I finally have what I promised months ago. The following is a chronological history of Delaware & Hudson Company's Canadian rail lines, specifically about incorporations; mergers; openings and abandonments. Concerning the line built by the Richelieu Drummond & Arthabaska Counties Railway, only that between Sorel and Yamaska-Est will be covered as the rest of the line to L'Avenir was never under D&HRR and was in fact abandoned east of Yamaska-Est prior to D&HRR ownership. This will cover the companies from the R&D&ACR to the Quebec Montreal & Southern Railway. If I can get on that other train board, I'll post there too, but for some reason it won't take my password. Richelieu Drummond & Arthabaska Counties Railway: May 19, 1860 Drummond & Arthabaska Counties Railway created. Apr. 5, 1869 D&AR was replaced with Richelieu Drummond & Arthabaska Counties Railway, which was to build from Grand Trunk Railway to Three Rivers & Arthabaska Branch Railway. 1871 RD&ACR opened from L'Avenir to Sorel. 1872 RD&ACR and South Eastern Counties Junction Railway merged as South Eastern Railway. South Eastern Railway: 1872 Richelieu Drummond & Arthabaska Counties Railway and South Eastern Counties Junction Railway merged as South Eastern Railway. Mar. 15, 1875 SER is jointly leased by Connecticut & Passumpsic Railroad and Boston Concord & Montreal Railway. 1877 BC&MR cancelled their lease on SER. Oct. 20, 1877 SER terminated the lease from C&PRR. Apr. 1882 Montreal & Sorel Railway leased to SER. 1883 M&SR lease expired. June 1883 SER went under Canadian Pacific Railway control. May 26, 1887 SER was purchased outright by CPR, but maintained their company name. Aug. 28, 1891 SER became Montreal & Atlantic Railway. Napierville Junction Railway: 1881 Napierville Junction Railway & Quarry Company created to build from Rouses Point to Montreal. 1888 NJR&QCo. was renamed to Napierville Junction Railway and was to build from St-Remi to St-Cyprien. 1907 NJR purchased by Delaware & Hudson Company. Apr. 9, 1907 NJR opened from Delson to the US/Canada border, giving D&HCo. a link to Canadian Pacific Railway and Grand Trunk Railway. NJR was given the track that D&HCo.'s subsidiary company, the New York & Canada Railroad, had built the year before from the border to Rouses Point. D&HCo. used this route and over GTR to get to Montreal. Oct. 1, 1917 D&HCo. began to use CPR tracks out of Delson to enter Montreal. 1970 NJR merged into Delaware & Hudson Railroad as its Montreal Division. Montreal & Sorel Railway: June 30, 1881 Montreal & Sorel Railway created to build from St-Lambert to Sorel. April 1882 M&SR opened from St-Lambert to Armstrong (Tracy) and was leased by South Eastern Railway. 1883 M&SR lease expired. 1884 M&SR closed temporarily. 1885 M&SR reopened. June 1889 M&SR is leased by Great Eastern Railway. July 7, 1894 M&SR sold to South Shore Railway. Great Eastern Railway: May 17, 1882 Great Eastern Railway created to build from Dundee to Quebec City with two branches, one from Hemmingford to the border and another from Lacolle to the border. 1889 GER opened from Yamaska-Est to St-Francois-du-Lac and St-Gregoire Junction to Nicolet. June 1889 GER leased Montreal & Sorel Railway and gain trackage rights over South Eastern Railway to from Yamaska-Est to Sorel. 1894 GER purchased by Atlantic & Lake Superior Railway, but maintained its name. July 7, 1894 M&SR sold to South Shore Railway, ended the GER's lease. Aug. 29, 1899 GER sold to another owner. Dec. 6, 1899 SSR purchased GER. United Counties Railway: Mar. 30, 1883 United Counties Railway created to build from Sorel to Richelieu. 1893 UCR opened from Iberville to St-Hyacinthe. 1894 UCR opened from St-Hyacinthe to Bellevue Junction. 1895 UCR purchased ERVR, but maintains its name to work separately to a common goal. Sept. 17, 1895 UCR had running rights from Bellevue Junction to Sorel over Montreal & Atlantic Railway. Dec. 1, 1898 ERVR and UCR shared trackage rights. Jan. 25, 1900 Rutland Railroad owned majority of UCR. Aug. 7, 1900 UCR fully purchased by RRR and merged into Quebec Southern Railway. East Richelieu Valley Railway: Dec. 30, 1890 East Richelieu Valley Railway created to build from St-Hyacinthe to Lacolle. 1895 United Counties Railway purchased ERVR, but maintains its name to work separately to a common goal. Dec. 1, 1898 ERVR opened from Iberville to Noyan. They and UCR shared trackage rights. May 30, 1900 Rutland Railroad purchased ERVR but kept its name. July 7, 1900 ERVR became Quebec Southern Railway. Montreal & Atlantic Railway: Aug. 28, 1891 South Eastern Railway became Montreal & Atlantic Railway. 