The Railways of Canada Archives -- Across the Trackless Wastes: Unbuilt Nova Scotia Railway Proposals

Across the Trackless Wastes
Unbuilt Nova Scotia Railway Proposals

Among the more interesting footnotes to the railway fever that gripped Nova Scotia (lightly) after Confederation are proposed railways that never got off the ground. Building the provincial railway network was hard enough. The initial flurry connected Halifax with Windsor and Truro (the Nova Scotia Government Railway) before Confederation. Shortly after, the Windsor and Annapolis connected its namesake communities. A few years later, the Western Counties Railway connected Yarmouth to Digby, but it was the 1890's before the Dominion government constructed the missing link between Digby and Annapolis. In spite of several efforts, and a railway from Middleton to Bridgewater and Lunenburg, it was after the turn of the century before the south shore route for a Yarmouth to Halifax Railway was completed. Confederation brought the Intercolonial to link Truro and Amherst, but it was a decade later before it connected Pictou with the Strait of Canso, and the 1890's before it went through Cape Breton Island to reach Sydney. About the same time, railways connected the Strait of Canso with Inverness (Broad Cove), and a little later connected the Strait with St Peter's.

Given the problems faced by those trying to set up the main elements of the railway network, it is a tribute to the unbounded optimism and greed of promoters that there were so many additional proposals. Some demonstrate an ability to read a map (without contour lines), but no familiarity with the geography of the proposed area at all. Others simply ignore economic principles. It is difficult to say which were floated for purposes other than actually building the railway presented and which ones the promoters actually intended to build. There is no question, however, that some railway companies were incorporated to get a franchise someone else would have to buy out. That meant a significant profit for the promoters for little work. Others were incorporated or expanded to push the actual construction of other railways, sort of a legislative "get it done by December or someone else gets the franchise" threat. The Nova Scotia legislature tended not to grant exclusive franchises to railways and sometimes seems to have been a little confused about just which railways it had chartered.

Annapolis to Liverpool: Through the Lakes

Any route from the Annapolis Valley to the south shore of Nova Scotia encounters rough country and the South Mountain, a massive granite block rising to nearly 1,500 feet from near sea level on each side. The Nova Scotia Central eventually met these challenges in its run from Middleton to Bridgewater and Lunenburg, using the valleys of the Nictaux and LaHave rivers, but it was slow going. The companion proposal, to connect Annapolis and Liverpool, had no such convenient river valleys. In fact, there are a great many large lakes obstructing the straight line route, including Lake Rossignol, the largest lake in Nova Scotia.

A potential route exists along present Highway 8, if one can locate an easy way up the South Mountain from the Valley floor, and road and railway can be relatively easily built along much of the Mersey River north from Liverpool. In fact, the Liverpool and Milton, eventually a subsidiary of the Halifax and South Western, built a successful railway north from Liverpool past Milton on the west side of the Mersey.

The Annapolis to Liverpool route was one of the first "stray" routes to be proposed, predating the Middleton to Bridgewater route by a year. It remained in active consideration throughout the railway period. Yet nothing was ever built or even bought at the Annapolis end, no railway went much north of Milton, and Caledonia was only reached from the east.

As early as 1872 the Liverpool Branch Railway was incorporated to build from Liverpool to Annapolis or any other place that would connect to another railway (c.62).

In 1888, a longer-lived promotion resulted in the Annapolis and Atlantic Railway Company (c.82), from Annapolis to Liverpool with branches to Shelburne, Lockeport and Barrington. Time was extended in 1890 (c.76) and in 1891 (c.128). The company obtained the right to run a line into Halifax the next year (1892, c.69), provided that the Annapolis Liverpool line was built first. The next year, the company was renamed the Nova Scotia Southern, the proviso protecting the Liverpool Annapolis route was deleted and the company effectively became a south shore railway (1893, c.65). Another statute in the same year (1893, c.153) projected a route from Liverpool via Indian Gardens to Brookfield and Caledonia, continuing to Annapolis. Other routes authorized went to Halifax and Shelburne or Lockeport. This was the first Atlantic and Inland Railway. (Many railway promotions tended to have over-enthusiastic route maps, mostly to encourage subscriptions from potential shareholders who wanted the railway to pass through their community.) The corporate charter was redone in 1894 (c.76) and seemed to retain the emphasis on the Liverpool Annapolis line.

