The Credit Valley Railway was a railway located in Ontario, Canada from Toronto to St. Thomas. Chartered in 1871 by Ontario railway magnate George Laidlaw, it operated as an independent company until 1883 when it was leased by the Ontario and Quebec Railway, a Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) operating company building a network of lines in southern Ontario. The section from Toronto to Woodstock remains in use as the CPR mainline through Ontario, forming portions of what is now the Galt and Windsor Subdivisions. The section from Woodstock to St. Thomas is operated by OSR as a short line railway. The branch to Orangeville is currently operated as the Orangeville Brampton Railway. The Elora branch was abandoned and converted to rail trail use. History Formation Following initial discussions held in Milton and Brampton in 1870, the Credit Valley Railway was incorporated by Act of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in 1871, authorized to build a railway line from Toronto to Orangeville, with branches to Milton, Galt (today part of Cambridge), Berlin (Kitchener) and Waterloo. Later Acts authorized further branches from the Forks of the Credit to Salem, and from Galt to St. Thomas, where it would connect with the Canada Southern Railway. There was also discussion on extending the line to Port Burwell. In addition to the issue of shares and debt, the CVR's construction was subsidized through other forms of public funding: The CVR's president was George Laidlaw, and its chief engineer was James Ross, who later became general manager. Other key players in the company were William Mackenzie, Herbert Samuel Holt and Henry Suckling. Construction Originally intended to be an auxiliary narrow gauge line to the Toronto Grey & Bruce Railway, by 1873 its design was changed to standard gauge in order to enable it to become a rival to the Grand Trunk and Great Western lines. The rail network eventually went from Toronto to Orangeville with branchlines from Cataract to Elora and Streetsville to St. Thomas. Construction occurred in several stages: Survey work was done in 1873, with grading beginning early in 1874 Work was suspended in 1875, and resumed in earnest in the autumn of 1878 following negotiations with the various municipalities for connected bonuses and bond subscriptions The line opened from Parkdale railway station to Milton, Ontario in 1877. The track reached Brampton, Ontario in December 1878, and the huge trestle spanning the Credit River