Longing for the Newfoundland Railway: Almost 40 years after the last train, the love of the rails continues | So Good News

It’s been 34 years since the last train pulled into the station in Newfoundland, but the longing for the rails is as strong today as it was on that September day in 1988.

The Railway Coastal Museum in St. John’s aims to preserve, protect and interpret the history of the railway and coastal boat services in Newfoundland. Sherry Welsh is the general manager of the museum and sees a wide range of ages come through the doors.

“Kids like the model train, and older people like to reminisce about riding the train,” she says.

“There is definitely a sense of nostalgia when it comes to rail service in Newfoundland … The rail and coastal ferry services played an important role in the social, economic, educational and health development of Newfoundland and Labrador.”

Without the railway, she points out, the development of natural resources such as mining and the paper industry would have been delayed for many years.

“The railway also helped develop a thriving tourism industry, especially in hunting and fishing,” she adds.

Lifelong passion

And decades after the rails were pulled up and engines scrapped, there is still a passion for the magic of the rails. Just ask St. John’s resident JP Coady, who is a board member and volunteer with the Railway Coastal Museum.

“My lifelong passion since the age of six has been the Newfoundland Railway. I remember hearing a train horn from my bedroom and asking my mum what it was, he says.

The first train Coady saw was in a local park at a railroad crossing. After seeing it pass and hearing the horn, he was hooked. The odd time, he admits, he even skipped school to explore the railway yard.

All of Coady’s school projects were about the railroad, and his first job was at a local railroad museum when he was 15.

“I’m interested in literally every form of railway memorabilia, pictures, papers, crockery, tools, train parts, anything that was related to the railway,” he adds.

Coady says hearing stories from people who worked on the railroad is his favorite.

“I’ve become friends with a lot of retired railroaders, and that’s the greatest privilege.”

Coady loves the railway so much that he wants to establish his own museum in the future.

“I’m looking for a full size rail car now to start my own museum, as well as ‘speeders’ – petrol powered inspection cars.”

Although the railway shut down in 1988, Coady says interest in it is still very strong, which makes him glad it is not being forgotten.

“I’m interested in literally every form of railroad memorabilia, pictures, papers, crockery, tools, train parts, anything that was related to the railroad.”
— JP Coady

A narrow gauge

“In Newfoundland, our railway was narrow gauge, which is unique, just like our people. It had a culture of its own and riding it was a unique and beautiful experience, he says.

Family connections also play a role in Newfoundlanders’ nostalgia for the railway.

“Many of the employees were third-generation railway drivers, following their parents and grandparents,” he explains.

“It was a family affair and the employees were proud of the railway. To this day I see so many people visiting the museum who have all sorts of connections to the railway and are extremely proud of it.”

People from all over the world have visited Newfoundland since as early as the 1930s to document and ride Newfoundland’s unique railway, he adds.

There are many places to experience the history of the railway — the Railway Coastal Museum at the old railway headquarters in St. John’s is a must-see for Coady, as well as museums in Avondale, Clarenville, Corner Brook and Port Aux Basques.

Coady also points out the legacy of the Trinity Loop.

“It was built in 1911 to access the city of Trinity, which was a very important city for political and economic reasons. The terrain was so steep that the loop was designed to allow the track to cross a bridge, gradually descend around a pond and pass under itself to continue to Trinity It was designed as a provincial heritage structure in 1987 and is a rare example of such construction, he says.

It’s abandoned today, but Coady says “it’s the most important thing to me that it be restored.”

Connect the province

Trevor Croft from Witless Bay is another die-hard railway enthusiast. His interest began as a child while hunting with his father.

“We crossed an old railroad trestle while he was taking me hunting just down the road from my home,” Croft recalls.

Today, Croft collects both artifacts and documents about the Newfoundland railway.

“I have one of the few remaining Newfoundland railway pump cars and one of the only running Fairmont railway speeders left on the island,” he says. “I’m also a big collector of all things Newfoundland railway, including documents and tools.”

Croft was born in 1992, so he doesn’t actually remember the railway, but is old enough to see how special the Newfoundland railway still is to many people in the province.

“Not only did it connect our province, but it also changed our music and our outlook for the future. We are still deeply connected to the railways,” he says.

“The Newfoundland narrow gauge railway adds an extra special romantic side to things. Just the thought of taking a train across this beautiful province makes many people smile.”

Newfoundland has many railway museums, but Croft’s favorite is the Railway Coastal Museum in St. John’s.

“I have a speeder and pumper car on display there and they have a huge collection of items on display. It’s worth the trip.”

Stop the trains

Sherry Ryan is a singer-songwriter from St. John’s who has been singing country, blues and folk for over 10 years. In 2016, Ryan released a song called “Stop The Trains” which she co-wrote with her father, Jim.

Ryan’s father worked on the Newfoundland Railway from 1956 to 1993.

“In the late 50s, my father worked at the railway station in St Andrews, Codroy Valley, which is the nearest station to the Wreckhouse area,” she says.

The famous Wreckhouse winds were known to blow trains off the tracks. But Ryan’s father, who hails from the East Coast near St. John’s, knew nothing of the power of the Wreckhouse winds.

“He also didn’t know that Lauchie MacDougall, a hunter and trapper who lived in the Wreckhouse, would call to warn the railway when the wind was too high for trains to pass,” she says.

MacDougall was known locally as “the wind sniffer.”

“One day Dad was alone at the station when Lauchie called and said – ‘stop the trains.’ Not knowing what to do, Dad called a station in central Newfoundland and they told him it was Lauchie MacDougall who had called and he had to stop the trains, says Ryan.

There are two stories included in Ryan’s song, which also refers to the time a manager came from the mainland to visit the railway station after the CNR took over the railway.

“When the boss discovered the system they had in place for Wreckhouse winds, he stopped for Lauchie MacDougall to call in and tell the dispatchers to look at the weather forecast instead. When the next high winds came up and blew a train off the track, Lauchie was rehired and worked for the railroad as a wind sniffer for the rest of his life. When he passed, his wife Emily took over until she moved from the area in 1972, says Ryan.

Ryan feels that political issues surrounding the railway’s closure play a role in Newfoundlanders’ continued attachment to the railway.

“In my generation, there are many people whose parents spent their working lives employed by the railways. It was a big part of our lives growing up, and we know the whole story, so it stays alive through storytelling, she says.

Ryan’s ‘Stop the Trains’ song is well-loved – she gets a ‘great response’ from live audiences who sing along and often gets requests from students who want to use it in school projects.

“It has been included in a dinner theatre, a shadow puppet show, was named Best Song in the Province by the Overcast People’s Choice Awards 2018, recorded by bluegrass band Crooked Stovepipe, featured in the award-winning feature film An Audience of Chairs, and honored at Newfoundland House of Assembly,” she lists.

Ryan’s new album, Shout for More, comes out in October, and she’ll be touring the East Coast at that time.

Did you know?

• There are two versions of the song: one on the 2018 album Wreckhouse and the other is a single released in 2016 with the band Flower Hill. This version can be found on YouTube with Railway Pensioners at the Newfoundland Costal Museum.
• A physical copy of Ryan’s album Wreckhouse, featuring “Stop The Trains”, can be purchased online or in store at Fred’s records.