Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Schreiber, Collingwood

SCHREIBER, Collingwood, Canadian engineer, b. in Colchester, Essex, England, 14 Dec., 1831. He came to Canada in 1852, and was engaged on the engineering staff of the Hamilton and Toronto railway till its completion in 1856. He then engaged in private engineering in Toronto till 1860, when he entered the service of the Northern railway of Canada. In 1863 he was engaged by the government of Nova Scotia as division engineer on the Pictou railway, and he continued in this service till 1867, when the works were completed. In 1868 the Dominion government appointed him to take charge of the surveys in connection with the Intercolonial railway, of the route by the way of Lake Temisconata; and in 1869, as superintending engineer, he was placed in charge of the Eastern extension railway. In 1871 he was appointed superintending engineer and commissioner's agent for the entire length of the Intercolonial railway, which post he held till 1873, when he was made chief engineer of government railways in operation, and in 1880 he was also made chief engineer of the survey of the Canadian Pacific railway. In 1892 he was appointed chief engineer of railways and canals in Canada, and deputy minister of the same, which position he still holds.