Shadow Lake

Shadow Lake. . Affectionately known as the Late, Early or Never, the Lake Erie and Northern Railway (LE&N) began operation in 1916. It provided freight and passenger service between Port Dover and Galt (now part of Cambridge) on a line 80 kilometres in length. At its inception the interurban system was electrical, similar to Toronto street cars, with an overhead cable providing power., Connections at Brantford and Galt to other railways provided rapid access to markets throughout North America and beyond for farm produce and manufactured goods. At its height in 1921 the line carried some 600,000 passengers. Passenger service continued until 1955 by which time it had been made redundant by the increased use of the automobile. The line operated electrically until 1961 when it was converted to diesel locomotives. The LE&N line was abandoned by 1989. , The Waterford Heritage Trail follows the route of the LE&N., [caption for top photo] , Just to the south of Black Bridge the LE&N had a small railway station. The building was used until 1969 and was demolished some years later. All that remains are the broken concrete foundation stones off to the side of the trail. , [caption for left photo] , In 1916 the LE&N constructed an iron trestle viaduct that still stands. It was built to cross the Canada Southern and Michigan Central rail lines that an through the Nanticoke Creek valley below, Black Bridge, as it became known, now provides panoramic vistas of the Waterford Ponds to the west and the town to the east., Note how the view has changed since the railroad days. ,