Grand Junction Railway (Ontario)
The Grand Junction Railway (GJR) was a short-line railway that ran between Peterborough and Belleville in Ontario, Canada. It was originally designed to be a loop, starting near Toronto and running northeast to Peterborough, then southeast to meet the Grand Trunk Railway (GTR) on the banks of Lake Ontario. By the time it had been built other lines had run into Toronto, so the GJR instead ran from Belleville to Peterborough, and then to Omemee where it met the Midland Railway of Canada. Just north of its starting point, the wholly owned subsidiary Belleville and North Hastings Railway branched off for the mining areas around Madoc, meeting the Central Ontario Railway just outside Eldorado. The GJR was one of five struggling short lines merged into the Midland Railway in April 1882. Midland, in turn, was leased by the GTR in 1884 and acquired outright in 1893.[1] The line was used for passengers into the 1960s and freight until the 1980s, but was abandoned starting in 1987. The first portion between Corbyville and Peterborough was lifted that year, followed by the section between Peterborough and Lindsay in 1990.
Like many historical railways in Ontario, the route of the GJR is now used as a recreational trail.[2]