The Canada Eastern Railway, originally known as the Northern and Western Railway, was a

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

line operating in

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

, Canada, running from

Loggieville Loggieville is a Canadian suburban neighbourhood in the city of Miramichi, New Brunswick. The community is located at the mouth of the Miramichi River on the southern bank where the river estuary discharges into the bay. Named after the Loggie fa ...

(now part of Miramichi), to

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

(opposite Fredericton). The line linked various communities along the Nashwaak and

Southwest Miramichi River The Southwest Miramichi River is a river in New Brunswick, Canada. The river has its origin in Carleton County, at Miramichi Lake in the Miramichi Highlands (a part of the Appalachian Mountains). Its two branches join near the hamlet of Junipe ...

valleys. A joint venture of industrialists Alexander Gibson and Jabez B. Snowball, construction started in 1884 and finished in 1887. The opening of the

Fredericton Railway Bridge The Fredericton Railway Bridge is a former railway bridge in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada now used to carry pedestrians and cyclists. It crosses the Saint John River (New Brunswick), Saint John River from the east end of Fredericton's cen ...

in 1889 gave it a direct connection to the provincial capital. In 1890 the Northern and Western was reorganized and became the Canada Eastern Railway Company, of which Gibson became the sole owner in 1893. The line was rerouted between Renous and

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

to the north bank of the Southwest Miramichi River through to

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

where it joined the

Intercolonial Railway The Intercolonial Railway of Canada , also referred to as the Intercolonial Railway (ICR), was a historic Canadian railway that operated from 1872 to 1918, when it became part of Canadian National Railways. As the railway was also completely o ...

mainline at a junction between the bridges over the Southwest and Northwest Miramichi Rivers. In 1904 the Canada Eastern was purchased by the

, a federal Crown corporation. The mainline of the National Transcontinental Railway (NTR), another government concern, was built in 1912, creating a major junction at McGivney. The Intercolonial, NTR, and others were merged into the

Canadian Government Railways Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

in 1915 and the Canadian National Railways (CNR) in 1919. Canada Eastern and later the Intercolonial and CNR passenger trains along the line were given the nickname " Dungarvon Whooper" in reference to a local ghost story. With declining rail usage through the latter part of the 20th century, the former Canada Eastern line became unprofitable for CNR. It was abandoned between McGivney and Derby in 1985 as well as east of Chatham to Loggieville. The section south of McGivney to Fredericton was officially abandoned in 1995, although the last train over this portion of the line (CN's Nashwaak Subdivision) operated in March 1996 with a coal shipment to a heating plant at

CFB Gagetown 5th Canadian Division Support Base (5 CDSB) Gagetown, formerly known as and commonly referred to as CFB Gagetown, is a large Canadian Forces Base covering an area over , located in southwestern New Brunswick. Construction of the base At the ...

. The only original trackage of the Canada Eastern that remains in service is operated by the

New Brunswick East Coast Railway The New Brunswick East Coast Railway was a railway that operated in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. It included of track of which were mainline between Campbellton and Pacific Junction near Moncton. Important spurs connected Dalh ...

between Nelson and Chatham.

References

Sources

* ''Railways of New Brunswick'' by David Nason, New Ireland Press, 1991. {{DEFAULTSORT:Canada Eastern Railway Defunct New Brunswick railways Transport in York County, New Brunswick Transport in Northumberland County, New Brunswick Transport in Fredericton Predecessors of the Intercolonial Railway