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Orangeville-Brampton Railway (OBRY)

Allandale25 said:

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Should have mentioned the Toronto Northern Railway as an example of whats to come. Use the past to show the future. We sold off the ROW to housing in Scarborough, and the route would have been a perfect place for a grade separated subway extension to STC and Malvern Town Center. The whole LRT/SRT/Scarb Subway debacle could have been avoided and a rapid transit line built decades ago if we had retained that ROW.
 
lenaitch said:
I agree. I know little as well and only assume the reasons why they were shut down and if they had been profitable, they would still be operating. Loss of industry, changes to shipping patterns (livestock, stone, etc.), changes to grain freight rules and changes to rail abandonment rules all conspired around that time. It is instructive that very few were taken up by shortlines, which typically have lower operating costs - but they still need revenue.

I imagine a provincial or municipal government of the '80s and '90s would have been challenged to justify why millions of taxpayer dollars are being spent to buy and maintain - to some degree - corridors to the likes of Owen Sound or Teeswater, just to have them. There is a not-insignificant voter base out there that believes in less government, not more.
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In the spirit of "it's history, but it's all over now anyways".... the reality is, the Bruce lines were pulled up in the 90's before the shortline movement had really gotten going. The only lines operating at that time were the GEXR (on the Goderich portion that they have since pulled back to) and the CB+NS in NS. Both were viewed as interesting experiments but there wasn't much momentum behind them. At the time these were groundbreaking.

There was at least one booster who attempted to save the Bruce lines as a sshortline startup. There were customers, primarily agricultural, who indicated they would use the service. But there was little precedent for securing funding, especially since the long-term costs (eg bridge maintenance) were not well understood and appeared to need a lot of money.... too risky for institutional lenders. The smaller startup shortline operators were still finding their feet and local boosters didn't have the sophistication or business savvy toovercome the bureaucratic inertia.

In fact, some of the process and policies that the Ontario government (and other provinces, and Ottawa) developed to create a provincial level rail policy happened in the course of the Bruce proposals, paving the way for later shortlines..... but too late to save the Bruce lines. The Orangeville spur was the only part that survived, with CP running it until 2000 and then passing it over to Orangeville and Cando, who were just emerging as a shortline operator at the time.

Timing is everything - another ten years, and one of those lines might have survived. But it's all coulda, shoulda, woulda now.

- Paul
 
^ There were indeed some attempts. Peter Bowers and Ontario Midwestern Railway. Some fascinating history here:

November 12, 1986 letter to the editor:

1987 "The R.P.O. Newsletter":
And a brief reference here: http://www.trainweb.org/oldtimetrains/CPR_Bruce/BRANCHES_1.htm

The last freight train left Owen Sound on October 31, 1995 with 4215-4234. The Owen Sound Sub. was abandoned from Orangeville to Owen Sound December 11, 1995. It was dismantled in late 1997 and early 1998 following failed attempts to shortline it as Ontario Midwestern. Like all the other abandoned lines in the area both CNR and CPR, the government saw no reason to preserve the right-of-way as a transportation corridor for future use however, eventually the CPR donated it for a trail which has yet to be developed. Note: February 15, 1999 the CPR donated 1000 miles of abandoned rights-of-way across Canada for trail use. Trans Canada Trail Foundation is the umbrella group.
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And in June 1996, this letter to the editor for the magazine Branchline:

Letters to the Editor

NEGOTIATIONS FOR ALL OF OWEN SOUND SUBDIVISION: The Ontario Midwestern Railway Company Limited is negotiating for the sale and purchase of Canadian Pacific's Owen Sound subdivision from Mile 0.2 (Mississauga Road) to end of track at Owen Sound, not just north of

Orangeville (see May Branchline, Page 6).

The last train operated out of Owen Sound on October 31, 1995, when C-424s 4215-4234 hauled 44 equivalent cars (5 regular cars and 8 intermodal well and platform cars) and a van. CP embargoed the line the next day.

On May 2, 1996, after the crossing flangeways had been cleared between Orangeville and Owen Sound, a convoy of three by-rails made an inspection trip from Streetsville to Owen Sound. The purpose of the trip was a joint CP/OMW pre-purchase inspection of the line with emphasis on the many bridges and crossings. [signed ... Peter Bowers, Director, Ontario Midwestern Railway Company Limited, Owen Sound, Ontario]
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crs1026 said:
In the spirit of "it's history, but it's all over now anyways".... the reality is, the Bruce lines were pulled up in the 90's before the shortline movement had really gotten going. The only lines operating at that time were the GEXR (on the Goderich portion that they have since pulled back to) and the CB+NS in NS. Both were viewed as interesting experiments but there wasn't much momentum behind them. At the time these were groundbreaking.

There was at least one booster who attempted to save the Bruce lines as a sshortline startup. There were customers, primarily agricultural, who indicated they would use the service. But there was little precedent for securing funding, especially since the long-term costs (eg bridge maintenance) were not well understood and appeared to need a lot of money.... too risky for institutional lenders. The smaller startup shortline operators were still finding their feet and local boosters didn't have the sophistication or business savvy toovercome the bureaucratic inertia.

In fact, some of the process and policies that the Ontario government (and other provinces, and Ottawa) developed to create a provincial level rail policy happened in the course of the Bruce proposals, paving the way for later shortlines..... but too late to save the Bruce lines. The Orangeville spur was the only part that survived, with CP running it until 2000 and then passing it over to Orangeville and Cando, who were just emerging as a shortline operator at the time.

Timing is everything - another ten years, and one of those lines might have survived. But it's all coulda, shoulda, woulda now.

- Paul
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Agree about the timing. Shortlines emerged fairly successfully in the prairies and I think most of them came a little later after the feds changed the rules (or Manitoba and Saskatchewan were simply better at it - a lot of them operate as co-operatives). It may be instructive that a couple of the ones that did survive have been backed by municipalities who have somewhat deeper pockets and are able to play the public policy/economic development card (well, until they decide they don't want to anymore).

I'm still not convinced that the ag output of the Huron/Bruce area would have been sufficient to keep lines viable. I doubt GETX would have been viable without a grain terminal and salt mine at the far end. Half of the CBCNS is embargoed simply for want of revenue to justify the costs and I'm not convinced a large portion of the Gaspe line would be under (lengthy) renovation if the provincial government wasn't tossing bags of money at it.
 
The OBRY is no longer in the Canadian Rail Atlas. Just noticed it this morning.
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Let think about some raw numbers. One hopper car can carry 6250 Cubic Feet of grain. A truck can carry 1133 Cubic Feet. One hoper car van carry 5.5 truck loads.
So if the BCRY was carrying 5 hoppers 3 times a week. In one month that is 12 train trips, but it's 66 truck trips.
Think of the wear and tear on our roads and in terms of an emissions perspective one locomotive doing that trip has much less of a carbon footprint.
I don't know why not more was done to market the railway to help it survive. But who ever is lobbying the politicians to use trucks instead are doing a good job.
 
Bordercollie said:
Let think about some raw numbers. One hopper car can carry 6250 Cubic Feet of grain. A truck can carry 1133 Cubic Feet. One hoper car van carry 5.5 truck loads.
So if the BCRY was carrying 5 hoppers 3 times a week. In one month that is 12 train trips, but it's 66 truck trips.
Think of the wear and tear on our roads and in terms of an emissions perspective one locomotive doing that trip has much less of a carbon footprint.
I don't know why not more was done to market the railway to help it survive. But who ever is lobbying the politicians to use trucks instead are doing a good job.
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The politicians themselves were the ones lobbying. Specifically, the current Mayor and a number of the Councillors who felt the same as he.

Dan
 
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