List of defunct Canadian railways
Most transportation historians date the history of Canada's railways as beginning on February 25, 1832, with the incorporation of British North America's first steam-powered railway, the Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroad (C&SL). This line opened for traffic on July 21, 1836, although there are cases of animal-drawn mining tramways in Nova Scotia from the 18th century onward.
Thousands of railways followed the C&SL and were given a charter by the federal or provincial governments, although in most cases these charters never resulted in an actual line being constructed. Many of these charters were so-called "paper railways" and were absorbed into other railways, that is they existed on paper with the actual trains bearing the name of another railway or system of railways. For example, Canadian National Railways alone consisted of over some 400 railways (see List of Canadian National Railways companies).
The reason for these "paper" railways was the ease of getting a charter. This was often done by a major railway such as Canadian Pacific Railway or Grand Trunk Railway, but the true interests were kept hidden to keep attention away from the efforts of competing major railways to gain access to another's territory. In other instances local interests wanted a railway to connect their community with the main line of a major railway that did not enter their town, or to connect to another major railway for competitive reasons, to get lower freight rates, something that remains to this day. In many cases these local efforts were quickly taken over by a major railway to both expand its own network and to deny its competition access to traffic.
Streetcar and interurban railways were chartered provincially, in the case of Ontario under the Street Railway Act.
Railways that were not common carriers did not require a charter under the Railway Act since they were used primarily for the owners' own purposes, mainly logging and mining.
American railroads always operated in Canada under charters of subsidiary railways even though most had equipment lettered only for the parent company. Most U.S. railroads also operated in Canada through subsidiary railways with one exception: Wabash Railway which had not a mile of track in Canada as it crossed southern Ontario using trackage rights granted by the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada. These rights still exist with present-day Canadian National and Norfolk Southern, which runs into Windsor and Sarnia, Ontario. It formerly ran through Montreal, Quebec, but service was stopped due to such services causing traffic congestion.
This list of defunct railways includes only those railways that actually came into existence. Many were taken over by other railways or had a name change and thus continued to operate trains over the same tracks. A few ceased to exist because they went out of business and were abandoned and dismantled.
For simplicity on this list, Canadian National Railways (CNR) (pre-1960), Canadian National Railway (CN) (post-1960), Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), Grand Trunk Railway (GTR), and Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) will be abbreviated for notations. Others will be abbreviated as required.
Also consult the list of active Canadian railways.
A
B
C
Railway name |
Locale |
Operating years |
Comments
|
Canada and Gulf Terminal Railway |
eastern Quebec |
?-1975 |
Acquired by CN.
|
Calgary and Edmonton Railway |
|
|
Acquired by CPR.
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Campbellford, Lake Ontario and Western Railway |
|
|
Acquired by CPR.
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Canada Air Line Railway |
|
|
Subsidiary of GWR.
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Canada Atlantic Railway |
central, eastern Ontario, western Quebec |
1890–1914 |
Acquired by GTR.
|
Canadian Atlantic Railway |
Quebec via Maine to New Brunswick |
1988–1994 |
Part of CPR mainline east of Lac-Mégantic, divested 1994 as Canadian American Railroad (bankrupt 2001) and later MM&A (bankrupt 2013). Portion east of Brownville is Irving's New Brunswick Southern Railway.
|
Canadian American Railroad |
Quebec to Maine |
1994–2002 |
Iron Road Railways segment of CP's former Canadian Atlantic Railway from Lennoxville to Brownville, Maine, bankrupt 2001.
|
Canadian Pacific |
British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec |
1881–2023 |
Acquired and Merged with the Kansas City Southern Railroad to form CPKC.
|
Canada Central Railway |
|
|
Acquired by Canadian Pacific.
