CN Beachburg Subdivision

Beachburg Subdivision
Overview
Status	Partially Ceased operation
Owner	Canadian Northern Railway (1915–23) Canadian National Railway (1923–96) Ottawa Central Railway (1998–2008) Canadian National Railway (2008–present)
Termini	Ottawa station Brent
Service
Type	Heavy rail
System	Canadian Northern Railway (1915–1923) Canadian National Railway (1923–1996)
Services	Super Continental Northlander
History
Opened	1915 (1915)
Closed	April 2013 (2013-04)
Technical
Line length	163.9 mi (263.8 km)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
CN Beachburg Subdivision miles 0.00 CN Ottawa 3.4 Ellwood Junction Jct w CPR Ellwood Subdivision 3.5 CPR Ellwood Subdivision Diamond 5.3 Wass Jct w Walkley Line 5.8 Rideau River Federal Bridge 6.0 Federal Jct w Smiths Falls Subdivision 11.10 Bells Corners HWY 417 14.40 Nepean Jct w Renfrew Subdivision 24.01 Malwood 27.6 Woodlawn 37.8 Ottawa River Bridge Ont/Que 40.21 Pontiac 45.6 Norway Bay 47.90 Bristol 54.2 Clarendon 59.25 Portage Du Fort 60.0 Ottawa River Bridge Que/Ont 66.35 Forester Falls 72.6 Beachburg 82.73 CP Chalk River Sub 86.86 Pembroke 91.61 Hiam 97.0 Alice 105.4 Indian 111.2 Dahlia 116.0 Kathmore 123.2 Achray 133.5 Brawny 140.8 Lake Traverse 151.3 Radiant 163.9 Brent Alderdale Subdivision Capreol

The Canadian National Railway's Beachburg Subdivision, or "Beachburg Sub" for short, was part of the former Transcontinental Mainline. The Beachburg Sub connected Ottawa to Brent, Ontario.

The line began operating in 1915 as part of Canadian Northern Railway, and in 1923 it became part of the Canadian National Railway. The route passed through a portion of Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario, where Achray was a station in the park with a passing track on the mainline. The final train through the park was an eastbound freight on November 24, 1995. Abandonment from Pembroke, west to Brent, went through, and the rail was lifted at Pembroke west through the park and was completed by September 1997. The remaining line went from Ottawa MP 0.0 to Pembroke MP 88.7.

Ottawa Central Railway began operating in 1998 to 2008 as a short-line maintaining local traffic to industries along remaining line out of Walkley Yard in Ottawa. On November 3, 2008, CN bought the short line and began running the local traffic, with the intention of discontinuing the line from Nepean Junction to Pembroke. Traffic slowed as industry along the line closed or ramped down production. A group called Transport Pontiac-Renfrew (TPR) was working towards a deal to acquire the Beachburg sub for future passenger service to Ottawa and Pembroke and freight service. Without a deal made, in April 2013 CN began removing rail in Pembroke and working east.

A short section of the line between the Ottawa Railway Station and the junction with the Smith Falls Subdivision (after crossing the Canadian Northern Ontario Railway Federal Bridge) is currently owned and operated by VIA Rail, which operates its Corridor service between Ottawa and Toronto.

In 2019, the City of Ottawa announced its intention to acquire a portion of the Beachburg Subdivision right of way for possible eventual use as a belt line in the city's growing O-Train light rail transit system. In 2021, Ottawa City Council approved the purchase of the abandoned section of the Beachburg Subdivision between Nepean Junction and the Ottawa River.

References

• Canadian Trackside Guide 2009, Bytown Railway Society, Inc

Further reading

• Campbell, Jim (September 2008). Roberts, Earl W. (ed.). "Once Upon the Beachburg Subdivision - Steam Days in Ottawa". Branchline. Vol. 47, no. 8. Bytown Railway Society. pp. 18–19. ISSN 0824-233X. Various reminiscences of Canadian National operations on the line.
• Robitaille, Sean (May 1997). "A link removed in CN's transcontinental mainline: Beachburg Sub. adieu". Rail & Transit. No. 564. Upper Canada Railway Society. pp. 3–7. ISSN 1193-7971.

External links

• Sunset on the Algonquin Route