Grand Trunk Railway Company of Canada

The Grand Trunk Railway Co. was incorporated in 1852-1853 to construct a railway in eastern Canada. Among the twenty-six incorporators of the railway were Peter McGill, Georges Etienne Cartier, L.H. Holton, D.L. Macpherson and A.T. Galt. The main line between Montréal and Toronto was opened in 1856; a line to Lévis had been opened in 1854. By 1859 the company had completed a large system of railways extending from Lake Huron to Rivière du Loup and to the Atlantic seaboard at Portland, Maine. Later the company went on to extend its lines in Ontario, as well as to acquire connections with the New England states. Finally, in 1905, the Canada Atlantic Railway was absorbed, connecting the main line with Ottawa. However, largely as a result of an unsuccessful venture to tap the growing traffic of the Prairies by which the company had incurred large liabilities in connection with its subsidiary, the Grand Trunk Pacific, the Grand Trunk was taken over by the Canadian government in 1919.