Montcalm Mornings

©2003 Glenn F. Cartwright

McGill University

Montcalm Station
In 1895, Rawdonites could arise early, travel by horse and wagon the 6 miles to the railway station at Montcalm, and board the Great Northern Railway of Canada's only  train to St. Jerome which departed in the early morning darkness at 4:30 am.  It is not known why this train left so early.  Was it to connect in St. Jerome with a train to Montreal so that a day of business could be transacted in the city?  It is unlikely passengers used the trains to visit friends or relatives in St. Jacques or Ste. Julienne which were close by.  Did anyone travel from Rawdon to New Glasgow or St. Sophie in those days?  It is more likely that the train stopped there to receive passengers for St. Jerome and its Montreal connections.
Arrival at St. Jerome just 28 miles away was 6 minutes short of two hours - an average speed of 14.73 miles per hour.

The return trip from St. Jerome was a little faster.  The train left St. Jerome at 7:10 pm and arrived at 8:39 pm in Montcalm, Rawdon's nearest and only station in those days, 1 hour and 29 minutes later - an average speed of 18.87 miles per hour.

A question remains about the St. Jacques station.  This station does not appear in timetables of the line in later years and was probably not the same St. Jacques station that was built later in the town of St. Jacques on the Canadian Northern Railway line. So where was the original 1895 St. Jacques station?  Was it later renamed? The Great Northern timetable did not show fractions of miles but both were about 2-2.5 miles away from the Ste. Julienne station on one side and both were about 4-5 miles from Montcalm.

Great Northern Railway of Canada
Pass'gr Mileage . Pass'gr
7:10 pm
0
 St. Jerome 6:24 am
7:33
6
 St. Sophie 5:56
7:38
8
 New Glasgow 5:46
8:15
23
 Ste.Julienne 4:58
8:27
24
 St. Jacques 4:42
8:39 pm
28
 Montcalm 4:30 am
September 23, 1895
 

Reference

Traveller's Official Guide, November, 1895
April 12, 2003
Revised 2006/09/19