Quote:
Originally Posted by lrt's friend
I have seen a version of this railway tunnel (I have a printed map somewhere that I obtained from the National Archives) and I am of the opinion that this would have ruined downtown Ottawa. Basically, the version I have seen had the tunnel only running from Bank Street to just beyond today's Confederation Square. We would have been left with a railway trench west of Bank Street and railways on both sides of the Rideau Canal, rendering it inaccessible for recreation purposes. I am so thankful that this did not happen.
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That's not the understanding I have from either the pictures on the site or from the written plan itself. The west bank of the Canal appears to be completely free of railways; the area of the Canal around City Hall was to be open and accessible:
https://qshare.queensu.ca/Users01/go.../drawing6B.htm
On the tunnel, it took me a bit longer since none of the diagrams show an obvious portal but I did read the following line in the text from p. 97:
"The plan presented and recommended for adoption is shown on
Drawings Nos. 11, 12, 13 and 26. It consists basically of the construction
of a tunnel from the Grand Trunk Station to Broad Street. This tunnel,
connected with the east focal point by the Grand Trunk, and with the west
focal point by the Canadian Pacific main line to Carleton Place, will form
the trunk line through Ottawa. This trunk line passes through the two
areas described as especially fitted for railway uses."
https://qshare.queensu.ca/Users01/go...Ottawa1915.pdf
The best drawing is #26, which doesn't show a portal at Bank:
https://qshare.queensu.ca/Users01/go...awing%2026.jpg
I'm not sure where but I've seen a better version of this drawing somewhere. Where the railway and streetcar lines cross at Sparks east of Bronson they have the respective elevations listed but I can't read them on this image. Anyway, as you can see Broad Street is west of Rochester Street on LeBreton Flats.
It's possible you might have seen something related to the streetcar lines, since they do turn off Wellington at Bank?