10-30-2009, 07:54 PM
Perhaps the easiest way to recount the origins of the fictitious OA&GB is to point you to some resources on the web and (possibly) in your local library or even hobby shop book section.
Over the Hills to Georgian Bay is a great book on the founding and subsequent build up of what would become the Ottawa, Arnprior & Parry Sound by Niall MacKay. Click here for more info from Amazon Books.
Web sources include wikipedia, which has some good entries on the Canada Atlantic Railway, which was put together and/or built by J.R. Booth, an Ottawa lumber baron in the late 1800s. Through the CAR, Booth ultimately created/controlled the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Ry through a series of building and acquisition.
In the 1890s the line was complete all the way from Depot Harbour on Georgian Bay (transfer point) through to Ottawa, and Montreal and the Maritimes beyond via other parts of the CAR.
In 1905, Booth sold his railway interests to the Grand Trunk Railway as it was positioned by the Canadian Government as a competitor to trans-Canada giant Canadian Pacific. This effort ultimately failed, with many smaller lines, plus Grand Trunk, Canadian Northern, and the Intercolonial Railway being first run as Canadian Government Railways, then amalgamated into Canadian National Railways between 1918 and 1923.
But back to our line of interest. In addition the the huge freight business (transshipping grain from the west and lumber from the Algonquin Highlands), the Grand Trunk built the Highland Inn and other more rustic camps in Algonquin Park. These were initially very popular, and the hotel expanded several times over the next decade.
In 1933, a trestle just east of the hotel was weakened in a flood. CNR applied to the government for funding which was refused. This effectively ended the transshipment business, and traffic flowing east from Ottawa. ***
Over the following years, the line slowly declined, and only the extreme east and west ends of the former OA&PS were used. The hotel was closed during the Great Depression, and in 1958 was purchased and demolished by the government to comply with a new "naturalization" policy for Algonquin Park.
*** Note that this is where my fictional history departs from the real history. Stay tuned...!
Andrew
Over the Hills to Georgian Bay is a great book on the founding and subsequent build up of what would become the Ottawa, Arnprior & Parry Sound by Niall MacKay. Click here for more info from Amazon Books.
Web sources include wikipedia, which has some good entries on the Canada Atlantic Railway, which was put together and/or built by J.R. Booth, an Ottawa lumber baron in the late 1800s. Through the CAR, Booth ultimately created/controlled the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Ry through a series of building and acquisition.
In the 1890s the line was complete all the way from Depot Harbour on Georgian Bay (transfer point) through to Ottawa, and Montreal and the Maritimes beyond via other parts of the CAR.
In 1905, Booth sold his railway interests to the Grand Trunk Railway as it was positioned by the Canadian Government as a competitor to trans-Canada giant Canadian Pacific. This effort ultimately failed, with many smaller lines, plus Grand Trunk, Canadian Northern, and the Intercolonial Railway being first run as Canadian Government Railways, then amalgamated into Canadian National Railways between 1918 and 1923.
But back to our line of interest. In addition the the huge freight business (transshipping grain from the west and lumber from the Algonquin Highlands), the Grand Trunk built the Highland Inn and other more rustic camps in Algonquin Park. These were initially very popular, and the hotel expanded several times over the next decade.
In 1933, a trestle just east of the hotel was weakened in a flood. CNR applied to the government for funding which was refused. This effectively ended the transshipment business, and traffic flowing east from Ottawa. ***
Over the following years, the line slowly declined, and only the extreme east and west ends of the former OA&PS were used. The hotel was closed during the Great Depression, and in 1958 was purchased and demolished by the government to comply with a new "naturalization" policy for Algonquin Park.
*** Note that this is where my fictional history departs from the real history. Stay tuned...!
Andrew