The Bay of Quinte Railway, originally an 1881 Deseronto, Ontario short line and later a successor to the 1879 Napanee, Tamworth and Quebec Railway, formed part of Edward Rathbun's Bay of Quinte Railway and Navigation Company which served the family's local milling and shipping empire. Initially constructed to bring timber from inland locations to ships in Deseronto, it was acquired by the Canadian Northern Railway in 1910 for inclusion in that company's Ottawa-Toronto mainline. That line was built through Smiths Falls and Sydenham, incorporating the existing BQR track from Sydenham to Napanee-Deseronto, then continued westward through Trenton to Toronto.