From Corner Brook. We still have a section of track for the railway museum here. I’m 42 and can still remember when there were trains in Newfoundland, my grandfather who worked for CN took me on the last run on the west coast in 1988.
I’m glad this came across my feed, it’s nice to see something like this, from my home. I was born about 15 years after the railway closed, so I never got to see any of it in person. It’s a shame so little of it left, considering how big it was. Especially with the highway, nobody seemed to care. And with money always being rather tight, I can’t really be surprised. Double so considering the isolation we’ve got from everywhere, even now a days It’s nice hearing a first hand account of what it was like. I have a few books on it, but reading doesn’t have the same feeling as hearing from someone’s mouth
Hopefully anyone that is interested in the Newfoundland railway system sees this. Very good documentation. The Trinity Train Loop was turned into an amusement park with a train ride but shutdown in 2004.
Boy...that takes me back...I loved the trains growing up in Newfoundland and loved it even more when I learned about the people who worked on the railway. They were the very best. Thank you for your presentation! It's beautiful.
I was in Cornerbrook 40 years ago and was part of the Kruger Inc. acquisition team when we bought the Bowater mill (It's still operating by the way, but only 1 of 4 paper machines). We were there in the fall of 1984 and early 1985 and it was really neat to watch the train going through that area. My wife and I went back to Newfoundland two months ago and I tried finding where the original right of way was around Cornerbrook. Other than the little museum there's nothing really left to tell you there was a railway; kind of sad. In other parts, notably south of Cornerbrook, the right of way seems to be largely used by ATVs. On our way from Codroy back towards Port au Basque, the Waze navigator tried to get us to cross on the railway bridge...no way I was going to try that with a camper! Further towards Port au Basque, between Cape Ray and Osmond, the right of way was right up on the beach at the water line. All that's left now are a bunch of rails driven vertically into the sand that were probably part of a breakwater to protect the rail line. Yup, sad to see the ruins. Thanks for posting guys!
Been there done that . I remember the train getting stuck on a steep hill between Cornerbrook and Steadybrook on a regular basis. I was on the passenger train's final trip before it shut down . It still ran freight for a couple of more years .
At 41:49, we see the mountain close to Gaff Topsail. At that barren location in the middle of nowhere, a gentleman was paid for decades to go there and call if weather conditions were good enough to let a train pass in winter. Very high wind and deep snowfall have trapped trains there more than once. It´s too bad i´ve never been on the island while train was still running. Too young. As long as it was a government railway it could survived, but everything was old. 30 years old locomotives in salty climate, harsh winters.... Too bad there was quite interesting pieces of equipment down there. The Newfie Bullet finally hits its bullet. Thanks for the document, and forty years old inhabitants have never seen a train in their life, just lissened old tales...
The man you're speaking of is Lauchie MacDougall from Wreckhouse which is in the wind warning area near Port aux Basques. Lauchie could sense when a high wind was on the way and was hired by the railway to inform them. On one or two occasions, CN cleared trains to go regardless of Lauchie calling because it was a beautiful day in Corner Brook or Port aux Basques. They ended up on their side when the train got to Wreckhouse due to the wind, obviously. Lauchie passed away in 1965 but his wife carried it on until 1972. The Gaff Topsails aka "the Hill" was a place between Howley and Millertown Jct. The most problematic spot on the railway due to snow drifts up over 10 feet high and still having snow as late as May. Three hills are the Topsails, there's fore, main and mizzen Topsail to refer to a ship. The ball shaped hill is main, the one to the right of it is fore.
