Napanee The right-of-way (ROW) of the Bay of Quinte Railway (BofQ), from Deseronto to Yarker and Tamworth, crossed the Grand Trunk Railway to the west of the still standing 1856 Grand Trunk Station on John Street. The BofQ then continued north in the Napanee River valley to Strathcona where the present Cataraqui Trail begins. Strathcona is still an operating paper mill owned by Roman Corporation. Rails from Napanee end about 3 km west of Strathcona. Newburgh The original ROW of the BofQ lay closer to the river than the present Cataraqui Trail. The trail now passes north of the Newburgh Academy on Academy Street, L&A # 11. The old line can be seen to the south of Academy Street where an old stone culvert exists. One of the few existing stations of the B&Q can be seen on the old ROW at 74 and 76 Grove Street, now a private residence. The old station platform as well as a railway hotel across the street at 77 Grove Street are still evident. The ROW can be traced to the east for some distance. Yarker Yarker was an important railway junction point. Here the Napanee, Tamworth and Quebec Railway swung north-west. The abandoned right-of-way of the line to Tamworth, Tweed and Bannockburn can be seen on the west side of Yarker as the continuation of Sidings Street. The extension to Harrowsmith and Sydenham in 1889 required a crossing of the Napanee River. The old bridge abutments and road crossing can be seen north of the new railway bridge built for the Canadian Northern main line to Ottawa that was completed in 1913. Sydenham Connected to Harrowsmith by the re-named Kingston, Napanee and Western Railway in 1890, Sydenham was an important shipment point for phosphate, feldspar and mica, as well as hogs and cattle. There were saw mills, a shingle mill, and a grist mill. The large handsome station stood on the north side of the right-of-way at Bedford Street where the beer store is at present and was demolished after closing in 1966. A small steamboat towed barges of mica along Lake Sydenham from the Lacey Mine on Eel Bay just north of Hogan Road. Lake Opinicon Area Three sawmills, a shingle mill, a cheese factory, and a phosphate mine were located in 1870 in the now ghost village of Lake Opinicon at the head of Opinicon Lake. Later a sawmill operated between Rock and Opinicon Lake and a flour mill at the outlet of Rock Lake Creek. The connection from this settlement and Bedford Mills was the Old Bedford Road, now only a trail that crosses the railway right of way. A feldspar mine on Upper Rock Lake shipped ore via the railway. A canal was dug between Upper Rock Lake and Stonehouse Lake in 1910 when the Canadian Northern Railway was being pushed through from Sydenham to Ottawa. Feldspar ore was barged through the canal to a siding on Stonehouse Lake. c/o Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority P.O. Box 160, Glenburnie, ON K0H 1S0 Telephone: (613) 546-4228, ext.304 Email: Email: catrails@cataraquiregion.on.ca |
