Rouses Point Subdivision

The original main line of the Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroad ran from St. Johns (now Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu) west to La Prairie, on the Saint Lawrence River. This line opened on July 21, 1836.^[5] The company operated its own ferry service between La Prairie and Montreal.^[6] From Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, on the Richelieu River, the Champlain Transportation Company provided service over Lake Champlain to points south.^[7]

In 1851, the Champlain and St. Lawrence built south from St. Johns to Rouses Point, New York. There, it connected with the Northern Railroad and the Vermont and Canada Railroad. This extension opened on August 16, 1851.^[8][9] In the north, the company extended its line to Saint-Lambert and abandoned the original line to La Prairie. The new northern line opened on January 14, 1852.^[10]

The Champlain and St. Lawrence merged with the Montreal and New York Railroad in 1857 to form the Montreal and Champlain Railroad. The Grand Trunk Railway leased that company in 1863 and acquired it outright in 1873.^[11] The Canadian government nationalized the Grand Trunk in 1923, and it became part of the Canadian National Railways (later shortened to Canadian National Railway).^[12]

In 1960, construction of the Champlain Bridge prompted the Canadian National to abandon the northern 5 miles (8.0 km) of the original extension to Saint-Lambert. It constructed a new 4-mile (6.4 km) line to connect with the Granby Subdivision in Longueuil.^[13][14]

• Clowes, Art (January 1994). "The changing railway scene in Southwestern Québec" (PDF). Rail and Transit. No. 530. pp. 6–8.
• Glazebrook, G. P. de T. (1964). A History of Transportation in Canada. Vol. 2. McGill-Queen's University Press. OCLC 881458071.
• Mills, John E.; Castle, C. H.; Casey, William R.; Lindsay, W. D.; McGill, Peter; Anderson, Chas. E. (1936). "The Champlain and St Lawrence Railroad". The Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin (39): 6–62. JSTOR 43517097.
• Roberts, Earl; Stremes, David, eds. (2023). Canadian Trackside Guide. Ottawa, Ontario: Bytown Railroad Society. ISSN 0829-3023.
• Shaughnessy, Jim (1964). The Rutland Road. Berkeley, California: Howell-North Books. OCLC 870944.