Eastern New Brunswick's Railway History
From VIA Rail's Ocean Limited

by J. A. Clowes,

234 Canterbury Avenue, Riverview, NB E1B 2R7
E-Mail: jaclowes@istar.ca
January 1999

Based on a recent article in the Upper 
Canada Railway Society's "Rail & Transit" magazine.

Use this map to follow the route of the Ocean Limited through New Brunswick.

To the rail enthusiast interested in railway history, a trip through New Brunswick by VIA Rail's Ocean Limited can highlight part of New Brunswick's long association with railways. Today, a seat in one of VIA's dome observation cars provides a good vantage point for our observations. To be able to cover the full length of the province, I boarded "The Ocean" in Amherst, Nova Scotia on a bright sunny afternoon in late June (not in snow as seen in the picture!).

With three prime cultures, New Brunswick has seen variations in the spelling of the many names. Therefore, be forewarned, for in general where these variations occur, I will be favouring railway names and spelling. Also, I will be skipping some of the more recent spurs, as well as most private sidings.

Our departure from Amherst's interesting one and a half storey red sand-stone station was on time. As we headed out across the Chignecto Isthmus for our 10 mile journey to Sackville, New Brunswick, one has to attempt to visualize the many changes that the Amherst station has witnessed in its nearly 130 years of railway use.

We are barely up to speed, still in Nova Scotia, about 2 miles from Amherst, as we pass the former right-of-way of the long abandoned Fort Lawrence spur. This spur, from its east facing switch extended a little over a mile westward to a pair of wharves that had been established for the construction of the Chignecto Marine Railway across the Chignecto Isthmus. Have a look at the twists and turns of this failed project in Sarah Chapman's Essay on this project. We are barely clear of the site of the old switch for the Fort Lawrence spur, when one has to imagine the thumps that early trains must of made as they crossed the twin tracks of the marine railway. The track on the Fort Lawrence Spur was dismantled in 1917.

As we pass the cutting near the site of Fort Lawrence, visions of the 1870 railway construction workers unearthing coffins of early occupants from this fort come to mind. It is now across the Missaguash River and officially into New Brunswick. The first locomotive to cross the temporary trestle over the Missaguash was reported to have crossed on Thursday, October 6, 1870. The lack of rails delayed the completion of the line into Amherst. Rail laying was commenced in late November, 1870, and the first train from New Brunswick was expected in Amherst on Thursday, December 29, 1870, but due to snow didn't get there until the following day. A swing around the hill supporting Fort Beausejour puts us onto the Tantramar marshes for our dash into Sackville, New Brunswick.

On the outskirts of Sackville, we cross the through truss bridge over the Tantramar River. This bridge, built for double track was a reconstruction of the late teens of this century, and resulted in the westward relocation of a half of mile of the mainline. The space for the second track on this bridge is a carry over from days before the adoption of modern signals, when it was planned to double track the Canadian Government Railways between Moncton and Halifax. A glance at a railway map will show that while Canada was criss-crossed with rail lines, there was only one line across the Chignecto Isthmus joining the major seaports and resources of Nova Scotia with the rest of the continent! This plus the nearness of the Bay of Fundy, saw the posting of armed military guards at the Tantramar River Bridge during World War II.

New Brunswick & Prince Edward Railway

As we round the final curve into the Sackville station we first pass the connecting track and then the main line of CN's former Tormentine Subdivision. This 35 miles of railway from Sackville east to Cape Tormentine provided one of the more long term solutions to the centuries old squabble of communications between Prince Edward Island and the mainland, but that is a story unto itself! CN records show December 1, 1886, as the date for opening this railway, however, the rail line had reached Cape Tormentine by September 9, 1886, and there are plenty of indications that there was limited service on various portions of this line for the previous couple of years. The name of this railway was changed to the New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island Railway in 1889. The New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island Railway came under the control of the Canadian Government Railways on August 1, 1914. The legalities of this takeover were completed in the spring of 1915. The decision to implement a rail-car ferry service to Prince Edward Island about this time resulted in a number of changes. On the Island, their marine terminal was relocated from Cape Traverse to Borden, and of course the Island's narrow gauge railway had to be changed to handle standard gauge cars from the mainland. At Cape Tormentine, a new ferry terminal had to be constructed, and the rail line extended to it. Heavy stone removed from the Chignecto Marine Railway project were used around the new docks for armour stone to help tame the gales of Northumberland straits.

