The end was Near
I made my fourth and final trip to Newfoundland over Thanksgiving in 1987. By then, the railroad was called TerraTransport, and it was trying to convert entirely to containers. The CN-TerraTransport employee timetable issued November 29, 1987, didn't even show the Bonavista or Argentia Subs, so they were gone. The Carbonear and Stephenville Subs were still listed, but the island had no mixed train service. The only trains running were the then-unnumbered trans-island freights. Freight cars were being scrapped at a yard near Kelligrews, west of St. John's. It was a sad ending to a historic narrow gauge railroad. The containerization did not work out, and the entire railroad was abandoned on September 1, 1988. The last rails were lifted in November 1990.
In this scene on November 28, 1987, CN NF210s are being stored in the yard next to the station and railroad headquarters. Many of these units will eventually be shipped to the FCAB railroad in Chile.
The bridge above the locomotives is Pitts Memorial Drive. Barely visible beyond the bridge is the locomotive shop. The top of the stone railway station and headquarters building can be seen above the 922 on the left. That building still stands and is now the Railway Coastal Museum.
The end was Near
I made my fourth and final trip to Newfoundland over Thanksgiving in 1987. By then, the railroad was called TerraTransport, and it was trying to convert entirely to containers. The CN-TerraTransport employee timetable issued November 29, 1987, didn't even show the Bonavista or Argentia Subs, so they were gone. The Carbonear and Stephenville Subs were still listed, but the island had no mixed train service. The only trains running were the then-unnumbered trans-island freights. Freight cars were being scrapped at a yard near Kelligrews, west of St. John's. It was a sad ending to a historic narrow gauge railroad. The containerization did not work out, and the entire railroad was abandoned on September 1, 1988. The last rails were lifted in November 1990.
In this scene on November 28, 1987, CN NF210s are being stored in the yard next to the station and railroad headquarters. Many of these units will eventually be shipped to the FCAB railroad in Chile.
The bridge above the locomotives is Pitts Memorial Drive. Barely visible beyond the bridge is the locomotive shop. The top of the stone railway station and headquarters building can be seen above the 922 on the left. That building still stands and is now the Railway Coastal Museum.