Faced with their first real competition, the Northern chartered their own North Grey Railway on 15 February 1871, with plans to extend out of Collingwood to Meaford and authority to continue to Owen Sound. Construction between Collingwood and Meaford took place over the flat terrain between the Niagara Escarpment and the southern shore of Georgian Bay, and the line was completed on 1 April 1872. However, the expansion to Owen Sound was never completed; a combination of much more difficult terrain west of Meaford, the impending arrival of the TG&B, and demand for other expansions that were considered more important.