Montreal and Lachine Railroad

The Montreal and Lachine Railroad opened on November 19, 1847, with service between Bonaventure Station in Montreal and the Saint Lawrence River in Lachine. Built to bypass the Lachine Rapids, it was 12 km long. The railway merged with the Lake St. Louis and Province Railroad in 1850 under the name Montreal and New York Railroad. In 1857 it merged with the Champlain and Saint Lawrence Railroad as the Montreal and Champlain Railroad. It would eventually be absorbed by the Grand Trunk Railway.[1]

Tokens

The railway used token coins after it was found that train tickets were not convenient for use among the Indians and workmen on the Lachine Canal, who formed the bulk of company's third class travel. Imported from Birmingham, where they were made by Boulton & Watt or Ralph Heaton & Sons,[2] the tokens were strung on a wire as they were collected by the conductor. The tokens were issued in 1847 and used until the early 1860s, with the image of a train locomotive on one side and a beaver on the other.[3]

References
  1. Marsh, James. "Montreal and Lachine Railroad". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Dominion. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  2. Angus, Fred F. (1997). "The Montreal & Lachine Railroad Token" (PDF). Canadian Rail. 461: 162–163.
  3. Joffre, Michael (10 June 2012). "Token Collecting – Lots to Discover". West End Times. Kirkland, Quebec. Retrieved 23 September 2012.

Further reading
  • Brown, Robert R. (1947). "Montreal and Lachine Rail Road 1847 1947". The Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin. 71: 25–34. JSTOR 43520010.


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