Thanks a lot for upgrading my memory. It was exactly about that gentleman i was thinking. I´ve never been there, but if winter was really harsh for the railroad, even more for their employees , i understand the run took too much time. Not sure if truck winter driving is faster. And since road is parallel to the railway, if train get stuck, on the road it should have been worst. I had great pleasure following most of the tracks via Google Earth. Some stations became museum with a locomotive, caboose etc.... but the main problem is close to the coast with salty air and never moving equipment. They´ll rust so fast. East of Bathurst NB when track to Caraquet and Shippagan was removed, they left a caboose, 2 or 3 boxcars and a 1919 old clerestory roof coach. That poor car rotten so fast...and everything was scrapped. Too bad there is just few hundred feet of track here and there. Nothing will ever move again, except for scrap. The longest part like they said in the document was where the train track passed over itself. An amusement park was created with some passengers cars, caboose and speeder ride was done. Then bad weather, some washouts and park closed. Equipment being vandalised, and so close the last alive part of Newfounland railway. Accounting management saw old tiny rails, 30 years old specific locomotives that had ultimately to be replaced, too much manpower and stations on old rules with declining trafic. Closure was just ahead. Not to mention labor and time for swapping trucks and ship navigation. So why they went to Terra is a good question. Did they really try ? I´ve some doubt. Probably more a marketing political gimmick.... Well one of their locomotive ended up on the continent. 805 and some cars are preserved at Exporail, in St Constant QC south of Montréal on a small lenght of track. Don´t know if those "preserved" are complete or just empty hood ? Neighbor on PEI island with sneaky track fell also. 2 provinces without train service.
In 1989 I visited Newfoundland. I took the ferry from Nova Scotia to Port Aux Basques , Newfoundland. There was still some trackage that was intact along with some rolling stock. It was a sad sight to see the railway being shut down.
Some great photos in the video. A couple of clarifications. The end cab locomotives you identified as G8's are actually the NF-110 (900 - 908) and NF-210 (909 - 946). The G8 model was slightly smaller with a short hood behind the cab. The G8's were numbered 800 - 805. These were mainly used on the branchlines due to being lighter than the 900 classes. Also the photo of the ferry with the strapped down letter "A" would've been the ships name and not CN Marine. This was either the "Marine Atlantica" or sister "Marine Nautica". This would be a light up sign with the ships name on it that lit up at night. These were under a long term bare boat charter to CN from Stena Line. Its possible the "A" got damaged in a storm and was strapped from falling off completely.
Some track still in place in St.John's at the Dockyard, Avondale, Carbonear, Clarenville, Bonavista, Clarkes beach, Bishops falls, Humbermouth, Port-aux-basque, most short lengths of track has rolling stock stored as museums. Of note, Avondale and Clarenville still have active rail in terms of Heritage society tourism runs. Avondale has about 3km of track in use, Clarenville has roughly 1km of track in use. These are no means commercial.
We had a cabin right at Placentia junction. Right where the track split. Do you have any more photos from there you didn't use? Thanks for the great video.
What a fantastic video of the Newfoundland Railways of the past, something Canadians growing-up in the 60s and 70s never heard about. I was not aware of the Newfie Bullet nor the Narrow Gauge railway even existed. I'm curious to know whatever happened to all of the CN narrow gauge rolling-stock. Does the US Air Force Base still exist in Newfoundland?
No, Harman AFB hasn’t existed at least since the end of the Cold War. Some buildings still there, barracks, base HQ, hangars, etc., abandoned or repurposed. Stephenville (the town adjacent) airport used some of the paved bits and was still there last I checked. Search Harman AFB on UA-cam or Google. Some former US airmen present pictures and recollections therein. In the 1990’s when last I lived in NFLD there were air shows at Stephenville featuring CDN and American civilian and military planes. There was still a big globe and F106 “jet-sickle” in front of the HQ bldg , maybe still there. Always impressed me, the post-war global American military presence, ready to take on “Ivan “ in all corners if “the balloon went up”.
@@aeyb701It was Harmon AFB, closed in December 1966, 25 years before the Cold War ended. There was a US base in Goose Bay, Labrador (Goose AFB) that closed in 1976, a Naval Base at Argentia that closed in 1994, and AFB/Fort Pepperrell located in St. John’s that closed in 1961
Do you know remember where the quarry line was? I'm trying to figure it out. The angle of the picture makes it look like Seal Cove but thats the east coast. Maybe Robinsons or Stephenville Crossing?