In 1896, promoters of this railway seem to have given up on the Nova Scotia Southern and again chartered the Atlantic and Inland Railway (c.86) to construct much the same line: Liverpool via Indian Gardens to Brookfield, Caledonia, Harmony, Kempt and Pleasant River, with branch lines to Annapolis, Springfield or New Germany, and the right to go to Halifax. The company also had the right to provide transportation services except in the valley of the Medway River. The incorporators were all from Queens County. An interesting provision held that the incorporating statute was not to take effect if the Nova Scotia Southern started work on its line to Indian Gardens. The same session (c.88) also saw authorization for a much shorter line on the west side of the Mersey River (Liverpool is at the mouth of the Mersey), the Liverpool and Milton, which was actually constructed. The Liverpool and Milton also contained a similar proviso giving precedence to the Nova Scotia Southern if they began work.

The Nova Scotia Southern had again been extended in 1895 (c.133) and 1897 (c.88). The 1897 statute redefined its route, from Shelburne to the Central Railway at New Germany, and from the Indian Gardens to a junction with the Liverpool and Milton Tramway near Milton. The extensions were getting shorter, and the Nova Scotia Southern lost its precedence over the Liverpool and Milton. Perhaps the legislators were running out of patience.

In 1899 (c.129), the line to Liverpool was deleted and all the company had left was a line from the end of the Liverpool and Milton to Caledonia. Then, 1899 (c.134) brought a further extension, probably bought by promises of more railroad since the routes were revised to run from Shelburne harbour to the Central Railway (slowly being completed) and to connect Indian Gardens with the Liverpool and Milton. More time was granted in 1900 (c.185) at the price of a further promise: a route from the Central Railway to Chester and Halifax. This railway must have had fast-talking promoters to survive for so long with no track laid. In 1903, the Nova Scotia Southern was vested in the Halifax and South Western (the McKenzie and Mann offshoot of the Canadian Northern system that actually built the south shore railway) (c.3). A compensation statute in 1909 (c.7) reflects the fact that some land was acquired by the railway, which appears to have actually started construction of the line from New Germany to Caledonia that was completed by the Halifax and South Western.

Once the Nova Scotia Southern was laid to rest, attempts to get a railway north from Liverpool resurfaced. The Liverpool and Milton obtained authorization in 1910 to run a railway from Milton via Greenfield and Caledonia to Bear River (1910, c.151). A new railway, the Queens Central, was chartered to run from Brooklyn to Milton along the east side of the Mersey River, and then north to connect with the Halifax and South Western between Caledonia and Pleasant River (1910, c.166). There was no need to go farther, since there was hope for construction of the Bear River and Caledonia (1907, c.144), revived by 1911, c.110. In 1911, the Liverpool and Caledonia was chartered (c.131) to run from a harbour in Queens County to a shipping point on the Bay of Fundy in Annapolis County. The imprecision of the route was unusual and, not surprisingly, nothing developed from this proposal, although it was extended in 1912 (c.228).

The last reference to a route between Annapolis and Queens counties was a 1911 proposal (c.152) to build a line between Shelburne and Bear River, perhaps along the line of the old Annapolis-Shelburne road, now mostly abandoned itself. Possibly this was meant to be an electric railway (commonly referred to as an interurban), for which the Province had promised special assistance (1911, c.7), prompting the last spate of railway proposals.

Bear River became the focus of attention on the Annapolis side because it was a port and was the centre of a thriving forest industry.

East Bay

Among the shorter lines proposed but not built, the line from Sydney to East Bay on the Bras d'Or Lakes was notable for the number of efforts made to construct it. Mine railways connected Sydney and Glace Bay quite early. They doubled as public carriers. However, Sydney was not connected to the national rail network until the 1890's. Shipping on the Bras d'Or, connecting with the ocean through the St Peter's Canal, was quite important. A land connection between Sydney and East Bay could save significant time at sea.

