

1855.] 



VISIT TO THE WORKS OF THE GRAND TRUNK RAILWAY. 



225 



TORONTO, MAY, 1855. 



Some Notes of a Visit to th3 "Works of the Grand Trunk 

 Railway, west of Toronto, February, 1855. 



By Feed. Cumberl.wd, Esq., Chief Engineer of the Ontario, Simcoe, 

 and Huron Railway. 

 [Read before the Canadian Institute, March Z\st.) 

 Having been favoured some sliort time since with an invita- 

 tion to join a party of gentlemen on a private inspection of the 

 works in course of execution on the Grand Trunk Railway of 

 Canada, west of Toronto, I availed mj-self of an opportunity I 

 had long desired, and having seen much that interested, and I 

 confess, surprised me, I thought some descriptive notes of the 

 more interesting points upon the line might be acceptable to 

 the Institute ; and accordingly I propose (without entering upon 

 any close or technical criticism), to oiFer to your notice this 

 evening the memoranda I have preserved in connection with 

 the principal objects which attracted my attention. Works of 

 this nature seem amongst us to be objects of general interest 

 only at the time of their initiation, or when, being completed, 

 we discover that they are of some importance to us ; or, if it 

 be otherwise, the interest which they attract is too frequently 

 founded on a restless spirit of suspicion — a wilful faculty too 

 prevalent amongst some of us for adopting a .system of depre- 

 ciation, instead of (what my experience teaches me would be 

 the wiser one), of encouragement and support. 



When I started on my visit, therefore, I had not been pre- 

 pared by rumour to find very much to gratify or surprise me, 

 and as I think it part of the business of this Institute to trace 

 out and follow, as far as the opportunities of its members will 

 admit, the progress and the manner of the public works con- 

 structing about us, it may not be altogether unprofitable perhaps 

 if I acquaint you with what is doing on this line. 



Most of us are acquainted with the system of construction 

 adopted by the Province as the standard of the Grand Trunk 

 Railway — that it is one of more substantial character than had 

 previously obtained either in the United States or Canada, 

 founded indeed on the British system, so far qualified and 

 lowered, however, as was necessary to economy, yet consistent 

 with stability and permanence. The first illustration of this 

 standard of any moment is to be found in the Humber Viaduct, 

 8 J miles from Toronto, over the river and vallej- of that name. 

 At the point of crossing, this valley (extremely picturesque in 

 character), is 1500 feet wide between bold and precipitous 

 banks, giving an elevation of 68'0 to grade line above the 

 stream. The viaduct consists of 8 piers and 2 abutments, 

 giving nine spans of GO feet each, and a total length of struc- 

 ture of 560 feet, the remainder of the crossing being effected 

 by embankments containing some 80,000 yards of material. 

 The piers are of white brick on stone foundations, and will be 

 spanned by wrought iron girders, the weight of metal in which 

 will be somewhere about 150 tons. The construction of these 

 girders being identical throughout the line (except for larger 

 spans than those now mentioned) it may be well here to explain 

 briefly that the guage being 5' G" the girders are placed 

 7' G" from centre to centre, the top and bottom flanges being 

 2'0" wide and the main web \'l" in height, so that the clear width 

 between the girders is identical with the guage of the road. 

 Across, projecting over, and attached to these are hcavv timber 

 Vol. III.V Np. 10, May, 1§55. "' ' 



beams — upon which are laid the track string.« — the whole width 

 of the floor being 16.0 feet, the track occupying the centre 

 and having a pathway on each side of it protected by handrails. 

 It would be difficult to imagine a more simple or satisfactory 

 system of construction than this, and on contemplating it one 

 cannot help reverting with some regret to those not very 

 distimt times, (only immediately previous indeed to Stephen- 

 son and Fairbairn's enquiries in relation to the 3Icnai Bridge), 

 when the crossing c f such a valley as the Humber would 

 have been effected by a structure involving much more in- 

 tricacy of design, vastly more material, and far heavier expense. 

 There is one consideration, however, which may qualify our 

 lamentations on past labours lost, and it is this, that although 

 economically these structures are far more satisfactory than 

 those in which engineers but recently indulged, they are 

 undoubtedly less pleasing to the eye and altogether injurious 

 as in connection with the picturesque, for their outline con- 

 sists of two-hard horizontal lines, without relief, break or 

 beauty of any description, a form indeed which how grand 

 soever the structures in themselves, will, I suspect, mar every 

 landscape and parallyze the hand of the most soulless artist. 



We next came to the Jlimico Valley Viaduct, 12 miles from 

 Toronto, consisting of one centre span of 60 and two side of 

 30 feet each, giving a full length of structure of 162 feet, 28 

 feet high above water line, and together, with an embankment 

 of some 30,000 yards, constituting a crossing of 600 feet in 

 length. 



The next work of importance is that in the valley of the 

 Etobicoke at Brampton, 20 miles from Toronto, which is 1500 

 feet wide, having two girder bridges of GO feet span each. 



At 27 miles from Toronto we come to the most important 

 structure of the line, forming the crossing of the valley of the 

 River Credit, 2000 feet in width between banks. It consists 

 of 8 spans of 96 feet each, giving a full length of structure of 

 931 feet, the remainder of the crossing being by embankment 

 containing about 150,000 yards of material, about half of 

 which is from a cut on the west side in indurated clay similar 

 to the specimen which I present. 



The piers and abutments of this structure are constructed 

 entirely of a very beautiful quality of sandstone of fine dose 

 and hard grit, and of a very agreeable warm colour. This 

 stone is brought by tramroad from the Georgetown quarries, 4 

 miles distant, and as it has attracted much attention recently 

 as a material available for Toronto works I have secured a 

 specimen for your inspection. Of this the piers and abutments 

 are constmcted in courses rising from 2'6" to 18" in height, 

 with self face, \" beds and joints and bold Z" drove arrises at 

 the external angles, with two bold plinth courses and tooled 

 capping for girders. 



These masses of masonry, of a description unsurpassed by 

 anything I had previously seen in Canada, rise to a height of 

 115 feet above the water lino, and this in connection with the 

 great length (nearly 1000 feet) results in an efiect which is 

 grand in the extreme, although of course the appearance is 

 )narred as yet by the incompleteness of the structure, the pre- 

 sence of temporary trustlc work and the want of unity which 

 the absence of the girders begets. On enquiry I find that the 

 masonry, when complete, will consist of 13,000 cubic yards, 

 and the weight of the wrought iron girders 405 tons Much as 

 one is gratified on a first view of the Ilumbor viaduct, on seeing 

 that at the Credit one is tempted to regret the necessity exi.sting 

 there for the use of brick ; for the Georgetown stone, built in 

 the bold style adopted at the Credit, gives such complete 

 assurance to the mind of permanent stability, and such satis- 



