2 long and 45' from low water to top-of-rail is listed in the 1907 GTRS Northern Division inventory for the 11th District, 6.36 miles from Toronto[GTRS.ND.1907, p. 66]. This site is on the western side of the Bert Robinson Park[correspondence—Derek Boles]. The foundation for the walls, we found was formed of a double tier of thick plank resting upon heavy sleepers, and placed level with the bed of the steam, so as to prevent the undermining of the walls and the consequent destruction of the culvert. The stone—a beautiful hard greywacke [a variety of sandstone]—is quarried from the bed of the Humber, and brought from a distance of four miles. From this point the company proceeded northward to inspect other two embankments and their culverts, and a bridge crossing one of the concession roads. These culverts were of a different construction, being formed of substantial heavy dry stone work, and intended merely as drains; each, however, gives a double passage of nearly two by four feet for the water. These embankments lie about the point near to the proposed junction with the Guelph Railroad, whence both will enter the city by a single track extending about six miles. We observed along the line piles of timber, for ties, of the best description; and we are inclined to believe, from the appearance of the work and from the fact that a good deal of the iron has already arrived, that the cars may be running as far as Newmarket or Bradford by October.The O.S. & H.U.Rd. opened to Aurora, more than four miles short of Newmarket, on May 16, 1853.

We learn that Mr. Keefer, the Civil Engineer, has been over the whole ground, and reports that the work has, so far, been done in a satisfactory manner,—with some exceptions,—which, we are told, are being remedied. Whatever may be the pecuniary advantages or disadvantages arising from the investment of capital in the construction of this road, there is but one opinion as to the public benefits which must arise from it. Its opening will form a new era in our material progress, and cannot fail to confer great and lasting benefits upon this city and district. Should the Sault Ste. Marie Canal be opened between Lakes Huron and Superior, the flood of emigration to the shores of the great inland Sea must necessarily pass over this line, being by far the shortest, as it must be the cheapest, route to the far North-West.

With the construction of this, the first Railroad which will be in operation in Canada West, the name of Mr. Capreol must ever be identified; and we only regret that, having wisely abandoned the lottery part of his original scheme, any difference between him and the Board of Directors, should have prevented his realizing fully the honour and credit to which he was entitled for his zeal and enterprise as its original projector.

Railways: O.S. & H.U.Rd.

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