The first effort was the Sydney and East Bay railway in 1873 (c.39). This proposal languished for thirty years. Then, by 1903-4, c.141, a new Sydney and East Bay was chartered. It was to run from a point on the Intercolonial at Sydney River to Johnstown Harbour, Red Island,

Richmond County, with a branch from East Bay to Eskasoni on the north side of East Bay. If built, this railway might have connected with the Cape Breton Railway, if it had been able to cross the St Peter's canal.

A new Sydney and East Bay was incorporated in 1909 (c.179). The intention was to have an electric railway (interurban) connect Sydney and East Bay.

An unusual proposal was the 1911 (c.156) incorporation of the Sydney, New Waterford and East Bay Monorail Company, to join the named points. The new technology proved beyond local ability to exploit.

West Central Nova Scotia

Another interesting proposal was a line from Windsor to Yarmouth through the centre of western Nova Scotia. At one time, Highway 101 (or 103) was projected through this wilderness to save the cost of a double highway: one for the south shore and one for the Valley. This railway may have failed for the same reason the highway proposal was rejected: the absence of local traffic to support it. One of the pressures for a railway was to encourage development, as the CPR opened up the Canadian west. In west central Nova Scotia, however, there were no major riches beyond the forest industry to be tapped. Agricultural potential was low.

The first proposal, for the Midland Great Western, was to run from Windsor up the Avon River and then through the northern parts of Lunenburg and Queens counties via Caledonia, along Lake Rossignol and Segum Sega lakes through Upper Ohio to Yarmouth, with branches to Shelburne and Liverpool (1887, c.55). The only part of this line to be constructed was that from New Germany to Caledonia, completed by the Halifax and South Western about 1908.

The Midland Great Western stayed alive as a concept for a few years, being amended in 1889 (c.86) and extended in 1890 (c.75). The 1890 extension allowed a connection to Halifax. The railway from the Nova Scotia Central (at or near New Germany) to Caledonia was given priority, as was the line west from Caledonia to Shelburne.

In 1891, the Central Railway Company (not to be confused with other like names such as the Nova Scotia Central, with which it shared incorporators) was chartered (c.125) to construct a railway from New Germany to the environs of Halifax, with very limited spur lines.

The proposal was dropped until 1902, when the Halifax and South Western agreed to complete the line from New Germany to Caledonia (c.1), and the Midland Railway (Windsor to Truro) was authorized (c.175) to construct a line westerly to the Halifax and South Western from Windsor, to the Nova Scotia Central, and to Middleton. This represented grand but unfulfilled ambition on the part of the Midland's promoters, who did construct their basic line and eventually sold it to the Dominion Atlantic.

Richmond County Short Lines

A few short lines were projected in Richmond County, apart from the Port Hawkesbury to St Peter's line that was actually constructed. The projected extension to Sydney never materialized and, in fact, no railway ever crossed the St Peter's canal. The only rail crossing of the Bras d'Or Lakes or their entries was the long railway bridge across Barra Strait at Iona for the Intercolonial. Even the highway did not parallel this bridge, one of the biggest railway engineering projects east of Qu‚bec City, until the 1990s.

In 1888, the Terminal City Company was incorporated to develop land in and around Port Hawkesbury (c.115) on both sides of the Strait of Canso. At the same time, the Terminal City Railroad Company was incorporated (c.116) to construct railroads to serve the company's lands. One was to run from Port Mulgrave easterly to Sand Point (on the mainland side of the Strait) and one from the Strait or Caribou Cove to the Cape Breton railroad northeast of Port Hawkesbury. This company could also run a ferry across the strait to connect its railways. The railway company was extended in 1892 (c.178) and 1894 (c.96). Nothing seems ever to have been built and the companion company's developments (intended to exploit the recent rail crossing of the Strait of Canso by rail ferry) remained relatively modest.

Another railroad, the Lennox Bridge and Railway Company, was established in 1893 (c.156), with authority to construct a railway from Grand Anse to Arichat (Ile Madame).

A secondary line for the Inverness Railway (1897, c.83) ran from a point on the Intercolonial near Mines Road station to Port Malcolm or Caribou Cove in Richmond County. The Margaree Coal and Railway Company (see Victoria, below) included that line in its all-encompassing, and long-lived, proposals.

