Last train from New Minas Nova Scotia

[TheYobean]

they need to bring this train back!

[rrpics]

Pretty unlikely. The track has all deteriorated and nothing has moved on the entire railroad for 12 months. Many of the crossbucks have been removed and most of the flashing lights at crossings have been turned sideways.

[Eye4Photography92]

Why was the train honking at the end ? Saying good bye ?

[rrpics]

Nice to think so and knowing the crew I am sure they would have done it if asked! However there was no need to ask because there is a road crossing into a new housing and retail development!

[saintangerinc]

@Eye4Photography92 lol u blind? there was a crossing

[f77amm]

@Eye4Photography92 scaring the shit out of all the people in the houses on the right :D

[reesebwhitehead]

Seeing this just kills me

[rrpics]

Unfortunately not enough people or businesses use the railways and so this is the result - more tractor trailers on our overcrowded highways!!

[TheCprailfan1]

:(

[at1212b]

Wicked! Quite sad though it won't be running there.. you can really see the history, and vintage and all the stories of people's lives that lived there.

Those tracks did look really old yet charming.

[ceilidh1999]

I grew up across the from the Kentville railyard,always loved hearing the trains & use to watch the guys to putting trains together..was a sad day when the line was abandoned..will they ever reuse the line from Hantsport to New Minas again? I hear the bridge across river by Avonport is in rough shape..We use to take dayliner from Kentville to Yarmouth alot when we were kids back in the 70's & 80's,,long time ago..LOL

[rrpics]

No I don't think that the rail line from Hantsport to New Minas will ever be used again for trains. A crossing in Wolfville has been gravelled over and as you say the bridge and embankment near Avonport are in bad shape.

The trackage between Windsor Junction and Windsor will soon be out of service. The 99 year lease expires in 16 months and I doubt that it will be renewed. This will just leave Mantua to Hantsport.

I now have a book of photos of the DAR. Go to blurb.com and search for Othen.

[arlingtontrains7]

are these rails still in use to this very day?..

[rrpics]

No. That is why it was the last train.

[Marshall8530]

man i miss hearing the sound of the horn when it use to come through New Minas

[jexplink]

The last part reminds me of 'Caroline No'. ;-( Very sad clip.

[rrpics]

Good question - I don't why he did not blow his horn at that crossing.

If you want more horn sounds there are lots on the DVD. It is only C$30 plus postage!!

[richandnik]

@rrpics

He did at 13 secs in?

[richandnik]

Im surprised it never came off the rails....it nearly catches the rails coming over the crossing...when it passes you can hear the sleepers creeking under the stress...

[robertgift]

At least continue until it finishes blowing its horn and crosses the crossing!

Wanted to hear that horn.

Why no horn for first crossing but horn for second?

[funnyfunnys]

great. just another line of tracks waiting to be abandoned.

[Johnnyboy183]

I think it was in 1989 (correct me if I'm wrong) when the last passenger train went through Wolfville. I must have been 6 years old and my monther and I took it to halifax that day. Good Times.

[rrpics]

I believe it was actually 13 or 14 January 1990.

[lil27mike27big]

good video man

[elizabethlee2008]

it is a shame we dont use a train.I think the gyspms company stil uses some of its tracks.I use to love running to the tracks when I heard a train coming.I can only hear a train in the distance every now and then.I live close to Windsor Junction,Nova Scotia....was born in Windsor : )

[rrpics]

Yes the Windsor & Hantsport still hauls gypsum from the mines at Mantua & Wentworth to the loading dock at Hantsport. The current economic situation has reduced service to 3 days per week from six.

There is also an approximately weekly train from Windsor to Windsor Junction to pick up cars from Canadian National.

[TrainmasterCurt]

This used to be the Dominion Atlantic Railway at one time, and boy i wish i could've been there in the mid 70's when the DAR still had a mixed train with a heavyweight coach. I wish someone had old video of the DAR

[trainz675]

how long has those tracks been there?

[rrpics]

I think the track was built in the 1870s

[rrpics]

As far as I know the line has not been oficially abandoned and a small amount of the track has been lifted. However no trains go beyond Hantsport. Grain and vegetable oil is trucked from Windsor to new Minas. A second auger for unloading the grain cars has been installed at Windsor and there were about 25 grain cars at Windsor yesterday. 8 empties were taken to Windsor Junction yesterday and about 10 picked up. This happens once every 7 to 10 days and the business appears to be thriving.

[SomeNameUnknown]

Awesome historical video! What is the status of this line? I added this to my favorites. Some day that video is really going to be an important part of history.

