NS VIA Fan
Conductor
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
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
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