still remaining running into the lake near Harwood. But funds were not forthcoming for the northern side, and winter ice and shifting lake mud meant that it was frequently unusable. A further problem emerged when Port Hope, not far along the coast, pursued its own plans for a Railway to Peterborough. In 1857 the Port Hope and Lindsay line was constructed, and the following year opened a branch to Peterborough, going round the western end of the lake, in direct competition with the struggling Cobourg route. The response of the Cobourg directors was to oust D.E. Boulton, who then invested in the Port Hope line. Conflicts of interest among various personnel resulted in the deliberate removal of the bolts on sections of the bridge in early 1861, ensuring that when the ice moved again the bridge was destroyed, and this time it was left unrepaired. The railway reverted to linking Cobourg harbour with Harwood and the Rice Lake water traffic. In 1865 the railway was bought by a consortium of Pittsburgh steel manufacturers, who had already bought the Marmora Iron quarries north-east of Rice Lake. They established an iron-ore supply route using barges up the Trent River and across Rice Lake to the railway at Harwood. From there it was brought along the Railway to Cobourg Harbour for shipment across Lake Ontario to feed the steel mills of America. This provided a steady income for the railway and the town until the ore ran out in 1878. It also had two longer term spin-offs in the form of a rail car company and the beginnings of a tourist industry. Crossen Car Works When the iron ore scheme was getting underway, a small iron foundry based in Cobourg, was approached to cast the wheels and frames of wagons to move the Marmora iron ore down to the harbour. James Crossen saw an opportunity to combine his cast-iron products with the abundant local timber to produce railway rolling stock. With the foundry located near both the Cobourg line and train station of the Grand Trunk Railway, which had been built along the shore of Lake Ontario in 1856, it was well placed to expand as Canada's railway network grew. It was later named the Crossen Car Manufacturing Company and went on to become the largest builder of timber-framed rail cars in Canada, making everything from coal and freight wagons through to dining