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Canada Coal and Railroad Company |
northwestern Nova Scotia |
1905–1906 |
Sold to become MCR&PC.
|
Canada Coals and Railway Company |
northwestern Nova Scotia |
1892–1905 |
Sold to become CC&RC.
|
Canada Southern Railway |
|
|
Acquired by MCRR, later NYC. Sold to CPR and CN. Abandoned.
|
Canadian Atlantic Railway |
eastern Quebec, Maine, western New Brunswick, western Nova Scotia |
1988–1994 |
CPR subsidiary created to operate lines east of Montreal including DAR. Portions abandoned or sold by 1994 to NBSR, EMR, CDAC, and WHRC.
|
Canadian Government Railways |
Maritimes, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba |
1915–1918 |
Entrusted to CNR. Corporate entity sold to CN in 1993 for $1.
|
Canadian National Electric Railways |
|
|
Division of CNR.
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Canadian Pacific Electric Lines |
|
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Division of CPR.
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Canadian Northern Railway |
Nova Scotia, Quebec to British Columbia |
1899–1918 |
Nationalized into CNR.
|
Canadian Northern Alberta Railway |
|
|
Constituent company of CNoR.
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Canadian Northern Branchlines Company |
|
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Constituent company of CNoR.
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Canadian Northern Consolidated Railways |
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Constituent company of CNoR.
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Canadian Northern Manitoba Railway |
|
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Constituent company of CNoR.
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Canadian Northern Montreal Tunnel and Terminal Company |
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Constituent company of CNoR.
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Canadian Northern Ontario Railway |
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Constituent company of CNoR.
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Canadian Northern Pacific Railway |
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Constituent company of CNoR.
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Canadian Northern Quebec Railway |
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Constituent company of CNoR.
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Canadian Northern Saskatchewan Railway |
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Constituent company of CNoR.
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Canadian Northern Western Railway |
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Constituent company of CNoR.
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Cape Breton Development Corporation Railway |
|
|
Sold to SCR.
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Cape Breton Railway |
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Cape Breton Eastern Extension Railway |
Stellarton to Sydney, NS |
1890 |
Constituent part of IRC
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Caraquet Railway |
northeastern New Brunswick |
|
Acquired by CNR.
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Central Canada Railway |
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Central Maine and Quebec Railway
|
Quebec, Maine, Vermont
|
2014-2020
|
Acquired by Canadian Pacific Railway
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Central Ontario Railway |
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Acquired by CNoR.
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Central Railway of New Brunswick |
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Acquired by CPR.
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Central Vermont Railway |
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Also a defunct U.S. railroad. Subsidiary of GTR, later CNR. Became NECR.
|
Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroad |
southwestern Quebec |
1836–1857 |
First common carrier railway in British North America. Acquired by M&CR.
|
Chatham, Wallaceburg and Lake Erie Railway |
|
|
Interurban railway.
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Columbia and Kootenay Railway |
|
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Acquired by CPR.
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Columbia and Western Railway |
|
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Acquired by CPR.
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Cornwallis Valley Railway |
Kentville to Kingsport, NS |
1890-1892 |
Acquired by W&AR.
|
Credit Valley Railway |
Toronto to St. Thomas, ON |
|
Acquired by CPR.
|
Cumberland Railway and Coal Company |
Springhill Junction to Parrsboro, NS |
1883-1962 |
Abandoned.
|
D
E
F
G
Railway name |
Locale |
Operating years |
Comments
|
Galt and Preston Street Railway |
Cambridge, Ontario |
1894–1908 |
Renamed the Galt, Preston, and Hespeler Street Railway after Hespeler line was built.
|
Galt, Preston and Hespeler Street Railway |
Cambridge, Ontario |
1894–1908 |
Merged into the Berlin, Waterloo, Wellesley, and Lake Huron Railway.
|
Georgian Bay and Seaboard Railway |
|
|
Acquired by CPR.