Island news reports state that 6:00 p.m., September 17, 1917 saw the first "Broad (standard) Gauge" train from the mainland arrive at Borden, aboard the then new rail car ferry, "Prince Edward Island."

This rail line provided an essential link for both passengers and freight to Prince Edward Island during the heyday of rail service. The late 1960s and early 1970s saw the marine terminals expand. These expansions were aimed mainly at better accommodating highway traffic. While the opening of the "Fixed Link" in 1997 completed this evolution, the demise of rail service over the old New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island Railway came with the end of service on both it and the remaining Island lines effective December 31, 1989. The National Transportation Agency had approved these abandonments by their orders of July 12, 1989. Canadian National advised the Regulators in November 1993, that they had finished removing the rails, etc.

Sackville Wharf Branch

The rails of the Eastern Extension Railway were still being laid into Sackville when the community was already agitating for a half mile line to a wharf on the Tantramar River. Sackville and nearby Dorchester were in the competition to obtain more customers, especially in New England for their lumber, wood products as well as building stones. The east facing switch of this spur was a tenth of a mile east of the station. This spur, like numerous lightly used ones had their rails removed in 1917, to help supply rails and/or metal for the war efforts.

Eastern Extension Railway

The 37 miles of railway between Cook's Brook (now Painsec Junction) and the Nova Scotia boundary was constructed by the Eastern Extension Railway. This company was established by a contract between the province and the International Contract Company of London, England in 1865 to build the line for a fixed price per mile. This line designated as Division V of the Intercolonial Railway of Canada and probably caused Sandford Fleming more headaches than any other portion of this project. Fleming's main concerns related to its circuitous route with its many curves (that increased the distance by a third over the length of the most direct route) and excessive grades. The selection of this route was a political favour to a few influential residents especially around Dorchester. The fixed price per mile of the contract added to the problem as extra easy distance was favoured to help the company make more money.

This line now part of CN's Springhill Subdivision, saw the first 19.3 miles between Painsec Junction and Dorchester formally opened on Tuesday, December 8, 1868. While squabbles over the completeness of this line and reports of ballasting, etc., were still showing up in early 1870, the line into Sackville was put in service about the middle of December 1869.

Dorchester Wharf Branch

Dorchester like Sackville had the capability of shipping by water from the nearby Memramcook River. In order to access this wharf, a rail line about a mile long extended from a west facing switch, about a half a mile east of the Dorchester station, to the timber crib wharf. The Dorchester Wharf Branch had two tracks on its wharf and like the one at Sackville, was dismantled in 1917.

Chemical Industrial Park Spur

In the early 1970s, the New Brunswick provincial government promoted a new industrial park for the shores of the Petitcodiac River at Dorchester Cape, a couple of miles downstream from the old Dorchester Wharf. This new industrial complex was to be served by a 2.7 mile spur that would leave the main line with a west facing switch about a half of mile east of the original Dorchester wharf branch. The goal was to entice industries to locate in this new complex on the basis that it would have both rail and marine access. However, Mother Nature had different ideas about the use of a floating dock for docking ships, the high tides kept washing it away. Today the site has a number of abandoned metal buildings, and by the cars stored on the portion near the main line, it looks like a site for dead storage of cars.

Painsec Junction

Once we are on the tangent west of this junction, we can see the straight alignment of the former European and North American Railway on its run between Moncton and Point du Chene and it becomes obvious that the line curving in from Dorchester and Sackville was the added-on Eastern Extension Railway.

