The Waterloo Junction Railway (WJR) is a
short line railway
In the United States, railroad carriers are designated as Class I, II, or III, according to annual revenue criteria originally set by the Surface Transportation Board in 1992. With annual adjustments for inflation, the 2019 thresholds were US$ ...
in the
Region of Waterloo
The Regional Municipality of Waterloo (Waterloo Region or Region of Waterloo) is a metropolitan area of Southern Ontario, Canada. It contains the cities of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo (KWC or Tri-Cities), and the townships of North Dumf ...
, Ontario, Canada. It runs northward from the former
Grand Trunk Railway
The Grand Trunk Railway (; french: Grand Tronc) was a railway system that operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The rai ...
(GTR) North Main Line in downtown
Kitchener, through
Waterloo
Waterloo most commonly refers to:
* Battle of Waterloo, a battle on 18 June 1815 in which Napoleon met his final defeat
* Waterloo, Belgium, where the battle took place.
Waterloo may also refer to:
Other places
Antarctica
*King George Island (S ...
and
St. Jacobs
St. Jacobs is a community and former village located in the township of Woolwich, Ontario, Woolwich in Waterloo Regional Municipality, Ontario, Waterloo Region, Ontario, just north of the city of Waterloo, Ontario, Waterloo. It is a popular locati ...
before terminating in
Elmira. It is currently owned by the
City of Waterloo and operated by CN as the Waterloo Spur. The
Waterloo Central Railway
The Waterloo Central Railway (WCR) is a non-profit heritage railway owned and operated by the Southern Ontario Locomotive Restoration Society (SOLRS). In May 2007, SOLRS received joint approval from the Region of Waterloo and the City of Waterloo ...
runs tourist trains on the line, and the
Ion rapid transit
Ion, stylized as ION, is an integrated public transportation network in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. It is operated by Keolis and is part of the Grand River Transit (GRT) system, partially replacing GRT's Route 200 i ...
runs on the route for a short distance.
History
The line was chartered in 1889 and the first section from Kitchener (then known as Berlin) to Waterloo opened in 1890. The mainline to Elmira opened on 27 October 1891,
and the
Grand Trunk Railway
The Grand Trunk Railway (; french: Grand Tronc) was a railway system that operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The rai ...
(GTR) leased the line for 39 years. The original planned end point in
Drayton and the planned branches to
Elora or
Listowel
Listowel ( ; , IPA: ˆlʲɪsË ËˆtÌªË uÉ™hÉ™lʲ is a heritage market town in County Kerry, Ireland. It is on the River Feale, from the county town, Tralee. The town of Listowel had a population of 4,820 according to the Central Statistics Of ...
were never completed. As part of a general reorganization, on 1 April 1893 the line was merged into the GTR.
In 1910, the original station in Waterloo was rebuilt in brick.
By 1916, the twilight years of the Grand Trunk, the line was listed in employee timetables as a part of the Berlin Subdivision along with the former
Preston and Berlin Railway
The first Preston and Berlin Railway was a steam-operated railway, opened for operation in 1857. Berlin, Ontario (now Kitchener, Ontario), and Preston, Ontario (now part of Cambridge, Ontario), were only apart, but the route required a bridg ...
, which had originally been built by the
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
before being acquired by the Grand Trunk, and connected Berlin to
Preston and
Galt Galt or GALT may refer to:
Biology and biochemistry
* Galactose-1-phosphate uridylyltransferase, an enzyme
* Gut-associated lymphoid tissue, a subset of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue
People and fictional characters
* Galt (surname), a list o ...
(now parts of
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
) via the
mill town
A mill town, also known as factory town or mill village, is typically a settlement that developed around one or more mills or factories, usually cotton mills or factories producing textiles. Europe
Italy
* ''Crespi d'Adda'', UNESCO World Her ...
s of German Mills and
Doon. The southern section, the former Preston and Berlin, was known as the "Galt Section" of the subdivision, while the northern section, the former Waterloo Junction Railway, was known as the "Elmira Section".
The subdivision was soon renamed to the "Kitchener Subdivision" following the
Berlin to Kitchener name change
The city of Berlin, Ontario, changed its name to Kitchener by referendum in May and June 1916. Named in 1833 after the capital of Prussia and later the German Empire, the name Berlin became unsavoury for residents after Britain and Canada's e ...
.
The line became part of the
Canadian National Railways
The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I railroad, Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern United States, M ...
(CNR, later simply CN) in 1923 when it took over the bankrupt Grand Trunk Railway, and eventually was known as the Waterloo Spur of the greater CN Guelph Subdivision. The section from Kitchener to Elmira was purchased by the
Regional Municipality of Waterloo
The Regional Municipality of Waterloo (Waterloo Region or Region of Waterloo) is a metropolitan area of Southern Ontario, Canada. It contains the cities of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo (KWC or Tri-Cities), and the townships of North Dumfr ...
in 1995. CN continued freight operations on the line until 1998, when they leased the entire subdivision to the
Goderich–Exeter Railway
The Goderich–Exeter Railway is a short line freight railway that operates around of track in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Created in 1992, it was the first short line railway in Canada to be purchased from a class I railway, in this case Ca ...
