Newfoundland Railway
The
Newfoundland Railway was a historic
railway that operated on the island of
Newfoundland and was the longest
narrow gauge railway system in North America.
In
1880, a committee of the Newfoundland legislature recommended that a narrow gauge railway be built from the colonial capital in
St. John's to
Halls Bay, 340 miles (547 km) to the west. Construction was started on the
Avalon Peninsula in August,
1881 by a group of investors and by
1884, the Newfoundland Railway Company had built 57 miles (92 km) west to
Whitbourne before the company went into receivership.
The same investors continued to build a 27-mile (43 km) branchline from Whitbourne to
Harbour Grace which was called the
Harbour Grace Railway, which was completed by October of that same year.
The colonial government undertook to build a branch from the junction at Whitbourne to the ports of
Placentia and
Argentia, which was done between
1886 and
1888.
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Newfoundland Railway Stamp |
The colonial government sought new investors to continue the stalled project to Halls Bay and in June,
1890,
Scottish-born Montreal resident and railway engineer/contractor
Robert Gillespie Reid agreed to build and operate the line. By
1892, Reid's workers were approaching the halfway point at the
Exploits River when the government changed the terminus from Halls Bay approximately 250 miles (400 km) further west, first to
St. George's Bay and finally to
Port aux Basques. The route itself was diverted inland up the Exploits valley and over the
Gaff Topsails (some of the highest elevation terrain on the island) and away from the coast once on the north bank of the Exploits River. This extension to the system was initially operated as the
Newfoundland Northern and Western Railway and for it, Reid was granted land totalling 5,000 acres per mile (13 km²/km).
The new line west to Port aux Basques was completed between
1894 and
1898. At the same time, Reid also proposed to operate a
ferry service across the
Cabot Strait from Port aux Basques to
North Sydney, Nova Scotia and contracted for a steamship to be built in
England. The
Bruce arrived in the fall of
1897, before the line was completed to Port aux Basques, so her initial runs to
Cape Breton Island were made from
Little Placentia. On
June 29,
1898 the first passenger train arrived at Port aux Basques and the
Bruce set sail with passengers for North Sydney.
Later that same year, the colonial government persuaded Reid's company to take over operation of the bankrupt Newfoundland Railway Company and its sister
Harbour Grace Railway, as well as the government-owned Placentia branch, in order to unify the system across the entire island (known as the
Railway Contract of '98). The Reid company agreed to operate the lines for 50 years, in exchange for outright ownership and land grants. They also purchased the government drydock in St. John's and the telegraph system. The Reid company purchased eight new steamships to operate as coastal ferries around the island and into
Labrador.
Controversy followed the awarding of so many assets to Reid and in
1901 the contracts were modified to place everything under a limited liability corporation named the Reid Newfoundland Company.
Reid's railway development in the colony began to attract attention to the potential of the island's natural resources. In
1903, the Reids partnered with a St. John's businessman, Harry J. Crowe, to purchase timber rights in
Botwood,
Norris Arm,
Gambo,
Gander Bay, and
Point Leamington. In
1904, British investors named Harmsworth declared their intention to build a
pulp and paper mill in
Grand Falls and on
January 7,
1905, the
Anglo Newfoundland Development Company (AND) was formed, based on a partnership between the Harmsworths, Reid and the colonial government. Botwood was expanded through the construction of deepwater wharves and warehouses for shipping the finished pulp. To link the two, AND built the narrow gauge
Botwood Railway (built to the same gauge as the Reid Newfoundland Company trackage) beginning in
1908 and completing it in
1909. It would later be renamed the
Grand Falls Central Railway.
Reid died in 1908 but his company set the pace for development in Newfoundland's interior mining and forestry industries, although the entire operation continued to suffer losses. In 1909 and into the
1910s, the colonial government contracted for additional branch lines to be built. Some of the major works included:
* a line to
Bonavista* a line to
Trepassey* extend the Harbour Grace line through
Carbonear to
Bay de Verde* several smaller branches, some of which were graded but rails were never installed
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Newfoundland Railway Station, St. John's |
By the early
1920s, the Reid Newfoundland Company's losses were mounting and in
1923 the colonial government passed the
Railway Settlement Act which cancelled the operating contract for the entire system, passing the railway into government control (a form of
nationalization). Some of the lands that had belonged to the Reid Newfoundland Company were used by the government as part of a deal to develop a pulp and paper mill in
Corner Brook.
The railway was initially called the
Newfoundland Government Railway but was soon shortened to the
Newfoundland Railway in
1926. It would remain the property of the colonial government until
Confederation on
March 31,
1949 when it was transferred to the federal government's
Canadian National Railway.
In
1925, the
American Smelting and Refining Company (ASARCO) perfected a method for recovering individual
metals in
ore and entered into partnership with AND to develop a
mine at
Buchans, which was connected to the Newfoundland Railway by the
Millertown Railway, also narrow gauge.
