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The Philipsburg Junction Railway

by STEPHEN WALBRIDGE


Philipsburg, on the shore of Lake Champlain in Missisquoi County, Quebec, is on the water gateway from Eastern Canada to New England. It was natural that, sooner or later, a railway would be built to Philipsburg to facilitate the flow of hay and lumber to New York from south western Quebec by barge. Hay was needed in quantity in U.S. cities to feed the horses that provided city transportation of all kinds in the pre-gasoline engine era.

The third and last locomotive acquired by the Philipsburg Junction Railway
THE LAST -- The third and last locomotive acquired by the Philipsburg Junction Railway was this 4-6-0** and carried road number 1. It was built in 1889 and sold to the PJR in 1927. Photo courtesy of A. Stephen Walbridge.

It was not surprising to see the Philipsburg, Farnham and Yamaska Ry. Co. incorporated in 1871 by Quebec charter. As was frequently the case, some years elapsed in obtaining of government and municipal subsidies and grands before any construction was undertaken. In 1875, the name of the railway became the Lake Champlain and St. Lawrence Junction Ry. Co. Construction under the new name commenced in 1876 -- but from St. Rosalie Jct. on the Grand Trunk Railway, far removed from Philipsburg. Then about 1878, construction was commenced of the railway from Stanbridge, about 6 miles from Philipsburg, northeast to Bedford, Mystic, Farnham, L'Ange Gardien, Abbotsford to St. Pie de Bagot. Service from St. Rosalie to St. Pie had commenced in 1877.

In October 1879, the first train on the Stanbridge-St. Pie line operated on the 3' 6" gauge.

Map of the Philipsburg Junction Railway at Stanbridge Station
Map of the Philipsburg Junction Railway from Stanbridge Station to Philipsburg, dated 9th February, 1893

No further effort was made toward building the Stanbridge to Philipsburg portion of the line (6.75 miles) until 1888, when the Philipsburg Junction Ry. and Quarry Co. was incorporated. Again, the arranging of financing took a few years. The map (attached) of the Philipsburg Junction Railway from Stanbridge Station to Philipsburg reveals a rather routine line with only one gradient of any consequence. The line crossed farm country from Stanbridge Station toward Philipsburg, where it climbed an escarpment to the marble quarry which it was designed to serve. The quarry overlooks the village and Lake Champlain. Construction, started in the autumn of 1893, was completed to the quarry, and a station in the village of Philipsburg about 1895.

Carte du Philipsburg Junction Railway à Philipsburg
The Official Guide mentions the Philipsburg Ry. Quarry Co. under date of June 15, 1896. Passenger trains were scheduled thus :
  1. Leaves Philipsburg for Stanbridge 7:00 A.M. to connect with Canadian Pacific train via Farnham to Montreal and New England points.

  2. Leaves Philipsburg for Stanbridge 6: P.M. to connect with the Central Vermont trains from Montreal for Boston and New York.

  3. Leaves Stanbridge for Philipsburg at 10:30 A.M. after arrival of CV train from Montreal and a mixed CV train from St. Albans, Vt. to St. Johns.

  4. Leaves Stanbridge for Philipsburg 8:30 P.M. connecting with the return trains mentioned above.

Referring to the (first) map, Stanbridge Station was a union station for three railways -- Canadian Pacific (successor to the P.F. & Ry., L.C.I. St. L J Ry. Co., Southeastern Ry.), the Central Vermont Ry. as well as the PJR&Q Co. The station building was divided between C.P. an CV ticket office and waiting rooms. Records don't detail how the PJR&Q used the station. The station has since been moved, and now serves as a storage for a local milk products plant.

A long-time resident of the area, one of a few to recall riding on the PR&Q, recounts as follows :
"I recall riding with my father in a horse and buggy from Mystic to Stanbridge Station. We tied the horse to a tree at Stanbridge Station and boarded the one-car passenger train to Philipsburg, we boarded the Steamer "Majestic" (Captain Naylor was the Master), and took a cruise througt Missisquoi Bay, down the Richelieu River to Isle Aux Noix to vist the Fort. Mr. Hastings was the station agent at Stanbridge".
Philipsburg Junction Railway Engine House
The engine house and service facilities of the Philipsburg Junction Railway as photographed by the author after the discontinuance of service in 1939.

In 1897, a government subsidy was granted to build the branch to the pier in Philipsburg. Thus the vision of the originators of the railway in 1871 was completed about 1898. The total cost was recorded as $65,570.69. Carloads of hay formed a large part of the trains to the pier, and long trains of pulp wood from Sorel and St. Hyacinthe passed along the PR&Q to be transhipped to steamers and steam-hauled barges on the water route south.

Passenger service continued until 1920. The branch to the wharf was abandoned at that time. In the early 1920's and into the 1930's, the writer recalls seeing CP #29, now preserved at the Canadian Railway Museum, haul flat cars carrying huge squares of coloured marble imported from Italy through the Port of Montreal on their way to Philipsburg for processing at the marble quarry. In 1939, the remaining line was closed and dismantled.

Three locomotives served the PR&Q. The first, named "Colonel Bond" was built by the Canadian Engine & Machinery Co., Kingston, Ontario in 1871 for the Toronto and Nipissing Railway to 3'6" gauge. It was bought by the Lake Champlain and St. Lawrence Junction Railway in 1879, an taken over by the South Eastern Railway in 1881. About this time, its gauge was changed to the standard of 4' 8-1/2". Canadian Pacific took title to it in 1883, and sold it in 1893 to the PJR. No photograph of this locomotive has come to light, but it was known to have had a 4-4-0** wheel diagram, with 52" diameter drivers, and 13-1/2" x 20" cylinders.

La locomotive Grand Trunk No 1997
The photograph of the former Grand Trunk Railway No. 1997, which was bought about 1915, shows the GTR number dimly on the sand dome. A 4-4-0 built in 1883 by the Grand Trunk (Class A 9 a), it was hand fired. The photo was taken in 1934 by Robert Nicholls and shows member Leonard Seton on the running board. It was cut up under mysterious circumstances shortly after the photo was taken.

The third and last locomotive owned by the PJR was the 4-6-0 shown in our photo taken at the quarry. It was built by Baldwin in 1889 (no. 10236) as a 2-6-0** and was operated by Central Vermont as CV201 before being converted to a 4-6-0 when sold to the PJR in June-1927. Its disposition is unknown.



BIBLIOGRAPHY

* Canadian Rail était une revue mensuelle publiée par the Canadian Railroad Historical Association - ISSN 0008-4875. En reproduisant l'article, nous avons conservé son caractère dactylographié.
** Steam Locomotive Wheel Arrangements
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