Now called Newfoundland T’railway. The railroad is now a major trail network. The track should have been English standard and would have still be around today… the purpose of the narrow line years ago was to save money and ease of building through winding hills etc. You sir are very lucky to have experienced this railroad. Today I believe not having a train has plagued our economy. Thanks for the video of my little province
A company in New Zealand makes models of the G8s. The 900s(nf-110 and 210) are usually kitbashed. S-gauge equipment used on HO track is supposed to mimic 42'.
@@skeezix91Ha, your comment beat me to it! HO track would be approximately S-scale 42-inch gauge. Just gonna say There’s an article in a 1990’s Canadian Railway Modeller, in which the author describes scratch building an s-scale CN/TT GMD NF 110 or -210 shell on an HO athearn drive. Correct me please.
The Newfoundland Railway bed became the Newfoundland Trailway. ATVs and Snow Machines use it as a second highway and tours from those who "Come from Away" are common!
Though from Ontario I totally 'despise' CN to this very day for what they did to Newfoundland and closer to me in the Algoma Central Railway, I will never be a fan of this Quebec based criminal enterprise...that's a FACT!
From Corner Brook. We still have a section of track for the railway museum here. I’m 42 and can still remember when there were trains in Newfoundland, my grandfather who worked for CN took me on the last run on the west coast in 1988.
I was at that location last year
I’m glad this came across my feed, it’s nice to see something like this, from my home.
I was born about 15 years after the railway closed, so I never got to see any of it in person. It’s a shame so little of it left, considering how big it was. Especially with the highway, nobody seemed to care. And with money always being rather tight, I can’t really be surprised. Double so considering the isolation we’ve got from everywhere, even now a days
It’s nice hearing a first hand account of what it was like. I have a few books on it, but reading doesn’t have the same feeling as hearing from someone’s mouth
Hopefully anyone that is interested in the Newfoundland railway system sees this. Very good documentation. The Trinity Train Loop was turned into an amusement park with a train ride but shutdown in 2004.
Boy...that takes me back...I loved the trains growing up in Newfoundland and loved it even more when I learned about the people who worked on the railway. They were the very best. Thank you for your presentation! It's beautiful.
I was in Cornerbrook 40 years ago and was part of the Kruger Inc. acquisition team when we bought the Bowater mill (It's still operating by the way, but only 1 of 4 paper machines). We were there in the fall of 1984 and early 1985 and it was really neat to watch the train going through that area.
My wife and I went back to Newfoundland two months ago and I tried finding where the original right of way was around Cornerbrook. Other than the little museum there's nothing really left to tell you there was a railway; kind of sad. In other parts, notably south of Cornerbrook, the right of way seems to be largely used by ATVs. On our way from Codroy back towards Port au Basque, the Waze navigator tried to get us to cross on the railway bridge...no way I was going to try that with a camper! Further towards Port au Basque, between Cape Ray and Osmond, the right of way was right up on the beach at the water line. All that's left now are a bunch of rails driven vertically into the sand that were probably part of a breakwater to protect the rail line. Yup, sad to see the ruins. Thanks for posting guys!
Great chat and pictures.
Great slideshow, thanks for sharing! 👍
The old track is now mostly a maintained trail for hiking, ATVs, etc.
Awesome slideshow, thank you for this! 🙂
A Really Great video and piece of Newfoundland / Rail Road History. Thank you for posting it.
Amazing pictures and history.
great to see this I remember this as I was there in the 60's
I'll watch anything with Skunk Stripe passenger cars in it 😊 Awesome video you should be proud!
Been there done that . I remember the train getting stuck on a steep hill between Cornerbrook and Steadybrook on a regular basis. I was on the passenger train's final trip before it shut down . It still ran freight for a couple of more years .
