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Caption: Just two days after his wedding, the photographer was enjoying his honeymoon at the Trinity Loop Park and exploring all the attractions it offered. Former Terra Transport G8 locomotive 802, one of 3 of the 6 that was preserved following the shutdown of the Newfoundland Railway, was a delight to behold. Built in 1956 by GMD of London, the 875 horsepower unit with narrow gauge A-1-A trucks was a perfect match for the the Argentia, Carbonear and Bonavista branchlines of Newfoundland and served admirably for 30 years. This particular unit had the distinction of leading the first diesel hauled train over the 88 mile Bonavista branch on March 27, 1956 as well as the last lead unit on its final on November 23, 1983.The Trinity Loop, built in 1911, was the only visible railway loop in North America and it too was preserved. As for the 802, it was sadly scrapped in the 2000's after the park shut down, leaving only sisters 803 in Carbonear and 805 at Exporail. Fortunately, 802 and all her siblings can be seen in action in my latest, BRANCHLINES OF NEWFOUNDLAND, released by Seaweed Publishing of Newfoundland.
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This is gorgeous, Ken. A newly married lad with thrills coming from all angles, I’ve got to say.
)
Congratulations on a life well lived.
And, of course, on your latest published work.
Thanks so much Arnold! I’m so pleased with BRANCHLINES OF NEWFOUNDLAND. An all colour look at the five CN branches and the Grand Falls Central as well as the Buchans railway operating in post-confederation NL.
Ken, I’ve found youtube videos of work trains in Newfoundland as late as 1989 and 1990. Were you aware of the work trains running that late into the removal of the rails on the Rock?
Yes Stephen, the last work trains ran until November of 1990. I rode on several myself, took some video as well as a number of slides. To date, I haven’t sent any for submission as I found them quite sad. But several were used in articles. Perhaps I may.
While I 100% agree the full elimination of the Newfoundland railway is the biggest mistake in Canadian railway history, the fact you were there capturing the last work trains as late as November 1990 is amazing. Most folks didn’t realize the mixed trains were running into 1985 let alone 1988… and the fact work trains continued to run two more years… most had no idea!
I’d be delighted to see a photo of a train in November 1990… I’ll look them up in your book too of course!
I find it strange that a tourist line was not pondered from St. Johns even for just a few miles…
what could have been. The British isles have so many preserved railways, it’s crazy we didn’t have the resources/money/wherewithal to have one tourist line in Newfoundland continuing the narrow gauge traditions.
Interesting you should say that Stephen. Just before the final shutdown on September 30, 1988, a movement to have a tourist train was spearheaded by St. John’s Mayor John Murphy for a run from the capital to Come by Chance (Holyrood and Avondale were also proposed). Terra Transport offered their best diesel and four passenger cars. Unfortunately, it did not come to fruition. Sad, but today with our booming cruise ship destination, it could have been the equivalent of the White Pass and Yukon in Alaska.
Wow….
It is rather sad that so many people (I originally wrote ‘kids’) will grow up never being able to witness a railroad train in action. Yes, the fact a tourist road never came to life is a real shame. One can only imagine how popular that would be in todays world.