The Canadian and later, Canadian-Niagara, was the longest running named international train from

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of t ...

via

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, for its first two decades running to Montreal. This overnight train was operated by the

Michigan Central Railroad The Michigan Central Railroad (reporting mark MC) was originally incorporated in 1846 to establish rail service between Detroit, Michigan, and St. Joseph, Michigan. The railroad later operated in the states of Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois in ...

from Chicago to Detroit, and in a pool arrangement, it operated over

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canad ...

tracks and used the same train number from Detroit eastward. The train would carry a second section, bound, variously for Buffalo or New York City via Buffalo.

History

PostcardDetroitMIEntranceDetroitRiverRRTunnel

The train began with the name, the ''Canadian,'' in 1914 and utilized the recently (1910) opened

Michigan Central Railway Tunnel The Michigan Central Railway Tunnel is a railroad tunnel under the Detroit River connecting Detroit, Michigan, in the United States with Windsor, Ontario, in Canada. The U.S. entrance is south of Porter and Vermont streets near Rosa Parks Bouleva ...

under the

Detroit River The Detroit River flows west and south for from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie as a strait in the Great Lakes system. The river divides the metropolitan areas of Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario—an area collectively referred to as Det ...

between Detroit and

Windsor, Ontario Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the southe ...

. In the train's earliest decades its coaches and sleeping cars continued beyond

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

Union Station A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

Windsor Station Windsor station or Windsor railway station may refer to: Australia * Windsor railway station, Brisbane * Windsor railway station, Sydney * Windsor railway station, Melbourne Canada * Windsor Station (Montreal) * Windsor station (Nova Scotia) * ...

. Leaving Chicago's

Central Station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...

, the train's eastward train carried the number 20. At the same time, a section of the same train split off east of Windsor and, using the same train number, continued under the name ''Niagara'' to Buffalo. The train's westbound trip from Montreal and Toronto to Detroit and Chicago carried the number 19. By the 1930s, the

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Mi ...

had absorbed the Michigan Central Railroad. In 1934 the Michigan Central changed the eastbound train number to 58; the westbound ''Canadian'' would be 39. In 1940 the northeastern terminus was shortened from Montreal to Toronto. Passengers wishing to continue further northeast in the direction of Montreal would need to transfer in Toronto. During the interwar period the Michigan Central and Canadian Pacific also operated the ''Dominion-Overseas'' (1923-1942), which ran during daylight hours between Chicago and Detroit. The ''Dominion-Overseas'' (eastbound as #44-22, westbound as ''Western Express,'' #21-23) consist included through coaches and sleepers for the Chicago to Montreal route. In 1942 the parent company New York Central absorbed the Michigan Central operations into its timetables. By 1942, the westbound counterpart was no longer the ''Canadian'' working alone, but was tacked onto the ''North Shore Limited'' in Detroit for completing the trip to Chicago. However, the Canadian Pacific continued to use the name, ''Canadian,'' for #19 on the Toronto-originating part of the route. Also in 1942 the New York Central changed the name of the train to the ''Niagara-Canadian,'' skipping possible confusion arising from two different named trains carrying the same number. Also, at this time the train incorporated not only separate sleeper sections for itineraries to Toronto and New York City, but also a section leaving the route at Jackson to go to Saginaw and Bay City. For the west bound trip there would be no ''Canadian'' in the New York Central timetable. The Toronto to Chicago itinerary coaches and sleeping cars were merged onto the New York to Chicago ''North Shore Limited,'' number 39. In 1946 the New York Central would change the name again, this time, for a longer period, to ''Canadian-Niagara;'' the train number would switch from 58 to 358.

Decline

In 1955 the Canadian Pacific moved the name ‘Canadian’ to its transcontinental Montreal to Vancouver operation, the ''

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

.'' The train numbers 19 (west) and 20 (east) remained on the CP's Toronto to Detroit train (and vice versa), only as an unnamed train. Briefly in early 1961 the New York Central moved the name to ‘Canadian’ again. However, by the end of the year, the New York Central terminated the ''Canadian,'' and thus ended the tradition of a continuous international Chicago-Detroit-Windsor-Toronto itinerary, and ending the New York Central's passenger service east from Detroit into Southwest Ontario, except for its ''

Wolverine The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for " glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is a musc ...

'' route bound for Buffalo and New York City. The CP sustained a Detroit to Toronto train until 1967. Any traveler wishing to make the full trip would need to change in Detroit for the Chicago to Detroit portion. The CP cut its service back to Windsor to Toronto in 1967.

21st century developments

On January 6, 2022, Amtrak announced that

Canadian Pacific Limited Canadian Pacific Limited was created in 1971 to own properties formerly owned by Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), a transportation and mining giant in Canada. In October 2001, CPR completed the corporate spin-offs of each of the remaining business ...

and Kansas City Southern railroads would cooperate with Amtrak expansion plans. This agreement would allow Amtrak to link with

VIA Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via, is a Canadian Crown corporation that is mandated to operate intercity passenger rail service in Canada. It receives an annual subsidy from Transport Canada to offset the cost of operati ...

(Amtrak's counterpart in Canada) through the aforementioned Detroit-Windsor rail tunnel. However, news reports did not indicate a timeline for the resumption of passenger service between Detroit and Toronto.Lawrence, Eric D. 'Detroit to Toronto by train plan gets boost with Amtrak agreement,' "Detroit Free Press," January 8, 2022 https://www.freep.com/story/travel/michigan/2022/01/08/detroit-toronto-train-plan-gets-boost-amtrak-agreement/9135948002/

References

{{NYC named trains International named passenger trains Michigan Central Railroad New York Central Railroad Named passenger trains of Canada Named passenger trains of Ontario Named passenger trains of the United States Night trains of Canada Night trains of the United States Passenger rail transportation in Illinois Passenger rail transportation in Indiana Passenger rail transportation in Michigan Rail transport in London, Ontario Passenger rail transport in Toronto Railway services introduced in 1914 Railway services discontinued in 1961