At 41:49, we see the mountain close to Gaff Topsail. At that barren location in the middle of nowhere, a gentleman was paid for decades to go there and call if weather conditions were good enough to let a train pass in winter. Very high wind and deep snowfall have trapped trains there more than once.
It´s too bad i´ve never been on the island while train was still running. Too young. As long as it was a government railway it could survived, but everything was old. 30 years old locomotives in salty climate, harsh winters....
Too bad there was quite interesting pieces of equipment down there. The Newfie Bullet finally hits its bullet. Thanks for the document, and forty years old inhabitants have never seen a train in their life, just lissened old tales...
The man you're speaking of is Lauchie MacDougall from Wreckhouse which is in the wind warning area near Port aux Basques. Lauchie could sense when a high wind was on the way and was hired by the railway to inform them. On one or two occasions, CN cleared trains to go regardless of Lauchie calling because it was a beautiful day in Corner Brook or Port aux Basques. They ended up on their side when the train got to Wreckhouse due to the wind, obviously. Lauchie passed away in 1965 but his wife carried it on until 1972.
The Gaff Topsails aka "the Hill" was a place between Howley and Millertown Jct. The most problematic spot on the railway due to snow drifts up over 10 feet high and still having snow as late as May. Three hills are the Topsails, there's fore, main and mizzen Topsail to refer to a ship. The ball shaped hill is main, the one to the right of it is fore.
Thanks a lot for upgrading my memory. It was exactly about that gentleman i was thinking.
I´ve never been there, but if winter was really harsh for the railroad, even more for their employees , i understand the run took too much time. Not sure if truck winter driving is faster. And since road is parallel to the railway, if train get stuck, on the road it should have been worst.
I had great pleasure following most of the tracks via Google Earth. Some stations became museum with a locomotive, caboose etc.... but the main problem is close to the coast with salty air and never moving equipment. They´ll rust so fast. East of Bathurst NB when track to Caraquet and Shippagan was removed, they left a caboose, 2 or 3 boxcars and a 1919 old clerestory roof coach. That poor car rotten so fast...and everything was scrapped. Too bad there is just few hundred feet of track here and there. Nothing will ever move again, except for scrap. The longest part like they said in the document was where the train track passed over itself. An amusement park was created with some passengers cars, caboose and speeder ride was done. Then bad weather, some washouts and park closed. Equipment being vandalised, and so close the last alive part of Newfounland railway.
Accounting management saw old tiny rails, 30 years old specific locomotives that had ultimately to be replaced, too much manpower and stations on old rules with declining trafic. Closure was just ahead. Not to mention labor and time for swapping trucks and ship navigation. So why they went to Terra is a good question. Did they really try ? I´ve some doubt. Probably more a marketing political gimmick....
Well one of their locomotive ended up on the continent. 805 and some cars are preserved at Exporail, in St Constant QC south of Montréal on a small lenght of track.
Don´t know if those "preserved" are complete or just empty hood ?
Neighbor on PEI island with sneaky track fell also. 2 provinces without train service.
In 1989 I visited Newfoundland. I took the ferry from Nova Scotia to Port Aux Basques , Newfoundland. There was still some trackage that was intact along with some rolling stock. It was a sad sight to see the railway being shut down.
Gander was the airfield where the B17s, B24s, Hudsons , etc. left for Europe. For a while it was one of the largest airfields in the world.
Some great photos in the video. A couple of clarifications. The end cab locomotives you identified as G8's are actually the NF-110 (900 - 908) and NF-210 (909 - 946). The G8 model was slightly smaller with a short hood behind the cab. The G8's were numbered 800 - 805. These were mainly used on the branchlines due to being lighter than the 900 classes. Also the photo of the ferry with the strapped down letter "A" would've been the ships name and not CN Marine. This was either the "Marine Atlantica" or sister "Marine Nautica". This would be a light up sign with the ships name on it that lit up at night. These were under a long term bare boat charter to CN from Stena Line. Its possible the "A" got damaged in a storm and was strapped from falling off completely.
