The line opened on September 25, 1883, with a rented locomotive from the Ogdensburg and Lake Champlain Railroad, which derailed when it entered St. Regis Falls.

Hurd's business practices would eventually send him into debt, and, before he declared bankruptcy, his railroad went into receivership on January 25, 1894.

The remaining section to Tupper Lake was completed in 1889, with regular service to the southern terminus starting on July 1, 1890.

Although the John Hurd-owned railroad was not completed and officially opened, it could be assumed that some kinds of shipments were hauled out from Ducey's operations.

Plan #2 – line starting at Cornwall and head to Newington, then run through Smiths Falls, ending at Perth.

Plan #3 – line starting at Cornwall and head to Newington, then run through Smiths Falls, ending at Perth.

Debate of the four plans continued until it was agreed that the proposal would following a route from Cornwall to Embrun to Richmond to Perth to Lake St. Peter to French River to Sault Ste.

Marie, with branches from Pickerel Lake to Parry Sound, Manotick to Ottawa, and Cornwall through Malone to Lyon Mountain by means of a bridge over the St. Lawrence River.

Marie and the branch to Smiths Falls or Perth was to leave the main line at Newington, and go through Carleton Place to end at Almonte.

It would not be until a fateful train trip in 1896 between Ottawa and Coteau Station that Bergin would meet Charles Hibbard, owner of the Northern New York Railroad, that progress would finally be made.

Although uncertain, it appears that Hibbard managed to acquire trackage rights east of Moira on the Ogdensburg and Lake Champlain Railroad to Malone.

His group had created the Racquette River Railroad on April 25, 1895, for the purpose of building a rail route between Tupper Lake and Axton Landing.

After meeting Dr. Darby Bergin from the Ontario Pacific Railway, Hibbard formed a partnership with him and these two railroaders planned to connect Ottawa to the Adirondack line.

Construction began on August 23 and was quickly completed, opening on July 29, 1898, although the first revenue train operated the year before from Crysler to Finch.

By the time the bridge crossing over the St. Lawrence River was completed, the Black Rapids Branch of the line was abandoned.

The entire route from Ottawa to Tupper Lake was finally operating on October 1, 1900, which was after the company entered receivership on April 25, 1900.

The crossing of the St. Lawrence River at Cornwall was the single most important part of the construction of the Ottawa to Tupper Lake route.

Construction was done quickly by Phoenix Bridge Company, but, on September 6, 1898, a tragic accident claimed the lives of 15 workers and injured 18 others.

Pier 2 of the south channel bridge had suddenly sunk into the river, taking two of the three spans down with it, just as the finishing touches were being completed on it.

During the 1920s, negotiations with several parties began to find a means to have the Cornwall railway bridge system support automobile traffic as well.

The track in Tupper Lake was used until Penn Central abandoned it in 1972, but was put back in service by the Adirondack Railway from 1979 to 1981.

All information above comes from the web page of the New York Central's Ottawa Division - a History, as well as research documents in possession of that webmaster (whom edited this entire entry in July 2006) and his partners.

These documents were obtained through various collections (Canadian National Archive, many Historical Societies, original timetables and operating manuals) as well as published books like Railroads of the Adirondacks: a History by Michael Kudish, 1996.