Carillon and Grenville Railway
| Locale | Quebec, Canada |
|---|---|
| Dates of operation | 1854–1910 |
| Track gauge | 5' 6" |
| Length | 19 km |
| Headquarters | Montreal |
The Carillon and Grenville Railway (CAGR) was a short-line broad gauge railway in Quebec, running approximately 12 miles (19 km) between the towns of Carillon and Grenville on the north bank of the Ottawa River. It operated as a portage railway, providing a through-route from Ottawa to Montreal via steamships on either side of the Long Sault Rapids. It was one of Canada's earliest railways, opened in 1854, and was the last operational broad gauge railway in Canada when it closed in 1910.
Although it was the shortest railway in North America, used for only one round trip a day, and quickly rendered redundant by other railways in the area, the CAGR nevertheless has a storied history. Numerous developers coveted its location on the Ottawa River as an approach to Montreal, and it changed hands repeatedly in the early 20th century. The original rails were lifted in 1914, but portions of the route were re-used by Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR), then in turn by Canadian National Railways (CNR), before finally being abandoned in 1988.
The three sets of rapids on the Ottawa River at Carillon, Chute à Blondeau and Grenville had long been a target for canalization. The first such attempt began in 1818 as the Grenville Canal, with a 9.5 kilometres (5.9 mi) section opened in 1833, but the entire length and a set of 11 locks was not fully completed until 1843. The locks had been designed for military use, and were sized at 134 by 33 by 5 feet (40.8 by 10.1 by 1.5 m), which was too small and shallow for commercial use. As the importance of the forestry industry grew in the later half of the 19th century, there was increasing pressure to improve the canals for larger barges, and with the introduction of steamships, for passenger traffic as well.
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