Inverness and Richmond Railway

The Inverness and Richmond Railway (I&R) is a historic Canadian railway that operated on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia.

The I&R traces its history to 1874 when the Inverness Railway Company was incorporated, changing its name to the Inverness Coal Field and Railway Company in 1875 and to the Inverness Coal, Iron and Railway Company in 1886.

The economically tumultuous conditions of the coal industry in Inverness County was evident as these various railway charters appeared and disappeared. The growth of the Sydney Coal Field and the establishment of the coal and steel industry in what would become Industrial Cape Breton during the late 19th century only made the future of the Inverness mines more uncertain.

The I&R was incorporated in 1887 with a charter to build a railway line from the district of Margaree in north-central Inverness County to the ports of Mabou, Port Hood and Port Hawkesbury, along with a branch to the Bras d'Or Lake port of Whycocomagh.

Construction of the I&R line finally began in the late 1890s after the company was acquired by Sir William Mackenzie and Sir Donald Mann who were expanding their Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) system across Canada.

The I&R was built from Inverness Junction (at the south end of Port Hawkesbury) on the Intercolonial Railway's Point Tupper-Sydney mainline 60.5 miles north along the coast of the Northumberland Strait to Inverness. The line opened on June 15, 1901 to serve coal mines in Inverness and Mabou which were owned by the CNoR. Local proponents had wished the I&R to continue building north from Inverness to Cheticamp, however it would never venture beyond the mines at Inverness. Also, despite its name, the line would also never extend into Richmond County.

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