A question in a lighter vein. Not that I would recommend it, but I was watching “The Murdoch Mysteries” set in Toronto in 1900, on TV. There was an adulterous mad scientist’s wife, and her lover, who were trying to smuggle a “death ray” out of town on a railway flatcar.
I began to wonder what railway’s they could have used. I have already thought of the Grand Trunk to Montreal. Also they could take the CPR to Montreal, or north to Sudbury, and the west. Or they could use the Toronto Hamilton & Buffalo to the US border, and on to Albany and New York City.
What other options would this pair have had available to them at that time? Nothing too serious, just wanting to find out.
The nearest Guide to 1900 that I have is Feb. 1901. Only two roads in Toronto, Grand Trunk and Canadian Pacific. The map shows 6 lines leaving the city and the one to the northwest splits, one leg leading to Alton and the other to Brampton.
The north route (GT) leads to Barrie, northeast (CP) to Agincourt and Myrtle, east-by-north (GT) to Scarboro Jct and Whitby (coastal communities), southwest (CP) toward Milton, and south-by-west (??) towards Burlington and Hamilton. Can’t tell for sure if the road to Burlington is truly CP but appears to be.
Grand Trunk had a number of lines radiating from Toronto. Their original main line ran east along the the north side of Lake Ontario, and continued west by heading somewhat inland towards Guelph and then west to Sarnia. The GT also had the (originally Great Western) line to Hamilton, continuing on to Windsor or Niagara Falls. Northwards is the line heading to Barrie and North Bay, where it connected with the CPR. And finally there is the line running northeast to Lindsay, Peterboro and beyond.
CPR was the other railway out of Toronto, with fewer options. You could go east to Montreal, northwest to Owen Sound, west to Windsor, or west to Hamilton (running rights over GTR) and a connection to the TH&B towards Niagara. CP’s line to Sudbury was built several years after the time of interest.
Thanks Art and John. After I asked the question last night, I remembered that answering this type of question is much more difficult in the pre- WWI era. I recall a similar type question being asked a few months ago, and trying to find an answer is much harder for 1900 than it would be for the so called golden age of railway travel in the 1920’s.
It looks like I am going to have to crack the history books again. I had forgotten that North Bay, ON was once a major interchange point, and I didn’t realize the TH&B didn’t have its’ own line to Toronto. Or at least in the beginning.