Although the railway saw an increase in traffic during the
First World War, it was the construction of the air force base adjacent to the mainline in
Gander as well as the construction of major American military bases in
Stephenville (
Ernest Harmon AFB),
Argentia (
Naval Station Argentia) and St. John's (Pepperell AFB) as well as Canadian and British defence facilities in St. John's which saw the Newfoundland Railway prove its worth as a strategic asset. Given the lack of roads and all-weather highways in Newfoundland during the 1940s, and the U-boat threat in the waters off-shore, the Newfoundland Railway became a vital, yet very obscure, supply link in the defence of the North Atlantic and the allied convoy system.
It was also during the war that the Newfoundland Railway would experience its most tragic loss when the ferry
Caribou was torpedoed and sunk 25 miles off Port aux Basques by German
submarine U-69 on
October 14,
1942. 137 passengers lost their lives and only 104 people survived the sinking; 2 having died after being rescued. In honour of the passengers and crew who were lost, the Newfoundland Railway Employees Association had the entire workforce forego a day's wages as a donation to a public campaign which saw a memorial built near the Port aux Basques railway terminal.
On
March 31,
1949 Newfoundland became the 10th province of Canada and the Newfoundland Railway's assets were transferred to the control of the federal
Crown corporation Canadian National Railways (CNR). CNR became a major presence in Newfoundland's early years as a province with the control of the railway, dry dock, many ferries and coastal boats, as well as the telegraph system resting with the company.
CNR made major capital improvements to the former Newfoundland Railway with upgrades to the mainline, bridges, rolling stock, and replacement of all steam locomotives with diesel units. Additional improvements were made to the ferry service with new vessels and an expanded terminal at Port aux Basques. An additional indirect service improvement to the Newfoundland railway operations was made in
1955 with the opening of the
Canso Causeway linking
Cape Breton Island with mainland North America and removing the need to ferry railcars destined for Newfoundland across the
Strait of Canso.
CN's (name/acronym change post-1960) Newfoundland operations continued to see significant traffic increases with its improved ferry and rail connections but soon faced increased truck and bus competition after the
Trans-Canada Highway was completed across the island in
1965. New
railcar capable ferries were introduced and mainland standard-gauge railcars started to show up in Newfoundland, only after their standard gauge wheels had been replaced with narrow gauge wheels in Port aux Basques, however even interchange traffic could not reverse the traffic declines. The first casualty was the passenger rail service which was abandoned in
1968 in favour of buses. CN even began to
demarket its own Newfoundland rail operations through the
1970s as it began to rely on trucks for hauling cargo.
In
1977, CN reorganized its narrow gauge system into
Terra Transport, as a means to separate the subsidy-dependent Newfoundland rail operations from its mainland North America core freight rail system. Containerization didn't change the continuing traffic declines and the closure of all branch lines by
1984 was a prelude to what would come. In
1987, Canada
deregulated its railway industry, allowing abandonments to proceed with less red tape. The former CN subsidiary
CN Marine was reorganized into
Marine Atlantic in
1986 and the railcar ferries were sold off, leaving the narrow gauge system with no interchange ability at Port aux Basques. In December,
1987 the provincial and federal governments signed a deal worth $800 million (CAD) for highway improvements, removing the provincial government's opposition to the pending abandonment of the railway. On
June 20,
1988 it was made official that the railway in Newfoundland would be officially abandoned on
September 1, 1988. Following abandonment, trains continued to operate until the snow fell, working with salvage crews to remove the rails from remote locations, particularly in the Gaff Topsails between the Exploits River and
Deer Lake, Newfoundland and Labrador. The last train operated in Newfoundland in November, 1988.
* The Newfoundland Railway station in St. John's today hosts the
Railway Coastal Museum.
* Numerous towns across the island have preserved railway equipment on display.
* The entire mainline and many branchlines are maintained as recreational trails - in fact they comprise the
T'Railway Provincial Park.
* Some of the rolling stock (but not engines) was sold to the
White Pass and Yukon Route railway, which coincidentally reopened for service in 1988; it was converted to a narrower gauge (36 inches); gravel cars used by WP&YR are still painted the CN orange; unconfirmed information indicates that some Newfoundland passenger cars were converted into passenger cars of vintage appearance for WP&YR
*The Trinity Loop Amusement Park operates a miniature train for tourists on Trinity Loop, one of the few remaining places on Newfoundland to still have tracks.
*Technically, the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador still has railway transportation, although it is not provided on the Island of Newfoundland. The
Quebec, North Shore, and Labrador Railway operates between
Sept-Iles, QC and the mining region of
Labrador West. A former QNSL line, now owned and operated by
Tshiuetin Rail Transportation serves the former mining town of
Schefferville, QC, passing through Labrador. QNSL also connects with Newfoundland and Labrador's other active railway, the
Wabush Lake Railway.
*
Terra Transport*
Newfoundland Railway - Newfoundland & Labrador Heritage*
Railway Society of Newfoundland - Maintains historic train display at Humbermouth in Corner Brook*
History of the railway in the village of Stephenville Crossing*
Photos of railway displays and memorabilia across the island
