The Railways of Canada Archives -- Speaking Of Coal ...

Speaking Of Coal …
Part I

By Don Scott, Coquitlam, BC

Brought up in Moncton, N.B., I have many memories going back to the 1930's when my parents burned coal. My father always preferred coal from the mines from Springhill, Nova Scotia. At one time around the early 1940's he ordered coal from a local coal dealer in Moncton, the coal was called "Acadia", and I believe it came from the mines in Cape Breton, N.S. It was terrible, coal dust all over the basement, or then we called basements cellars.

In the 1930's a horse-drawn waggon would back up to the cellar window, after being emptied into the coal bin one would have to climb up the coal pile to put in the cellar window. Coke came later, it was clean and threw losts of heat. You would bank the furnace at night, and in the morning clean out the clinkers and build a new fire.

CN east/west freight and passenger trains between Moncton-Truro-Halifax would coal-up at Springhill Jct. N.S. Coal came in off the Cumberland Railway & Coal Company with loads that would either travel to Moncton to supply coal for steam locomotives or go east to Truro and Halifax.

The CN main-line between Moncton and Halifax was known as "wreck alley" with so many wrecks. The CN line Moncton-Campbellton, N.B. (now NB Eastern). The CN (NTR) line from Pacific Jct. outside Moncton to Edmundston (now CN's only line to Central Canada) had a bad record for wrecks.

Back in about 1937, 4-8-4 #6102 on an eastbound Moncton-Halifax freight ran into disaster at Springhill Jct. N.S. colliding with a string of runaway coal cars-killing the engine crew, the engineer by the name of Bower who lived nearby our home.

During the war years CN reactivated the former ICR/CGR "Franklin Yard" at the northend of Moncton to stock coal for steam, the coal coming from either Springhill or from the mines in Cape Breton.

2-8-0 #2442 during the early 1940's was transferred to Moncton and handled coal from the main yard to Franklin Yard, and as coal was required #2442 ran steady between the main yard and Franklin Yard. Another 2-8-0 a sister locomotive, #2441 arrived in Moncton for yard duties.

Speaking of 4-8-4 #6102, I can remember the day the locomotive was being shunt to Moncton shops, everthing on flat cars. A number of months later #6102 came out after a rebuild and put back into service.

Another coal mine in New Brunswick was located at Minto on the CP. I believe that's where just about their supply of coal came from for their steam in N.B. Their DAR would receive coal either from Springhill or Cape Breton mines to supply their Nova Scotia lines.

I believe CN in the Montreal area like CP, had coal come in from mines in the United States. Moncton, up to the late 1940's, also had natural gas which came from nearby Albert County, until the gas supply ran out.

Another railway connecting with CN near Springhill Jct. at Nappan, N.S. was the "Maritime Railway" that operated Nappan-Joggins. These locomotives were repaired or overhauled by CN shops at Moncton. Moncton roundhouse had 40 stalls-and in the boom days and with steam was a busy place, including coaling the power.

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