The European and North American Railway, originally built as a broad (5'-6") gauge line between Saint John and Point du Chene, New Brunswick, is the original rail line of the Canadian National Railways family in New Brunswick. The St. Andrews and Quebec railway is older, but it became part of the Canadian Pacific system in the province.

The original 16.8 miles between Shediac and Moncton was opened to the public on August 20, 1857. While the line from Shediac to Moncton was the first eastern section opened, the line extended about 2 miles further to Point du Chene and its wharf. Originally the line was planned to extend from Cape Brule about another 2 miles east of Point du Chene to Saint John. However, the open exposure of Cape Brule and its poorer harbour resulted in the selection of Point du Chene. In the early days Shediac was site of the railway's first shops and headquarters. Following the establishment of the Intercolonial, the Shediac shops were relocated to Moncton in the early 1870s. November 11, 1872 saw the European and North American's broad gauge changed to 4'-8 1/2".

The Portland (Maine) Convention of July 31, 1850 was a major influence towards the construction of the European and North American Railway. Simply put, the goal of the 1850 convention was to push for the extension of the New England railroad network through Maine, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia to an ice free harbour as near as possible to Europe. Competition between Saint John and St. Andrews, also helped the European and North American Railway's cause, since a harbour on Northumberland Strait not only extended Saint John's market area along the European and North American Railway, but provided a shorter and easier route by water to the Saint Lawrence River. Also it supplied a portage route especial for such things as coal from Cape Breton, thus avoiding the lengthy trip around the southern tip of Nova Scotia.

However, like so many other locations, technological changes made Point du Chene redundant. Pressures from the coastal summer resorts and highways expansion to serve them saw the gradual shortening of the European and North American from its original 11.58 miles between Painsec Junction and Point du Chene. In the early 1970s it terminated at Shediac, 9.7 miles from Painsec Junction. By 1980 it was further reduced to a 5.4 mile line ending at Scoudouc. Today, 101.8 miles of the European and North American Railway from Scoudouc to its original western terminal - Saint John - is still operated.

Buctouche Junction

From Painsec Junction, 4.8 miles west along the European and North American Railway towards Moncton we pass another historic railway junction. This was the junction of the Buctouche and Moncton Railway, later the Moncton and Buctouche Railway, that between September 1, 1887 and January 1, 1965 connected with the European and North American Railway. Between 1888 and 1914 it also had a diamond crossing of the Intercolonial since the Moncton & Buctouche Railway extended its line across the marshes into the eastern end of Moncton. Near its Moncton station it joined the Moncton Wharf Branch. In the latter years of this extension, the Moncton Street Railway used the Moncton & Buctouche for some suburban service.

From Buctouche Junction, the Moncton & Buctouche extended 29.94 miles to the village of Buctouche, on the Northumberland Strait. The Canadian Government Railways gained operating control of the line and effective August 10, 1914, the Buctouche trains commenced using the Intercolonial station in Moncton. Canadian National obtained regulatory permission to abandon its operations to Buctouche effective January 1, 1965. Under this decision CN retained 1.7 miles of its Buctouche Subdivision extending from Buctouche Junction. This trackage has been renamed the Humphrey Spur and today the junction is simply Humphrey. The Humphrey spur has had a number of extra tracks constructed from it in recent years and serves one of Moncton's industrial parks.

Moncton Trackage

I have already skipped the Dieppe Spur on our way into Moncton, but without a map of the city, I would just confuse most people attempting to describe the trackage around this city. Hopefully, we can have a separate page on this before too long.

Moncton

Our train arrives at the modern single storey Moncton station on time. This is the fourth Moncton station. There seems to be a sizable group of passenger waiting to join us on our northward trip.

The early 1960s saw the second complete change of the so-called "downtown" railway lands. As we mentioned the Intercolonial Railway of Canada shops and other facilities were relocated to Moncton starting in 1872. The marshes of the Petitcodiac River were gradually filled-in, and by 1892 the downtown railway facilities occupied 77 acres. In February 1883, the original three storey brick and stone Intercolonial office building was destroyed by fire. The following year the railway replaced it with a larger red brick building on Main street that survived until it was demolished in the 1960s as part of CN Moncton's commercial redevelopment.

