Anyone have a good book on the Grand Trunk and Grand Trunk Western? I'd like to find a historical date. Have been chasing through lame web sites all morning. Broken links, out of date. Talk about disappointing! I'd like a very specific date (month/day/year) for when the GTW came into existence. Boxcab E50
After re-reading your post, I realize I documented the wrong railroad, but I will leave this here, and search further. "It was Hays as much as anyone who pushed Canada toward a second transcontinental railway when even the railroad-mad United States had no single line across the continent. Hays had a bold plan. When he heard that Laurier wanted a transcontinental railway identified with the Liberals as the the CPR had been identified with Sir John A. MacDonald's Conservatives, he created a subsidiary, the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (GTP), and secured Laurier's backing for his bonds. On November 24, 1902, he announced that the GTP would build from North Bay through Northwestern Ontario, the prairies and the Rockies to tidewater at Prince Rupert. Being 500 miles closer to the Orient that the CPR stronghold of Vancouver, Prince Rupert would attract business, or so he thought, and for good measure he would launch ships to challenge the CPR fleet that traded to the Orient." Page 9, The People's Railway: A history of Canadian National by Donald MacKay, 1992, Douglas & McIntye Point of interest. This line became the CN's and is still very active today. In fact, it is just now that they are reducing traffic to Vancouver and shunting it instead through to Prince Rupert. Prince Rupert is not a fun place to live. It gets some of the most rain fall on the continent. In fact, one American family immigrated illegally to there from Texas (I believe) because they had a son who had a rare sensitivity to the sun, but he could go out doors in Prince Rupert because it was so cloudy for so long. Eventually immigration caught up with the family and was going to send them back. When this news hit the media, there was such an outcry from Canadians, they were allowed to stay - this was only about a year ago. [ 06. March 2003, 21:17: Message edited by: rsn48 ]
From the series "Railroad Histories of the World" is the book Railroads of Canada by Robert F. Legget, 1973, Drake Publishers Inc New York. The title of the second chapter "The Grand Trunk: 1845-62." "The legislation setting up the Grand Trunk Railway Co was approved in 1852. " No specific date is given. And another quote from the first book, the history of the CNR. "Those who argued that Canada, having one twelfth the population, should not emulate its rail-hungry neighbour were no match for Charles Melville Hays from Rock Island, Illinois. Hired as Grand Trunk general manager in 1896 to pump American know-how into a British-owned railway in whose ornate Montreal headquarters everything stopped for tea. Hays ordered double track between Montreal and Toronto, bought powerful locomotives and installed air brakes in place of the hand brakes that had maimed so many trainmen. he reorganized the American leg of the Grand Trunk and called it the Grand Trunk Western." Again no specific date. [ 06. March 2003, 21:38: Message edited by: rsn48 ]
gtw info mMorning sun books has a couple books on GTW not sure if they would help. here is the link to it . http://www.morningsunbooks.com/midwestcat7.html
Try this site, Vicksburg, MI is about 15-20 miles southeast of Kalamazoo, MI. The GT tracks run from Port Huron, MI to Lansing, MI southwest into Battle Creek, MI to Climax, MI, Then to Vicksburg, MI and Schoolcraft, MI so on and so forth. http://www.rootsweb.com/~mivhs/vicksburgdepot.htm Also these guys may be able to help http://www.gtwhs.org/ I Live in Michigan so I may be of help to you. Also the guys at the RailroadFan link at the bottom are from around he area and there are a few GT guys~Chris
