Abandoned Newfoundland Railway

anybody out there interested in exploring what remains of the old newfoundland railway??

I would like to know the main reasons why the railroad was abandoned in NL?

vo1mds, I'm from PAB area...living over in Halifax now. I'd love to explore with ya, but I'm afraid I have no time.

It sure would be nice to see a little short line start back up on the island.

Also there is a pretty active group on Yahoo dedicated to the history of the NF rr:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Nfld_Rwy/

hello,sorry about the delay,been rather busy with work.

anyway it would certinaly be nice to see some sort of short line return to newfoundland,but the chances of that ever happening is rather dull.

with the un-slot of transport trucks taking the advantage here on the highways,and the money the railway lost here in operating expence,it's a wonder the railway lasted as long as it did.

i am 32years old,and i do remember the railway,not too much,but i did travel on a train trip while going too Davis elementry school,we traveled a short distance between carbonear and bay roberts,about a one hour trip by train,and less than 20min by car.
it was nice.
i also remember seeing the trains pass by,and i do remember seeing the very last train leave carbonear. it was a sad day indeed.
some day maybe we might get another railway,but that hopeful thinking,i have my own website built,and i am always on the look out for railcars,or old branch lines that were abandoned in the 1930's.
my main interest branch lines right now are the branch line too hearts content trinity bay, also the branch line to trepassy,on newfoundland's southern shore.
the website address is located at: http://vo1mds.tripod.com

thanks for the yahoo groups link,and i hope you like my website.

all the best and take care. VO1MDS

tia wrote:I would like to know the main reasons why the railroad was abandoned in NL?

The road had too many grades (3%) and curves(14') and a government that wanted to eradicate it, didn't help it either. A group of us on the yahoo group are planning on doing something in the near future.

Also, it was a narrow gauge and the cars could not be used on the mainland.

Fred Rabin wrote:Also, it was a narrow gauge and the cars could not be used on the mainland.

They could be. There was a facility in P.A.B. that switched trucks over narrow gauge and back again.

Well since april,2007 i have been exploring what remains of the old souther shore railway R.O.W. between St.johns and Trepassy newfoundland,so far i have explored the sections between old petty harbour road in the goulds,too bay bulls bigpond.
a few artifacts have already been found,including two spikes,two bolts and one nut.
for the rest of this summer,every weekend i well be exploring more and more of what is left of the southern shore railway.
this railway line was built in 1917,and was closed in 1931.

if your interested in seeing some pics i have so far here's the link:
http://vo1mds.tripod.com/id6.html
expect this webpage too grow as the summer goes on.

PS:
on another note,not railway related,im also very interested in the history of newfoundland,and i have been exploring parts of newfoundland for some time now,including old military instilations,here's another link if your interested:
http://nfldexplorer0.tripod.com/

Great website vo1mds. I've been trying to make a similar site on CN's Vancouver Island operations on the other side of the country.
http://www.geocities.com/enrailway

Stupid question!!!
Is there any tracks left at ST Johns RR station or is there still some local RR freight activities (harbor!)
If not, what's on the big yard now?
thanks

Is there any tracks left at ST Johns RR station or is there still some local RR freight activities (harbor!)
If not, what's on the big yard now?

answer too your question: NO
unfortunely there is no tracks at or near the railway station in st.johns,all that remains at the site is a BIG useless parking lot for holding new vars and trucks,also seen flatbed container's parked at this location.

Although there is talk of moveing the train display in Bowing Park down too the train station downtown.
the ONLY operating section of original line left and semi-operating is located in avondale NL.
There is a small tourist train operating during the summer months,but it is just a little kiddie type of train pulled by a Speeder.

great little run.

Bonavista also had a train running on the trinity loop,but it think this park has since closed. NOT SURE..dont quote me.

Sorry to hear that nothing is running up on the rock anymore... I had the pleasure of taking my goldwing up there a couple years back and rode over to St. Johns area and back... it has to be one of my favorite places I have ever visited and would go back in a heartbeat if I had the time...

Howdy folks,well Saturday past,we finally arrived in the community of Trepassy,and the end of line for this branchline,which has been closed since 1932,not much remains,but what does remain is the breath takeing scenery of the south coast Avalon Penn. of Newfoundland,many spikes,bolts and nuts have been uncovered,including glass insulators from the telegraph line.
We have not found any rail lengths as of yet,with my website still growing,i have one link too a section of the website devoted too our exploration of this railway line,if your interested here's the link:
http://vo1mds.tripod.com/id42.html

anyway,has been a blast from the past,thats for darn sure.
we are actively trying too explore a newly found section of railway line which we did not see previously on our searches with GOOGLE EARTH,this section runs between Baybulls road,Old baybulls road,and Pitts memorial drive,and hooking up with the main line at the intersection of old bay road and southside road in st.johns.
we well be exploring this area over the weekend,and hopefully put too rest, as to how the trepassy railway switched into the main line of the newfoundland railway,which crosses the whole of Newfoundland.

