by Marcus W. Stevens/photos by the author
It’s a warm spring morning, and the relative peace and quiet at Guelph Junction, Ont., along CPKC’s Galt Subdivision is interrupted by the distinctive sound of modern General Electric locomotives. Within a few minutes, a headlight cuts through the morning haze as the train slowly snakes its way out of Campbellville and toward the junction. The colorful array of locomotives on the head end is a common sight for today’s CPKC, which is constantly trying to keep up with its motive power needs. The lead Canadian Pacific ES44AC is followed by GEs from both Canadian National and Union Pacific, followed by a UP EMD-built SD70ACe.
Even with four units on the head end, it is no easy task to move heavy Train 231 up the grade toward the reservoir at Mountsburg. Beyond there, the roller coaster profile of the Galt Sub will keep the hogger busy all the way to London, Ont., and the next crew change.

ABOVE: A snowstorm has rolled in as CP local H24 begins working Ardent Mills in Streetsville on December 27, 2021. Ardent Mills has a long history dating back to the incorporation of the village.
History
The Galt Subdivision has a long history, dating back to 1879 when Credit Valley Railway built the section between Toronto and St. Thomas, opening the line in 1880. At that time, its primary interchange partner in St. Thomas was the Michigan Central-controlled Canada Southern. In 1883, Ontario & Quebec Railway took over CVR, and soon after, Canadian Pacific took full control of O&Q. CP saw Windsor and the border with the U.S. as a more important interchange point and extended the line from Woodstock to Windsor with less focus on the route to St. Thomas.
Unlike competitor CN, which operates a similar routing for bridge traffic between Toronto and Chicago, CP is forced to rely on Norfolk Southern trackage rights between Detroit and Chicago. CN has the fortune of using its Grand Trunk Western to reach Chicago from Port Huron.

ABOVE: RIGHT TOP: It is not uncommon for CP and Ontario Southland trains to meet at Woodstock. A number of years ago, OSR took over CP’s former St. Thomas and Port Burwell subdivisions and now interchanges with CPKC at Woodstock. On April 16, 2016, OSR had both of its former Railink FP9s in charge of its road train as crews exchange paperwork with CP’s H88.
When Conrail divested Canada Southern in the mid-1980s, CN and CP split up CASO with CP gaining full control of the tunnel between Windsor and Detroit. CN, on the other hand, eventually rerouted all cross-border traffic out of Windsor to the enlarged Sarnia–Port Huron tunnel. Unfortunately, the age and size of the former CASO tunnel will have to be dealt with in the coming years, and could even lead to building a new tunnel — all the more likely considering that double-stack container trains do not fit in the tunnel.
Galt Sub
The CPKC Galt Subdivision extends 114 miles, from the west side of Toronto to London. Between Toronto and Guelph Junction the subdivision is two tracks, with a few sections of three tracks, and is governed by centralized traffic control (CTC). Beyond Guelph Junction, it is mainly single track with sidings, with the majority of the line governed by Occupancy Control System/Absolute Block Signal (OCS/ABS), except Wolverton and Nissouri to London now under CTC.
Milepost 0 is Toronto’s Union Station. At mile 1.9 the line diverges from shared trackage with CN and heads northwest toward West Toronto. Other than the occasional switching move, today all this trackage is used only by GO Transit/Metrolinx for rush-hour commuter service between Toronto and Milton. The trackage is all owned by Metrolinx, after being sold by CP a number of years ago when all freight traffic was eliminated from downtown Toronto.

ABOVE: The Grand River crossing at Galt has always been a highlight for railfans. On October 11, 1997, CP had an influx of leased units filling a motive power void. A CP SD40-2 leads an HLCX SD40 and HATX GP40, as they head westbound after working the yard in Galt.
At West Toronto, mile 4.9, the Galt Sub connects to both the North Toronto and Mactier subdivisions. This is where all freight traffic originates on the Galt. Heading west from here, the line passes through Lambton Yard, home to a pair of four-axle units that work local industrial spurs and the short Campa Sub. Years ago, several power sets worked here, with jobs traveling up the Owen Sound Subdivision as well as along the Galt Subdivision all the way to Guelph Junction. In the 1990s and 2000s, this yard also served as the origin of a Triple Crown RoadRailer that connected Detroit and Toronto until CN took over the contract.
The next notable location heading west is Obico at mile 9.6. This is where CP’s short double-track Canpa Spur runs to a connection with Metrolinx’s former CN Oakville Subdivision. This line was once a very important link and shortcut for CP and Toronto Hamilton & Buffalo Railway, but by the 2010s, CP eliminated all through trains and switching contracts on the line, rerouting all trains to the Hamilton Subdivision. In more recent years, the intermodal terminal at Canpa has been closed with its traffic relocated to CPKC’s Vaughan Yard. CP’s purchase of Delaware & Hudson added traffic to the Toronto–Buffalo routing, but the more recent sale of much of the former D&H to NS has eliminated a good portion of this traffic….