Until February 1906, the downtown railway property was the site of the Intercolonial Railway shops, but on Saturday, February 24, a fire destroyed a major portion of these shops. This led to the first redevelopment of the downtown property. As the new shops were built along the Intercolonial mainline to the north adjacent to John Street, the old shop site was transformed into expanded railway yards, that would last until the 1960s when Gordon Yard was constructed and the downtown property turned over to commercial development.

Main Lines North & West of Moncton Station

By 1915 the government had accepted the fact that it would have to operate the National Transcontinental Railway, including their new main line from Moncton to Edmundston and west. The eastern terminus of the N.T.R. was about 0.75 miles (railway north) of Moncton station on the Intercolonial Railway's main line towards the John Street shops and Campbellton. The lines of both railways remained quite close together for about the first twelve miles north of Moncton. The first trains to and from the N.T.R. not only used the Intercolonial station in Moncton, but operated over their line for the approximately 0.75 miles to their junction (near the present intersection of Gordon and Cornhill Streets in Moncton). However, within a few months the Intercolonial's line from near a point called Handshake, about 2 miles north of the Moncton station to near Catamount was abandoned, all trains started using the N.T.R. from their eastern terminus to Pacific Junction.

From then until late 1922, when the Canadian National completed a railway diversion between a point on the N.T.R. main line about 3.5 miles north of Moncton at what became Odlum Junction, and a point on the old European & North American rail line, (CN Sussex Subdivision), about 2.5 miles west of Moncton. Over the years this cut-off has at different times been defined as the Harcourt and Gort Subdivisions. This is the route presently used by all trains between Moncton and the province of Québec.

So as we leave Moncton we travel along the CN Gort Subdivision, pulling away from the European & North American railway at Marsh Junction, then pass the east end of CN's Gordon Yard, finally connecting with the N.T.R. at Odlum Junction.

Pacific Junction - Catamount

We roll north for a few miles until we reach CN mile 11.9, Pacific Junction. A look to the west and we see the N.T.R. heading slightly westward into the woods of central New Brunswick. From the rear dome one can now feel and start to see the reverse curve on the north end of the Gort Subdivision. This is the 1915 Canadian Government Railways built connecting track between the N.T.R. and the Intercolonial. This trackage extends with its reverse curve from near Pacific Junction, Mile 11.9 Gort Subdivision to a point about 0.5 miles south of Catamount. Near Catamount the original alignment of the Intercolonial and the reverse curve to the west is easily spotted as one travels over and past it.

Beersville Coal and Railway

Nineteen miles north of Catamount, the Intercolonial (now New Brunswick East Coast Railway) passes through Adamsville. Back at the turn of the century, this was the junction with the Beersville Coal and Railway Company. The Beersville Railway as it was locally known, like many of the small industry-owned rail lines of its day, had a roller coaster life that parallelled that of their owners' resource-based companies. In keeping with corporate policies of the day, the Intercolonial's District Superintendent, and General Trackmaster, made an inspection in 1899 of the then proposed Beersville railway, and reported that they: "were pleased with the prospects of the mine and said that if a tramway were well operated, the mine would supply a large amount of freight to the Intercolonial."

By 1904, a 6.481 mile rail line, mostly of second-hand 57 lb. rail acquired from the Intercolonial extended eastward to Beersville, on the Coal Branch Railway. A second mining company moved into the area, and from a point near the eastern end of the main line at Beersville, a branch line 2.149 miles long extended southward to the second mine. After sort of operating for about three years, the Company went into receivership and was sold by the courts. While the railway was owned by one coal company, it seems that they could make both companies upset with their spasmodic service.

The prime activity on this railway between 1908 and about 1918 appeared to have been more in the courts than on the rails. The Beersville Railway had survived threats during World War I of having its rails removed and sold, when metal prices were high.

