Adventures Along The Newfoundland Railway

After reading an article on the Newfoundland Railway in Railfan & Railroad magazine.....it piqued my interest to go and find whats left of the narrow gauge railway that was abandoned 25 years ago......and there's still a lot out there to see!

A little history: the railway was constructed beginning in the 1880s as a 3'-6" narrow gauge system as opposed to the 4'-8 1\2" standard gauge track on the mainland. Newfoundland was a separate British Colony and didn't become part of Canada until 1949. At that time, Canadian National Railways took over the system. The last passenger trains operated in 1969 and mixed passenger/freight trains lasted until 1988 when the railway was abandoned.

Living less than 2 hours from the ferry terminal in North Sydney, Nova Scotia......I could easily squeeze a Newfoundland trip into a long weekend......so Wednesday morning I went online and Marine Atlantic had space for my car on the Atlantic Vision to Argentia NL that evening. I would do the trip in a loop.....arriving in Argentia near the eastern end of the island....then driving 900 km west across Newfoundland to return on the ferry from Port aux Basques (Port oh Bask). The crossing to Argentia is a 14 hour mini cruise with cabins, buffet meals and entertainment.

Here’s a link to a map of my route. Google won’t display the ferry going over but is almost a straight line along the south coast between points “D” (North Sydney) & “A” (Argentia)

http://goo.gl/maps/hKdmw

Early the next morning Newfoundland came into view and it’s easy to see why it’s affectionately called “The Rock”......we docked near the former United States Naval Air Station at Argentia......passing the abandoned runway on the way in.

First sign of the old railway was at Placentia Jct where the branch to Argentia had met the mainline. It’s now preserved as the Newfoundland T’Railway Provincial Park........a hiking and biking trail 540 miles long by 100 ft wide!

http://gator756.hostgator.com/~trailway/about.php

At Whitburne I came across this equipment display along with the restored station



Then it was onto St. John’s, pop. 200,000, the provincial capital........ and a tour of the Railway & Coastal Museum in the former CN Station.

Behind the station and under the platform canopy, two old passenger cars have been placed.....



........and on the inside they’ve been opened up to portray train-travel across Newfoundland in the 1940s:

A mural in the Museum depicts the old RR Shops that still stand behind the Station Museum under a freeway overpass:





The “Coastal” aspect of the Museum tells the story of the Coastal Boats operated by the Railway that linked the isolated communities around the island that didn’t have access to the railway or highways. The boat schedules were listed in RR Timetables just like a branch line local but with stops at a wharf every few miles or so:

After the abandonment of the railway, much federal money was poured into highway construction. At St. John’s the most easterly section of freeway in North America ends and beyond that the most easterly point you can drive to at Cape Spear.





At Avondale there’s Trolley rides offered on a short section of track beside the station (now under restoration) along with a couple of cars.....one in the old CNR colours and the other in the original NFLD Railway paint scheme.

A slight detour off the highway took me into Harbour Grace where the “Kyle”, one of the old Coastal Boats is aground opposite the town’s heritage park near where Amelia Earhart set out on her transatlantic flight (not in that DC3 but in a Lockheed Vega)

Clarenville has a display of cars and locomotives. The narrow-gauge GMD NF-110s resemble standard-gauge GP9s





DRL acquired the CN Roadcruiser bus service which had replaced the narrow-gauge “Caribou” (aka the “Newfie Bullet”) passenger train in 1969. In Gander, the DRL Bus stops at the Airport for meals on its 14 hour cross-island run. The Caribou had taken 22 hours on the twisting narrow gauge track....hence the name “Bullet”...... but it had a full complement of coaches, sleepers, a diner and lounge.

Approaching Bishops Falls, a former railway divisional point where CN was once a major employer. Here, sadly the equipment on display has seen better days but the 100 year old RR Trestle is nicely restored:









At Howley (below) ......there’s an interesting old Drawbridge along the T’Railway:

Near Corner Brook the 4 lane Trans Canada Highway is now on part of the old RR right-of-way through the narrow Humber River gorge........ and just west of there, a section of track remains with more equipment on display.

At Stephenville, a section of the T’Railway is on a portion of the abandoned right-of-way into the former US Air Force Base at Harmon Field. The USAF operated their own narrow-gauge RR here, connecting with CN at Whites Road. Walk around town.....most streets are named for US States.

This is Wreck House (below) along the western coast where the tracks ran parallel to the Trans Canada Highway. Winds were known to come down out of the long range mountains here and blow trains of the track. There are still warning signs for trucks.

http://www.encounternewfoundland.com/where-the-wind-blows-wreckhouse-and-the-human-wind-gauge/



Now onto Port-aux-Basques...... Peel back that steel and glass on the Marine Atlantic Ferry Terminal and the old brick CN Station is still buried in there. At the back of the building where the tracks and platforms once were (where you boarded the “Newfie Bullet”) ......there’s now bus bays.

.......Then the 6-hour overnight crossing to Nova Scotia with an arrival back in North Sydney the next morning at sunrise alongside the Leif Ericson:

Great report!!

Enjoyed your report and great photos. A new place to visit our next trip to Canada. Thanks

Those GMD NF-110 and NF-210 Diesels might be Stuffed and Mounted now in Newfoundland but after the abandonment in 1988 several went to South America and are still operating.