Canada, by Train

Transcontinental Tour

Newfoundland and Labrador

Newfoundland Railway

Source

Newfoundland Railway train, somewhere along the line, Newfoundland, c. 1900

Until the coming of the railway, mass transportation and travel in Newfoundland consisted mainly of coastal steamers and other water transport. There were few roads and a journey to the interior of the island was next to impossible. This changed when, in 1882, trains began running on the Newfoundland Railway.

The venture was backed by New York's Blackman Company, but was soon taken over by the Newfoundland government when Blackman's financing collapsed. The original intention was to connect St. John's to Harbour Grace, but subsequent extensions were later constructed under the Reid Company, who had assumed control of the railway's operations soon after the Blackman debacle.

In 1898, R.G. Reid signed a contract with the Newfoundland government to continue operating the line, with the provision that the company could acquire the line outright in fifty years and receive generous land grants besides. The terms soon became a political "hot potato" and a few years later they were forcibly amended.

Source

Reid Newfoundland Railway, 1920, cover and map

In 1923, the Reids could no longer afford to continue operating the railway and responsibility for the line reverted back to the government of Newfoundland. When the province joined Confederation, in 1949, the Newfoundland Railway became part of the Canadian National Railways (CNR). CN terminated railway operations on the island of Newfoundland in 1988.

Source

Newfoundland Railway, 1928, cover and map

Source

Reid Newfoundland Railway, n.d.

Source

Newfoundland Railway & Steamship Service, 1948

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