Foley, Welch and Stewart facts for kids
Foley, Welch and Stewart was a very important company in the early 1900s. They built many railroads in both America and Canada. Imagine building huge railway lines across vast lands – that's what they did!
Contents
How They Started Building Railways
Around 1897, several key people and groups teamed up to move earth for railroad construction. This was like preparing the ground before the tracks could be laid.
Peter Larson: The Earthmover
Peter Larson came to America from Denmark in 1868 with very little money. He started small, using just one scraper pulled by six mules. He worked his way up, getting jobs to prepare the ground for the Northern Pacific Railway. He became very successful and set up his main office in Billings, Montana.
Later, in 1905, a new railway called the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (GTP) started building west from Fort William, Ontario. Peter Larson was smart and bought land options in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, which was expected to be the end of the line. Instead of making a quick profit, he sold the land to the GTP at the same price he bought it. This helped him build a good relationship with the railway company. Because of this, his company, Foley, Welch and Stewart, later got the big job of building the railway from Edmonton to Prince Rupert.
J.W. Stewart: From Scotland to Railways
J.W. Stewart arrived in Canada from Scotland in 1882. He also started with little money. He worked in Vancouver, even felling trees for the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) townsite. He survived the big Great Vancouver Fire in 1886 by standing in False Creek! After 1887, he moved to Montana and worked for Peter Larson.
Later, in 1911, J.W. Stewart was part of starting a big lumber company called Bloedel, Stewart and Welch (BS&W) on Vancouver Island.
Foley Brothers: A Family of Builders
The Foley family settled in Canada in 1830. Timothy Foley and his three younger brothers became loggers. In the 1870s, they started a logging and sawmill business in Minnesota. They provided wood for the Great Northern Railway as it expanded west. They would log in winter and move earth for railways in summer.
They were involved in building the CP railway from Winnipeg to Calgary in 1882. In 1898, a partnership including Foley built part of the Columbia and Western Railway for CP. They also worked on other big projects for CP and the GTP.
The Foley brothers' company didn't just handle construction equipment. They also sold groceries! They even had a wholesale grocery firm to supply all the workers on their projects. Often, their agreements made sure that subcontractors had to buy all their supplies from the Foley company.
Patrick Welch: The Montana Builder
Patrick Welch came to Helena, Montana, from New York (state) in 1888. He built his main office there and oversaw the building of the Montana Central Railway. In 1896, he moved to Spokane, Washington, and worked with the Foley Bros and Stewart on the Great Northern Railway.
Patrick Welch's company, P. Welch & Co, won many contracts. For example, in 1904, they built a branch line for the Vancouver, Victoria and Eastern Railway (VV&E). They also worked on parts of the VV&E in 1905 and even a section of the Alaska Railroad. From 1905 to 1907, P. Welch & Co worked on a huge $8 million project for the Great Northern Railway line between Portland and Seattle.
The Main Building Partnership Begins
Something interesting happened in the families of these builders: Peter Larson had married Margaret Moran, and her sisters, Susan and Elizabeth, had married Patrick Welch and J.W. Stewart!
In 1907, John and Thomas Foley and Peter Larson passed away. The company then became known as Foley Bros, Welch & Stewart, or simply Foley, Welch & Stewart (FW&S). Even so, sometimes projects were still done under the names of the individual partners.
Growing Bigger and Bigger
In March 1908, Foley Bros got a contract to build a section of the GTP railway. They also worked on adding a second track to part of the CP railway.
In May 1908, FW&S started their biggest project: building the 900-mile railway from Edmonton to Prince Rupert, British Columbia for the GTP. They worked from both ends of the line! They hired many smaller companies (subcontractors) to build sections of the railway. This massive project was finished in April 1914.
By the early 1910s, FW&S was the largest railway building company in western Canada. They had an incredible 50,000 workers and were building 2,000 miles of railway at one time!
In July 1911, P. Welch & Co won a contract to build a 551-mile section of the Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) in Ontario. That same month, P. Welch & Co partnered with Northern Construction to build another 163-mile section of the CNoR in British Columbia.
