Swing Bridge across Anglin Bay

In January, 1857, under the Committee on Railways (alternatively referred to as the Railroads & Improvements Committee or simply the Railroad Committee) [Sir] John A. Macdonald arranged with the Crown for access for a railway across the marsh at Anglin Bay, described in the press of the time as a 'loop line'. An estimate of costs to construct a swing bridge (?drawbridge) would be required, to be positioned at the middle of the embankment across the small bay's mouth (top photo - blue circle in close-up of Brosius map of 1875).

In February of that year, Messrs. McFarlane, McCutchen and Anglin had concerns and tried to prevent the Grand Trunk Railway (GTR) embankment to the swing bridge. It was felt that the embankment would block Anglin Bay, thereby causing waste water in the area to stagnate. Already shallow and murky, the water in the semi-circular bay was thought to cause ague (malaria) and lake fever (cholera) outbreaks annually.

Published in the Kingston Whig-Standard May 7, 1859, a case was heard involving the difficulty of accessing the Anglin wharf due to the position of the Grand Trunk Railway swing bridge. North winds made passage into Anglin Bay especially challenging. The track made the wharf nearly valueless, the openings being only 28 feet in width. Water depth at the wharf was only nine feet. The verdict went in favour of the plaintiff.

Between 1875 and 1890, the GTR branchline was relocated to the west of the Kingston & Pembroke (K&P) line, perhaps as early as 1878. The swing bridge was removed, resulting in an opening left in the embankment across the mouth of the bay. By 1890, the K&P built 'spile' docks out into the bay, some accounts saying almost halfway across, allowing transshipment of ore from flat cars into barges or ships in the shallow harbour. The spile docks were demolished by 1929, with 85 year-old W.J. Gates supervising the work. 

On June 12, 1896 - the swing bridge was still in place:

A 1919 map showing the now-GTR alignment (hatched) and the opening in the CP trackage where the swing bridge had been located (blue circle) and the spile docks extending out into the Cataraqui River (red box):