Canadian National Electric Railways
THE OSHAWA RAILWAY COMPANY
Oshawa, Ontario, Canada
Revised June 29, 2010
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BRIEF HISTORY
The Oshawa Railway Company was born in 1895, and effectively died on May 2, 1964 when the line was 100% dieselized by the CNR, however, power was not shut off until July 2, 1964.
The OR was built, as most railways were, to provide both freight and passenger service. In the case of the OR, its operation was confined to the City of Oshawa even though they operated a number of passenger cars that would have been more suited to interurban operation. The main passenger line ran in a north-south direction on Simcoe Street, from Ross' Corners down to Lakeview Park on the shores of Lake Ontario. When passenger service ended in 1940, several cars were re-distributed among other Canadian National Electric Railway lines where they saw many more years of use.
OR's freight operations enjoyed the benefits of a large industrial base, chief among these being a General Motors automobile plant. Ten electric freight motors were rostered, at least two having been built in OR's own shops, with others coming from the Montreal & Southern Counties and the Niagara, St. Catharines & Toronto Railways.
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 PHOTO GALLERY====
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| 18 |
300 |
327 |
400 & 18 |
22 |
44 & 45 |
(click on thumbnails for larger view)
For more O.R. images, go to
DAVE'S ELECTRIC RAILROADS - ONTARIO
and scroll down to Oshawa Railway
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REFERENCE MATERIAL
 BOOKS
- Adam Beck - James Sturgis - Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Don Mills ON, 1982, ISBN 0-88902-246-1
- Canadian Car Builders Series
- - John M. Mills - Upper Canada Railway Society / Ontario Electric Railway Historical Assoc., Toronto ON
- ==This series consists of three seperate volumes:
- ====- No. 1: Ottawa Car Company
- ====- No. 2: Preston Car & Coach Co.
- ====- No. 3: Miscellaneous Builders
- Electric Locomotive Rosters - edited by Robert J. Wayner - Wayner Publications, New York NY, 1965
- Interurban Electric Locomotives From Baldwin-Westinghouse
- - Joseph A. Strapac - Shade Tree Books, Bellflower CA, 2001, ISBN 0-930742-22-2
- Lines of Country: An Atlas of Railway and Waterway History in Canada
- - Christopher Andreae - The Boston Mills Press, Erin ON, 1997, ISBN 1-55046-133-8
- On a Streak of Lightning: Electric Railways in Canada
- - J. Edward Martin - Studio E, Delta BC, 1994, ISBN 0-920716-03-2
- The Canadian National Railways Story
- - Patrick C. Dorin - Hancock House Publishers - Saanichton BC
- === / Superior Publishing Company - Seattle WA, 1975, ISBN 0-87564-522-4 - (pages 110-115)
- The Intercity Electric Railway Industry in Canada
- ===- John F. Due - University of Toronto Press, Toronto ON, 1966
- Remembering The Oshawa Railway
- - Clayton M. Morgan with Charles D. Taws - Bowmanville Museum, Bowmanville ON, 1995,
- ===ISBN 0-9680497-0-2
 VARIOUS PUBLICATIONS ====
- Canadian Electric Street Railways and Interurban Lines
- - Ontario Electric Railway Historical Association & Upper Canada Railway Society
- Canadian National Electric Lines Historical Group Newsletters - Various issues
- History & Roster of the Oshawa Railway Co. - Eastern Canada Transit Club Bulletin No. 1 October 1952
- Oshawa Railway - Electric Traction Quarterly Spring 1964
- Oshawa Railway Roster - Railroad Magazine April 1958 page 37
In addition to issuing periodic 'Bulletins', the Upper Canada Railway Society, Toronto, ON, also produced their monthly 'Newsletter'. This first appeared in 1945, containing news of railway and public transit, primarily in and around the Toronto and Southern Ontario area. Numerous issues included items pertaining to the Oshawa Railway. Early in 1973, it became a bi-monthly. Beginning with the January-February 1976 issue, the name was changed to 'Rail and Transit'. Copies of the 'Newsletter', and 'Rail and Transit', are on file at the Metro Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge Street, Toronto, ON, M4W 2G8.
The Canadian Railroad Historical Association, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, published a newsletter that contained an item pertaining to the Oshawa Railway in Issue #20 page 30.
 VIDEOS ====
- Inter-Urbans Of Eastern Canada - Sunday River Productions (34 minutes) VHS / also on DVD
includes footage of electric freight operations on the Cornwall Street Railway, Grand River Railway,
Lake Erie & Northern Railway and Oshawa Railway, as well as freight and passenger operations on
the London & Port Stanley Railway and Niagara, St. Catharines & Toronto Railway.
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PRESERVED EQUIPMENT
- 18 (freight motor) - Connecticut Electric Railway Assoc., East Windsor, CT, USA
- 45 (line car) - Halton County Radial Railway, Milton, ON, Canada
- 82 (streetcar - body only) - Halton County Radial Railway, Milton, ON, Canada
- 300 (freight motor) - Seashore Trolley Museum, Kennebunkport, ME, USA
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MODELLING THE OSHAWA RAILWAY
Except maybe for a couple of the freight motors, most models for the Oshawa Railway would have to be scratch built. KND Enterprises, Inc. of Chalfont, PA, U.S.A. produces an HO scale model of the five Osgood Bradley lightweight city car's which the OR obtained from the Morris County Traction Co. in 1928. These became OR 100-104. They were later transferred to the Montreal & Southern Counties Railway where they were numbered 11-15. For more info. on these models, check out Osgood Bradley DTDE City Car.
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To learn more about the Oshawa Railway, and the City of Oshawa, visit these sites:
Oshawa Railway Co.
The Oshawa Railway
City of Oshawa
Industries of Oshawa
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