[SuicideSam12]

does this ring any bells? " Some believe that dust from a hand created this good land "??

let me know

[maddhatter1985]

I already solved it

[Sylvain726]

This is the last train which passing on this railroad track ? Is this railroad will be removed and transformed into a rail trail for bicycles ?

It's too bad and too sad that nobody are interest to acquired this rail link like Genesee & Wyoming,Railworld or Fortress Rail Group or other shortlines companies.

That's sad that trucking companies had took all freight carrying in the past by the Windsor & Hantsport Railway Company in spite of the rises of the gas prices.

[Sylvain726]

Too bad the citizens who living near the railroad track will never hear trains horns in future.

Nice video.

[rrpics]

Yes it was. In the last year they were making about one trip per week with only 3 to 5 cars. WHRR is a privately owned shortline and could not afford the loss.

Most of the track has not been lifted and its future use is not known.

[jschmid]

take er ez, its going to be a swazy ride.

[enginemasterbuilder]

you could feel the ground rumble 600 yards away from the tracks. on 476 main st man the trains would sway

[5000TRAINS]

hopefully they can keep the rails in place and just make the line out of service. that is what they did with a line in Tenn. the line sat out of service for many years until just a few months ago they restored and reopened the line for freight and tourist so far it has been a good money maker. thank you for the reply

[rrpics]

I gather that the rails are now being lifted

[neighborlynut]

I agree that would be a good idea. Especially because with gas prices as high as they are and it being increasingly more economical to ship by rail instead of truck.

[neighborlynut]

aww that makes me sad

[5000TRAINS]

have they pulled any of the rail yet

[rrpics]

Not as far as I know. The line has not been officially abandoned. Instead they just ceased operations and are trucking everything from Windsor!!

[TrainmasterCurt]

@rrpics Trucking, ah! heard enough of polluting trucks, stay with trains!

[alexander76rw]

I was lucky to have used the train once. We went to Halifax on a class trip in 1988...from Bridgetown to Halifax and back...too bad they couldnt have kept the train going....but like most things in Nova Scotia going backwards instead of forward....The train line brought a lot of history to the Valley...:(

[simonzowie]

I want our trains back!

[NoMez35]

It's always sad to see the last train go when we know it's not coming back! Your video will be in the archives of history. When I was younger, I've lived that same experience in Shippagan, NB around 1987 when they decided to tear the whole railroad down.

[cheeko122]

WHAT IS THE EX THE ENGINE CN OR CP

[rrpics]

CN now owned by Central Manitoba Railway (Cando Contracting)

[TrainmasterCurt]

I know those CEMR geeps quite well, have some videos on my page of em

[TrainmasterCurt]

@cheeko122 It was ex Canadian National, hence the Zebra Stripe livery and red front, it was on lease from Cando Contracting from Brandon, Manitoba and is lettered for Central Manitoba Railway Co (CEMR), 4014

[joeycuvilier]

that is 80lb rail from Hantsport to new minas and it is one rough ride!

[TrainmasterCurt]

Come to Winnipeg sometime if you're passin through, and check out the GWWD, they have 2 RS-23 in pristine condition and 1 S-13, and some stuff you will not see even in a railway museum

[TrainmasterCurt]

Is that also 60lb rail??

[rrpics]

I am not sure but I would guess it is 80lb rail from CP's days.

[TrainmasterCurt]

Neat, too bad it has to shut down

[TrainmasterCurt]

Cool, looks like the old DAR, and there is a GP9rm from my province of Manitoba, CEMR, which runs through Transcona, nice vid!!

[rigdigdiggy]

What did WHRC do with its ALCO fleet of RS23'S? And was there a reason for replaceing them?

[rrpics]

All the RS-23s were cut up at Windsor Nova Scotia and some parts including the traction motors and engine blocks were shipped by road to Texas for use on oil rigs.

The reason for replacing them was the cost and availability of spare parts.

[KRG2645]

Is the WHRC closing down or something?

[rrpics]

No! They are reducing or discontinuing service from Hantsport to New Minas. The feed grains and vegetable oil are being trucked from Windsor. The railway is concentrating on hauling gypsum from Mantua to Hantsport with a train about once a week from Windsor to Windsor Junction where the WHRC interchanges with CN.

[KRG2645]

Good to know

[PGONEIL]

the leslie airhorn is sombering. at's sad when another shortline has to shut down a historic line

[jamminjoel]

A shame, David. I remember going to Baptist Youth Convention at Acadia and seeing dayliners and freights passing through in the 80's. Thanks for this.