Cornwall Street Railway – the Insurance Company’s Streetcars tells the fascinating story of the electric transit services provided in the eastern Ontario city by the Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada, which owned the system from its inception in 1886 until the passenger transit facilities were taken over by the municipality in 1970 and the freight switching services were absorbed into the Canadian National Railways system in 1971.

The book, originally prepared by Omer Lavallée and Anthony Clegg to honour the memory of Charles P. DeRochie, was essentially completed in the early 1990s, but publication was delayed due to Mr. Lavallée’s untimely death in 1992. It has now been brought to fruition by Railfare*DC Books and has been augmented by a selection of illustrations that were previously unavailable.

Those who remember the Cornwall Street Railway will be glad to have this reminder of the trolleys, electric trolleycoaches, and electric switching locomotives that formerly served the city, while the serious students of municipal history and railway operations will be pleased to have a record of the well-known Canadian insurance company’s not so well-known operations in the transit field.

The book consists of 102 pages with over 160 photographs. There are five maps which record the growth of the community and another which shows from whence came the Cornwall Street Railway equipment.

Anthony Clegg was born in Toronto, Ontario, but moved at an early age to the Montreal, Quebec area. He was educated at St. Laurent High School, resided for two years in Ottawa, Ontario, and lived with his wife Mae at their St. Hilaire, Quebec home for four decades. He began his career with Canadian National Railways in 1942, first in accounting, later as the railway's draftsman and cartographer. During his younger years, he lived in Ville St. Laurent, Quebec, within sound of the Mount Royal electrics' shrill whistles and the deeper notes from the early MU cars. He especially enjoyed trips from Vertu to Montreal in this MU equipment, where passengers could get the full view of the tunnel through the window in the front door. Tony's early interest in railways was fostered by his aunt who took him to watch the trains from the bridge near Danforth Station, Toronto. As a teen-ager, some of his favourite birthday gifts were the railway passes to interesting places given to him by his mom and dad. Tony's father worked for Canadian National Railways until 1941, having been employed by its predecessors, starting with Canadian Northern Railway, in 1914. He was an associate of the Canadian Railroad Historical Association, having taken a very active part in the Association's many publications and railway excursion activities, including several years as Editor of Canadian Rail magazine. He was also a member of the Ferrovian Society, and was one of the instigators of the Ferrovia railway exhibit at Montreal's renowned 'Man and His World'. Anthony Clegg's writings include Mount Royal Tunnel, and - with Raymond Corley - Canadian National Steam Power, as well as Self-Propelled Cars of the CNR. He collaborated with Omer Lavallée to write Catenary Through the Counties, as well as Cornwall Electric Railway -- the Insurance Company's Streetcars.

Anthony Clegg's profile page