Victoria County

Victoria County has never been served by railways, but a few efforts were made to connect Baddeck, centre of the county's limited population, to Sydney or to the Intercolonial at Orangedale. Orangedale, Inverness County, is the main distribution point for northwestern Cape Breton Island (Inverness and Victoria counties) from the Intercolonial railroad and, accordingly, was the focus for a number of railway enterprises.

The Victoria Railway Company (1888, c.81) proposed to construct a railway from Baddeck via the Middle River to the Margaree Valley near Rossville, thence to Margaree Forks and the Inverness and Richmond "now being constructed". Time was extended in 1891 (c.84).

The previous year the Inverness and Victoria Railway was incorporated (c.57) to run from a point on the "Cape Breton railway now being constructed by the Dominion government", likely Orangedale, via Whycocomagh to Broad Cove (later known as Inverness), Margaree and Baddeck, with a branch to Cheticamp. This railway raised two route issues that continued to be pursued for thirty years: the extension of the Inverness and Richmond from Broad Cove (Inverness) to Cheticamp, and a connection between Orangedale and Inverness. Neither was built, but some work was done on the Orangedale connection after the turn of the century.

A particularly unrealistic proposal surfaced in 1902 with the Cape Breton Northern (c.132), a proposed electric railroad. The railroad was to run from North Sydney harbour across Boularderie Island (involving severe grades) and the Big Bras d'Or (involving a major bridge, of the order of the Seal Island Bridge on the Trans Canada opened in the 1960s) to Baddeck (presumably along the almost non-existent lakeshore and not over Kelly's Mountain, as the highway now runs). This railroad would then continue via the Middle and Margaree river valleys to the Inverness and Richmond railway, with a branch to Orangedale via Whycocomagh. This railroad was created by flat map readers totally unfamiliar with the country to be traversed. Nothing was built of the proposal.

In 1897, the Inverness Railway was incorporated (c.83) to connect Orangedale with Cheticamp via Whycocomagh, Mabou, Broad Cove and Chimney Corner. The last three communities had notable coal mines at the time.

Railways seeking land grants and other government aid tended to link the Inverness-Orangedale route with proposals to extend from Inverness north to Cheticamp.

The Margaree Coal and Railway Company (1903-4, c.143) proposed to build a number of popular routes: Chimney Corner to Cheticamp, Margaree Harbour via Lake Ainslie to the Mabou and Gulf (or the Intercolonial), from the Intercolonial to Caribou Cove or Inhabitants Bay, and from Margaree Forks to Orangedale. The company asked the Inverness municipal council for a free right of way, but the council refused, based on some very high claims paid for land for other railways. However, the council did vote a $1,000 per mile bonus to be paid on completion of the railway from Orangedale (1905, c.99). Work started in earnest the next year. The county arranged authority to borrow up to $50,000 for the bonus (1906, c.123), time to complete the railway was extended (1906, c.124), and Richmond County agreed to provide a free right of way for the line from Mines Road (being the company mines) to Caribou Cove (1906, c.148). A contract with the provincial government providing a $4,000 per mile subsidy was entered into the next year (1907, c.13). Time extensions were obtained in 1908 (c.111), 1909 (c.46, 93, 159) and 1910 (C.74). While further extensions were obtained in 1911 (c.136), in 1914 (c.145) and in 1916 (c.118), this railway was effectively finished by World War I and the resulting shortages. Nova Scotia's economy after the war was not such as to encourage major capital spending.

Forgotten Branches

Several railways in Nova Scotia were chartered as branches of more established railways to effect a connection for, generally, business reasons for various communities.

One of these was the Weymouth Terminal Railway, intended to connect Weymouth with Weymouth harbour, and possibly other points in Digby County (1900, c.119). Weymouth was already served by the Western Counties Railway, by then part of the Dominion Atlantic, and the missing link between Digby and Annapolis had been completed. But the railway (and Weymouth) are several miles from deep water in the harbour, and at the time, Weymouth was the centre of a thriving forest industry.

Another lost branch was the Amherst and Eastern Railway, to run from Amherst (on the Intercolonial) to Tidnish, also on the New Brunswick border, and the Northumberland Strait terminus of the proposed Chignecto Ship Railway then under construction (1898, c.127). The railway could also connect to Pugwash, served by the "Short Line" to Pictou. This railway was also authorized to connect to the Stanley coal areas, an important economic justification.

