Newfoundland Railway

Newfoundland Railway

Overview
Headquarters	St. John's, Newfoundland
Reporting mark	NFLD
Locale	Newfoundland
Dates of operation	1898–1949 (merged into CN), abandoned 1988
Technical
Track gauge	3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)

The Newfoundland Railway was a railway which operated on the island of Newfoundland from 1898 to 1988. With a total track length of 906 miles (1,458 km), it was the longest 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) narrow-gauge railway system in North America.

Early construction

Newfoundland Railway map

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, 547 km (340 mi) to the west. Construction was started on the Avalon Peninsula in August 1881 by the Blackman Syndicate. By 1884, the Newfoundland Railway Company had built 92 km (57 mi) west to Whitbourne before going into receivership.

The bondholders of the bankrupt Newfoundland Railway Company continued to build a 43 km (27 mi) branch line from Brigus Junction to Harbour Grace (the Harbour Grace Railway), which was completed by November that year.

The colonial government undertook to build a branch from the junction at Whitbourne to the port of Placentia between 1886 and 1888.

Robert G. Reid

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 400 km (250 mi) further west, first to St. George's 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 13 km²/km (5,000 acres per mile).

The new line west to Port aux Basques was completed between 1894 and 1898. At the same time, Reid proposed 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 Scotland. 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 Sound. On 29 June 1898 the first passenger train arrived at Port aux Basques and the Bruce set sail with passengers for North Sydney.

Later that 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

Nationalization

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 dominion government until Confederation on April 1, 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 a 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) narrow gauge.

Wartime

Although the railway saw an increase in traffic during the First World War, it was extensive military-related construction in the late 1930s and early 1940s which proved the worth of the Newfoundland Railway as a strategic asset. An air force base was developed adjacent to the main line in Gander, and major American military bases were constructed in Stephenville (Ernest Harmon AFB), Argentia (NS Argentia) and St. John's (Pepperrell AFB), in addition to Canadian and British defence facilities in St. John's. 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.

The Second World War also saw the Newfoundland Railway experience its most tragic loss, when the ferry Caribou was torpedoed and sunk 40 km (25 miles) off Port aux Basques by the German submarine U-69 on October 14, 1942. 137 passengers lost their lives and only 104 people survived the sinking. In honour of the lost passengers and crew, the Newfoundland Railway Employees Association had the entire workforce forego a day's wages as a donation to a public campaign to build a memorial near the Port aux Basques railway terminal.

Canadian National

Newfoundland became the 10th province of Canada on March 31, 1949, and the Newfoundland Railway's assets were transferred to the control of the federal Crown corporation Canadian National Railway (CNR, CN post-1960). CN became a major presence in Newfoundland's early years as a province, controlling the railway, dry dock services, many ferries and coastal boats, and the telegraph system.

The Newfoundland Railway's premiere cross-island passenger train, The Overland Limited was renamed the Caribou by CN, although it was known colloquially as The Newfie Bullet. CN maintained the Caribou until 1969.

CN made major capital improvements, upgrading the main line, bridges, and rolling stock, and replacing 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 Newfoundland operations continued to see significant traffic increases with its improved ferry and rail connections, but faced increased truck and bus competition on completion of the Trans-Canada Highway across the island in 1965. New railcar-capable ferries were introduced; mainland standard-gauge railcars were ferried to Newfoundland, where their standard-gauge bogies were replaced with narrow-gauge bogies in Port aux Basques. This innovation was unsuccessful. The first casualty was the passenger rail service, which was abandoned in 1969 in favour of buses. CN began to demarket its own Newfoundland rail operations through the 1970s and began to rely on trucks for hauling cargo.

In 1979, 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. Rail cargo traffic continued to decline, and all branch lines on the island were closed in 1984. 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 one of the two railcar ferries was sold off, leaving the narrow-gauge system with limited interchange ability at Port aux Basques in its final two years. 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.

The railway was officially abandoned on October 1, 1988. Following abandonment, work trains continued to operate, assisting 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, prior to work trains removing rails, arrived from Port Aux Basques and departed Corner Brook eastbound on September 30 and arrived at Bishops Falls on the morning of October 1, 1988.

CN continued to operate its Roadcruiser Bus service and a CN Intermodal trucking operation in Newfoundland until 1996. With CN's privatization in late 1995, the company divested itself of all money-losing and most non-railroad interests, including CN Roadcruiser. Cross-island bus service was taken over by DRL Coachlines of Triton, Newfoundland on March 30, 1996. The CN Newfoundland trucking operation continued until Fall 1996, and was then contracted to Clarke Transport.

Legacy

The former Newfoundland Railway station in St. John's now hosts the Railway Coastal Museum. Numerous towns across the island have preserved railway equipment on display.

Lewisporte Train Park, Newfoundland, Canada

With few exceptions, the roadbed now forms the T'Railway Provincial Park rail trail. Until 2005, the Trinity Loop Amusement Park operated a miniature train, one of the few remaining places on Newfoundland with tracks still in place. The park closed down and was abandoned in 2005 due to lack of interest. Since then, all of the buildings have been heavily vandalized and Hurricane Igor washed away part of the park, including a large section of the rail bed. Local railway fans have been pushing government to retain the park as an historic site but officials have expressed little interest.