Building the Pacific Great Eastern Railway (PGE)
In February 1912, the government of British Columbia made a deal with FW&S to build a railway line from Vancouver to Fort George. At this time, Timothy Foley was in his 70s, so Patrick Welch and J.W. Stewart, who were in their 50s, handled the daily work.
The government wanted to build a new 480-mile railway called the Pacific Great Eastern Railway (PGE). The idea was that the government would support the railway financially, but it wouldn't own it directly. The railway was allowed to sell bonds (like loans) to raise money, and the government promised to pay back the loans and interest if the railway couldn't.
Patrick Welch's company won the construction contract in September 1912. J.W. Stewart took a break for health reasons during a very busy time for FW&S.
The way the PGE was set up caused some problems. The same people who were promoting the PGE were also controlling FW&S, the company building it. This meant there wasn't much reason to build the railway as quickly or cheaply as possible. The PGE ended up costing much more than planned and wasn't even fully finished before it ran out of money. FW&S, however, made a very good profit from the construction.
Construction started in October 1912. The government kept releasing money even when it became clear that the project was going to cost much more than expected. Patrick Welch also took a long break for a major operation.
By November 1915, all the money from the bonds was gone, but only 35% of the railway was complete. The PGE went bankrupt, and the BC Government had to pay back the huge debt because they had guaranteed the loans. The line ended up being 164 miles long, connecting Squamish and Clinton.
J.W. Stewart went overseas in August 1916 to help during World War I. He became a brigadier general and was in charge of building railways in France. His amazing skills in building tracks quickly led him to command all British and Canadian railway units.
Later investigations showed that the government had not followed its own rules very well, leading to a large overpayment to FW&S. To avoid long legal battles, FW&S agreed in February 1918 to hand over the PGE's assets and pay $750,000. They were allowed to keep a separate company that handled land sales related to the PGE.
The PGE's financial troubles meant the BC government had to take over the railway and its debt. The next government hired another company, Northern Construction (NorCon), to extend the line. Later, a special investigation found that NorCon also had similar problems with overcharging.
Other Big Projects at the Same Time
FW&S and its partners were busy with many other projects:
- In August 1912, P. Welch & Co built an extension of the VV&E railway in BC.
- In September 1912, FW&S built a section of the CNoR railway from Victoria to Port Alberni.
- In January 1913, FW&S partnered to build a branch line of the CP railway in Saskatchewan.
- In July 1913, FW&S won the contract to build the Connaught Tunnel for CP. This 5-mile long tunnel opened in December 1916.
- In November 1913, FW&S also got the job to build new harbor and terminal facilities in Halifax, Nova Scotia. This project was stopped after the huge Halifax Explosion in 1917.
After World War I
After 1917, Patrick Welch mostly retired due to poor health, but he still worked with J.W. Stewart and the lumber company BS&W. Timothy Foley passed away in 1919.
During this time, J.W. Stewart mostly worked on his own, doing smaller railway upgrade projects. In 1921, Stewart joined Northern Construction (NorCon), and the company became Northern Construction Co & J.W. Stewart. That same year, Stewart was involved in a big project to upgrade a harbor and railway in Ghana, Africa.
In Canada, the NorCon partnership built the Ballantyne Pier in 1921, the Second Narrows Rail Bridge in 1923, and the Dunsmuir Tunnel in 1931.
Patrick Welch passed away in 1929. Construction workers all over the world paused their work for an hour during his funeral to honor him. J.W. Stewart passed away in 1938. His funeral was attended by important people from all over Canada, and his coffin was carried on a special gun carriage through Downtown Vancouver.
Honoring Their Legacy
In 1917, Stewart and Welch opened a copper mine. The mine superintendent named three nearby peaks after the partners: Mount Foley, Mount Welch, and Mount Stewart. These names became official in 1946. There are also Foley Glacier, Foley Creek, and Foley Lake, named after the mountain. These names remind us of the huge impact these builders had on shaping the landscape and connecting communities across Canada.
