Newfoundland Railway
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| Reporting mark | NFLD |
|---|---|
| Locale | Newfoundland |
| Dates of operation | 1898–1949 (merged into CN), abandoned 1988 |
| Track gauge | 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) |
| Headquarters | St. John's, Newfoundland |
The Newfoundland Railway was a railway which operated on the island of Newfoundland from 1898 to 1988. With a total track length of 906 miles (1,458 km), it was the longest 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) narrow gauge railway system in North America.
In 1880, a committee of the Newfoundland Legislature recommended that a narrow gauge railway be built from the colonial capital in St. John's to Halls Bay, 547 km (340 mi) to the west. Construction was started on the Avalon Peninsula in August 1881 by the Blackman Syndicate. By 1884, the Newfoundland Railway Company had built 92 km (57 mi) west to Whitbourne before going into receivership.
The bondholders of the bankrupt Newfoundland Railway Company continued to build a 43 km (27 mi) branch line from Whitbourne to Harbour Grace (the Harbour Grace Railway), which was completed by November that year.
The colonial government undertook to build a branch from the junction at Whitbourne to the port of Placentia between 1886 and 1888.
The colonial government sought new investors to continue the stalled project to Halls Bay and in June, 1890, Scottish-born Montreal resident and railway engineer/contractor Robert Gillespie Reid agreed to build and operate the line. By 1892, Reid's workers were approaching the halfway point at the Exploits River when the government changed the terminus from Halls Bay approximately 400 km (250 mi) further west, first to St. George's and finally to Port aux Basques. The route itself was diverted inland up the Exploits valley and over the Gaff Topsails (some of the highest elevation terrain on the island) and away from the coast once on the north bank of the Exploits River. This extension to the system was initially operated as the Newfoundland Northern and Western Railway and for it, Reid was granted land totaling 13 km²/km (5,000 acres per mile).
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