Springhill Junction is a
rural community in central
Cumberland County,
Nova Scotia, Canada. It is approximately northwest of
Springhill, Nova Scotia.
History
In 1872 the
Intercolonial Railway of Canada constructed its
Truro, NS-
Moncton, NB
Moncton (; ) is the most populous city in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, Moncton lies at the geographic centre of the Maritime Provinces. The city has earned the nickname "Hub City" because of ...
mainline through the area at the persuasion of the
Spring Hill & Parrsborough Coal & Railway Company Ltd., creating a diversion several miles to the south of the preferred route running between
Oxford Junction, NS and
Amherst, NS.
The community received its name in 1877 following completion of the Springhill & Parrsboro Railway which ran south to the mining town of
Springhill and on to the
Bay of Fundy
The Bay of Fundy (french: Baie de Fundy) is a bay between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine. It is an arm of the Gulf of Maine. Its extremely high tidal range is the hi ...
port of
Parrsboro. The SP&P changed its name to the
Cumberland Railway & Coal Company Ltd. in 1884 and operated under this name through the closure of the coal mines in Springhill in 1958 and the abandonment of the railway line south of Southampton to Parrsboro on June 14, 1958. The railway continued limited services between Southampton, Springhill and Springhill Junction until permission to abandon the remaining line was granted in February, 1962. The last of the rails from the Springhill to Springhill Junction line were lifted in 1964.
The Intercolonial Railway in the meantime was operated as part of the
Canadian Government Railways after 1915 and was fully merged into the
Canadian National Railways
The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I railroad, Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern United States, M ...
(CNR) in 1918.
Present day
Today Springhill Junction remains a siding on CN Rail's Halifax-Montreal mainline and a
flag stop for
Via Rail's ''
Ocean'' passenger train. The official name still contains the word "junction", despite the fact that the CR&C was abandoned in 1962, making the community a run-through location on CN's mainline.
See also
*
Nova Scotia Trunk 2
Trunk 2 is part of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia's system of Trunk Highways. The route runs from Halifax to Fort Lawrence on the New Brunswick border. Until the 1960s, Trunk 2 was the Halifax area's most important highway link to othe ...
References
Springhill Junction on Destination Nova Scotia
{{coord, 45, 41, 36.9, N, 64, 6, 46.9, W, display=title
General Service Areas in Nova Scotia
Communities in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia
Rail junctions in Canada