Dominion Atlantic Railway Digital Preservation Initiative - Wiki
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George Gray Hare
George Gray Hare (1870 - 1968) was a civil engineer who worked for the Dominion Atlantic Railway from December 1912 to 1917 and oversaw a major program of bridge building as well as station construction after the DAR was acquired by the Canadian Pacific Railway.
From Saint John, New Brunswick, Hare was an experienced and versatile civil engineer with a long career who build many bridges and railway structures for multiple railway. Prior to his time on the DAR, Hare had built railway bridges in Mexico from 1900 to 1902; Rosland, British Columbia; and in Eastern Ontario.
Hare was hired from another CPR subsidiary, the Kingston and Pembroke in Ontario, to take charge of DAR improvements required by the CPR. Initially hired as construction engineer for bridges in December 1912,[1] he was promoted to be the DAR's Chief Engineer in 1913.[2] He left the DAR in late 1917 when he was offered the job of City Engineer in his hometown of Saint John, NB. Hare was succeeded as DAR Chief Engineer by W.K. MacQuarrie from the CPR's Revelstoke Division.[3] In Saint John, Hare worked as City Engineer for 20 years until his retirement in 1939, overseeing city road, bridges and water supply upgrades.
Although his time on the DAR was short, Hare left a major mark on the line. He built or rebuilt almost every major bridge on the DAR as well as key buildings such as engine houses and stations. Most of his bridges served until the end of the DAR and several remain in use today carrying recreational users over the DAR's former line.
Hare took and annotated many photographs of his major DAR projects to show the techniques and progress of his work. In 2025, a descendent donated a large collection of his photographs to the Hantsport and Area Historical Society. His DAR construction photographs, sorted by project can be seen here: Canadian Pacific Structure Upgrades 1912 - G.G. Hare.
Gallery
Canadian Railway and Marine World Aug 1912 article about Hare's appointment as DAR bridge engineer.
Canadian Railway and Marine World 1913 February - G. G. Hare Promotion article about Hare's promotion from Engineer of Construction to DAR Engineer.
George G.Hare photo of the reconstruction Halfway River Bridge/Hantsport Aboiteau with locomotive No. 33 crossing the work site, April 29, 1914.
George G. Hare's summary of his major projects on the DAR.
Canadian Railway and Marine World 1917 January - K. W. McQuarrie Appointed Engineer article about Hare's departure from the DAR and his replacement.
References
- ↑ Canadian Railway and Marine World Aug 1912 article on Hare's appointment as DAR bridge engineer.]]
- ↑ Canadian Railway and Marine World 1913 February - G. G. Hare Promotion article about Hare's promotion from Engineer of Construction to DAR Engineer.
- ↑ Canadian Railway and Marine World 1917 January - K. W. McQuarrie Appointed Engineer Hare's departure from the DAR and his replacement.
External Links
[https://www.postalhistorycanada.net/php/Journal/Articles/PHSC_146_(article).pdf Gray Scrimgeour, "Railway Construction in Southern British Columbia, 1898–1900", PHSC Journal, Winter 2011. George Hare correspondence 1898-1899 about C&W Railway construction in British Columbia]
