The Railways of Canada Archives -- Cornwallis Valley Railway: CVR: 1889

Cornwallis Valley Railway
(CVR: 1889 - 1892)

The Act of Incorporation for the Cornwallis Valley Railway Company was passed by the Nova Scotia Legislature on May 3rd, 1887. At the beginning it was a separate company, completely independent from any other, although that status would not last long. In June 1889, the CVR began construction of the track between Kingsport and Sheffield Mills, but the location of the connection with the Windsor & Annapolis Railway was then undecided.

In her 1936 book, "History of the Dominion Atlantic Railway," Marguerite Woodworth wrote: "Two alternatives were being considered, running the line from Sheffield Mills to Kentville, or to Middleton..." In the late summer of 1889 it was agreed that the W&A would buy the CVR, and the decision was made to build the track from Sheffield to connect with the W&A at Kentville. On December 22nd, 1890, the CVR began operating regular trains between Kingsport and Kentville, coordinating its passenger schedule to provide convenient connections with the W&A's main line trains. The corporate name Windsor & Annapolis Railway was changed to Dominion Atlantic Railway in October 1894.

Another two decades went by before the railway line from Centreville to Weston was built by the Cornwallis Valley Railway. This line was ready for traffic on December 1st, 1914. It cost $413,000. In 1936, Marguerite Woodworth wrote: "Hundreds of thousands of barrels of apples are shipped over the Weston Branch yearly from its various stations." At this time the CVR was still a legal corporation which owned and operated the railway lines north of Kentville, but it was a wholly-owned subsidiary of the DAR. The DAR was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canadian Pacific.

In the autumn of 1936 -- the apple-shipping season -- there were fourteen trains scheduled each way each week on the Weston Branch; two round trips every day including Sunday. This was a "mixed" train, which had seats available for passengers but was primarily a freight train which switched the numerous apple warehouse sidings. The September 1936 employees' timetable lists the following sidings, with their locations in miles from Centreville: Turner Road, Lakeville Fruit Company 3.78; Oyler's 3.79; Terey Lane 5.59; Ivor Best 8.90; Welsford Fruit Company, Spicer Road, 11.19; Chute Road 13.42. The railway provided twice-a-day freight service at these sidings, which gives some idea of the traffic this branch generated.

The first train departed Kentville at 9:45am to arrive in Weston at 10:55am. Returning, it departed Weston at 11:10am to arrive in Kentville at 12:25pm. The second trip departed Kentville at 3:15pm to arrive in Weston at 4:30pm. Returning, it departed Weston at 4:45pm to arrive in Kentville at 6:00pm. The train was known to run late sometimes, when the freight traffic was heavy and required numerous switching moves.

On the Kentville to Kingsport line, in the autumn of 1936, a passenger train made thirteen trips each way each week, from Kingsport to Kentville and return. These trains originated and terminated in Kingsport, and the locomotive remained in Kingsport overnight with a night watchman to maintain the fire and keep an eye on the water level in the boiler.

Mondays through Saturdays the train departed Kingsport at 8:00am to arrive in Kentville at 8:40am. Returning, it departed Kentville at 11:20am to arrive in Kingsport at 12:05pm.

Mondays through Saturdays the second trip departed Kingsport at 1:00pm to arrive in Kentville at 1:45pm. Returning, it departed Kentville at 3:30pm to arrive in Kingsport at 4:15pm.

On Saturdays, a third trip departed Kingsport at 5:00pm to arrive in Kentville at 5:45pm. Returning, it departed Kentville at 6:30pm to arrive in Kingsport at 7:10pm. There was no passenger service on Sundays to or from Kingsport.

This schedule information is taken from the D.A.R. employees' timetable which went into effect at 12:01am, September 27th, 1936.

The Monday - Friday trains served as the "school bus" of the time. Students from the Kingsport - Canning - Sheffield area who wanted a high school education travelled on the morning train to Kentville to attend classes at the Kentville Academy; at the end of the school day the afternoon train took them home. The railway and school schedules were coordinated to enable students to attend a full day of classes.

For the Kingsport line, the 1936 timetable shows stations beginning at Kentville, then Aldershot, Mill Village (now Steam Mill), Centreville, Ford Crossing (now Gibson Wood), Sheffield Mills, Hillaton, Canning, and Pereau, terminating at Kingsport. The Weston line had stations beginning at Centreville, then Northville, Billtown, Lakeville, Woodville, Grafton, and Somerset, terminating at Weston.

Additional information about the operation of the Weston Branch can be found in the book "Sheltered by the North Mountain: A History of Lakeville, Kings County, Nova Scotia," 230 pages, by Anne van Arragon Hutten. Published by Anne van Arragon Hutten, Kentville, 1995. According to the book, the Billtown Station building still exists (at least, it was standing in 1995, but it had been moved from the original location). Ms. Hutten wrote: "To handle the large volumes of fruit produced on Annapolis Valley farms by the late 1800s, farmers began turning some of them into cider and dried apples. Lakeville (Kings County) is known to have had two evaporators, or three, if you count twice the one that burned down and was rebuilt. Evaporators were major employers during the late fall and winter. Their basic function was to dry apples, preserving the fruit for later use... Dried apples required no refrigeration or special care, were comparatively lightweight, and found a ready market in remote logging camps, outports, and in the armed forces... (George Chase's evaporator, in Lakeville), ran five kilns, and a packing crew of six men getting apples ready for the overseas market. We handled over forty thousand barrels of apples there that...season (1916)..." Those barrels all were shipped out on the CVR.

Among railway employees, the track northward from Kentville was known as the "CVR" throughout its life, until the end of operations in the summer of 1993. I heard the line called "CVR" on the railway radio several times during the last year.

Video tape exists of several freight trains and a snowplow on the CVR during 1992-93, the last year of operation. The last remaining CVR track, from Kentville to Steam Mill, was officially abandoned in October 1993, and was torn up in 1994. The track from Steam Mill to Kingsport was abandoned in December 1961, if I recall correctly.

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