by the Bytown government to take out loans: $60,000 in 1851 and $200,000 in 1853. Selecting a route The endpoints of the railway were effectively selected before surveying began; the southern terminus would be at the docks in Prescott, while the northern end would be in New Edinburgh. Between these two points was considerable swampland, and Shanly had to wait until winter froze the ground to survey a route. With two assistants, Shanly walked out three possible routes in March 1851. A route through Kemptville was chosen. In September 1851, a contract to clear the land was offered to French & Co., and Shanly had already advertised for certain sections of the grading. Ground was broken with great fanfare on 9 October 1851, starting with a parade. Construction In 1852, the company acquired land, ordered rails and other materials, and started to clear and grade the route. But it was slow work, and it was not until early 1854 that the route was prepared and various rivers and streams fully bridged by wooden trestles. The first half of the rail shipment had arrived in the fall of 1853 and the second in the spring of 1854. At this point an odd dispute broke out between the railway and the Grand Trunk Telegraph Company, who had laid poles along the route. The railway sent out men to cut down the poles, claiming that the Telegraph did not obtain permission to use the lines. The outcome of this dispute is not recorded, but the telegraph was in operation when the railway opened. Laying the rails began on 24 April 1854, starting in the Prescott yards. By May the main lines were being run. On 9 May the first steam locomotive for the line reached Ogdensburg. This was an 0-4-0 switcher, named "Oxford", that shipped across the river on the 19th, along with a number of gravel and lumber cars. On 21 June the railway carried its first official passengers between Prescott and Spencerville, at a price of three York Shillings each way. On 8 July two additional locomotives, freight 4-4-0's "St. Lawrence" and "Ottawa", together with several gravel cars, were brought over the river. On 10 August the line reached Kemptville. Passenger service from Bytown opened at the end of the month, starting with a steamer ride down the Rideau Canal to Beckett's Landing, then a short distance by stage coach to