Canadian Railroads > Cape Breton Island

Speaking of missing out on things, one other thing I didn't let slip through my fingers was the slow demise of rail service on Cape Breton Island.  I made my first visit up there in late 1993 to shoot CN's last days before it was turned over to RailTex, and then numerous trips when the new Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia was running the big MLWs on the road trains.  But 20 years later, after the closure of the steel plant and coal mines, things had dwindled to just one train a week, and new owner G&W was itching to abandon all the track east of Port Hawkesbury.  .On August  13, 2014 I made yet another trip up there to chase a rather large (by CBNS standards) train across the island to Sydney.

The train was led by GP40u 3022, a CBNS stalwart, SD40-2 HLCX 7869 and SD40-3 QGRY 3327.  Unlike the CBNS' early days when the C-630Ms moved along at 50 mph, this trip was agonizingly slow, 10 mph or less for most of the trip, on deferred maintenance track.  The first image here is near the former VIA stop of West Bay Road at 11:12.  After crossing most of the island, train 302 had some switching to do at Copol Industries in the North Side Industrial Park at 18:07.  Copol received covered hoppers of plastic pellets for making rope.  This track was restricted to 4-axle units, so the GP40 was used solo to do the switching.  Copol was probably the largest customer remaining east of Port Hawkesbury, and a vocal opponent of the proposed abandonment.  With Copol taken car of, the rest of the train proceeded through what was left of the North Sydney yard at 18:47.  North Sydney once interchanged cars, containers and passengers to the Newfoundland ferries, but a propane dealer and scrap yard were the only customers I saw there in more recent years.  The building behind the train was once the Intercolonial station for North Sydney, now the offices for a lumber dealer.

The train finally made it to Sydney as the light was failing, about 20:00, after doing some more switching along the was at Leitchs Creek.  It had been a very long day to go a little less than 100 miles.  Although the track is not officially abandoned yet, the last train traveled over it less than a year later.  There is still a faint hope that port activity in Sydney will justify rebuilding the line for traffic again.

GTD

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/31/24 07:53 by cn6218.

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First-rate historic scenes. Number three is a beauty.
Bob

My vote for three as well-nicely done!