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Description
The first railroad to operate in pre-confederation Lower Canada (now Québec Province) was the Champlain & St Lawrence Railroad financed by British-born beer (and other industries) tycoon John Molson. When it opened in 1836, the inaugural train was powered by 0-4-0 steam locomotive Dorchester (Robert Stephenson 127, 1835), which carried both governor-general Lord Gosford and Patriote rebel leader Louis-Joseph Papineau. The original Dorchester seems to have been scrapped, but a static replica is displayed at the entrance to the Exporail museum near Montréal and was covered in Christmas decorations when I visited last week. Compare her with the Camden & Amboy Railroad (USA) locomotive John Bull, also built by Robert Stephenson as an 0-4-0 before conversion to a 4-2-0 with cab and cowcatcher.

Description
The first railroad to operate in pre-confederation Lower Canada (now Québec Province) was the Champlain & St Lawrence Railroad financed by British-born beer (and other industries) tycoon John Molson. When it opened in 1836, the inaugural train was powered by 0-4-0 steam locomotive Dorchester (Robert Stephenson 127, 1835), which carried both governor-general Lord Gosford and Patriote rebel leader Louis-Joseph Papineau. The original Dorchester seems to have been scrapped, but a static replica is displayed at the entrance to the Exporail museum near Montréal and was covered in Christmas decorations when I visited last week. Compare her with the Camden & Amboy Railroad (USA) locomotive John Bull, also built by Robert Stephenson as an 0-4-0 before conversion to a 4-2-0 with cab and cowcatcher.