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Glengarry and Stormont Railway |
|
|
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Grand Falls Central Railway |
central Newfoundland |
1956–1977 |
Abandoned.
|
Grand River Railway |
Waterloo Region, Ontario |
1914–1931 |
Acquired by CPR, merged into CPEL.
|
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway |
Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia |
1914–1920 |
Nationalized into CNR.
|
Grand Trunk Railway |
Ontario, Quebec, New England |
1852–1923 |
Nationalized into CNR.
|
Great North West Central Railway |
|
|
Acquired by CPR.
|
Great Northern Railway (U.S.) |
|
|
A trans U.S. railway that had a railway in the BC Fraser Valley competing with CP for the natural resources.
|
Great Northern Railway of Canada[2] |
|
1892-1907 |
between Rivière-à-Pierre, Quebec, and Hawkesbury, Ontario[3]
|
Great Western Railway |
southwestern Ontario |
1853–1884 |
Acquired by GTR
|
Guelph and Goderich Railway |
|
|
Acquired by CPR.
|
Gunflint and Lake Superior Railroad
|
Lakehead Region (Ontario and Minnesota)
|
1902–1909
|
|
H
I
J
Railway name |
Locale |
Operating years |
Comments
|
Joggins Railway |
northwestern Nova Scotia |
1883–1892 |
Sold to become CC&RC.
|
K
L
M
N
Railway name |
Locale |
Operating years |
Comments
|
Nakusp and Slocan Railway |
|
|
Acquired by CPR.
|
Napierville Junction Railway |
Rouses Point, NY to Delson Jct. QC |
|
Subsidiary of DH.
|
National Transcontinental Railway |
Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick |
1912–1918 |
Operated by CGR, entrusted to CNR.
|
Nelson and Fort Sheppard Railway |
Troup BC to Ft Sheppard BC |
1893-1993 |
Acquired by GN Fruitvale to US border still in use for Atco Forest Products.
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New Brunswick Coal and Railway |
|
|
Acquired by CPR.
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New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island Railway |
|
|
Acquired by CGR.
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New Brunswick Railway |
|
|
Acquired by CPR.
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New Westminster Southern Railway Company |
|
|
Subsidiary of GN.
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Newfoundland Railway |
Newfoundland |
1892–1949 |
Entrusted to CNR.
|
Newfoundland and Northwestern Railway |
Newfoundland |
|
Acquired by NR.
|
Niagara Falls Park and River Railway |
|
|
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Niagara, St. Catharines and Toronto Railway |
|
|
Acquired by CNR, merged into CNEL.
|
Nicola, Kamloops and Similkameen Coal and Railway Company |
Spences Bridge BC to Nicola BC |
1907–1989 |
Acquired by CPR.
|
North Shore Railway |
|
|
Acquired by CPR.
|
Northern Alberta Railways |
northern Alberta |
1929–1981 |
Acquired by CNR.
|
Northern Pacific and Manitoba Railway |
|
|
Subsidiary of NP.
|
Northern Railway of Canada |
|
|
Acquired by GTR.
|
Nosbonsing & Nipissing Railway |
|
|
Abandoned.
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Nova Scotia Central Railway |
|
|
Acquired by CNoR.
|
Nova Scotia Southern Railway |
|
|
Acquired by H&SW
|
Nova Scotia Railway |
central Nova Scotia |
1853–1867 |
Merged into IRC.
|
Nova Scotia Tramways and Power |
Halifax, Nova Scotia |
1917-1928 |
Became Nova Scotia Light and Power Company, Limited, 1928
|
Nova Scotia Light and Power |
Halifax, Nova Scotia |
1928-1949 |
Rail operations ceased 1949; converted to electric trolley coaches
|
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See also
References
- Dorman, Robert: A Statutory History of the Steam and Electric Railways of Canada 1836-1937 Department of Transport, Canada
- Dorman, Robert: Appendix to above including addition of maps.
- Dorman, Robert; D.E.Stoltz: A Statutory History of Railways in Canada 1836-1986
- Churcher, Colin; Old Time Trains. Old Time Trains
- Smith, Ivan (1998), Significant Dates in Nova Scotia's Railway History (1850- 1899). Retrieved August 16, 2005.
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