Like many of these shoe-string operations, the Beersville Coal and Railway Company appears to have struggled with various periods of operations, interspersed with shutdowns and bankruptcies until 1923. In that year, the rail line was sold again and possibly operated until the spring of 1929, when it was sold for the last time, and the rails removed to help pay some of its creditors.

This is one of those lines that had not only numerous owners, but also a number of names. At times its control extended to New York and later to Cape Breton. A definite candidate for more research to fill in the holes in its history!

The Kent Northern Railway

Kent Junction, fourteen miles north of Adamsville, is where the Kent Northern, a 26.5 mile line to the village of Richibucto, had its wye junction with the Intercolonial. The promoters were hoping to make millions hauling coal from mines along the Intercolonial to the harbour at Richibucto. Originally promoted by the Northern Railway (of New Brunswick), they spent nine years funding and constructing their line that was officially opened for traffic on November 1, 1883. This line was laid with iron rails that had been released from the Prince Edward Island Railway when they laid steel rails in 1882. The Kent Northern as it was locally known was later officially designated by this name and stayed independent until September 1, 1929 when it became part of the C.N.R.

News items from late 1885 state that a branch line extended from Richibucto approximately 5 mile northward to St. Louis. This branch was operated until just before 1900 when it was abandoned. Indications are that passenger service on this branch was with a combination car on the end of freight trains. The line was constructed by one of the Brown family connected with the Kent Northern.

CN's Richibucto Subdivision, 26.5 miles from the Newcastle Subdivision to Richibucto was officially abandoned December 3, 1984 and the track was removed during 1986.

Passmore or Chatham Junction

Travelling north towards Miramichi (formerly Newcastle), in the area of present day Passmore, on the east side of the Newcastle Subdivision, at mile 60.4, one can still see plainly the concrete foundations of the long abandoned interlocking tower where the original Northern and Western Railway crossed the Intercolonial on its path from Devon (Fredericton North) via Blackville eastward to Chatham and eventually Loggieville. This junction had been called Chatham Junction in the days before the line was taken over by the Intercolonial and abandoned. Some of the line east of the Intercolonial was constructed as the Chatham Branch Railway and acquired by the Northern and Western Railway Company. The Chatham Branch opened in 1887, and three years later it and the Northern and Western Railway were renamed the Canada Eastern Railway and this railway was acquired by the Canadian Government Railways in 1904.

This east-west line across the Intercolonial was abandoned about 1912, following the construction of a new line from the nearby Nelson Junction eastward along the south shore of the Miramichi river to the former town of Chatham (now part of Miramichi) and a new connection with the east end of the Loggieville Subdivision, part of the original Northern and Western Railway. The eastern end of the Loggieville Subdivision, east of Chatham was abandoned by the C.N.R. in November 1985.

Derby Junction

Continuing northward, after one crosses the 6-span through truss bridge over the South-West Miramichi River, we pass the site of the former Derby Junction at its north end. Derby Junction is on the point of land between the two large through truss railway bridges that span the two Miramichi Rivers near their confluence.

The original rail line along the north bank of the South-West Miramichi extended from its north pointing switch, some fourteen miles from Derby Junction to Indiantown or Quarryville. As can be guessed from the name Quarryville, this line served a quarry that supplied stone to the railway. About four miles from Derby Junction was Millerton, another real original name, since its had a number of lumber mills that provided the Intercolonial with traffic.

Following the 1904 acquisition of the Canada Eastern Railway, the rail line was extended from Quarryville to Blackville, that permitted the abandonment of the old Canada Eastern Railway bridge across the South-West Miramichi near Blackville and the trackage to and across the Newcastle Subdivision. The 75 miles of railway from Derby Junction to the crossing of the N.T.R. at McGivney was abandoned in January, 1985.

As we leave Derby Junction we cross the North-West Miramichi river bridge.