A branch between Parrsboro and Truro attracted a lot of attention in spite of the physical difficulties of getting a railway past Economy Mountain, which even today can make highway driving on this shore quite hazardous. Parrsboro was an important shipping and forestry centre at the time. The Boston, Parrsboro and Londonderry Railway and Steam Navigation Company (1887, c.56) would have connected the harbour at Parrsboro easterly via Five Islands, Economy and Londonderry (the site of important iron mines) to the Intercolonial near Londonderry station. The incorporating statute recited the economic importance of the railway in opening up and developing timber lands and iron ore and other deposits.

Also in 1887 (c.61), the Peninsular Railway Company was incorporated to build a railway between Great Village and the Intercolonial (Londonderry station). A second line, from Folly Lake station to Tatamagouche, was also contemplated. In 1890 (c.77), the name was changed to the Londonderry and West Shore, and the company was empowered to extend the line to Economy.

The Nova Scotia Northern was incorporated in 1902 (c.133) to build a railway connecting the Intercolonial with the short line and the New Brunswick border. The exact intent is unclear. Then, in 1905, when the company was restructured (c.133), it was empowered to connect Truro and Parrsboro, and Truro with the Northumberland Strait.

The Lockeport Railway Company was a community effort to connect the town to the Halifax and South Western (1916, c.112), which failed because railways did not grow during World War I, even through Lockeport was a significant fishing centre. Many of the south shore railways chartered promised a branch to Lockeport. None delivered.

In a similar position was Tusket, municipal seat of Argyle, which the Yarmouth and Eastern Railway was supposed to connect with Yarmouth and Wedgeport, a major fishing centre (particularly tuna) (1909, c.188). This attempt was clearly intended to be an electric railway.

Shelburne, similarly, was promised connection with a south shore railway. The Halifax and South Western eventually fulfilled the promise. Before that, however, the municipalities of Shelburne and Barrington obtained legislation (1888, c.90) to allow them to subsidize railways, providing federal and provincial subsidies were also made available. By 1893 (c.130), they had given up on the requirement for senior government subsidies. But here a railway seemed to be on the way.

Connecting Tatamagouche to Truro, over a fierce range of hills, was a long-term preoccupation. We have already noted the Peninsular Railway's half-hearted proposal to connect Folly Lake with Tatamagouche (1887, c.61), which was dropped the next year (1888, c.86). In 1890, the North Colchester Railway was chartered (c.64) to connect Brule (also on the Northumberland Strait) or Tatamagouche to Truro and the Intercolonial. In 1903, the municipality of Colchester was empowered to pay for the right of way for this route (c.121), now the property of the suddenly ambitious Midland Railway (c.233). In 1905, the Dominion Atlantic bought the Midland. The authorizing statute (c.130) also authorized the Dominion Atlantic to build the line from Truro to the Northumberland Strait.

The Halifax and Colchester Railway was incorporated in 1899 (c.127) to build (or own) a railway from the Intercolonial at Brookfield (a few miles south of Truro in Colchester County) to Eastville. This line had been part of the ill-fated Stewiacke and Lansdowne, and there is some evidence that at least a portion of it had been built and taken back by the provincial government. However, it was not completed as the Halifax and Colchester required an extension of time in 1901 (c.170).

The Standard Coal and Railway Company incorporated in 1903 (c.184), among its other ventures, planned a line of railway from Athol or Maccan (where the Joggins Railway connected with the Intercolonial) to Parrsboro, and (less promisingly) from Parrsboro to Truro. In 1906, the authorization was amended (c.164), allowing connection to Amherst rather than Athol, and Belmont (on the Intercolonial north of Truro) rather than Truro.

An electric railway was proposed for Kings County to connect the Cornwallis Valley branch of the Dominion Atlantic at Canning via Woodside, North Corner, Upper Pereaux and Delhaven to Cape Blomidon (Blomidon Railway Company, 1911, c.111). Another line would run to Cape Split via Scott's Bay (over the North Mountain, a severe engineering challenge) and from Wolfville to Canning via Port Williams, Starr's Point and Canard (feasible for an electric interurban, but scarcely reasonable as a business proposition given existing competition from the Dominion Atlantic, although at this time there was severe dissatisfaction with the DAR by apple producers, among others).

