The Bay de Verde Branch Line was a section of the

Newfoundland Railway The Newfoundland Railway operated on the island of Newfoundland from 1898 to 1988. With a total track length of , it was the longest narrow-gauge railway system in North America. Early construction ] In 1880, a committee of the Newfoundland Leg ...

that finished construction in 1916. The line ran from

Carbonear Carbonear is a town on the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It overlooks the west side of Conception Bay and had a history long tied to fishing and shipbuilding. Since the late 20th century, its economy has changed to emphas ...

to Bay de Verde.

History

The Carbonear railway station was upgraded and expanded due to the construction of the line in 1917. The line also passed through communities such as Victoria and Western Bay. Victoria had the distinction of being the only community in Newfoundland that had 3 Railway Stations, one for Freshwater, one for central Victoria and one for Salmon Cove. From 1898 - 1901 an iron ore mine was operated out of Lower Island by the Workington Railway. The railway line ran from the mine in Lower Island Cove to a port Old Perlican. The mine was shut down in 1901 after the iron ore depleted. Much of the Workington Railway line was repurposed in the construction of the ''Bay de Verde Branch Line''. After several years of operation under the

Reid Newfoundland Company The Reid Newfoundland Company was incorporated in September 1901 and was the operator of the Newfoundland Railway across the island from 1901 to 1923. For a time it was the largest landowner in the Dominion of Newfoundland, today the modern Canad ...

, the line was shut down due to lack of funding in 1932. The narrow gauge branch line was soon torn up. Only the trails, a few trestles and two railway stations in Western Bay and Carbonear remain.

Recent

In 2020, the ''CBN T'Railway Association'' began upgrading the abandoned railway line for multipurpose use (ATV, hiking, horseback riding). Restoration began on several trestles, brush cutting and trail grading took place, as well as garbage cleanup.

References

Defunct Newfoundland and Labrador railways Narrow gauge railways in Newfoundland and Labrador Railway branch lines Railway lines closed in 1923 {{Canada-rail-transport-stub