Newcastle Wharf

About one and a half mile past the North-West Miramichi River Bridge as the railway climbs around a sweeping curve towards the VIA Rail station at Newcastle, (now Miramichi), one passes the south point switch of the 2.03 mile spur that goes back down grade to the Newcastle Wharf. The Newcastle spur track, along with a similar spur, at Campbellton are two of the oldest sections of Intercolonial tracks in the northern portion of New Brunswick. They both were constructed prior to the Intercolonial's 1873 annual report. The Newcastle Spur saw plenty of action in October 1872 as the barque "Amadeo" waited while the "Examplar" unloaded steel rails for the new Intercolonial railway. The "Amadeo" had a cargo of six locomotives, two of which were to be unloaded at Newcastle, the other four destined for Saint John, N.B. At a nearby wharf, the barque "Miramichi," was discharging 2,700 barrels of cement to be used on the Miramichi river bridges. The original Intercolonial Newcastle spur is still in use.

Campbellton saw its first passenger car arriving from Moncton at naught nine hundred hours on Wednesday, October 20, 1875. This trip had started from Moncton, the previous day. However, since the car had broad gauge trucks, they had to be changed to standard gauge before crossing the Miramichi River bridges and continuing its trip to Campbellton. Early November 1875, saw the start of regular passenger service as locomotive No. 43 left Newcastle with a heavy train for Bathurst and Campbellton.

Bartibog

Twenty miles north of Newcastle (Miramichi today) is the abandoned wye rail junction at Bartibog. This was another resource railway, officially opened on November 19, 1957 and built as a 23.1 mile branch line that extended westward to the Heath Steele mine, with its zinc and copper bearing ore. This line was touted at the line's opening as being the first new major railway construction in the Atlantic provinces for more than 40 years.

This line cost $3,000,000 to construct and involved the clearing of 325 acres of the forest where there was neither a clearing nor a homestead. Bulldozers, scrapers, shovels and carryalls, moved 22 million cubic feet of rock and earth to form the roadbed. Rockcuts, some as deep as 50 feet were blasted at points along the line. Often more than a ton of high-powered gelignite was used at a time. The result was 27 million cubic feet of fractured rock to be removed.

CN pulled out all the stops for the opening of this line. Guests from the east arriving by train, were provided with sleeping car accommodation near the Newcastle station for the night of Monday, November 18, 1957. Guests from the west arrived on Tuesday morning's Maritime Express that was due in Newcastle at 7:05 a.m. The party then transferred to the inaugural train which departed for Heath Steele at 9:00 a.m. The railway had arranged facilities on the special train , in Car 2, adjacent to the "Cacouna", for newsmen covering the opening. Typewriters, copy paper, telegraph blanks, etc., were available there for those wishing to prepare material enroute.

In addition, Canadian National Telegraphs had arranged for wire facilities at the general offices of Heath Steele Mines Limited, so that stories could be filed from there. Also, it was arranged for a CN Telegraphs messenger to meet the eastbound special train at Newcastle 4:30 p.m. Tuesday to receive any press material for furtherance by wire.

By the mid 1980's most of the ore had been shipped, that remaining was being handled by trucks, so CN applied to abandon this one product rail line. Abandonment became effect on October 15, 1987, and the line has been removed.

Gloucester Junction

About another 20 miles north brings one to Gloucester Junction. This was the junction with the Caraquet Railway. The Caraquet Railway was originally incorporated on April 18, 1874 with plans to build about 60 miles eastward to Pokemouche. It appears that the prime reason for the construction of this line was to access the remaining virgin timber on the peninsula and perhaps to gain better access to mackerel fishing. Being close to Bathurst, this branch had its switch pointing northward towards that community. Indications are that while the road had an energetic political promoter in the person of Mr. K. F. Burns, M.P., nothing was done for about 10 years. In 1884, construction appears to have been started. A news report from July 1887 indicates that the rails were laid a distance of sixty miles from Gloucester Junction, viz: to Pokemouche, (Inkerman) the original prospective end of the line. Mr. Burns, their M.P., "with his usual thoughtfulness and assiduity with regard to the want of the constituency, secured from the Dominion Government a further subsidy, which will enable the company this year to extend the road a further distance of about seven miles. This will bring it to Shippegan Harbour." This same report indicated that work had started on this last seven miles into Shippegan Harbour, as well as ballasting from Caraquet to Pokemouche, with the work expected to be finished that year, 1887.