The Blomidon was extended in 1913 (c.165) and given another route, from Canning to Kentville via Sheffield Mills, Centreville, Billtown, Lakeville, Welsford, Somerset, Berwick and Cambridge, and yet another from Kentville to Avonport via the Gaspereaux Valley (a major apple producing area, but challenging geographically; the river is a major hydro-electric power source and famous for rapids), and from Avonport via Hortonville, Grand Pr‚ and Wolfville to connect with other lines. A further revival and extension was obtained in 1916 (c.99), but no new routes were proposed. There was not much of central and eastern Kings County the company's proposed routes would not reach.

A more ambitious route along the same lines was the Valley Railway Company, which proposed to connect Middleton, along the south (valley) side of the North Mountain, to Port Williams and continuing across the Annapolis River to the Gaspereaux Valley and thence to Windsor (1902, c.131). The route from the Gaspereaux to Windsor is not defined. An Annapolis Valley Railway for much the same route was incorporated in 1907 (c.143), but its incorporating statute was suspended if the North Mountain was constructed. The North Mountain Railway (Cornwallis Valley Railway) became the North Mountain Division of the Dominion Atlantic and a portion of the route along the foot of the North Mountain west of Centreville was constructed and was in operation to the early 1950s.

A near duplicate of the Western Counties Railway from Yarmouth to Digby and Annapolis was authorized for the Yarmouth and Digby Electric Railway in 1902 (c.135). One of the incorporators was W.W. Clarke of Bear River, a timber magnate. The railway was to run from Yarmouth to Bear River. Possibly, it would access the coastal points between Weymouth and Yarmouth that the Western Counties bypassed, ending at the shipping point of Bear River, which never did get railway service. The Act was amended and extended in 1903 (c.240). The concept was revived by a new Yarmouth and Digby Electric Railway in 1909 (c.186), with some of the same incorporators, in response to new provincial aid initiatives and the right to sell electricity en route. Both versions probably intended to avoid major construction projects, such as the Bear River bridge, that had long delayed completion of the rail connection between Digby and Annapolis.

On Cape Breton Island, the Port Hood-Richmond was chartered to connect Port Hood (an important coal mining centre and the county seat of Inverness County) with Port Malcolm in Richmond County, access to the Atlantic Ocean for the mines (1903, c.181). The charter was extended in 1905 (c.138), and borrowing was revised in 1909 (c.173) and 1910 (c.166), suggesting this unbuilt railway was more than a pipe dream.

The Cape Breton Northern, as well as an improvident attempt to link North Sydney and Baddeck, would have connected Baddeck with Margaree and Orangedale to Whycocomagh (1902, c.132). (This latter route extended through the Margaree Valley to connect with the Inverness and Richmond and was the subject of a serious later attempt by the Margaree Coal and Railway Company with significant provincial backing.) The Cape Breton Northern had its deadline extended in 1905 (c.131).

A more limited, perhaps more probable, route was pursued by the Skye Mountain Railway, connecting Orangedale and Skye Mountain, a major quarrying site (1914, c.176). A time extension in 1917 (c.169) proves the idea was more than a passing fancy.

A well-organized attempt to establish a broad electric railway network in Lunenbury County was started in 1911. The Lunenburg Electric Railway was established with authority to run lines anywhere in Lunenburg County (c.133, am. c.134). The municipality of Lunenburg obtained authority to give it a free right of way (c.97). Time extensions were obtained in 1913 (c.185) and 1919 (c.168).

These various proposals, none of which were built by their proponents and most of which were never built at all, in whole or in part, are an expression of the optimism promoted by a railway age. All one needed to guarantee success was a railway for one's community. The dreary days after World War I put a final stop to this perception.

Many other railway fancies are connected to routes actually built (such as the nebulous expansion plans of the Midland, exhilarated by its successful crossing of the Rawdon wilds between Windsor and Truro). Some were precursor lines or plans for real railways, such as the many proposals to reach the ice-free port of Louisbourg from the coal mines in industrial Cape Breton. Others relate to various attempts to reach Guysborough and salt water at Country Harbour or near Canso, a railway built in part, but never completed. These are considered in the legislative history of routes actually constructed.

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