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Preston and Berlin Railway

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Preston and Berlin Railway
Map
Overview
Main region(s)Preston
Berlin (now Kitchener)
Stations called atBerlin
German Mills
Doon
Preston
Parent companyGalt and Guelph Railway
Great Western Railway
LocaleWaterloo County, Midwestern Ontario, Canada
Dates of operation1857–1858
SuccessorGrand Trunk Railway Galt Branch
CN Waterloo Subdivision
CN Huron Park Spur
Technical
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in) standard gauge
Length9.7 miles (15.6 km)

The first Preston and Berlin Railway was a steam-operated railway, opened for operation in 1857.[1][2][3] Berlin, Ontario (now Kitchener, Ontario), and Preston, Ontario (now part of Cambridge, Ontario), were only 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) apart, but the route required a bridge over the Grand River.

Berlin's city council awarded the line a subsidy.[2]

The line operated for just three months. Ice flowing down the Grand River damaged piers of its bridge at Doon, Ontario.[1][2]

The bridge never re-opened.[1]

There were recriminations over the line's failure, and the satisfaction of those who inspected the line, and its bridge.[2] Eventually, in 1863, an act in Canada's Parliament exonerated Berlin City Council.[3] Edward Irving Ferguson acquired the line's assets, because he had held a mortgage on some of the line's property. He sold those assets to the Grand Trunk Railway, on November 14, 1865.

The 6.9 miles (11.1 km) from Berlin, to the Grand River, at Doon, was incorporated into a route the Grand Trunk built from Berlin to Galt, Ontario.[2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Preston and Berlin Railway: A Short-Lived Line". Walter Bean Grand River Trail. Retrieved 2017-03-15.
  2. ^ a b c d e Clowes, Art (March 1996). "Just A. Ferronut's Railway Archeology" (PDF). Rail & Transit. Upper Canada Railway Society. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 March 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Waterloo County Railway History". Waterloo Historical Society. Retrieved 2017-03-16. A final act regarding the Preston and Berlin Railway was passed in 1863, authorizing its sale and exonerating Berlin from payment on its subscriptions, on which nothing was at any time actually paid.