travel in 1911

[karro]

My grandmother travelled from Newfoundland to Toronto in 1911.  She took a ship from Port Aux Basques NFLD to North Sydney NS.  ( i found the records) How would she have gotten from Sydney to Toronto?  What would be the most common means of transport?  Another ship or Rail or some other means??  Where could I find such information?? I looked on the internet but found nothing helpful.  Are there any books about travel at that time. Thanks Karro

[nickgc]

Both the US and Canada had transcontinental railroads well in place by that time, so that would be the likely mode of travel.  My Nova Scotian relatives traveled from there to Ontario in the early 1890s by rail, and my great grandparents from the UK arrived in Quebec/Montreal in 1891 by ship and traveled to Victoria, BC in 1891 by rail.  Look at Wikipedia for Canadian transcontinental railroad for history.

It seems that if she had always intended to travel to Toronto from Newfoundland, she would have simply taken a ship down the St. Lawrence River. 

Nick

[karro]

Thanks for your insights Nick.  I would have thought that my grandmother would have taken a ship all the way to Toronto as well.  It's just that the records that I found show that her port of arrival was North Sydney.  Do you think that the same ship would continue onto Toronto?  The ship she travelled on was the SS Invermore.  The information that I found suggested that this ship travelled between NFLD and N.S.  only.  I suppose that there would have been connecting boats in Sydney. 
Karro

[nickgc]

Do you think that the same ship would continue onto Toronto?

Seems to make little sense that it would, or that she would travel from N. Sydney to catch a connecting ship... but I don't know.

Have you looked at an atlas?  North Sydney is 100+ miles southwest of Newfoundland.  Any ship leaving Sydney for Toronto would have to travel much further north to connect to the St. Lawrence again.

Railroad from NS to Toronto makes more sense, and possibly this was the cheapest way for her to make the journey.

Nick

[amazon510]

Hi,

There has been a ferry service between North Sydney and Port aux Basques since 1898.  It was operated by the Reid-Newfoundland company as the terminus of the Newfoundland railway.  The Reid Newfoundland Company was mainly a railroad company, but they operated some ships as well.

The Reid-Newfoundland ships are known as the Alphabet Fleet because each started with a different letter of the alphabet.  The SS Invermore was one of these vessels.  Google "Alphabet Fleet" and you should be able to learn more about it.  I found the following link, which indicates that the Invermore was doing the gulf ferry run during the time period your grandmother travelled to Toronto.  There is a picture of the Invermore on the same site.

http://www.newfoundlandshipbuilding.com/alphabetfleet/documents/alphabet_fleet.htm

Another great source for information about transportation in Newfoundland during this period is the Railway and Coastal Museum.  There isn't much on their website, but they have a pretty committed group of volunteers who I'm sure would be glad to assist with any questions. http://www.railwaycoastalmuseum.ca/

Although it would seem logical to take a ship the whole way, I would say in all likelihood your ancestor took the train from Newfoundland to Toronto, and the passage from Port aux Basques to North Sydney was just a ferry ride to connect the two parts of her train trip.  According to the Wikipedia entry for North Sydney, there has been train service to Cape Breton since 1891.

Jennifer.

[karro]

Thanks Jennifer.  You helped clarify the information I was seeking.  I'm certain that grandmother would have taken the cheapest form of transportation.  I did look on a map.  Syndey is quite far from the St Lawrence.  Train travel seems much more likely. 
Karro