Webbwood's Bustling Railway History

Source: www.canada-rail.com/ontario/w1/webbwood.html

HISTORICAL FACT:

In September 1908, fire destroyed the CPR roundhouse, including engines No.1572 and 859.

Source: www.canada-rail.com/ontario/w1/webbwood.html

HISTORICAL FACT:

When the CPR built a spur line between Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie in 1882, the Spanish River Lumber Company and American Lumber Company were already logging in area.

by Florence Erickson with additional research by Jayson Stewart

Did you know that, in the late 1800’s, Webbwood was a bustling, prosperous town, serving not only as the supply centre for lumber camps in the area, but also as the divisional point for the CPR, the Canadian Pacific Railway?

The Canadian Government decided to build a railroad from coast to coast as a means of uniting  this sprawling country. They decided that the railroad should go to Sault Ste. Marie and then south of Lake Superior and through the United States. By 1874, construction had reached Algoma Mills.  There seems to have been a difference of opinion about building it through the United States and the project came to a halt for a time. By 1889, the decision was made to build the transcontinental railway through Canada, along the north shore of Lake Superior. 

The railway line to Sault Ste. Marie was completed, however, in 1886, Webbwood, was named the divisional point between Sault Ste. Marie and North Bay. Train crews changed there, which meant that a bunk house had to be built where workers could sleep while they waited for their train back.  A roundhouse and repair facility for the engines was constructed and, since the engines were steam powered, a coal dock was built as well as a rest area where cattle, on their way to slaughter houses in Toronto, could be unloaded and fed and watered, There were good-paying jobs for many men and the town prospered.

The 1891 census shows that the Canadian Pacific provided the following jobs for the growing town: railway roadmaster, railway section foreman, machinist, railway labourers, yardmen, train operator and telegraph operator.  Of course, many spin-off jobs were created to support the railway, its employees, and travellers. 

In 1958, the first diesel engine came through town.  Historian and author Roy Beaudoin says, “such a beautiful piece of equipment, it raised quite a fuss among the local residents. No one at the time gave a thought to the eventual ramifications to the local economy.”  At that time, there were twenty four trains a day passing through the facility.

By 1976, changes in transportation needs, reduced the daily train use to one train a day from either direction.  There was no longer a need for the services Webbwood provided and, by the early 1980's, the buildings were demolished.
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Information from:    “Webbwood: the First 100 years” by Roy Beaudoin and from http://webbwoodgenealogy.ca/railway.php