Comments on: The Mamiya 645 film camera has caught CBNS 5004 and HATX 910 bringing a coal train from Sydney Mines on this beautiful late summer afternoon. I have to admit luck was riding with me, as I had just showed up to grab a photo of the now closed (1990) North Sydney station when I heard a horn not too far off. What are the odds? At the time I had no idea that Sydney Mines was going to shut down in a scant two months and business would quickly wind down. After the closure, all activity along the line pretty much petered out and even with support from the province the CBNS finally threw in the towel, running the last train out of Sydney at the end of 2014. This marked the end of 135 years of railroad activity serving the Sydney area. The only activity now for CBNS in Cape Breton is at Port Tupper and Port Hawkesbury down on the south end by the Strait of Canso. However the rusted tracks are still in place, and with tracks there is always hope, faint as it may be.

By: Ian Malenfant-Picard

Ian Malenfant-Picard — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 23:10:56 +0000

CBNS sure had an eclectic roster back then, nice catch Arnold!

By: sdfourty

sdfourty — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 01:58:59 +0000

The good news is the rails are still in place. How useful, another issue.
Was a proposal, Novaporte – a planned new container Mega-Terminal to be located in Sydney (a deep water port), however that planned shelved for now in part due to track conditions and competition from other east coast ports.
sdfourty

By: Stephen C. Host

Stephen C. Host — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 11:43:26 +0000

Another mooney classic. Sometimes you do get lucky with station shots

By: Noe

Noe — Tue, 28 Jul 2026 13:50:17 +0000

Yes, CN until RailTex had acquired it.

That’s great you were able to shoot this Arnold.

By: awmooney

awmooney — Tue, 28 Jul 2026 13:02:28 +0000

Up until 1993, I believe.

By: Todd Steinman

Todd Steinman — Tue, 28 Jul 2026 12:57:04 +0000

Nice photo Arnold. Was this trackage previously CN?