Quebec Railway Corporation

Quebec Railway Corporation operated a number of shortlines cast off by Canadian National.
1993-2009

SFEX 3000 RS-18-3 (ex NBEC 1864, ex CP 1864 nee CP 8734 RS-18) MLW 81609 3/1957
New Richmond, Quebec 7/01/2007

This was a major upgrade (2007) to -3 specifications intended to be applied to entire roster of RS-18's.

Chaleur Bay CBC

December 1, 1996 to operate ex CN Cascapedia Sub. Matapedia to New Carlisle 98 miles
and CN Chandler Sub. New Carlisle to Chandler 44 miles.
Additionally, Chandler to Gaspe 60 miles which was purchased June 16, 1997 by SCFG
a non-profit corporation owned by local municipalities thus creating a 202 mile contineous line.
In 2007 QRC sold the first portion of the Chandler Sub. and the Cascapedia Sub. to SCFG.
Matapedia and Gulf (CFMG) was sub-contracted to provide freight service for SCFG.

CFMG sold November 2008 to CN.

SFEX 3000 leads an RS-18 with train 594. Restigouche, QC 10/05/2005

Charlevoix

Limoilou (Quebec City) to Clermont, QC, 90 miles ex CN Murray Bay Sub.
Operations began in December 1, 1994 as the first QRC line.

The section of the line between Quebec City and La Malbaie, Quebec was sold
April 1, 2009 to Le Massif for a tourist train operation with CN providing freight service.

Matapedia and Gulf CFMG

Mont-Joli, Quebec to Tide Head, New Brunswick 101 miles ex CN Mont Joli, Sub.
Began January 26, 1998
Riviere-du-Loup to Matane, QC.
Began February 14, 1999

New Brunswick East Coast NBEC

Tide Head to Pacific Jct. 180 miles ex CN, plus running rights into Moncton, NB
Began January 26, 1998.

Ottawa Central OCRR

Operation began January 2001 and included Walkley Yard, Ottawa. Beachburg Sub. (ex CN) from Federal to Pembroke,
ON, 83 miles and Wass to Hawthorne (8.8 miles) as well as running rights on the VIA and CN Alexandria Sub. between Hawthorne and Coteau 73 milles.

The OCRR was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Quebec Railway Corporation (QCR). It consisted of former CN subdivisions, and operated between Coteau-du-Lac, Quebec, at an interchange with the CN Montreal-Toronto main line, to Ottawa and Pembroke, Ontario.

The OCRR started operations on December 13, 1998, and two years later, QRC acquired the assets of
Ontario L'Orignal Railway from Rail America.[1]

The OCRR consisted of 198 km (123 mi) of track and spurs: 156 km (97 mi) of main line between Ottawa and Pembroke, and 42 km (26 mi) of the former Ontario L’Orignal Railway (OLO) between Glen Robertson and Hawkesbury.

It also had 138 km (86 mi) of running rights between Ottawa and Coteau on track owned by Via Rail.[2]

{1} Ontario L'Orignal was bought circa 2001 from Rail America. Originally acquired November 1, 1996 from CN.
Operation was between Glen Robertson and Hawksbury, ON. CN Vankleek Sub. 21 miles and 4.4 mile spur between Hawksbury and L'Orignal.

Major commodities carried by the OCRR included newsprint, salt, medium-density fibreboard, linerboard, forest products, pulp, gasoline, lumber and board, wire rod, billets and scrap.

On November 3, 2008, Canadian National Railway announced that it was purchasing the OCRR and its sister companies Chemin de fer de la Matapédia et du Golfe (CFMG), Compagnie de gestion de Matane (COGEMA), and the New Brunswick East Coast Railway (NBEC) for $49.8 million (CAD) from the Quebec Railway Corporation.

The CN announcement indicates that the reacquired rail lines will be integrated back into the CN network with no significant changes, other than introducing CN locomotives and rolling stock to train operations. CN also mentioned investing significant capital upgrades in the rail network for outstanding maintenance

Sydney Coal SCR
Sydney to Glace Bay, CB, 19 miles. ex Devco. Began January 2, 2002
Sold November 2008 to Logistic Corp.

Note: Imported coal unloaded at Sydney Harbour for movement to Nova Scotia Power plant.