The 'Canada Eastern Railway', originally known as the 'Northern and Western Railway', was a
railway line operating in
New Brunswick,
Canada, running from
Loggieville (now part of
Miramichi), to
Devon (opposite
Fredericton). The line linked various communities along the
Nashwaak and
Southwest Miramichi River 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 in
1889 gave it a direct connection to the provincial capital.
The line was rerouted between
Renous and
Nelson to the north bank of the Southwest Miramichi River through to
Derby where it joined the
Intercolonial Railway mainline at a junction between the bridges over the Southwest and
Northwest Miramichi Rivers.
In
1904 the Canada Eastern was purchased by the
Intercolonial Railway, 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 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.
The only original trackage of the Canada Eastern that remains in service is operated by the
New Brunswick East Coast Railway between Nelson and Chatham.
References
# ''Railways of New Brunswick'' by David Nason, New Ireland Press, 1991.