This same report states: "The traffic, over this line, both in passengers and freight is something remarkable. During last week upwards of 300 passengers went over the line."

While different writers have used different dates regarding the opening of portions of this railway, the December 17, 1887 death of nine men on a snow-plough train from Caraquet, a couple of miles west of that community confirms that at least the 48.5 miles to Caraquet was open. This accident, defined as the worst railway accident up to that time in the Province of New Brunswick, occurred because the bridge had been moved by the force of the tide (and probably pan ice in the bay).

In 1885, a second company, the Gulf Shore Railway was incorporated and built 17 miles of railway from Pokemouche Junction southward to Tracadie and Shelia. This was in addition to the 7 miles of line from Pokemouche Junction into Shippegan.

These two railways amalgamated on April 13, 1911 as the Caraquet and Gulf Shore Railway. They were acquired by the Canadian Government Railways effective June 1, 1920 and became part of the Canadian National Railways.

While the line had been cut back from Shelia to Tracadie at some cloudy date (pre-1960) in the past, all the remaining trackage beyond mile 4.34 was abandoned May 2, 1989. Today most of the abandoned roadbed is easily traced as it has been converted into hiking trails. The 4.34 miles near Bathurst has been kept to provide rail access to industrial lands on the east side of Bathurst Harbour.

Nepisiguit

Across the Nepisiguit River we have a junction that has seen two railways over the life of the main line. The first of these was the Northern New Brunswick & Seaboard Railway. This railway was incorporated under a provincial statue in 1909 to construct a 16.93 mile line along the Nepisiguit River to the Canada Iron Corporation's ore deposits. The community at the mine site was called Bathurst Mines. This was another resource railway, built into the wilderness, and its fortunes followed those of the ore deposits. The first several years appeared to have shown promise for the 30 or so families of Bathurst Mines. The line listed four stations besides Nepisiguit Junction, and an additional 2.9 miles of trackage was constructed for yard purposes, etc. Early in 1914 the railway was still operating with train service Monday, Wednesday and Saturday although the mine had shut down. A 1915 report states that the mine and railway are shut down, but one of their group had started to run a saw mill as well as cut and ship pulp wood. This kept some men employed. It goes on to indicate that Mr. Godin, the mill owner, would persuade the Canadian Government Railways to run an occasional shunter to his mill and move the products of his operation. He also secured a gasoline trolley to carry mail, tourists and himself up and down the railway.

In 1918, pursuant to an agreement dated May 10, the Northern New Brunswick & Seaboard Railway permitted the St. John & Quebec Railway Company to lift the rails, turnouts, etc., for use on their line then under construction between Gagetown and Westfield, N.B. Indications are that most of this rail was 80 lb. with a small amount of 85 lb. These rails were replaced in 1925.

Reports started about 1924 concerning the re-opening of the mines, and even extending the railway across the province to join the Tobique Valley Railway at Plaster Rock. While indications are that there was some reactivation of the mine during World War II, I am not sure at this point what if any role the railway played in its operations. A dam was constructed on the Nepisiguit River, and roads were eventually built into the mine site. This dam became the property of the Bathurst Power & Paper Company Limited, and supplied power to their mill in Bathurst. The paper company operated a patrol by gasoline driven trolley along the rail line to inspect their hydro line from their dam. Otherwise the rail line lay unused, except for the wye at Nepisiguit which CN used under a special agreement.

In 1959, the paper company approached the Province of New Brunswick, then owner of the railway following earlier bankruptcies, for permission to remove the line. A Mr. Donald E. Hicks, agreed to remove the rail, for its salvage value. This was done and the roadbed was converted to a highway, presently part of Highway # 430.

A recent (Summer 1998) radio report mentioned that there are still one or two people living at Bathurst Mines, but in general it has been inactive community since about the end of the War II.

