Monday, February 27, 2006
Duncan McIntyre - Canada Central Railway
Duncan McIntyre fashioned an exceptional business career that earned him the distinction of being “one of the great Scots barons of Montreal”. On his death in 1894, he was recognized as “one of the five richest men in Canada”.
McIntyre emigrated to the Ottawa valley with his parents in 1849 from Callander, Scotland. McIntyre pere operated a country store in Renfrew where son Duncan received his early business training serving as an apprentice. Ten years later, he joined his uncle Robert McIntyre a dry goods merchant and wholesale importer in Montreal. The youthful Duncan who began as a stock clerk and bookkeeper quickly rose to the position of junior partner. He was a strict and resolute businessman who “typified the Montreal Scots merchant of the day”. In 1865, the 30-year-old Duncan succeeded his uncle as president of the prosperous Stuart, McIntyre and Company.
The thrifty and prudent Duncan McIntyre began to invest in railways in 1860, and by 1880 was president in full control of Canada Central Railway. The railway operated a line that included Renfrew, Pembroke and plans to extend along the Ottawa River to Mattawa with a final leg towards Lake Nipissing.
The CCR reached Pembroke in 1875 and in June 1878, the government awarded it a contract subsidy of $1,440,000 to push on from “Pembroke up to South-East Bay of Lake Nipissing” a distance of 130 miles. The Central Canada Extension was under the direction of lead contractor James Worthington.
McIntyre had more ambitious plans. He joined a small syndicate that raised the capital to build a Pacific railway to connect British Columbia with eastern Canada. In 1880, he made the historic offer on behalf of the business syndicate to build the transcontinental railway for the government of Canada. The Canadian Pacific Railway was incorporated February 15, 1881 and began operations May 1 that year. Duncan McIntyre became vice-president of the new company.
McIntyre successfully amalgamated the CCR with the CPR June 9, 1881. With Worthington continuing as construction manager to complete the extension, McIntyre assumed a wider role in the financing and overall CPR strategy.
Construction on the Canada Central extension progressed slowly after amalgamation. By Dec 31, 1881, railhead reached Eau Claire. The extension was completed in April 1882 when rail arrived in Callender.
The original CCR charter included a plan to take the railroad to the South-East Bay of Lake Nipissing to the present location of Callender. Sir Sandford Fleming had urged rail planners to aim for the “North shores of Nipissing”. Fleming left the railroad in 1879-1880 but returned in a few years as an officer of the CPR. When the construction crews reached the shores of Lake Nosbonsing, engineering advice was to head in a northerly course to a point where the Chippewa Creek emptied into Lake Nipissing. The decision to extend the rail line north of Lake Nipissing stemmed from Hector Langevin's authorization July 24, 1879. To comply with the CCR charter, the end point where rail skirted the shores of Lake Nosbonsing was named Callender. That was the western terminal of the CCR extension. At that precise place, the CPR commenced even though the two companies had now amalgamated under the CPR banner. The first spike on the CPR was driven into a railway tie at Callender (Bonfield). To clear up the confusing name duplication, ‘Nosbonsing Callender’ later changed its name to Bonfield.
Duncan McIntyre’s career is reviewed in Dictionary of Canadian Biography. The references to Canada Central Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway can be found in Van Horne’s road, author Omer Lavallee.
McIntyre emigrated to the Ottawa valley with his parents in 1849 from Callander, Scotland. McIntyre pere operated a country store in Renfrew where son Duncan received his early business training serving as an apprentice. Ten years later, he joined his uncle Robert McIntyre a dry goods merchant and wholesale importer in Montreal. The youthful Duncan who began as a stock clerk and bookkeeper quickly rose to the position of junior partner. He was a strict and resolute businessman who “typified the Montreal Scots merchant of the day”. In 1865, the 30-year-old Duncan succeeded his uncle as president of the prosperous Stuart, McIntyre and Company.
The thrifty and prudent Duncan McIntyre began to invest in railways in 1860, and by 1880 was president in full control of Canada Central Railway. The railway operated a line that included Renfrew, Pembroke and plans to extend along the Ottawa River to Mattawa with a final leg towards Lake Nipissing.
The CCR reached Pembroke in 1875 and in June 1878, the government awarded it a contract subsidy of $1,440,000 to push on from “Pembroke up to South-East Bay of Lake Nipissing” a distance of 130 miles. The Central Canada Extension was under the direction of lead contractor James Worthington.
McIntyre had more ambitious plans. He joined a small syndicate that raised the capital to build a Pacific railway to connect British Columbia with eastern Canada. In 1880, he made the historic offer on behalf of the business syndicate to build the transcontinental railway for the government of Canada. The Canadian Pacific Railway was incorporated February 15, 1881 and began operations May 1 that year. Duncan McIntyre became vice-president of the new company.
McIntyre successfully amalgamated the CCR with the CPR June 9, 1881. With Worthington continuing as construction manager to complete the extension, McIntyre assumed a wider role in the financing and overall CPR strategy.
Construction on the Canada Central extension progressed slowly after amalgamation. By Dec 31, 1881, railhead reached Eau Claire. The extension was completed in April 1882 when rail arrived in Callender.
The original CCR charter included a plan to take the railroad to the South-East Bay of Lake Nipissing to the present location of Callender. Sir Sandford Fleming had urged rail planners to aim for the “North shores of Nipissing”. Fleming left the railroad in 1879-1880 but returned in a few years as an officer of the CPR. When the construction crews reached the shores of Lake Nosbonsing, engineering advice was to head in a northerly course to a point where the Chippewa Creek emptied into Lake Nipissing. The decision to extend the rail line north of Lake Nipissing stemmed from Hector Langevin's authorization July 24, 1879. To comply with the CCR charter, the end point where rail skirted the shores of Lake Nosbonsing was named Callender. That was the western terminal of the CCR extension. At that precise place, the CPR commenced even though the two companies had now amalgamated under the CPR banner. The first spike on the CPR was driven into a railway tie at Callender (Bonfield). To clear up the confusing name duplication, ‘Nosbonsing Callender’ later changed its name to Bonfield.
Duncan McIntyre’s career is reviewed in Dictionary of Canadian Biography. The references to Canada Central Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway can be found in Van Horne’s road, author Omer Lavallee.
# posted by Nestor Prisco @ Monday, February 27, 2006 
