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#hamilton #rail_fan #hamilton_street_railway #imagenary_rail_network #light_railway_transit
Published: 2021-02-17 15:34:02 +0000 UTC; Views: 1898; Favourites: 4; Downloads: 0
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I'm as much a railroad fan as I am a roadgeek; when I was in Korea from 1996-2005, I took advantage of the very excellent passenger rail network there to travel all over the country. After experiencing that, the rather scant network in Canada🍁 becomes quite a disappointment. Especially in my part of Ontario.And while I hope that light rail transit could come to Niagara and cover beyond the Grimsby-Saint Catharines-Niagara Falls corridor also covered by GO Transit, I realize that Hamilton would be getting such first. They already have one line planned now from McMaster University to go along King Street, Main Street and Queenston Road to end at Eastgate Square; this was a trimmed down version of a multi-line network that would cover from Ancaster to the Hamilton Airport to the new Confederation GO station being put on CNR's Grimsby Subdivision/GO Lakeshore West Line to Waterdown itself.
However, there are a considerable amount of train lines and former train lines that cris-cross the former territory of Wentworth County which can be taken advantage of. To that end, I came up with an additional five-line network that would cover the vast majority of Hamilton both urban and rural, not to mention reach out to Grimsby and Smithville in Niagara Region, Caledonia in Haldimand County, Brantford in Brant County, Cambridge in Waterloo Region and Aldershot in Halton Region.
Here is the downtown view of said network, with the lines as follows:
Hamilton A Line (Orange): Part of the planned BLAST Network that was cancelled due to expenses, this would simply connect the Hamilton GO Centre with West Harbour GO, having two stops at James (interchange with Hamilton B Line) and Cannon.
Hamilton B Line (Aqua): The only projected element of BLAST, constructed from McMaster heading east as described above to Eastgate Square. I would add an extension north on Centennial Parkway (ex-Highway 20) to connect directly with the Confederation GO Station, with one extra stop at Barton Street.
Hamilton C Line (Gold): Sharing the CNR Grimsby and Hamilton Subdivisions along with GO Lakeshore West (Toronto/Union to Niagara Falls) and VIA/AMTRAK Maple Leaf (Toronto Union/New York City Penn) from Grimsby VIA to Aldershot. This line would be shared with my proposed Niagara Light Rapid Line 1 from West Harbour to Grimsby and the equivalent service for Halton Region from West Harbour to Aldershot. New local stations would be set up at Hendrie (for the Royal Botanical Gardens), McQuesten (meeting up with the D and F Lines overlooking the Desjardins Canal), Dundurn Castle (self-explanatory), Keith (at Birch Avenue), Centre on Barton (the shopping complex), Parkdale (Barton) (northern equivalent to the B Line stop), Green (on Green Road in Stoney Creek), Gateway (on Fruitland Road), McNeilly (on street of same name), Winona (on Fifty Road) and Casablanca (on Casablanca Boulevard). Naturally, transfers to GO can occur at Aldershot, West Harbour, Confederation and Grimsby; transfers to VIA/AMTRAK would occur only at Aldershot and Grimsby.
Hamilton D Line (Green): Sharing the CPR Hamilton Subdivision and CNR Dundas Subdivision to become the city-wide east-west corridor. Starting at Brantford VIA station, it would connect to the Hamilton GO Centre, then proceed into Niagara Region to end at Smithville. Naturally, the D Line would share services with Niagara Light Rapid Line 2 from Hamilton to Smithville, plus the equivalent Brantford/Brant County service from Brantford to Hamilton GO. Westbound stops from Hamilton would include Dundurn (interchange with B Line), McQuesten (interchange with C and F Lines), York (on York Road), Dundas (on Sydenham Road), Weir (on Middletown Road), Copeland (interchange with the G Line, on Copeland Road/former Highway 52), Lynden (on Lynden Road), Powerline (on Powerline Road), Brantford (Lynden) (on Lynden Road in Brantford) and Gretzky (on Wayne Gretzky Parkway). Eastbound stops from Hamilton include Saint Clair (at the south end of Sherman Street), Kenilworth (Mountain) (interchange with E Line, at the foot of Kenilworth Street), Quigley (on Quigley Road), Battlefield (on New Mountain Road), Fruitland (on Tapleytown Road), Ridge (on Ridge Road), Grassie (on Mud Street west of Wolverton Road) and South Grimsby (on Grimsby Road in West Lincoln). I see this line becoming part of the GO network, connecting Fort Erie and Welland with Hamilton on to Toronto, not to mention connect Brantford to Toronto via Hamilton. This could also serve as an alternate path of the Maple Leaf connecting New York and Toronto via the International Railway Bridge from Buffalo to Fort Erie.
Hamilton E Line (Blue): Revising the old CNR Hagersville Subdivision from Caledonia to Hamilton GO, serving as the south spoke of the network. The line from Caledonia to Kenilworth (Mountain) would have to be re-laid; given the expansion of Hamilton's urban space in recent years, a good section would have to be in a subway to help it climb down the Hamilton Mountain/Niagara Escarpment. New stations would be at Caledonia (on Argyle Street North), Haldibrook (on the Hamilton/Haldimand border at Haldibrook Road), White Church (on White Church Road), Airport East (on Airport Road), Dickenson (on Dickenson Road), Rymal (on Rymal Road) and Mohawk (on Mohawk Road); the line would share Kenilworth (Mountain) and Saint Clair stations with the D Line. A branch of this line would connect directly with the Hamilton John C. Munro International Airport, with stops at Mount Hope (on Upper James Street) and Airport (by the airport passenger terminal); a subway section would be required here as well.
Hamilton F Line (Brown): Using the northern part of CPR's Hamilton Subdivision from Hamilton GO to Campbellville, then the CPR Galt Subdivision from Campbellville west to Galt (which I'd rename Cambridge [Galt]). This line would share Dundurn station with the D Line and McQuesten station with the C and D Lines before branching off on its own. New stations would include Pleasant View (on Highway 6), Waterdown (on Parkside Drive), Millgrove (on East Flamborough Concession Road 6), Carlisle (on Carlisle Road), Campbellville (interchange with an expanded GO Milton Line to Cambridge), Puslinch (on Highway 6), Crieff (on Sideroad 25 South), Killean (on Wellington County Road 35), Cambridge (Gore) (on Gore Road) and Cambridge (Galt) (off Water Street North). Naturally, Grand River Transit's ION service would also use the stations within Waterloo Region.
Hamilton G Line (Red): A spur of the D Line built on new tracks smiliar to GRT's ION light rapid transit that would run down Highway 8 and old Highway 52 from Sheffield to Copeland with two stops at Rockton and Peters Corners.
Enjoy the next few pictures.
























