Overview of the Development of
Railways on the Sydney Coal Fields
1720-Present

by; Robert Chant

The first coal mining done in Cape Breton was the excavation of exposed seams in the shear cliffs along the coastline of the island with loading being done directly onto boats.

The first of these was about 1720, when the French started to mine coal at Cow Bay (now Port Morien) for use at Fortress Louisbourg. The English later used tunnels dug into the exposed coal seams at Burnt Head (which later caught fire, thus the name) in 1745. The DesBarres mine, or the old Sydney Works, was opened by Cape Breton's governor Joseph Frederick Wallet DesBares in Sydney Mines using the same method as was employed at Burnt Head, and operated for close to 40 years.

Many of these "audits" were used to reach the coal reserves along the coastline. As the tunnels reached farther inland, the companies had to start sinking shafts every 200 meters along the seam for haulage and proper ventilation. At this time it was being done in the Sydney Mines, Old Bridgeport (Dominion) and Lingan areas.

The Duke of York held a grant on all mineral rights in what is now mainland Nova Scotia, dating back to 1788. This charter was amended to cover Cape Breton Island after reunification in 1827. This combined agreement was then sub leased to the General Mining Association (GMA) in 1928 to pay a debt. The GMA selected only one seam for development in each of the districts under its control. Commercial mines at this time could only be opened on the Sydney filed if it were possible to transport coal to a sheltered harbour for shipping. It did not make sense to waste capital resources by duplicating machinery, transport facilities, and ventilation equipment.

With the limited resources available, early companies including the GMA, were restricted to laying short lengths of corduroy road or wagon road to a near by cove or wharf, and interior reserves could therefore not be developed. The earliest railways in the area were the tracks of the Sydney Mines Railway laid from the Jacob Pit in Sydney Mines to a shipping pier in North Sydney on the north side of Sydney Harbour, and from Old Lingan and Old Bridgeport mines to shipping facilities in the Bridgeport Basin.

The GMA maintained this monopoly until 1858, when it relinquishment its ownership to the Nova Scotia Government except for about 90 square kilometers of land, spread over three separate areas. The government promptly granted exploration licenses to encourage mine development outside of the GMA lands. Nineteen producing mines were opened in the period 1858-1875, with the majority of output being exported to the United States.

The new independent mining companies begun after 1858 also constructed light railways, but in most cases the results were disappointing. The entire coast from Port Morien to Point Aconi, including Sydney Harbour, is exposed to strong north-easterly gales. Wharves, such as those constructed at Port Morien by the Gowrie Company, were endangered by storm and ice damage, while the artificial harbour dredged out at Big Glace Bay Lake (Port Caledonia) and used by both the Caledonia (in Glace Bay) and the Clyde Coal (in Donkin) Companies rapidly silted up. The Little Glace Bay Company had more success with its expensive artificial harbour at the mouth of Renwick Brook (in Glace Bay), from which short rail lines ran to the Hub and Sterling collieries, and later to the Caledonia colliery. (NOTE: This outlet, with its small size, narrow entrance, and exposed approach would eventually rendered it unsuitable for the combined exports of Domco when it was created in 1893.)

The Victoria and International companies, with no sheltered coast on their properties, chose to construct a longer rail line to inner Sydney Harbour. The Victoria Company built its railway from its mine at New Victoria to the sheltered wharf at Victoria Pier. The International Company constructed a line from its mine, at what is now the Bridgeport district of Glace Bay, to a shipping port on the Sydney Harbour. (NOTE: This shipping point is still know as International Pier and, although modernized, is still used by the Cape Breton Development Corporation for coal shipments worldwide.)

The Glasgow and Cape Breton Coal and Railway Company, built the narrow-gauge Cape Breton Railway to this same port in 1871 from Reserve. This entitled the company, which operated as the Reserve Mining Company, to the coal lease in this area that the government was offering as incentive to the construction of such a link. This line opened the interior of the coal fields on the south side of the Sydney Harbour, being shared by both the Emery and Lorway companies. In 1872, the line was extend to Schooner Pond to the mines of both the Clyde and Schooner Pond Coal Companies.

To enable the Reserve Mining Company to ship coal year round, it was decided to extend their line to the only ice-free port in the area located at Louisbourg. The first attempt was made in 1877, but the line was poorly-built and was lost to a forest fire soon after completion.

The full development of the Cape Breton coal fields began with the formation of two giant conglomerates in the 1890's. The first of these, the Dominion Coal Company (Domco) was formed in 1893 through the amalgamation of the eight companies operating on the south side of Sydney Harbour. On it creation, Domco inherited eight shipping facilities, and two parallel tracks to Sydney (see Fig #1). It abandoned the narrow-gauge Cape Breton Railway and linked all of its mines by the former International track, extending it via the Hub, Sterling, Caledonia and Gowrie mines and on to Louisbourg.

Figure #1: When the Dominion Coal Company was formed, its inherited the eight companies on the south side of the Sydney Harbour, and the railways that serve their mines.

Domco closed all but four mines and began to sink large mechanized mines. In 1900, to create a local market for its coal, the Dominion Coal Company financed the Sydney steel plant. Domco's coal production quadrupled over the next ten years. It built its coke ovens and steel plant adjacent to the major terminus of the International Pier, convenient for iron ore shipment from Newfoundland.

Figure #2: This figure shows the Sydney and Louisburg Railway's 39 mile mainline from Sydney - Louisbourg and the ICR/CNR mainline from Sydney - George's River.

On the north side of Sydney Harbour (Sydney Mines area) the successors to the General Mining Associate, the Nova Scotia Steel and Coal Company or Scotia, developed four mines and opened coke ovens, a blast furnace, and steel mill.

Both Scotia and Domco now had their mainlines, and any new mining area had to be connected to these before mines could be opened. The Florence area was connected to the Sydney Mines Railway in 1903, the New Waterford area was opened by a Domco spur in 1908, and the interior portion of the Morien basin was served by a spur in 1911.

Scotia's steel mill closed in 1914 when the national railway boom ended and its coal production levels suffered as well. The Dominion Coal Company was also experiencing the same reduction in output. In 1920, both the Scotia and Domco amalgamated to form the British Empire Steel Corporation (Besco). This in turn was reorganized as the Dominion Steel and Coal Company (Dosco) in 1930, but Scotia and Domco remained as separately managed companies with Scotia becoming the Old Sydney Collieries Limited in 1938.

Coal productions drastically declines in the period 1940 to 1973 when "cleaner" fuel sources were developed. By the mid 1960's the situation was so desperate that a federal crown corporation, the Cape Breton Development Corporation (DEVCO), was formed to oversee the phasing-out of mining. But DEVCO has benefited from the increased competitiveness of coal since 1973, and has almost tripled its production.

At present, coal is still being shipped worldwide from DEVCO's International Piers and to Nova Scotia Power's online generating stations at Lingan, Point Tupper and Trenton.

[ ARTICLES ]

©1998 Robert A. Chant, all rights reserved.