Welland Canal Port Maitland. With the opening of the extension, the canal stretched between the two lakes, with 40 wooden locks. The minimum lock size was , with a minimum canal depth of . Deterioration of the wood used in the 40 locks and the increasing size of ships led to demand for the Second Welland Canal, which used cut stone locks, within just a few years. In 1839 the government of Upper Canada approved the purchase of shares in the private canal company in response to the company's continuing financial problems in the face of the continental financial panic of 1837.
Welland Canal, Bridge 15 combined with the fact that the narrow, curving section of canal through Welland had no less than a total of six bridge crossings in just a few miles, led to the decision to inaugurate the Welland Canal Relocation Project. With the first sod turned in 1967, this project would relocate the canal to a much straighter alignment with no bridges about 2 km east of bridge 15. This route of the new canal would sever the CASO line. As part of the relocation project, this line, as well and the Canadian National Cayuga Subdivision, were rerouted through the new Townline