The Brockville and Ottawa Railway (B&O) was an early railway in Upper Canada, today's Ontario. It ran north from the town of Brockville on the Saint Lawrence River to Sand Point on the Ottawa River. It was built primarily to serve the timber trade on the Ottawa Valley, shortcutting routes that led into the city of Ottawa, further downstream. The first railway tunnel in Canada, the Brockville Tunnel, was dug in order to allow the B&O to reach the port lands on the south side of the city, which sits on a bluff.
It was amalgamated into the Canadian Pacific Railway on June 6, 1881. Via bought 90 percent of the line to accommodate their daily high speed passenger trains between Brockville and Ottawa. CPR has a once daily round trip train which shuttles freight cars between Smiths Falls and Brockville to interchange with the Canadian National Railway. This line was upgraded by Via which included passing sidings and a complete CTC signalling system. In 2015, Via purchased the final 10 percent from Canadian Pacific and contracted rail maintenance to Rail Term. It's worth noting, this line is a detour route in case of a derailment on other lines between Montreal and Toronto by either the Canadian Pacific or Canadian National.
For further information about the colorful history of this line, please feel free to visit this blog:
https://brockvillehistoryhandbook.wordpress.com/2013/03/02/brockville-ottawa-railway-1860-train-schedule/
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