I found this video on Youtube which I thought is a fitting tribute to a great railway that is long since gone and pretty much forgotten. At one time the Newfoundland Railway was an important link on the Island and one of the longest narrow gauge roads in North America. In my opinion those Newfoundland steam locomotives were among the best looking in Canada…no frills like CN and CP engines had…just good looking machines.
Newfoundland’s diesels were equally interesting. A fair number of them are still in service in Chile on the meter-gauge Antofagasta & Bolivia Ry (FCAB in Spanish).
Thank you. Several years ago, I interacted with a native of Newfoundland at work (he maintained some of the equipment used in the manufacture of computer chips, and I supplied him with parts that he needed). We enjoyed talking about the railroad, and it was a sad day when I had to tell him that the railroad was no more. I wish I had been able to ride it.
Same here… it closed down in 1989…should have gone east while I had the chance to see this. I’ve worked with Newfoundlanders for years…they’re great people and can pretty much outwork most mainlanders who haven’t had to endure a hardscrabble existence.
Rode it and those that want some pix can contact me at daveklepper@yahoo.com
I t was a Chicago Railroad Club excursion in 1969, Internaitonal Limited, Corridor train, Ocan Limited, boat, sleeper with office car for our use on the rear, with obs platform. Both ways. Special stop to see and photo the under-cover preserved steam loco. I think this was the last time I rode in a lower berth in a section.
I’ve been to Newfoundland twice (1992 and 1997) and Ulrich’s right, they are a great people.
Should you go, some of the Newfoundland Railway’s rolling stock is preserved in Bowring Park in Saint Johns, and some in Corner Brook. The old terminal at Saint Johns harbor is preserved as a museum.
On the wall in my kitchen is a photo of the “Newfoundland Bullet” passenger train passing through Bowring Park sometime in the 40’s. By the way, the name “Newfie Bullet” was a bit of a Newfoundland “inside joke”, it really didn’t go all that fast. Newfoundlanders had a joke about it:
A woman on the “Newfie Bullet” yelled to the conductor, “Mr. Conductor, I’m going into labor!” “Well, Missus,” he said, “if your time was comin’ why’d you get on the train?” “When I got on the train I wasn’t pregnant!!!” she replied.
Ah, Newfoundland. If you can’t go for the train (anymore) go for the seafood. Yum!
PS: My mother-in-law, who I love dearly, is a Newfoundland girl, and a war bride to boot. Don’t EVER, EVER call her a Canadian! She’s a NEWFOUNDLANDER! A proud Newfoundlander, and prouder still of the fact Newfoundland is the SENIOR British colony, in North America or anywhere else for that matter!
About the diesels, its interesting that an off the shelf model like a GP7 or GP9 couldn’t be modified to run on narrow gauge track. Instead they came up with a whole new model of locomotive. One would think that instead of building a small number of these engines for the Newfoundland Railway, the builders would somehow modify an existing standard gauge engine…maybe a GP9 wouldn’t work on narrow gauge trucks…who knows.
What’s really interesting about the NF-110’s and NF-210’s is that CN had these locomotives built instead of an off-the-shelf export design like a G12 or G16.