Hillsborough Bridge

Hillsborough Bridge. Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. The first Hillsborough Bridge was constructed as a railway link to the southeastern part of the Island, although it was also a carriage bridge, too. The steel structure consisted of 12 spans. To facilitate river traffic it had a swing span over the deepest water. The bridge opened with great celebration in 1905 and served the communities on the Murray Harbour Line well until the mid 1950’s when it was judged unsafe for the trains. For the next twelve years, it served only automobile traffic. A new structure was opened in 1962, and more recently that bridge has been expanded and now accommodates four lanes of traffic coming to and from the Capital City. , ”My father told me many years ago about the time the Murray Harbour train attempted to cross the bridge from the Charlottetown side and all bridge traffic was held up. Apparently the gasoline engine that opened the draw bridge was seized up and would not move. There was a schooner loaded with coal, awaiting to proceed through the draw to Falconwood Hospital Wharf to unload its cargo. They called on my father, one of the trainmen (who usually weighed in at that time at about 250 lbs.) to throw the large flywheel on the stationary engine or to apply whatever strength was necessary to get the gas engine going. Then the draw could be opened, the schooner could proceed to the wharf, and the train and other traffic could continue. - ”Growing up in Prince Edward Island” - Byron Burns