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The H&SW was created in spring 1901 when
Mackenzie and Mann approached the provincial government with plans to finish the abortive plans for a railway from the City of Halifax to Yarmouth. Experienced railway engineers, MacKenzie and Mann already owned 2,000 miles in track in Canada by this time.
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CN's former H&SW lines on Nova Scotia's South Shore and in the
Annapolis Valley were proving uneconomic by the early 1980s, even for freight service. In 1982, permission was given to abandon the far end of the mainline from Liverpool to Yarmouth as well as the branch line of the former NSCR line
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in its employee timetable, CN freight operations to the Bayers Lake
Industrial Park and Lakeside Industrial Park were focused on serving a cement depot, a scrap dealer and several other customers through a team track. In 2006, as part of its "Three-Year Rail Network Plan", CN declared its intention
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Under CNR, the H&SW trackage saw significant infrastructure improvements to ballast, drainage, sleeper ties, rails, switches and bridges. The line still had significant curvature throughout, a result of the rugged local topography on the South Shore (locals called the H&SW the "Hellish Slow
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In April 1905, the H&SW purchased the L&MR, with a short section of that line forming part of the main line between
Bridgewater and Barrington. The new construction between Bridgewater and Barrington was completed later that year. In 1905, the H&SW also purchased the H&YR with major
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between
Bridgewater and Bridgetown via Middleton, as well as the New Germany to Caledonia. Reduced to a line running from Halifax to Liverpool, CN depended on the Bowater paper mill and the Michelin tire plant, but even these customers were unable to keep the line generating positive income.
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in 1929 led to more traffic from the
Liverpool area. Shipyards in Liverpool and Shelburne lent some traffic, as did various saw mills and logging operations at locations between Yarmouth and Halifax and between Bridgewater and Middleton/Bridgetown and New Germany to Caledonia. The naval base
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The legal name of this railway was the
Halifax & South Western Railway, as is defined in various Acts of the Nova Scotia Legislature, such as 1902 c.1, Act respecting the Halifax & South Western Railway Co.. However, Halifax & Southwestern Railway is also sometimes also used.
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to discontinue service on the
Chester Spur, this being the last remaining portion of the original H&SW trackage. The last freight trains operated on the spur west of Southwestern Junction through to the Lakeside Industrial Park in late 2007. The rail corridor was purchased by the
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By the late 1980s, CN was given permission to abandon the remaining line from
Bridgewater to Liverpool as the Bowater pulp mill in Liverpool shifted its transportation to ocean shipping and trucks. At Bridgewater, CN built a small yard on the east side of the
471:, requiring construction of a short 1 mile spur. Heating oil and gasoline distribution terminals operated by various oil companies in communities along the lines. A distillery in Bridgetown generated some traffic, as did a forest products plant in
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and ran into the
Intercolonial's North Street Station. On December 19, 1906, the first H&SW through train reached Yarmouth from Halifax. At some point after the completion of the H&SW in 1906, the system was merged into Mackenze and Mann's
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Halifax terminal trackage inherited by CNR underwent significant change in the late 1910s with the construction and opening of a new south-end terminal and station in 1920. The project saw a massive railway cut built across the isthmus of the
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CN passenger service ended on the South Shore on Saturday October 25, 1969, and its stations fell into disuse. The historic H&SW passenger station in Bridgewater was destroyed by an unexplained fire on December 22, 1982.
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In 1993 the former H&SW trackage was abandoned west of Halifax's Lakeside Industrial Park, leaving only a 7-mile spur as the last reminder of this once important railway network in southern Nova Scotia. Called the
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and sold its extensive former yard property to a shopping mall developer. In the early 1990s, even that trackage was eliminated, as Michelin began to use trucks to service its plant and CN's last remaining customer in
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In the years before the domination of publicly funded highways, the H&SW formed a critical transportation link between the various communities, as well as steam ship connections at Yarmouth (to
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in what was rich timber territory. Upon acquiring the NSSR charter, the H&SW built the 22 miles of track over the following months, with the first train reaching Caledonia on July 1, 1904.
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On April 11, 1903, the H&SW purchased the Nova Scotia Southern Railway (NSSR). The NSSR had no trackage constructed, however it did have a charter to build from the NSCR at
184:. For many years, the line had significant curvature throughout its length, a result of the rugged local topography, which earned it the moniker, "Hellish Slow & Wobbly".
561:. In addition to the network of recreational trails built on the former H&SW roadbed, several stations have survived and been given alternative use. They include the
376:. Encumbered by construction debts and low traffic, the CNoR was bankrupt and requested financial aid from the federal government in 1918. On September 6, 1918, CNoR was
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to Bridgewater, forming part of the new mainline between Bridgewater and Halifax. The new construction between Halifax and Mahone Bay was completed by 1904.
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station which is the Hank Snow museum. The Chester stn. exists today as a tourist bureau, Oak Island museum and art gallery, and farmer's market.
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mines at Torbrook and the port at Port Wade. CNR applied in 1925 to abandon west of Middleton, but permission was given to abandon only west of
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in 1895. In 1899 the company was renamed the Halifax and Yarmouth Railway (H&YR) and received a new charter to build east from Lockeport to
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The H&SW was not the first railway to build on the South Shore of Nova Scotia, as various charters for railway companies had preceded it.
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were lifted and paved over and by September 2010, all the remaining track of the CN Chester Spur had been removed and replaced by a
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304:(M&VBR) in the western Annapolis Valley. The 40 mile M&VBR line was opened by the H&SW to connect an iron ore mine at
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factory opened in Bridgewater and required rail service. The development of the Lakeside Industrial Park near the
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in 1896, opening on February 1, 1897. It was renamed the Liverpool and Milton Railway (L&MR) in 1900.
