Date Published:
March 2005

L’Encyclopédie de l’histoire du Québec / The Quebec History Encyclopedia

Champlain and St. Lawrence Railway

Champlain and St. Lawrence Railway, the first railway built in Canada. It was constructed in 1836 between Laprairie and St. John's in Lower Canada, as a portage road, 16 miles long, on the water route from Montreal to Chambly. Until 1837 the railway carriages were horse-drawn, and at first the line was used only in the summer months. In 1851 the line was extended from St. John's, Quebec, to Rouses Point, New York, and in 1852 from St. John's to St. Lambert. In 1856 the line was leased to the Grand Trunk Railway Company. See R. Ayre, When the railway came to Canada (Queen's Quarterly, 1932).

Source  : W. Stewart WALLACE, ed., The Encyclopedia of Canada, Vol. II, Toronto, University Associates of Canada, 1948, 411p., pp. 31-32.