(GEXR). The GEXR's 20-year lease ran out and control of the Guelph Subdivision returned to CN on 16 November 2018.
In 1997, a group of locals formed the
Waterloo–St. Jacobs Railway to run passenger trains on off-days, and especially on weekends to the
St. Jacobs Farmers' Market
St. Jacobs Farmers' Market is a farmers' market and flea market in Woolwich, Ontario, Canada. It is located to the south of King Street North, to the east of Weber Street North, and to the west of the railway tracks. It is the largest year-round ...
. The company went out of business in 2000 after building a new station at Erb and Caroline Streets in Waterloo, and the operation was purchased by the
City of Waterloo. In 2007, the Southern Ontario Locomotive Restoration Society relocated to the region and formed the
Waterloo Central Railway
The Waterloo Central Railway (WCR) is a non-profit heritage railway owned and operated by the Southern Ontario Locomotive Restoration Society (SOLRS). In May 2007, SOLRS received joint approval from the Region of Waterloo and the City of Waterloo ...
running tourist trains on the line between the station and the Market, and later expanded to Elmira.
Since 2019, a central section of the line has been used for the
Ion light rail service between
Waterloo Public Square station and
Northfield station. CN continues to run freight operations on the line, operating at night when the Ion service is closed.
Almost all of the original line remains active, except for a spur to
Elias Weber Bingeman Snider
Elias Weber Bingeman Snider (June 19, 1842 – October 15, 1921) was an Ontario businessman and political figure. He represented Waterloo North in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a Liberal member from 1881 to 1894.
He was born in Wat ...
's Pioneer flour mill in what is now Uptown Waterloo, as well as
grain silo
A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legumes ...
s in downtown St. Jacobs. The former St. Jacobs passenger station is now used as the Waterloo Central Railway Museum.
Route
:''Unless otherwise noted, the following is taken from th
Southern Ontario Railway Map'
The line starts at a junction with the GTR mainline in Kitchener, about a block east of
Kitchener station
Kitchener station is a railway station located in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, slightly to the northeast of downtown Kitchener, at 126 Weber Street West, near the corner of Victoria Street. It is a heritage building containing a waiting room and t ...
at
Weber Street
Weber Street (, ) is a major roadway connecting the cities of Kitchener and Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. It forms a component of Waterloo Regional Road 8, whose route designation continues along several other roads in south Kitchener and Cambri ...
. The line initially runs west-northwest to cross Weber and then bending westward at Roger where a former spur serviced factories on Roger. It meanders northwestward as it crosses downtown Waterloo and the main station on Erb Street. At University Avenue it begins to turn northward, passing through the industrial areas on the north end of the city.
After crossing Benjamin Road on the northern limit of Waterloo it meets the St. Jacobs Market with a stop at the former Heidelberg station. The country opens up as the line runs north to the western side of St. Jacobs. A short spur serves the
Home Hardware
Home Hardware Stores Ltd. is a privately held Canadian home improvement, construction materials, and furniture retailer. Co-founded in 1964 by Walter Hachborn and headquartered in St. Jacobs, Ontario, the chain is co-operatively owned by over ...
central warehouses on the western side of town, while another serves St. Jacob's station. The former downtown spur branched off just north of the station.
The line continues roughly northward to enter Elmira on the eastern side of town through an industrial area. The line ends just south of Church Street, where a number of spurs service the
Lanxess
Lanxess AG is a German specialty chemicals company based in Cologne, Germany that was founded in 2004 via the spin-off of the chemicals division and parts of the polymers business from Bayer AG.
Shares in Lanxess AG were listed in Germany’s DAX ...
chemical plant at the eastern end of Mill Street and Canada Colors and Chemicals on First Street.
Rail trails
Some parts of the Waterloo Spur are paralleled by multi-use walking and cycling trails, which were constructed in the railway line's right of way in the
rail with trail style.
![Spur Line Trail looking south at Union Street May 2021](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/Spur_Line_Trail_looking_south_at_Union_Street_May_2021.jpg)
The innermost trail toward the junction in downtown Kitchener is the
Spurline Trail
The Spurline Trail is a multi-use urban rail with trail which connects the cities of Waterloo and Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. Its northern trailhead is at the point where the CN Waterloo Spur crosses Laurel Creek; it connects to the Laurel Tra ...
, which covers the distance between downtown Kitchener and uptown Waterloo along the line. The Spurline Trail runs mainly through urban areas and was formally established in 2016.
See also
*
List of Ontario railways
The following railways operate in the Canadian province of Ontario.
Common freight carriers
* Barrie Collingwood Railway (BCRY)
*Canadian National Railway (CN) including subsidiaries Algoma Central Railway (AC), Grand Trunk Western Railroad (GTW ...
References
External links
History of Waterloo Central Railway
{{Waterloo, Ontario
Rail transport in Waterloo, Ontario
Rail transport in Kitchener, Ontario
Rail transport in Woolwich, Ontario
Ontario railways
Canadian companies established in 1889
Grand Trunk Railway subsidiaries
Standard gauge railways in Canada