Some rolling stock was converted to a narrower gauge of 914 mm (3 ft) and sold to the White Pass & Yukon Route (WP&YR) railway, which reopened for service in 1988. Gravel cars used by WP&YR are still painted in CN orange; unconfirmed information indicates that some Newfoundland passenger cars were converted into passenger cars of vintage appearance for WP&YR.

The province of Newfoundland and Labrador still has railway transportation, although it is not provided on Newfoundland. The Quebec, North Shore & Labrador Railway (QNSL) operates between Sept-Îles, 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.

Locomotives

Number	Builder	Type	Date	Works number	Notes
1	Hawthorn Leslie and Company	0-6-0T	1881	1884	former Harbour Grace Railway #1 – sold 1898 to Botwood Railway
2–6	Hunslet Engine Company	4-4-0T	1872	85–89	former Harbour Grace Railway # 2–6 purchased from Prince Edward Island Railway in 1881 – scrapped 1889–1893
8–9	Baldwin Locomotive Works	2-4-2T	7/1893	13566–13567	former Newfoundland Northern and Western Railway # 8–9 – scrapped 1925 & 1934
10	Baldwin Locomotive Works	0-4-2T	3/1894	13968	former Newfoundland Northern and Western Railway # 10 – sold after 1900
20–22	Hawthorn Leslie and Company	2-6-0	1882	1885–1887	former Harbour Grace Railway # 7–9 – scrapped
23	Hawthorn Leslie and Company	2-6-2	1888	2061	former Harbour Grace Railway # 10 – scrapped
40	Baldwin Locomotive Works	4-4-0	6/1893	13518	former Newfoundland Northern and Western Railway # 7 – scrapped
41	Baldwin Locomotive Works	4-4-0	5/1891	11851	former Newfoundland Northern and Western Railway # 3 – scrapped
42	Baldwin Locomotive Works	4-4-0	7/1891	12100	former Newfoundland Northern and Western Railway # 5 – scrapped
43	Baldwin Locomotive Works	4-4-0	1889	10135	former Newfoundland Northern and Western Railway # 2 – sold 1918 to Botwood Railway
60	Baldwin Locomotive Works	2-6-0	5/1891	11859	former Newfoundland Northern and Western Railway # 4 – scrapped
61	Baldwin Locomotive Works	2-6-0	6/1893	13519	former Newfoundland Northern and Western Railway # 6 – scrapped
63	Baldwin Locomotive Works	2-6-0	3/1894	13976	former Newfoundland Northern and Western Railway # 11 – scrapped
100	Baldwin Locomotive Works	4-6-0	10/1898	16244	Renumbered # 1 in 1925 and assigned as the Saint Johns shunter until scrapped 6/1939
101	Baldwin Locomotive Works	4-6-0	10/1898	16245	Scrapped
102	Baldwin Locomotive Works	4-6-0	4/1897	15309	former Newfoundland Northern and Western Railway # 13 – scrapped
103	Baldwin Locomotive Works	4-6-0	10/1898	16271	Scrapped
104	Baldwin Locomotive Works	4-6-0	10/1898	16272	Scrapped
105	Baldwin Locomotive Works	4-6-0	4/1897	15308	former Newfoundland Northern and Western Railway # 12 – scrapped
106	Baldwin Locomotive Works	4-6-0	2/1900	17511	Scrapped
107	Baldwin Locomotive Works	4-6-0	6/1900	17832	Scrapped 1939
108	Baldwin Locomotive Works	4-6-0	6/1900	17837	Scrapped
109–110	Baldwin Locomotive Works	4-6-0	1/1908	32576–32577	Scrapped 1939
111–112	Reid-Newfoundland Company Shops	4-6-0	1911	1–2	Scrapped
113–114	Reid-Newfoundland Company Shops	4-6-0	1912	3–4	Renumbered CNR class F-3-a # 15–16 – scrapped 12/1951
115–116	Reid-Newfoundland Company Shops	4-6-0	1913	5–6	Scrapped 1938
117	Reid-Newfoundland Company Shops	4-6-0	1914	7	Renumbered CNR class F-3-a # 17 – scrapped 7/1953
118	Reid-Newfoundland Company Shops	4-6-0	1914	8	Scrapped 1938
119–120	Reid-Newfoundland Company Shops	4-6-0	1915	9–10	Scrapped
121	Baldwin Locomotive Works	4-6-0	10/1917	46636	Scrapped 1938
122	Baldwin Locomotive Works	4-6-0	10/1917	46637	Renumbered CNR class F-3-a # 18 – scrapped 7/1953
123	Baldwin Locomotive Works	4-6-0	10/1917	46638	Scrapped 1939
124	Baldwin Locomotive Works	4-6-0	10/1917	46691	Scrapped
125	Baldwin Locomotive Works	4-6-0	2/1900	17510	Scrapped 1939
150	Baldwin Locomotive Works	2-8-0	2/1903	21597	Scrapped 1934
151	Baldwin Locomotive Works	2-8-0	2/1903	21598	Scrapped
