Re: O Newfoundland (NG) - Wherefore Art Thou?

In June 1969, my father and I rode the "Newfie Bullet" from Port aux Basques to Saint John's. This was shortly before the train was discontinued. Then, in 1976, while working for The Official Railway Guide (the National Railway Publication Co. in NYC), I was able to secure permission from the CNR to ride any and all trains that were still operating in Newfoundland, freight and mixed. My trip was for pleasure, not business, but my work credentials made a big difference in getting access, and I was able to ride on the locomotive or in the caboose of the freight trains as well as on the locomotive or in the coaches of the mixed trains.

In late July 1976, I traveled east on train 204 from Port aux Basques to Saint John's (first freight, then mixed, then freight again) and then rode on all the mixed trains on the eastern side of the island before heading back west on train 203. All in all, I was in Newfoundland for about a week. One unexpected bonus was riding the Grand Falls Central Railway from Bishops Falls up to Botwood; one regret was not being able to ride the privately owned Buchans Railway.

I had an article called "Canadian National's Narrow-Gauge Kingdom" published in the fall 2001 issue of Classic Trains, and I remember writing here on the NGDF about Newfoundland as I was doing research for the article, but perhaps that's too long ago now--twenty years or so.