Been a blast,but the adventure is far from over...LOL

all the best folks. Darrell

Very nice website you have there. I've never been to Canada however the Narrow gauge line there always interested me. Here's a list of equipment I made. I'm not sure how much of this is still currently around still.

Steam
593 4-6-2 Humber Mouth Yard, Corner Brook


Diesel

802 Trinity Loop
803 Carbonear

900 Clarenville (from St Johns)
902 Lewisporte
906 Bowering Park, St Johns
924 Bishop Falls
925 Avondale
931 Corner Brook
932 Bonavista
934 Port aux Basques
940 Whitbourne


Passenger Equipment
Dining Car 10 Humber Mouth
Dining Car 176 Clarenville
Dining Car ? Trinity Loop
Dining Car ? Bonavista
Coach 758 Humber Mouth
Coach MW5019 Avondale
Coach ? Bishop Falls
Coach ? Bonavista & Carbonear
Coach 764 Lewisporte
Coach ? St Johns
Sleeper/Obs “Fogo” St Johns Scrapped?
Coach ? Whitbourne
Baggage Car MW 5015 Avondale
Baggage Car 1600 Humber Mouth
Baggage Car 1301 St Johns
Baggage Car ? Whitbourne
Baggage Car 220 Port aux Basques
Baggage Car 223 Port aux Basques
Sleeper “Twillingate” Humber Mouth
Sleeper Port aux Basques Ex “Clarionville”
RPO St Johns
RPO St Johns
RPO/Baggage 232 ?
Business Car/Obs “Terre Nova II” Trinity Loop (Part of Pub)


Freight Cars
Flat Car ? Bonavista
Flat Car ? St Johns
Flat Car ? St Johns
Boxcar ? Trinity Loop ( Part of Pub)
Boxcar 1598 Humber Mouth
Boxcar ? Port aux basques
Tankcar ? Port aux Basques
Tankcar ? Port aux Basques
Multiple Boxcars Bishop Falls

Multiple Hopperssold to White Pass & Yukon RR
Hopper ? White Pass 641
Hopper ? White Pass 647
Cabooses
? Claronville
? Whitbourne
? St Johns
? Bishop Falls
6049 ?
6054 ?
6059 Avondale
6060 Bonavista
6064 Trinity Loop
6065 ?
6069 Lewisporte
6070 Port aux Basques
6072 Humber Mouth

MOW equipment
Snow Plows
? Whitbourne
3454 Bishop Falls
3460 Humber Mouth
3462? Lewisporte
3465 Avondale
3467 Port aux Basques
Speeder ? Humber Mouth
Ballast Car 15007 Humber Mouth

PRRGuy wrote:.....the Narrow gauge line there always interested me. Here's a list of equipment I made. I'm not sure how much of this is still currently around still.

Steam
593 4-6-2 Humber Mouth Yard, Corner Brook .......

Here's a couple of links to info on the Newfoundland Railway I've posted on Railroad.Net (along with links to photos):

NS VIA FAN wrote:I was in Newfoundland last weekend and yes, there’s lots remaining of the old railway. Here’s a link to some pictures I took:

http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrowse. ... id=1442804

Photos #1 & #2 show the Ferry dock and old standard gauge yard at Port aux Basque. Truck trailers are now parked in the yard but you can see where the tracks have been paved over. Photo #3 is the old CN shop where mainland (standard gauge) cars had there wheels changed out for narrow gauge ones and left the other end of the shops on 3'-6" tracks.

Photos #4 & #5 show a display of preserved equipment at Port aux Basque. Engine 934 was never lettered “Newfoundland Railway” but wore a similar CNR green paint scheme when it first entered service in the 1950's. (CN had already taken over the railway when Newfoundland joined Canada in 1949)

Photos #6, #7 & #8 show some of the equipment on display in Corner Brook (some of the old station platform is still visible in #7) Again a play on paint schemes: the cars are in the modern CN scheme they wore at the end of the passenger service, but have a “NFLD Rwy” logo instead of the CN logo they actually wore. (And they were never hauled by steam in this paint scheme) The car interiors are nicely restored!

Photo #9 is the former CN engine terminal in Corner Brook.

NS VIA FAN wrote:The US Air Force built a 7 mile narrow gauge railway to connect Harmon AFB in Stephenville, Newfoundland with the Newfoundland Railway (later CNR) narrow gauge system at White’s Road.

I checked out what remains of the old railway last weekend and there’s still lots of evidence. It’s now a hiking/biking trail.

Here’s a link to some photos:

http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrowse. ... id=1447750

Photo #1: White’s Road near where the USAF RR connected with the CNR.

Photos #2, #3, & #4: The railway ran into the base through some backyards, across the base access road then along a causeway to the hangers in the distance.

Photo #5: The abandoned CN narrow gauge bridge at Stephenville Crossing.