Canada Southern Railway stock certificate 1928 (Canada)

Very nice vignette of a steam train loading passengers and freight at a station. Issued and cancelled. Dated 1928 on the cert.  Approximately 11 x 6.5 inches. 

The Canada Southern Railway (CSR) was a railway in southwestern Ontario, Canada, founded in 1868 as the Erie and Niagara Extension Railway. Its name was changed to Canada Southern Railway in 1869.

The railway was leased to the Michigan Central Railroad (MCR) for 99 years in 1883; in 1929 it was subleased to the New York Central Railroad (NYC). Its successors Penn Central and Conrail later exercised control before being sold to Canadian National Railway/Canadian Pacific Railway in 1985.

The line was originally conceived by Kenyon Cox (brother of Jacob Dolson Cox, Governor of Ohio), Daniel Drew, Sidney Dillon and John F. Tracy to connect with the Wabash Railroad and establish a railway network extending from Lake Erie to the Mississippi River.

The Panic of 1873 was responsible for the failure of several large railroads in North America, together with their financial backers. In addition to the CSR, the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad, Northern Pacific Railroad, Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad and New York and Oswego Midland Railroad were also affected. Within two years, it was taken over by the railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt at essentially no cost other than taking on the guarantee of them.

When Cornelius died in 1877, his son, William Henry, became head of the Vanderbilt railroad empire. The younger Vanderbilt took steps to separate the various railroad properties he controlled. In 1883, the New York Central Railroad (NYC) was able to lease the CSR to another Vanderbilt railroad company, the Michigan Central Railroad (MCR). Vanderbilt, who owned all three companies, ensured that each one operated independently, through its own autonomous president and board of directors. In 1929, MCR subleased CSR to NYC, its parent company.

In 1985, the Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway jointly purchased the former CSR from Conrail to acquire the Michigan Central Railway Tunnel under the Detroit River and the Michigan Central Railway Bridge at Niagara Falls. The CSR rarely operated its own rolling stock after acquisition, and its reporting mark was abolished in 1977.

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