The second Railway from Nepisiguit Junction, that still exists today is the line that serves the Brunswick Mines of the Brunswick Mining and Smelting Corporation which are located about 5 miles north-west of the old Bathurst Mines site. Construction on this line was started in the spring of 1963 by the Canadian National Railways. This 14.7-mile branch line carries copper, zinc and lead from the mines to a processing plant at Belledune. It was built as a railway branch but has now been sold and is privately owned by the Brunswick Mining and Smelting Corporation.

Bathurst Harbour Spur

Two miles north of Nepisiguit, the Bathurst Spur, a 2.4 mile line extending eastward to a pulp and paper mill on the harbour front. This line with its south facing switch was constructed by CN but is now operated by the paper mill.

Petit Rocher

About 12 miles north of Bathurst is Petit Rocher. Here the Intercolonial Railway had a 1.35 miles spur down to the town's wharf. This spur had a south facing switch, and made somewhat of a loop north and eastward to the Petit Rocher wharf. This line was dismantled in 1914.

Belledune & Irvco

About 8 miles north of Petit Rocher, at mile 129.7 Newcastle subdivision, one comes to the Belledune, then a couple of miles further is the Irvco complex. Belledune is the home of the base metal smelter for the ores from the Brunswick Mines mentioned above. This facility was constructed in the same period as the Brunswick Mines. Belledune is mainly a yard with a short spur to the smelter.

Irvco has a private spur that serves their industrial complex associated with the operations of Belledune.

Dalhousie Junction

A further 32 miles brings us to Dalhousie Junction, CN Mile 164.3 Newcastle Subdivision. This is the junction of the 6.2 mile Dalhouise subdivision, a line that extends east to the community of the same name, and that is listed as being opened June 25, 1884 and is still in use.

Campbellton Wharf Spur

This spur, as mentioned earlier, was constructed about 3 years before the Intercolonial main line was opened to permit rails and rolling stock, etc., to be delivered by ship for use in the construction of the Intercolonial in the area. This spur, about one mile long, was located within the yard area and terminated on a railway owned wharf. Turn of the century photos indicate considerable activities of transhipment between the railway and ships.

Campbellton and Tide Head

In 1885 the Restigouche and Victoria Colonization Railway was incorporated to build a railway from Campbellton across New Brunswick to some point between Grand Falls and Edmundston. Meetings, talk and surveys seem to have been the prime purpose of this company. In 1896 it changed in name to the Restigouche and Victoria Railway. The next year the Restigouche and Western Railway took over. With still no construction, the International Railway Company of New Brunswick was incorporated to take over the R.& W. Construction work didn't start until after the provincial government guaranteed the company's bonds in 1907.

The original line of the International Railway started immediately west of the Campbellton station with a north pointing switch. The line made a loop and roughly paralleled the Intercolonial westward to a point about 2.7 miles south-west of Tide Head, originally Moffat. At this point it swung more southwest along the Christopher Brook towards St. Quentin.

The line, expected to be opened in late 1909, was delayed because of the weather and was not opened until early in 1910.

The federal government leased the I.N.R. (International Railway of New Brunswick) effective August 1, 1914, and it was operated by the Intercolonial Railway. In 1915, the I.N.R. was purchased by the government as part of the Canadian Government Railways.

During 1919 a new 2.66 mile rail line was constructed from Tide Head along Christopher Brook to the point where it met the original I.N.R. This permitted the abandonment of the 7.4 miles between the connecting point and Campbellton, with this section of track being removed in 1920.

The International Railway, operated by Canadian National as its St. Quentin Subdivision, was abandoned from Tide Head (mile 0.00) to near St. Leonard, (mile 103.5) effective June 6, 1989. The rails, etc., were reported removed as of September 6, 1991.

Morrisey Rock Tunnel

Even on the long days of summer it is now dark, as the Ocean Limited passes the Morrisey Rock Tunnel to leave New Brunswick on our journey to Montreal.

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©1999 Art Clowes, all rights reserved.