
The Burford Subdivision has as its origin the Norfolk Railway (N.Ry.), which was incorporated on January 23, 1869 to build from Lake Erie to the Great Western Railway (G.W.Ry.) at Paris; however, no construction was started under the original charter.
On March 24, 1874, the N.Ry. became the Brantford, Norfolk & Port Burwell Railway (B.N. & Pt.B.Ry.), which was authorized to build from Port Burwell on Lake Erie through Tillsonburg to the G.W.Ry. in Brantford. In February 1877 the G.W.Ry., seizing the opportunity to create a "loop line" from Brantford to its Canada Air Line Railway at Tillsonburg, leased the B.N. & Pt.B.Ry. and assumed its final construction costs. The G.W.Ry. opened from Brantford to Tillsonburg on January 1, 1878 and to the Canada Air Line Railway at Tillsonburg Junction in December 1878, perhaps waiting on completion of the Stoney Creek bridge.
By April 30, 1978, the 2.4 miles from Tillsonburg to Tillsonburg Jct. was abandoned and the Burford Subdivision terminated at the C.P.Ry. transfer. The bulk of the former Burford Subdivision (Burford to Tillsonburg) was abandoned in late 1987/early 1988 followed by Brantford to Burford in 2001/2002. Approximately one mile of the former Burford Subdivision between Brantford and the former L.E. & N.Ry. crossing remains in service.
Special Instruction No. 19 applicable west of Burford.
*Coal only.
Distance junction switch Dunnville and Burford Subdivisions to station 0.32 mile. Normal position of switch, mileage 0.21 is for eastward trains. (See Dunnville and Dundas Subdivision footnotes.)
Air Brakes must be in service on all cars when being moved between Brantford (Dundas Subdivision) and Brantford, Colborne Street.
All movements over Dalhousie Street (B.T.C. 56086), Colborne Street (B.T.C. 58559) and switching movements over Market Street (B.T.C. 57432), West Colborne Street (B.T.C. 66128) and Chatham Street (B.T.C. 67148) must be protected by member of crew.
Trains may leave without terminal clearance.
Eastward trains only, require terminal clearance..
Trains may leave without terminal clearance.
Emergency telephones Mileage 10.30 Tool house. Mileage 22.03 Second pole, west of junction switch, Otterville Subdivision. Mileage 31.00 Box on pole. Mileage 33.70 Southwest corner, tool house.
Railway crossings at grade Mileage 1.05 Crossing Lake Erie and Northern Railway; interlocking. (B.T.C. 71724) 1.45 Crossing Lake Erie and Northern Railway; automatic interlocking. No derail. (B.T.C. 67088) 33.13 Crossing Canadian Pacific Railway; interlocking. (B.T.C. 68880)
Yard limit signs Brantford 19,799 feet west of Junction Switch, Dunnville Subdivision. Norwich Junction Yard limits extend 2,000 feet east, and 2,300 feet west of east switch to Otterville Subdivision. Tillsonburg 4,040 feet east of station to junction switch of Cayuga Subdivision.
Speed restrictions Miles per hour Yard engines 15 Other trains 25 Auxiliary crane over bridges M 3.19 and 5.12 5
Permanent Slow Orders Mileage Miles per hour 0.00 to 2.62 Brantford—Junction with Dunnville Subdivision and Brant St., first east of T.H. &. B. Transfer. (B.T.C. 28224) 10 0.42 Brantford—Grey Street (B.T.C. 74126) 10 0.62 Brantford—Chatham Street (B.T.C. 67143) 10 0.69 Brantford—Nelson Street (B.T.C. 72409) 10 0.87 Brantford—Dalhousie Street (B.T.C. 56086) 10 0.93 to 1.17 Approach L.E. & N. Crossing (B.T.C. 71724) 10 0.94 Brantford—Colborne St. (B.T.C. 61325) 10 1.12 Brantford—Greenwich St. (B.T.C. 65919) 10 1.22 Brantford—Market Street (B.T.C. 57432) 5 1.31 to 1.63 Approach, L.E. & N. crossing (B.T.C. 67088) 10 10.47 Burford—Maple St. (B.T.C. 72377) 10 32.37 to 32.85 Curve and light rail 20 32.85 to 33.41 Approach C.P.R. crossing (B.T.C. 68880) 15 33.66 Tillsonburg—passing over Tillson's Spur Track 10 33.94 Tillsonburg—Ralph Street, first west of station (B.T.C. 35649) 15 34.08 Bridge, Stoney Creek 15 For further speed restrictions see page 28.
Engine and Car Restrictions Heaviest engine permitted to operate over Stoney Creek Viaduct just west of Tillsonburg station 2117 class. Heaviest car permitted to operate 210,000 lbs. Heaviest auxiliary crane permitted 160 tons.
Other tracks Car capacity Points face Mileage Mt. Vernon 6 W 7.69 Burford Sand Co. 8 E 11.63 Transfer to C.P.R. 5 E 33.27
Way freights Leave Brantford 7.15 a.m. ex. Sun. to Tillsonburg and return.
Train order offices Station Hours of Service Days of Service Burford 8.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. Mon. to Fri. incl. Tillsonburg 8.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. Mon. to Fri. incl.
