Riding the Rails

In the early1800s, Englishman George Stephenson’s innovations in railroads and locomotive design ushered in a new phase of transportation. The Railway emerged as an alternative transportation link when winter waterway conditions and inaccessible roads made shipping very difficult.

The North-South trade between Montreal and New York was very important for commerce. Construction on a railway between New York, Vermont, and Canada towards Ogdensburgh on the St. Lawrence started in 1848. It marked the changing trend in transportation: railways became more important than canals for transporting heavy trade goods like lumber. Recognizing the potential of a local railway system, Bytown did not wait long to establish its own rail network.

Braddish Billings had the foresight to build a local sawmill that served local lumber needs. In addition, he profited from the canal project, which linked the economic routes between Kingston and Quebec. He acquired the timber contracts for large parts of Bytown, including the timber used for Parliament Hill. Braddish I also contributed to the construction of the soldiers’ barracks and numerous other buildings that sprang up in the growing fort town.

The link between sawmills and the railroad was an important development, as sawmill operators faced a number of business-related problems and the railroad was a cheaper transportation method.

• a mill required a hefty investment of funds, land, and machinery, and sending the lumber by barge meant handling charges, and levies to barge owners.
• By 1849, there were only fifteen sawmills in the Ottawa valley and only two within Bytown itself.

However, by 1849 those fifteen mills had cut 93.06 million board feet* of deals* much of which was shipped by barge to the American market.
Board Foot: *volume of timber 1 feet long, 1 foot wide, 1 inch think – 144 cubic inches
Deal: *varying sizes. Standard: 9 inches thick 3 inches thick, 12 foot long can be 11/4 inches thick

During winter months, lumber shipped by water ceased, limiting people’s opportunities to make a profit. Trains could turn the lumbermen’s fortunes around by allowing them to transport their product year round.

Braddish might have seen the potential gains railways offered because he sold a portion of his land to build the new Ottawa-Prescott Railway.
Faced with loss of transhipment trade when the new St. Lawrence canals were opened, the burghers of Prescott and the businessmen of Bytown conceived of a public incorporated railway and agreed to split the costs equally between the two towns.

The Bytown and Prescott Railway, known as the Ottawa and Prescott Railway in 1855, was an important economic development for Ottawa and Prescott businessmen. It was also part of an overall economic trend to link markets across North America. Supporters hoped that the trains’ ability to reach markets year round would boost the local economy. Parliament approved the charter on May 10, 1850; construction began on October 2, 1851; and workers laid the final rails on December 25, 1854. Service into Bytown began four days later.

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