Change of gauge—Quick work.

The gauge on the Grand Trunk Railway between Sarnia and Fort Erie, a distance of 200 miles, was changed on Monday [November 18, 1872], from five feet six inches to four feet eight and a half inches. A vast force of laborers, comprising all the section gangs between Montréal and Sarnia, were employed to effect the transformation of the line from the broad to the "universal" gauge. The details of operations are somewhat as follows: On Friday, a train carrying a number of section gangs employed at and near Montréal, left that city, and at the end of each section the men employed in keeping the permanent way in repair were taken on board and conveyed to the section where the change was to be effected. By midnight the line was cleared of all trains by Mr. Spicer, and the work was performed. This enabled the Company to run its express trains from Sarnia direct to New York without delay, on and after today, as the ferry steamers at Fort Erie and Sarnia are sufficient for the carriage of a whole train at once, the Sarnia steamer being large enough to convey twenty-one loaded freight cars at one trip. In order to accommodate the rolling stock to both gauges, machinery has been provided at Stratford whereby the through cars are lifted bodily from the narrow gauge trucks, and vice versa, so that the break in gauge at that point will be attended with as little delay and inconvenience to passengers as possible.

Railways: G.T.Ry.

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