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Liverpool and Milton Railway

By John R. Cameron

The Milton Tramway was incorporated in 1872 (c.64) to construct a horse tramway from Fredericksville Mills on the east side of the Liverpool River to a rafting place on the west side a short distance below the Lower Bridge. The tramway was to be laid in the road and would cross the river on the Upper Bridge. This is a precursor of parts of the railway constructed some years later, and shows a unique relationship between a tramway and a later railway.

The Liverpool and Milton Tramway was incorporated in 1896 (c.88) to construct a tramway or railway in and between Liverpool and Milton "and on to the pulp mill". The confusion between tramway (rails set in a road) and railway was due to the fact this railway was always a little of each, the tracks being laid in the streets of Liverpool, but operated by main line steam locomotives characteristic of railways rather than the electric trolleys of street railways. The authorized railway was in the streets of Liverpool and Milton, and the highway between them, "thence by the west side of the Mersey River [referenced to as the Liverpool River in the Milton Tramway charter] to the premises of the Milton Pulp company, limited, and thence across the river to the pulp mill". Again, unlike electric interurbans, this was a standard (4 feet, 8-1/2 inches) gauge railway. An alert company also had authority to operate omnibuses or sleighs for passengers if there was too much snow for the trains. The Act was suspended until May 15, 1896, when it would take effect unless the Nova Scotia Southern's plan for a Liverpool to Annapolis railway had been put into effect. The statute is an interesting blend of street railway and general railway powers and restrictions. The Nova Scotia Southern was not moving, for the next year's minor amendments (1897, c.87) included the removal of the clause giving that railway precedence.

In 1900, the name was changed to the Liverpool and Milton Railway (c.176). The company was allowed to run its trains across any of the streets in Liverpool and across the head of the docks in the harbour, as far out as Fort Point. The company was relocating its track to less frequented streets and trying for better access to the harbour. The company also obtained power to sell the undertaking. The Town of Liverpool's authority to regulate the railway in the town gave rise to some very messy litigation, as well as a first-hand record of the railway in operation provided by the trial judge. Then, in 1907 (c.14), the sale of the railway to the Halifax and South Western was authorized, with the province lending $13,500 per mile to pay for it. Apparently, this deal did not go through at once, since the company was given authority to run a line from Milton via Greenfield and Caledonia to Bear River, and had its capital increased, in 1910 (cc.151, 152). Perhaps this was a manoeuvre on the part of McKenzie and Mann, since this railway is not mentioned again in the statutes.

[SOURCE: A Legislative History of Nova Scotia Railways, by John R. Cameron, 1999.]

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