Tartigou river relocation

Building the Intercolonial Railway back in the 1860s and 1870s was not for the faint of heart. ICR Chief Engineer Sanford Fleming endured more than a decade of engineering challenges in order to link Halifax with the western markets of Quebec City and Montreal.

A few site were more complicated than others like this one, located a mile and a half west of St.Noël, Fleming, in order to save the cost of building a bridge over Tartigou River, had it's construction crew bore a tunnel thru the rock in order to reroute the river away from the not yet constructed roadbed.

 

Talk about ingenuity !

 

The rock debris, issued when ICR crews pierced the roadbed thru the same rock cut, was used to stabilize the embankment along with keeping an acceptable rolling grade.

 

I made the walk -in heavy rain no less- from St.Noël to the tunnel on a cold autumn day, hoping to catch Campbellton-bound L562 passing the site of one of Fleming's legacy.

 

CN L56221-21

2294 8845

Milepost 85.6 Mont-Joli subdivision

St.Noël,QC

October 21st 2025

 

 

Done