Ten minutes out of Cornerbrook, the eastbound "Newfie Bullet" enters the beautiful Humber River valley. Recently completed Trans-Canada Highway, evident in this scene, and trans-island bus service would spell the end of this famous narrow gauge passenger service in 1969. Credit Ted Wickson with this twilight view in October, 1968.
(JBC Visuals, Toronto, ON, via the W. Lenheim Collection)
CARIBOU
The Caribou, colloquially referred to as The Newfie Bullet, was a passenger train operated by Canadian National Railways (CNR) on the island of Newfoundland.
Newfoundland Railway stamp, 1928.
(Jcmurphy, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
History
The Dominion of Newfoundland became the 10th province of Canada when it entered Confederation on March 31, 1949. At that time, CNR took over the operations of the Newfoundland Railway, a 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) narrow gauge railway network running across the island.
At the time that CNR took over operations, the premiere cross-island passenger train was called The Overland Limited. CNR renamed this train in 1950 to the Caribou and it maintained approximately the same 23-hour schedule from St. John's (also the eastern terminus of the railway on Newfoundland), to the system's western terminus at the ferry terminal in Port aux Basques, where connecting ferry services to the North American railway network at North Sydney, Nova Scotia, were made.
The 23 hour schedule sealed the fate of the Caribou when the Trans-Canada Highway opened across the island in 1965, allowing automobiles to travel between Port aux Basques and St. John's in under 12 hours. CN withdrew the dedicated passenger trains in July 1969 and instituted a bus service, marketed under the name "Road Cruiser." CN maintained limited "mixed" passenger and freight train service to certain isolated communities on the island until the complete abandonment of its narrow gauge system in the fall of 1988. The CN Roadcruiser Bus service operated until March 29, 1996, when it was sold to DRL Coachlines of Triton, Newfoundland.
CN 925, a GMD NF210, with Train 102, the Caribou, arriving at Corner Brook, Newfoundland, August 1968.
(Roger Puta, Courtesy Marty Bernard from U.S.A., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Overview
Service type: Inter-city rail
Status: Defunct
Locale: Newfoundland
Predecessor: Overland Limited (until 1949)
Last service: June 1969
Former operators: Newfoundland Railway (1898–1949); Canadian National Railway (1950–June 1969)
Route Termini: St. John's / Port aux Basques
Distance traveled: 883 km (549 mi)
Average journey time: 23 hours
Technical
Track gauge: 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)
Track owners: CN & Newfoundland T'Railway
