Niagara, St. Catharines and Toronto Railway
Encyclopedia
The Niagara, St. Catharines and Toronto Railway is a historic Canadian
railway that operated in southern Ontario
from 1899 to 1959.
The NS&T was an interurban
electric railway located in the Niagara Peninsula
. It was based in St. Catharines
and had lines to Niagara-on-the-Lake
, Port Dalhousie
, Niagara Falls
, Thorold
, Welland
and Port Colborne
.
and Toronto; however, none of them were successful. This included a plan to build a radial network along hydro rights of way. This plan was encouraged by hydro pioneer, Sir Adam Beck, but provincial and municipal subsidy requests were turned down and the plan died on the drafting table.
In 1908, control passed to the Canadian Northern Railway
. When Canadian Northern experienced financial difficulties, the government decided to take it over and in 1918 it was renamed the Canadian National Railway
.
In 1923, CNR formed a subsidiary called Canadian National Electric Railways which placed the NS&T, the Toronto Suburban Railway
, the Toronto Eastern Railway
and the Oshawa Railway under the same administration. Since the only connection among them was that they were all electric railways, the NS&T retained its name during subsequent operations.
The rail network was expanded to Port Colborne in the mid-1920s and much repair work was done on the existing track. The NS&T started running buses in 1929 to complement its rail network, but by the mid-1930s, buses started to replace some of the rail service. During the Second World War, the rail service experienced heavy use as bus fuel was rationed.
After the war, a program of dieselisation
started to replace many of the electric trams but the decline of the railway continued. Two of the main lines were replaced by buses in 1951 and 1954 and passenger rail service stopped altogether in 1959.
The NS&T amalgamated with the CNR in 1960 and ceased operations as a separate entity.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
railway that operated in southern Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
from 1899 to 1959.
The NS&T was an interurban
Interurban
An interurban, also called a radial railway in parts of Canada, is a type of electric passenger railroad; in short a hybrid between tram and train. Interurbans enjoyed widespread popularity in the first three decades of the twentieth century in North America. Until the early 1920s, most roads were...
electric railway located in the Niagara Peninsula
Niagara Peninsula
The Niagara Peninsula is the portion of Southern Ontario, Canada lying between the south shore of Lake Ontario and the north shore of Lake Erie. It stretches from the Niagara River in the east to Hamilton, Ontario in the west. The population of the peninsula is roughly 1,000,000 people...
. It was based in St. Catharines
St. Catharines, Ontario
St. Catharines is the largest city in Canada's Niagara Region and the sixth largest urban area in Ontario, Canada, with 97.11 square kilometres of land...
and had lines to Niagara-on-the-Lake
Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario
Niagara-on-the-Lake is a Canadian town located in Southern Ontario where the Niagara River meets Lake Ontario in the Niagara Region of the southern part of the province of Ontario. It is located across the Niagara river from Youngstown, New York, USA...
, Port Dalhousie
Port Dalhousie, Ontario
Port Dalhousie is a community in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. It is known for its waterfront appeal. It is also home to the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta and is historically significant as the terminus for the first three routes of the Welland Canal.The city's most popular beach, on the...
, Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls, Ontario
Niagara Falls is a Canadian city on the Niagara River in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario. The municipality was incorporated on June 12, 1903...
, Thorold
Thorold, Ontario
Thorold is a city in Ontario, Canada, located on the Niagara Escarpment. It is also the seat of the Regional Municipality of Niagara....
, Welland
Welland, Ontario
Welland is a city in the Regional Municipality of Niagara in Southern Ontario, Canada.The city has been traditionally known as the place where rails and water meet, referring to the railways from Buffalo to Toronto and Southwestern Ontario, and the waterways of Welland Canal and Welland River,...
and Port Colborne
Port Colborne, Ontario
Port Colborne is a city on Lake Erie, at the southern end of the Welland Canal, in the Niagara Region of southern Ontario, Canada...
.
History
The NS&T was created in 1899 when a previous railway, the St. Catharines and Niagara Central Railway, was reorganized. The new railway was originally under U.S. ownership but was sold to a Toronto group in 1904. The initial layout was about 32 km. This was mainly between St. Catharines, Thorold, and Port Dalhousie. Several plans were made to extend the rail network to HamiltonHamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
and Toronto; however, none of them were successful. This included a plan to build a radial network along hydro rights of way. This plan was encouraged by hydro pioneer, Sir Adam Beck, but provincial and municipal subsidy requests were turned down and the plan died on the drafting table.
In 1908, control passed to the Canadian Northern Railway
Canadian Northern Railway
The Canadian Northern Railway is a historic Canadian transcontinental railway. At its demise in 1923, when it was merged into the Canadian National Railway , the CNoR owned a main line between Quebec City and Vancouver via Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Edmonton.-Manitoba beginnings:CNoR had its start in...
. When Canadian Northern experienced financial difficulties, the government decided to take it over and in 1918 it was renamed the Canadian National Railway
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....
.
In 1923, CNR formed a subsidiary called Canadian National Electric Railways which placed the NS&T, the Toronto Suburban Railway
Toronto Suburban Railway
The Toronto Suburban Railway was an electric railway operator with local routes in west Toronto, and a radial route to Guelph.-History:...
, the Toronto Eastern Railway
Toronto Eastern Railway
The Toronto Eastern Railway is a noted "ghost railroad" in southern Ontario. It was originally part of an ambitious plan set up to provide high-speed electric "interurban" service throughout that district which first appeared in 1910; however, those plans fell afoul of World War I and, later,...
and the Oshawa Railway under the same administration. Since the only connection among them was that they were all electric railways, the NS&T retained its name during subsequent operations.
The rail network was expanded to Port Colborne in the mid-1920s and much repair work was done on the existing track. The NS&T started running buses in 1929 to complement its rail network, but by the mid-1930s, buses started to replace some of the rail service. During the Second World War, the rail service experienced heavy use as bus fuel was rationed.
After the war, a program of dieselisation
Dieselisation
Dieselisation or dieselization is a term generally used for the increasingly common use of diesel fuel in vehicles, as opposed to gasoline or steam engines.-Water Transport:...
started to replace many of the electric trams but the decline of the railway continued. Two of the main lines were replaced by buses in 1951 and 1954 and passenger rail service stopped altogether in 1959.
The NS&T amalgamated with the CNR in 1960 and ceased operations as a separate entity.