Montreal and Lachine Railway - 100 years/ans - Montréal, Québec
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Weathervane
N 45° 25.997 W 073° 41.004
18T E 602983 N 5031927
The plaque describing the 100th anniversary of the Montreal and Lachine Railway is located on Saint-Joseph Boulevard. La plaque décrivant le 100e anniversaire du chemin de fer Montréal et Lachine est située sur le boulevard Saint-Joseph.
Waymark Code: WMZRMY
Location: Québec, Canada
Date Posted: 12/29/2018
Views: 6
The Montreal and Lachine Railroad opened on November 19, 1847, with service between Bonaventure Station in Montreal and the Saint Lawrence River in Lachine. Built to bypass the Lachine Rapids, it was 12 km long. The railway merged with the Lake St. Louis and Province Railroad in 1850 under the name Montreal and New York Railroad. In 1857 it merged with the Champlain and Saint Lawrence Railroad as the Montreal and Champlain Railroad. It would eventually be absorbed by the Grand Trunk Railway.
The railway used token coins after it was found that train tickets were not convenient for use among the Indians and workmen on the Lachine Canal, who formed the bulk of company's third class travel. Imported from Birmingham, the tokens were strung on a wire as they were collected by the conductor. The tokens were issued in 1847 and used until the early 1860s, with the image of a train locomotive on one side and a beaver on the other.
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In 1923, the Grand Trunk Railroad merged with the Canadian National Railway.
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The bronze circular plaque describing this event is mounted on a large granite stone and is located in close proximity to Saint-Joseph Boulevard, in Montreal (formally Lachine). Because of oxidization, the plaque has taken a green colouring. The plaque is adorned with maple leaves, a steam locomotive and a diesel operated one.
La plaque circulaire en bronze décrivant cet événement est fixée sur une pierre de granit et est située à proximité du boulevard Saint-Joseph, à Montréal (anciennement Lachine). En raison de l'oxydation, la plaque a pris une coloration verte. La plaque est ornée de feuilles d’érable, d’une locomotive à vapeur et d’une locomotive à moteur diesel.
Text of the plaque:
Commemorating the one hundredth anniversary of the opening on November 19, 1947 of the first railway on the island of Montreal, the Montreal and Lachine Railroad, now part of the Canadian National Railways.
1847-1947
Il y a cent ans, le 19 novembre 1947, a été inauguré ici le premier chemin de fer sur l’île de Montréal, le “Montreal and Lachine Railroad”, aujourd’hui partie intégrante des chemins de fers Nationaux du Canada.