Forgotten Railway in New Glasgow, QC

In our ongoing exploration of Quebec’s rich history and its connections to Scotland, I’m excited to feature some fascinating insights shared by Scotiana’s reader, George A. Neville, historian and genealogist whose recent work sheds light on a nearly forgotten chapter of the province of Quebec railway history.

George’s meticulous research, titled New Glasgow, QC, the Smallest Village in Canada Once had a Railway Station, was recently published in The Ottawa Genealogist.

It unearths the story of the Great Northern Railway’s (GNoR) 1899 plan to extend its line north from Terrebonne, through New Glasgow, to St. Jérôme and Ste. Sophie.

Here’s an excerpt of George’s article:

New Glasgow, QC, the Smallest Village in Canada Once had a Railway
Station
Submitted by George A. Neville

An interesting website (blog post) was begun in the spring of 2021 by Janice, resident of St. Jérôme, QC, the county seat for the Ste. Sophia area of Terrebonne Co., QC, that absorbed New Glasgow by
amalgamation some 27 years ago.

This comment-page site, initiated by Janice’s realization that New Glasgow could be a Canadian-Scottish link near where she lives in St. Jérôme approximately 50 miles north of Montreal, has generated remarkable response and familial revelations from descendants of persons who settled there in the last 200 years.

No small portion of this response has been kindled by recollection and documentation that Canada’s
seventh Prime Minister, Wilfrid Laurier was sent in 1852, at age 11, by his surveyor and farmer father
to board with John Murray, keeper of the general store, where the boy sometimes helped out in the
evenings, then with the Irish Catholic Kirk family in New Glasgow.

In that way for two years, he continued his elementary schooling in New Glasgow, ~6 miles to the west of his farm home in St. Lin (now called Ville-des-Laurentides), to learn English and indirectly absorb Scottish & Presbyterian culture and contacts.

With the above background, the Canadian Northern Quebec Railway (later to be absorbed into the CNoR) sought property in 1911 owned by George Bennet on Lot 21 of the village of New Glasgow, Co. Terrebonne for station grounds.

This was a recent serendipitous find by the author when searching Finding Aid 30-84 (p. 17) at the LAC for another property’s details in the records of the Grand Trunk Railway. This plan of the New Glasgow Station was originally assigned to RG 30, Vol. 12923;

(…)

Fig. 2 (below) shows the plan for the property required (0.266 Acres) in 1911 by the Canadian Northern
Quebec Railway from that of Lot 21 owned by George Bennet for a New Glasgow Station on the south
side of its tracks immediately west of Beauport Road.

Whether New Glasgow got its Railway Station, I have not been able to verify, but it certainly would have been convenient for PM Laurier visiting his home at St. Lin via the train between New Glasgow, QC, and Ottawa, ON.

The Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) was a historic Canadian transcontinental railway. At its 1923 merger into the Canadian National Railway (corporate mark, CN), the CNoR owned a main line between Quebec City and Vancouver via Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Edmonton.

Once elected in 1896, Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier was eager for a second transcontinental railway as a response to the monopoly exercised by Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR).

(…)

Source: TOG

New Glasgow, QC, Canada Photo: George A. Neville

Whether you’re a history enthusiast, a genealogist, or simply curious about the stories embedded in Quebec’s scottish related surroundings, this is an interesting journey into the past.

George’s article also mentions that the plan, once intended to facilitate the region’s growth, eventually saw the railway line decommissioned and transformed into a recreational trail.

Have you come across any local stories or historical insights related to New Glasgow and the Great Northern Railway or the communities it passed through?

We’d love to hear your thoughts!

Until next, all the very best.

Janice – Scotiana Team

PS: the initial blog post with readers comments can be accessed here: “New Glasgow Quebec once the smallest village in Canada” .

P.P.S: The old railway station in Saint-Jérôme is of significant heritage value and historic interest. The building bears testimony to the importance of the railways in the development of the Laurentians.

www.laurentides.com/en/belleshistoires-route/22

Fast forward to the 21st century..

https://www.topolocal.ca/2017/06/21/parc-pas-oublier-new-glasgow-sainte-sophie/

For the future, Councillor Lamontagne has ambitious plans. The central area, where the picnic site is currently located, could become the site of an English or Scottish garden, as a tribute to two of the main founding ethnic groups of New Glasgow, Quebec.

This public park is located on Chemin de l’Achigan Ouest, near the New Glasgow Falls, which is where it gets its name.

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