1900 South Shore Railway bought M&AR's line that ran out of Sorel to Yamaska-Est. South Shore Railway: Jan. 8, 1894 South Shore Railway created to build from Valleyfield to Levis. July 7, 1894 SSR bought Montreal & Sorel Railway. 1896 SSR opened from Armstrong (Tracy) to Sorel. Dec. 6, 1899 SSR purchased Great Eastern Railway. 1900 SSR bought Montreal & Atlantic Railway's line that ran out of Sorel to Yamaska-Est. Dec. 5, 1903 Delaware & Hudson Company began to purchase interest in SSR. 1905 D&HCo. became the owners of the SSR. July 13, 1906 SSR and Quebec Southern Railway were merged to form the Quebec Montreal & Southern Railway. Quebec Southern Railway: July 7, 1900 East Richelieu Valley Railway became Quebec Southern Railway. Aug. 7, 1900 United Counties Railway merged into QSR. 1902 QSR opened from St-Francois-du-Lac to Pierreville. Dec. 5, 1903 Delaware & Hudson Company began to purchase interest in QSR from Rutland Railroad. 1905 QSR was sold to D&HCo July 13, 1906 QSR and South Shore Railway merged as Quebec Montreal & Southern Railway. Quebec Montreal & Southern Railway: July 13, 1906 Quebec Southern Railway and South Shore Railway merged as Quebec Montreal & Southern Railway. 1907 QM&SR opened from Pierreville to Nicolet. Nov. 1909 QM&SR opened from St-Gregoire Junction to Fortierville. The line was divided into the Shore Division (St-Lambert to Fortierville) and the Southern Division (Bellevue Junction to Noyan). 1920 Rutland & Noyan Railway ended their connection with QM&SR at Noyan. July 14, 1929 D&HCo. sold the QM&SR to Canadian National Railways. From St-Lambert to St-Gregoire Junction was the Sorel Subdivision, St-Gregoire Junction to Fortierville was the Becancour Sub, Bellevue Junction to St-Hyacinthe was the St-Jude Sub and St-Hyacinthe to Noyan was the Iberville Sub. The lines were handed over the next day. Canadian National Railways: July 14, 1929 Delaware & Hudson Company sold the Quebec Montreal & Southern Railway to Canadian National Railways. From St-Lambert to St-Gregoire Junction was the Sorel Subdivision, St-Gregoire Junction to Fortierville was the Becancour Sub, Bellevue Junction to St-Hyacinthe was the St-Jude Sub and St-Hyacinthe to Noyan was the Iberville Sub. The lines were handed over the next day. 1931 CNR abandoned the Iberville Subdivision. 1934 CNR abandoned the Becancour Subdivision from Becancour to Fortierville, the rest became the Becancour Spur. 1940 CNR abandoned the Becancour Spur. 1971 CNR reopened the Becancour Spur from Ste-Gregoire Junction to Becancour. 1976 CNR became CN Rail. 1982 CN rerouted the Sorel Subdivision in Longueuil, the junction to the main line was moved from St-Lambert to St-Bruno. The original track no longer connected at St-Lambert and was left as the Longueuil Spur. 1984 CN abandoned the St-Jude Sub. A spur is left in St-Hyacinthe. Mar. 9, 1989 CN abandoned the Sorel Sub from Nicolet to Sorel. The line from St-Aston Junction to St-Gregoire Junction was merged into the Becancour Spur and renamed a Sub while the line to Nicolet was a spur. 1991 CN became CN North America. Aug. 14, 1992 CN abandoned the Nicolet Spur. 1995 CN became Canadian National Railway. July 13, 1997 CNR abandoned the Sorel Sub from Sorel to Tracy. Aug. 11, 1997 CNR abandoned the Longueuil Spur. Delaware & Hudson Railroad/Canadian Pacific Railway: 1970 Napierville Junction Railway merged into Delaware & Hudson Railroad as its Montreal Division. Jan. 4, 1984 Guilford acquired D&HRR, but ran it under its own name. 1988 GR released D&HRR and it was picked up by New York Susquehanna & Western Railroad. 1990 D&HRR went bankrupt and was put up for sale. Jan. 1, 1991 CP Rail Systems purchased D&HRR from NYS&NRR, renaming it Delaware & Hudson Railway. The Montreal Division from Delson to Rouses Point Junction became their Lacolle Subdivision. 1995 CP became Canadian Pacific Railway. Sept. 28, 1996 The Lacolle Subdivision becomes a part of CPR's main line. Oct. 1, 1996 St. Lawrence & Hudson Railway, a CPR subsidiary, began to operate their eastern lines. Jan. 1, 2001 SL&HR merged back into CPR.
Darren, Could you pass this information to your D&H Museum site for me? I tried to get to the railfan.net forum, but I can't seem to access it in days. Hope this information was all worth waiting for. A friend found a few things (timetables and such) for the QM&SR. Chris
This is exactly the type of information I want to put into the History section within the DHVM so it's something I can really use. THANKS AGAIN!!!!!!!
