The Grand River Railway.

The Grand River Ry. is the title under which the Galt, Preston & Hespeler St. Ry. is being operated, the railway being an electric subsidiary of the C.P.R. The new name has only been assumed recently, although authority to use it was granted by the Dominion Parliament in 1914.

The history of the companies involved in the amalgamation may be briefly summarized as follows:—The Galt & Preston St. Ry. was incorporated under the Ontario law by letters patent on Nov. 20, 1890, to build an electric railway between Galt and Preston. The title was changed to the Galt, Preston & Hesleper St. Ry. by subsequent letters patent, April 10, 1895, when the extension to Hespeler was built, and the line was subsequently operated as the Galt, Preston & Hespeler St. Ry. The Preston & Berlin Ry. is a later Ontario incorporation.

The Berlin, Waterloo, Wellesley & Lake Huron Ry. was incorporated by the Dominion Parliament in 1903, to build a railway from Berlin to Waterloo, Wellesley, Glen Allen, Listowel and Goderich, Ont. In the following year parliament gave the company power to build an additional line from Wellesley to Stratford, St. Marys, Clinton and Bayfield on Lake Huron, and authorized it to enter into agreements under the provisions of the Railway Act, with the Galt, Preston & Hespeler St. Ry., and with the Preston & Berlin Ry. At a later period the Guelph & Goderich Ry., incorporated by the Dominion Parliament to build not only a line from Guelph to Goderich, but also branch lines in somewhat the same territory, became active, and there were many surveys made by one or both companies, under C.P.R. auspices, for a line from the G. & G. Ry., through Listowel and Stratford to St. Marys, to make a connection with another local C.P.R. subsidiary, the St. Marys & Western Ontario Ry. Beyond the building of the line from Guelph to Goderich, nothing was done until 1914, when the Dominion Parliament authorized the B.W.W. & L.H. Ry. to change its title to that of the Grand River Ry. Whatever agreements were made between the B.W.W. & L.H. Ry., the G.P. & H. Ry. and the P. & B. Ry., under the act of 1904, these two lines continued to be operated under the same management, and to retain for public purposes their own independence. A change became apparent upon the publication of the Dominion statistics of electric railways for the year ended June 30, 1915, in May, 1916, when the G.P. & H. Ry. and the P. & B. Ry. disappeared from the reports and their mileage of 17.81 was given as the Berlin, Waterloo, Wellesley & Lake Huron Ry. The old titles still continued to be used for operating purposes, and it is only quite recently that the title Grand River Ry. has been made use of.

In connection with the transfer of the Galt, Preston & Hespeler St. Ry. Co.'s property to the Grand River Ry. Co., several changes have been made in the officials, who are now as follows: President, Sir George Bury, Vice President, C.P.R.; Vice President, M. M. Todd, heretofore President, G.P. & H. St. Ry.; Secretary, H. C. Oswald, Assistant Secretary, C.P.R.; Treasurer, W. H. Lutz, heretofore Secretary-Treasurer, G.P. & H. St. Ry.; General Accountant, A. McL. Campbell, heretofore of C.P.R. Audit Department, Montréal. The following officials have been given the same positions in the Grand River Ry. service as they had heretofore with the G.P. & H. St. Ry., viz.: M. W. Kirkwood, General Manager; C. J. Whitney, General Freight and Passenger Agent; F. H. Midgley, Resident Engineer; F. Damley, Purchasing Agent; J. Deans, Roadmaster.

Railways: B.W.W. & L.H..Ry., G. & G.Ry., G. & P.Ry., G.P. & H.St.Ry., G.R.Ry., P. & B.Ry., St.M. & W.O.Ry.

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