152	Reid-Newfoundland Company Shops	2-8-0	1916	11	Renumbered CNR class L-5-a # 280 – scrapped 4/1955
153	Reid-Newfoundland Company Shops	2-8-0	1916	12	Scrapped
190–195	Baldwin Locomotive Works	4-6-2	1920	54398–54401 & 54466–54467	Renumbered CNR class J-8-a # 590–595 – # 593 preserved and remainder scrapped 1957–1958
196	Baldwin Locomotive Works	4-6-2	1926	59531	Renumbered CNR class J-8-b # 596 – scrapped 3/1957
197	Montreal Locomotive Works	4-6-2	1926	67129	Renumbered CNR class J-8-b # 597 – scrapped 4/1957
198–199	American Locomotive Company	4-6-2	1929	67941–67942	Renumbered CNR class J-8-c # 598–599 – sold 3/1957 to Botwood Railway
1000–1001	American Locomotive Company	2-8-2	1930	68400–68401	Renumbered CNR class R-2-a # 300–301 – scrapped 1957
1002–1003	North British Locomotive Company	2-8-2	1935	24297–24298	Renumbered CNR class R-2-b # 302–303 – scrapped 1957
1004	North British Locomotive Company	2-8-2	1937	24436	Renumbered CNR class R-2-b # 304 – scrapped 3/1957
1005–1006	North British Locomotive Company	2-8-2	1938	24521–24522	Renumbered CNR class R-2-b # 305–306 – scrapped 1957
1007	Montreal Locomotive Works	2-8-2	1941	24667	Renumbered CNR class R-2-c # 308 Only this unit and 1008 did not keep their same last digits when renumbered by CN into the 300 series. Possibly done to keep MLW/ALCo units in one class and North British built units in another class – scrapped 5/1957
1008	North British Locomotive Company	2-8-2	1941	69444	Renumbered CNR class R-2-b # 307 Only this unit and 1007 did not keep their same last digits when renumbered by CN into the 300 series. Possibly done to keep MLW/ALCo units in one class and North British built units in another class – sold 4/1957 to Botwood Railway
1009–1013	American Locomotive Company	2-8-2	1941	69736	Renumbered CNR class R-2-c # 309–313 – scrapped 1957
1014–1015	Montreal Locomotive Works	2-8-2	1941	69695–69696	Renumbered CNR class R-2-c # 314–315 – scrapped 1957
1016–1019	American Locomotive Company	2-8-2	1944	71963–71966	Renumbered CNR class R-2-c # 316–319 – scrapped 1957
1020–1023	Montreal Locomotive Works	2-8-2	1947	75635–75638	Renumbered CNR class R-2-d # 320–323 – scrapped 1957
1024	Montreal Locomotive Works	2-8-2	1949	76333	Renumbered CNR class R-2-d # 324 – scrapped 8/1957
1025–1029	Montreal Locomotive Works	2-8-2	1949	76424–76428	Renumbered CNR class R-2-d # 325–329 – # 327 sold to Botwood Railway and remainder scrapped in 1957
5000–5002	General Electric	B+B	1948	29722–29724	Narrow gauge version of GE 44-ton switcher. Renumbered CNR class ES-4-a # 775–777 – sold 1968 to Northern Railway of Costa Rica
800–805	General Motors Diesel	A1A-A1A	1956	A923–A928	GMD G8. CNR class GR-9-b
900–902	General Motors Diesel	C-C	1952	A303–305	GMD NF110. CNR class Y-4-a then GR-12-a
903–908	General Motors Diesel	C-C	1953	A435–A440	GMD NF110. CNR class Y-4-b then GR-12-b
909–934	General Motors Diesel	C-C	1956	A897–A922	GMD NF210. CNR class GR-12-g # 912 & # 920 wrecked 9/1966, # 910, #911, #915, #916, #918, #921, #926, #928 & #929 sold to FCAB, Chile, #933 sold to Sociedad Química y Minera, Chile
935–937	General Motors Diesel	C-C	1958	A1450–A1452	GMD NF210. CNR class GR-12-p #936 sold 1988 to FCAB, Chile, #937 sold to SQM, 1989 passed to FCAB
938–946	General Motors Diesel	C-C	1960	A1834–A1842	GMD NF210. CNR class GR-12-x all sold to FCP and passed 1994 to FCAB, Chile

See also

• Bogie exchange
• Newfoundland T'Railway
• Terra Transport
• Sakhalin Railway: The railway which was in similar situation (until 2019) and remote location.

Further reading

• Harding, Les. The Newfoundland Railway, 1898–1969. A History. [1] McFarland, 2008. ISBN 978-0-7864-3261-5

External links

• Newfoundland Railway - Newfoundland & Labrador Heritage
• History of the railway in the village of Stephenville Crossing
• Photos of railway displays and memorabilia across the island
• Railway-Coastal Museum
• Exploring the Newfoundland Railway: Virtual Museum of Canada Exhibit