Diagram showing location of train phone wires
Look West
Brantford to Tillsonburg
Look West
Tillsonburg to Tillsonburg Jct.Face direction named: Count cross arms from the top down. Train phone wires marked
Note—
Emergency telephone wire must be hooked up as close as possible to the pole, first scraping any corrosion off the pole line wire in order to establish contact with the train dispatcher.
Date Event 1869-01-23 N.Ry. incorporatedStevens-1960, p. 460. 1874-03-24 N.Ry. becomes the B.N. & Pt.B.Ry.Stevens-1960, p. 460. 1874-05-01 B.N. & Pt.B.Ry. tenders for constructionThe Daily Globe (Toronto), Friday, May 1, 1874, p. 3. 1874-05-22 Tenders close for B.N. & Pt.B.Ry. construction contractsThe Daily Globe (Toronto), Friday, May 23, 1874, p. 1. 1875-08-27 Directors of the B.N. & Pt.B.Ry. call a public meeting and raise $4,000 in subscriptions allowing construction to resumeThe Daily Globe (Toronto), Saturday, August 28, 1875, p. 8. 1877-02 G.W.Ry. leases B.N. & Pt.B.Ry. in perpetuityStevens-1960, p. 461There is some discrepancy with the G.W.Ry./B.N. & Pt.B.Ry. relationship in Stevens, which states that on January 1, 1877 it [the G.W.Ry.] bought the Brantford, Norfolk and Port Burwell Railway for a meagre sumStevens-1960, p. 142 and also that [i]n February 1877 [G.W.Ry.] President Childers announced the lease of the Brantford, Norfolk and Port Burwell Railway in perpetuityStevens-1960, p. 461.1878-01-01 G.W.Ry. opens from Brantford to TillsonburgStevens-1960, p. 460 1878-12 G.W.Ry. opens from Tillsonburg to Tillsonburg JunctionStevens-1960, p. 460Perhaps there was a delay in the construction of the Stoney Creek bridge. 1882-08-12 G.W.Ry. and G.T.Ry. amalgamateBowers-1983, pp. 19 & 162, Cooper-2001, p. 394. 1903-05-13 G.T.Ry. begins lowering tracks on its Harrisburg-Tillsonburg line in Brantford to provide grade separated crossing with its Buffalo-Goderich line in perparation for diverting mainlineThe Globe (Toronto), Thursday, May 14, 1903, p. 10. 1923-01-31 G.T.Ry. becomes part of C.N.Rys.Bowers-1983, p. 162, Cooper-2001, p. 394. 1936-09-27 Mileage measured from HarrisburgCNR.CR.SOD.LSD.61. 1937-04-25 Mileage measured from Junction Switch, Dunnville Sub.CNR.CR.SOD.LSD.62. 1978-04-30 Appears as Burford Subdivision, Brant Jct. to Jct. Cayuga Sub. (Mile 35.8)CNR.GLR.WOD.58, p. 13 1978-10-29 Appears as Burford Subdivision, Brant Jct. to End of Steel (Mile 33.4)CNR.GLR.WOD.59, p. 13 1986-04-27 Appears as Burford Subdivision, Brant Jct. to Tillsonburg North (Mile 32.7)CNR.GLR.53, p. 54 1987-11-25 C.N.Rys. ordered to: RTC Order No. R-41264
- abandon the operation of that portion of the branch line from a point near Burford (mileage 11.00) to Tillsonburg North (mileage 32.59), including the Norwich Spur;
- continue the operation of that portion of the branch line from Brantford (mileage 3.35) to a point near Burford (mileage 11.00); and
- provide rail service on that portion of the branch line from Brantford (mileage 3.35) to Burford (mileage 11.00) once a week, when traffic was offered, and more frequently if warranted by traffic volumes.
1987-11-29 Appears as Burford Subdivision in CNR ETTCNR.GLR.NOSOD.57, p. 47. 1988-05-01 Mileage 0.0 to 11.0 appears as Dundas Subdivision/Burford Spur in CNR ETTCNR.GLR.NOSOD.58, p. 44. 1989-09-13 CTA concludes that the levels of train service prescribed in section 3 of Order No. R-41264 issued November 25, 1987 are unreasonable and should be revoked.CTA Ruling No. 459-R-REV-19891990-09-06 C.N.Rys. application to abandon Burford Spur from mileage 3.35 to 11.00 deniedCTA Ruling No. 1996-R-484 1993-07-08 C.N.Rys. application to abandon Burford Spur from mileage 3.35 to 11.00 denied (again)CTA Ruling No. 1993-R-206 1997-05-25 Burford Spur appears in CNR ETTCNR.GLD.54, p. 38. 1997-09-17 RaiLink authorized to operate Burford SpurCTA Decision No. 556-R-1997 1997-09-20 CNR leases Burford Spur to RaiLinkCTA Decision No. 630-R-2003 1998-07-01 Burford Spur no longer appears in CNR ETTCNR.GLD.55. 2000-06 Burford Spur reverts to CNRCTA Decision No. 630-R-2003. 2001/2002 C.N.Rys. removes Mile 3.7 to 11.0www.NiagaraRails.com. 2002-08-01 C.N.Ry. discontinues Burford Spur from mileage 2.1 to 3.7CTA Annual Report 2002. 2002-08-08 C.N.Rys. notifies CTA of the discontinuance of auxiliary trackage on the CN Burford Spur from mileage 2.1 to mileage 3.7CTA Decision No. 630-R-2003.