The London and Port Stanley Railway

Photo by Alan L Brown - Posted August, 2004

Photo by contributor Wayne Adam - Posted October, 2010

Plaque Location

The County of Elgin
The Municipality of Central Elgin
In Port Stanley, on Bridge Street just west of the lift bridge

Coordinates: N 42 39.904 W 81 12.863

Plaque Text

After the Great Western Railway reached London in 1853, local businessmen and politicians began promoting a competitive line south to Lake Erie. The London and Port Stanley Railway began operations in 1856. Like most early Canadian railways, it was expensive to build and difficult to pay off but it contributed enormously to the local economy. Its main business was shipping coal from Pennsylvania and carrying tourists to and from the lakeshore. The City of London gained control of the L. & P.S.R. in 1894 and converted it to electricity in 1913. The line prospered, carrying more freight and over a million passengers in some years before the Depression. The increased use of the automobile in the 1950s brought about its decline.

Related Ontario plaque
The Great Western Railway

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Railways

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