Rolly Martin Country: CNR 1988 Newfoundland Railway at St John's

Through coincidence we found ourselves on a coast-to-coast Newfoundland vacation during the last few months of operations on what I will call the Newfoundland Railway. I think it was formally the Terra Transport division of Canadian National Railways at this point.

These photos show what we saw during one visit we made to the St John's yard at the end of July. We only saw operating locomotives at Corner Brook. Most of these units were probably here awaiting disposition. Another batch of photos shows a cab roof and other parts 'disposed' in a gondola car.

A number of these units were sold for use in places like Chile or Nicaragua. Every once in a while, a unit turns up in my YouTube global railway video subscriptions which looks strangely familiar.

As usual, I used fast film ('vacation weather'!) and worked carefully but quickly while on railway property.

On our day coming east through Bishop's Falls we had seen some
freshly-torched rolling stock and I didn't want to find out if surveillance of
railway property had been stepped up as a result.

from: Canadian Trackside Guide; 1988; Bytown Railway Society.

I'll put this roster information here because it will save us both a lot of time.

The traditional headquarters of the Newfoundland Railway had become a Terra Transport bus depot.
The ghosts of dispatchers and company-officers-past walked the upstairs halls with their successors.

You can actually see the trucks on this unit.
... so I must have made a mistake with my exposure!

Above, we are facing the eastern end of the railway.
Beyond, the tracks lead to shops and back shops.
From what I've read, the railway shops were equipped to be self-sufficient -
more or less - for building locomotives in the early years.

During peak years (eg. during the establishment and use of *US bases during WW2)
new steam power was imported from the mainland to try to meet demand.

Newfoundland prided itself on being Britain's Oldest Colony.
Over the years it sometimes toggled between self-rule
and British-funded finance and 'supervision'.
As a Commonwealth country, Newfoundland participated in the
*US-British Lend-Lease Agreement during World War Two.

During dieselization, GMD (as the roster shows above) provided locomotives.

Be sure to check out the historical articles sent after posting
by Jim Christie. They are at the end of this post.

Above is the Terra Nova.
That's probably Latin for something ...

The date above is 1931.
The architecture of the station and shop front doors
were literally overshadowed by a road overpass.

This looks roughly northeast and shows the station and shop area.
You can see the railway back shops at St John's.
At the right edge you can see evidence of a drydock - which is at the west end of the exquisite natural harbour.

The drydock had been part of the Reid Newfoundland Company's transportation conglomerate.
This company had included a fleet of coastal ships and ferries.