New Brunswick Railway

New Brunswick Railway
Locale	western New Brunswick, Canada
Dates of operation	1870 –
Track gauge	4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm) (standard gauge), 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) until the 1880s
Headquarters	Woodstock, New Brunswick

The New Brunswick Railway (NBR) was a historic Canadian railway operating throughout the western half of the province of New Brunswick. Its headquarters were in Woodstock.

Charter and construction

New Brunswick industrialist Alexander Gibson commissioned a survey in 1866 for a railway line extending from his mill facilities at the junction between the Nashwaak and Saint John Rivers opposite Fredericton north to Edmundston to service timber lands which he owned.

A charter for the railway was received from the provincial government in 1870 and the New Brunswick Land and Railway Company was formed. Part of the charter provided for additional timber acreage based upon construction performance, thereby making Gibson one of the largest landowners in the province. In 1881, the company name was changed to the New Brunswick Railway Company.

The route was envisioned to eventually extend further north along the Temiscouata River to the St. Lawrence River at Riviere-du-Loup, however the company never built beyond Edmundston, leaving this connection to be completed by the Temiscouata Railway.

The system was initially built to narrow gauge, however this was changed to standard gauge in the 1880s.

Fredericton to Woodstock

The section from South Devon, on the opposite bank of the Saint John River from Fredericton, to Newburg, also on the opposite bank from Woodstock, was built between 1871 and 1873.

Woodstock to Edmundston

The section from Newburg to Edmundston was much more difficult to construct and was built between 1871 and 1878. The line from Newburg north to Perth remained on the east bank of the Saint John River. At Perth it crossed to the west bank, bridged across the mouth of the Aroostook River, and continued to Grand Falls, where it crossed back to the east bank before continuing to Edmundston.

Aroostook to Caribou

The Aroostook Valley Railway built up the Aroostook River from Aroostook, New Brunswick to Caribou, Maine with the line being completed between 1873 and 1876. It was leased to the NBR in 1878 and Aroostook became a major division point with extensive yard facilities.

St. Andrews to Woodstock

The St. Andrews and Quebec Railway built from Passamaquoddy Bay at St. Andrews north to Woodstock in the 1840s-1850s. Construction through to Canada East was halted owing to uncertainty over the location of the International Boundary with the United States. In 1856, the company was renamed to the New Brunswick and Canada Railway. The NBCR was leased to the NBR (with which it joined at Newburg/Woodstock) for a period of 999 years beginning on July 1, 1882.

Saint John to St. Croix

The European and North American "Western Extension" was built from 1865-1869 from South Bay on the west side of the Saint John River opposite Saint John to the International Boundary at St. Croix. In 1883 the E&NA "Western Extension" became part of the NBR.

Canadian Pacific Railway

Beginning in 1886, the Canadian Pacific Railway began looking to expand its presence east of Montreal. Typical of much of its expansion in southern Ontario, CPR looked to purchase or lease existing lines rather than survey and build itself. CPR president George Stephen was a shareholder with Gibson in the NBR and looked to extend the CP system to New Brunswick or Nova Scotia.

Between 1886 and 1888, CPR built the International Railway of Maine, also referred to as the "Short Line", across a gap between Quebec's Eastern Townships and the Maine Central Railroad at Mattawamkeag, Maine (on the European and North American Railway "Maine" section). From Mattawamkeag to the International Boundary at Vanceboro-St. Croix, CPR gained trackage rights from the Maine Central.

CPR sought, and was given, a lease on the New Brunswick Railway for a period of 990 years beginning on July 1, 1890, resulting in a mainline from Montreal to Saint John and the feeder network of ex-NBR branchlines up the Saint John River valley. Until the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in the 1950s, Saint John would become CPR's winter port on the Atlantic when Montreal was ice-bound.

Perth to Plaster Rock

The Tobique Valley Railway built up the Tobique River from Perth to Plaster Rock with the line being completed between 1891 and 1894. It was leased by CPR in 1897.

National Transcontinental

In 1912, a section of the government-built and operated National Transcontinental Railway (NTR) opened between Moncton and Levis. Part of the NTR paralleled the NBR trackage from Cyr (just north of Grand Falls) to Edmundston, along the east bank of the Saint John River. In the 1930s, CPR abandoned this section of the former NBR and used trackage rights over Canadian National Railways, which the NTR had been merged into in 1918.

K.C. Irving

In the 1940s, CPR sought to reduce non-railway properties in New Brunswick and entered into an agreement with industrialist K.C. Irving, whereby the entire NBR was sold to his J.D. Irving division, while CPR would remain the operator of the railway trackage. In this fashion, Irving was able to secure some of the most extensive timber holdings in the province.

Abandonment

In 1988, citing declining traffic, CPR grouped all of its lines east of Montreal into a new internal marketing and business unit called Canadian Atlantic Railway (CAR). Also beginning in 1988 and extending through to 1993, CAR began the process of abandoning much of the trackage of the former NBR system, citing decling traffic and bridges which were washed away in the spring freshet and ice jams of 1987. CPR completely removed itself from operations east of Montreal in 1994 when CAR trackage was sold to shortline operators. The only remnant of the NBR system is a short segment of trackage in Grand Falls, operated by Canadian National.

Interestingly, the J.D. Irving company retains ownership of the NBR right-of-way and is today the operator of the New Brunswick Southern Railway, although NBSR does not operate on any of the original NBR trackage. It does operate a portion of the NBCR trackage to St. Stephen.