Preston and Berlin Railway

The first Preston and Berlin Railway was a conventional railway, opened for operation in 1857.[1][2][3] Berlin, Ontario (now Kitchener, Ontario, and Preston, Ontario (now part of Cambridge, Ontario), were only 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) apart, but the route required a bridge over the Grand River.

For the interurban streetcar system, see Preston & Berlin Street Railway.

Berlin's city council awarded the line a subsidy.[2]

The line operated for just three months. Ice flowing down the Grand River damaged piers of its bridge at Doon, Ontario.[1][2]

The bridge never re-opened.[1]

There were recriminations over the line's failure, and the satisfaction of those who inspected the line, and its bridge.[2] Eventually, in 1863, an act in Canada's Parliament exonerated Berlin City Council.[3] Edward Irving Ferguson acquired the line's assets, because he had held a mortgage on some of the line's property. He sold those assets to the Grand Trunk Railway, on November 14, 1865.

The 6.9 miles (11.1 km) from Berlin, to the Grand River, at Doon, was incorporated into a route the Grand Trunk built from Berlin to Galt, Ontario.[2]

References
  1. "Preston and Berlin Railway: A Short-Lived Line". Walter Bean Grand River Trail. Retrieved 2017-03-15.
  2. "Just a Ferronut's Railway Archeology" (PDF). Research and Reviews. 1996. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-03-16. Retrieved 2017-03-15.
  3. "Waterloo County Railway History". Waterloo Historical Society. Retrieved 2017-03-16. A final act regarding the Preston and Berlin Railway was passed in 1863, authorizing its sale and exonerating Berlin from payment on its subscriptions, on which nothing was at any time actually paid.
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