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The CNoR, along with several other railway lines in Canada, entered financial difficulties during the
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Halifax and Southwestern Railway: Views of and from Trains Between Halifax and Bridgewater 1973-2008
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401:& Wobbly"), but the improvements brought respectable track speeds and service improvements.
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approached the provincial government with plans to finish the abortive plans for a railway from
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In 1893, the Coast Railway Company of Nova Scotia was incorporated under a charter to build a
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Dominion Atlantic Railway Digital Preservation Initiative - Wiki, Middleton Interchange
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The railway's history is preserved at the Halifax and Southwestern Railway Museum in
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upgrades being done to this line between Barrington and Yarmouth over the next year.
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In the 1920s, the former M&VBR line was proving uneconomic after the closure of
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assembly plant attracted steady strings of autorack cars until it closed in 1998.
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which affected the H&SW tracks that connected with the ICR mainline near
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area in the 1960s create several large industrial customers. One of them, a
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Halifax & Southwestern Railway Digital Preservation Initiative - Wiki
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Photographs of the H&SW Martins River bridge in Lunenburg County
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Also in 1905, the H&SW purchased the charter for the incomplete
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On July 1, 1902, the H&SW purchased the NSCR with its line from
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The Liverpool and Milton Tramway also built a short railway up the
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The Nova Scotia Central Railway (NSCR) had opened its line between
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Construction was completed in 1906 and H&SW tracks joined the
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Photographs of the H&SW Gold River bridge in Lunenburg County
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Rail crossing at Martins River. The bridge is now part of the
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349:(CNoR) transcontinental system. The H&SW, along with the
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Halifax and Southwestern Railway Museum on Facebook
340:'s mainline in Halifax at Southwestern Junction at
716:Halifax and Southwestern Railway Museum on Youtube
660:"Halifax and Southwestern Railway Museum website"
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704:Halifax and Southwestern Railway Museum homepage
528:was the forest products company at East River.
786:Transport in the Region of Queens Municipality
627:Canadian National officially became CN in 1960
514:, 2010. The track bed is now a multiuse trail.
425:, adjacent to a large new roundhouse complex.
380:and placed under a Board of Management by the
245:valley between Liverpool and a pulp mill near
771:Predecessors of the Canadian Northern Railway
384:. On December 20, 1918, CNoR, along with the
164:The H&SW was created in spring 1901 when
726:History of Railway Companies in Nova Scotia
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796:Transport in Annapolis County, Nova Scotia
791:Transport in Shelburne County, Nova Scotia
781:Transport in Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia
586:Railway Equipment and Publication Company
806:Railway companies disestablished in 1906
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590:The Official Railway Equipment Register
467:opened on Shelburne Harbour during the
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811:Canadian companies established in 1901
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618:(2010) Blurb.com self published, p. 11
510:Unused tracks of the H&SW in West
388:were placed under a new company named
801:Railway companies established in 1901
565:station, which is now a cafe and the
456:Bowater Mersey Paper Company Limited
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302:Middleton and Victoria Beach Railway
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776:Transport in Halifax, Nova Scotia
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549:(paved recreational pathway).
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539:Halifax Regional Municipality
475:. In the early 1980s a large
153:operating in the province of
766:Defunct Nova Scotia railways
410:Canadian Government Railways
386:Canadian Government Railways
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390:Canadian National Railways
218:line between Yarmouth and
367:Dominion Atlantic Railway
347:Canadian Northern Railway
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27:Historic Canadian railway
761:Bridgewater, Nova Scotia
649:, October 7, 2009, p. A7
647:Halifax Chronicle Herald
363:Canadian Pacific Railway
257:Mergers and construction
211:, on December 23, 1889.
58:Bridgewater, Nova Scotia
605:, Nimbus, 1992. p. 141.
559:Lunenburg, Nova Scotia
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603:Cinders and Saltwater
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406:Intercolonial Railway
338:Intercolonial Railway
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273:Sir William Mackenzie
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180:along the province's
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361:, not unlike rival
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709:2019-12-14 at the
601:Shirley E. Woods,
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436:) and Halifax (to
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330:Trans Canada Trail
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85:Dates of operation
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645:"Off the Rails",
415:Halifax Peninsula
396:Canadian National
351:Inverness Railway
320:Canadian Northern
166:William Mackenzie
146:) was a historic
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16:(Redirected from
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54:Headquarters
287:New Germany
265:Donald Mann
209:Bridgewater
182:South Shore
170:Donald Mann
155:Nova Scotia
99:Track gauge
78:Nova Scotia
755:Categories
670:2010-11-04
573:References
547:rail trail
484:Beechville
473:East River
449:Bridgetown
419:Africville
342:Africville
280:Mahone Bay
224:Barrington
567:Liverpool
359:Vancouver
310:Port Wade
291:Caledonia
236:Liverpool
228:Shelburne
220:Lockeport
205:Lunenburg
197:Middleton
93:Technical
707:Archived
477:Michelin
460:Brooklyn
458:mill at
445:iron ore
434:New York
423:Fairview
355:Montreal
306:Torbrook
178:Yarmouth
148:Canadian
144:H&SW
118: in
80:, Canada
69:H&SW
49:Overview
512:Halifax
494:Decline
392:(CNR).
199:in the
174:Halifax
151:railway
113:⁄
438:Europe
430:Boston
247:Milton
74:Locale
488:Volvo
480:tire
432:and
404:The
226:and
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135:The
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