Conception Bay North T'railway Association | |
| Formation | September 23, 2017 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Adam Hindy |
| Founded at | Carbonear, Newfoundland and Labrador |
| Purpose | T'railway maintenance |
| Location | |
Region served | Bay de Verde Peninsula east |
| Services | Trail maintenance, bridge building |
President | Adam Hindy |
| Affiliations | Newfoundland T'railway Organization, Old Perlican Bay de Verde Trailway |
| Website | cbntrailway |
Formerly called |
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CBN T'railway Association is a non-profit volunteer organization, which was formed in 2017 to revitalize the former Newfoundland Railway line from Brigus Junction to Bay de Verde, which was repurposed for ATV use after the railway was deconstructed in the late 1980s.
History edit
Origins edit
In 1881 the Blackman contract provided a railway branch line to Harbour Grace from Whitbourne that operated for 13 years before the mainline was completed to Port aux Basque. The Harbour Grace branch was completed in 1884. A subsequent short-line was constructed, heading into Carbonear from Harbour Grace. This line ran around Lady Lake, west of Harbour Grace. The line which ran across the Tilton barrens was taken up in 1915-1916 in favour of a line running from Brigus Junction to Tilton, which was constructed in 1898, thus establishing the Carbonear branch.
From 1898-1901, the Workington Railway operated an iron ore mine out of Lower Island Cove. The line ran from the mines in Lower Island Cove to a port in Old Perlican. The ore quickly ran out and the operation was soon shut down.
In 1915 the Carbonear branch was extended by a 48 mile line that ran to Grates Cove – Bay de Verde. Part of the Workington Railway line was incorporated into the new Bay de Verde Branch Line. This line ceased operations in 1930 and was taken up in 1932. The Carbonear branch continued operations until 1984. The line had been completely taken up by 1988 when the Newfoundland Railway was abandoned.
After the rails had been taken up, most of the line was unofficially repurposed for ATV use. Some communities absorbed sections of the lines and residential areas and roads were constructed.
Formation of CBN T'railway edit
In 2017, Adam Hindy of Carbonear created a Facebook group called Carbonear & Area T'railway in hopes of sparking new initiative for others to get together to perform general maintenance on the old railway bed running through Carbonear. Popularity of the group slowly began to rise in 2018 when several posts were made, covering a new recreation tunnel that was to be built under Route 70 during the construction of the Valley Road Interchange project.[1] The tunnel was a focus of Hindy because it meant safe ATV travel crossing under the highway, which split the north shore line. The line was later added.
Throughout the remainder of 2018 and 2019, a small group of volunteers joined Hindy's ranks to assist in trail maintenance, by means of widening and brush cutting. Things started to pick up in the spring of 2020 during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hindy and his volunteers in Carbonear were working hard on the north shore line which left Carbonear on the north side. An access trail via the old section of Gladstone Road and Battery Rock Road was widened and completely graded by excavator. Around this time, work took off and more volunteers began joining the cause, the Facebook group had also grown in size to over 1000 members. Work on the north shore line and Harbour Grace line had been completed by the end of the summer.
A washout in Bristol's Hope, which was created in 2010 by Hurricane Igor was also repaired, along with the construction of a new rest stop.