Paper mill is still there to this day 2024
Some track still in place in St.John's at the Dockyard, Avondale, Carbonear, Clarenville, Bonavista, Clarkes beach, Bishops falls, Humbermouth, Port-aux-basque, most short lengths of track has rolling stock stored as museums. Of note, Avondale and Clarenville still have active rail in terms of Heritage society tourism runs. Avondale has about 3km of track in use, Clarenville has roughly 1km of track in use. These are no means commercial.
We had a cabin right at Placentia junction. Right where the track split. Do you have any more photos from there you didn't use? Thanks for the great video.
What a fantastic video of the Newfoundland Railways of the past, something Canadians growing-up in the 60s and 70s never heard about. I was not aware of the Newfie Bullet nor the Narrow Gauge railway even existed. I'm curious to know whatever happened to all of the CN narrow gauge rolling-stock. Does the US Air Force Base still exist in Newfoundland?
No, Harman AFB hasn’t existed at least since the end of the Cold War. Some buildings still there, barracks, base HQ, hangars, etc., abandoned or repurposed. Stephenville (the town adjacent) airport used some of the paved bits and was still there last I checked.
Search Harman AFB on UA-cam or Google. Some former US airmen present pictures and recollections therein. In the 1990’s when last I lived in NFLD there were air shows at Stephenville featuring CDN and American civilian and military planes.
There was still a big globe and F106 “jet-sickle” in front of the HQ bldg , maybe still there. Always impressed me, the post-war global American military presence, ready to take on “Ivan “ in all corners if “the balloon went up”.
@@aeyb701It was Harmon AFB, closed in December 1966, 25 years before the Cold War ended. There was a US base in Goose Bay, Labrador (Goose AFB) that closed in 1976, a Naval Base at Argentia that closed in 1994, and AFB/Fort Pepperrell located in St. John’s that closed in 1961
Do you know remember where the quarry line was? I'm trying to figure it out. The angle of the picture makes it look like Seal Cove but thats the east coast. Maybe Robinsons or Stephenville Crossing?
Corner Brook was visited by Captain James Cook about 3 years before he sailed to Australia!
Now called Newfoundland T’railway. The railroad is now a major trail network. The track should have been English standard and would have still be around today… the purpose of the narrow line years ago was to save money and ease of building through winding hills etc. You sir are very lucky to have experienced this railroad. Today I believe not having a train has plagued our economy. Thanks for the video of my little province
Would 42 inch gauge translate to HOn3 track for model trains? Anyone know if any of the equipment was released as a model?
A company in New Zealand makes models of the G8s. The 900s(nf-110 and 210) are usually kitbashed. S-gauge equipment used on HO track is supposed to mimic 42'.
@@skeezix91Ha, your comment beat me to it!
HO track would be approximately S-scale 42-inch gauge. Just gonna say There’s an article in a 1990’s Canadian Railway Modeller, in which the author describes scratch building an s-scale CN/TT GMD NF 110 or -210 shell on an HO athearn drive. Correct me please.
The Newfoundland Railway bed became the Newfoundland Trailway. ATVs and Snow Machines use it as a second highway and tours from those who "Come from Away" are common!
Same train In carbonear?
Though from Ontario I totally 'despise' CN to this very day for what they did to Newfoundland and closer to me in the Algoma Central Railway, I will never be a fan of this Quebec based criminal enterprise...that's a FACT!
Is not only Newfoundland my friend. The people in power have systematically destroyed MANY important rail lines in this country throughout the years.
Only developed countries use trains. Canada is well off third world country. ... great video, by the way.
Train
ITS RAILWAY IN CANADA NOT RAIL ROAD, NOT LIKE AMERICA !!