From Stadacona to the REM · Drawing 13 of 36
A Bridge Over the River
1859
In 1859, trains could cross the St. Lawrence at Montréal on Victoria Bridge. At the time, they travelled inside a large iron tube supported by stone piers.
Look together
Does the train go on top of the big tube or inside it?
An idea to try
Build a bridge between two chairs with a board or a piece of cardboard, then test it with a toy. Talk about what makes a bridge strong.
For the adult reading along
A little more to discover
Built from 1854 to 1859 for the Grand Trunk Railway, Victoria Bridge carried trains across the St. Lawrence at Montréal. Its original structure was tubular. The Prince of Wales officially inaugurated it on August 25, 1860, eight months after the first trains crossed in December 1859.
The drawing evokes the old tubular bridge, not its present structure. Find the piers and the tube’s entrance.
Sources and illustration notes (2)
Simplified tubular bridge; the train is not a portrait of a specific locomotive.
These links lead to other websites. Explore them with an adult. References identify the institution and the related lesson; some linked pages are in French.
- Encyclopédie du MEM — Le pont Victoria, « huitième merveille du monde » (in French)First train in December 1859, with cars loaded with stone; official opening by the Prince of Wales on August 25, 1860; the nickname.
- Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec — Pont Victoria (in French)Built from 1854 to 1859 by the Grand Trunk; the first bridge to span the St. Lawrence.
Page prepared on September 19, 2026. Illustrations simplify places and scenes; they are not historical documents.
This drawing is from the book Québec’s Great Moments to Colour
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