In 1857, the Grand Trunk Railway wanted a bridge across the Niagara River from Victoria (Fort Erie) on the Canadian side to Black Rock (Buffalo) on the American. It was not until 1870 that a contract was awarded to Casimir Gzowski and DL MacPherson to build it. The single-track railway bridge opened on November 3, 1873 when the locomotive Scotia rumbled across. In 1900, the pedestrian walkway that was included originally was removed and replaced with a second railway track.