John Charles Bailey (1826-1903)
1903 Obituary [1]
JOHN CHARLES BAILEY died at his residence, 211 Carlton Street, Toronto, Canada, on the 27th July, 1903. Born in Ireland on the 17th November, 1826, he began his engineering career as an apprentice on the Great Western Railway of Canada. From May, 1855, to October, 1857, he was employed on the Sarnia branch of the same line as an Assistant Engineer in charge of the construction of the works.
From November, 1857, to June, 1860, he was in private practice as a member of the firm of Smith and Bailey, architects and civil engineers, and from June, 1860, to March, 1862, he was Chief Engineer of the County Grey gravel roads, 177 miles in length, which he finished.
From May, 1862, to July, 1863, Mr. Bailey was again in practice on his own account in Toronto; and from August, 1863, to June, 1866, he was employed as Resident Engineer on the Atlantic and Great Western Railway, U.S.A.
He was then engaged for a time on his own account, and in 1868 he had charge of the survey for the first narrow-gauge railway in Canada, Mr. John Edward Boyd being the Chief Engineer. From June, 1868, to November, 1869, Mr. Bailey made the surveys for the Detroit and Milwaukee main line, from Detroit to Grand Haven, a distance of 189 miles, as well as for the Nuskeegen branch, and in November, 1869, he entered the service of the Toronto and Nipissing Railway Company, at first as Resident Engineer under Mr. Edmund Wragge. In May, 1871, he was appointed General Superintendent, and subsequently Engineer and General Superintendent of the whole line.
Mr. Bailey also acted as Engineer to the Credit Valley, the Lake Simcoe Junction, the Toronto and Ottawa, and the Northern and Pacific Junction Railways. Ho located the Sault Ste. Marie and the Nipissing and James Bay lines, and was also connected with the Canadian Pacific, the Grand Trunk, and other lines in Canada and in the United States.
Mr. Bailey was elected a Member of the Institution on the 3rd February, 1874.