Will the Railway Right of Way be chopped up and sold?

Michael MacNeil Follow Me

Posted this 2016-07-29 9:07 AM ADT (updated 2016-08-12 4:55 PM ADT)

If not the trains, then what ?

Once upon a time, the Federal Government expropriated a Right of Way from our Ancestors to build a railway.

This Right of Way was sold to an American Company by CN and was neglected. There is no business for the railway and the cost to bring it up to safe operating standards would be in the millions of dollars.

How would you ever fit a double stacked train?

Will we ever get an operating railway back?

I doubt it, but we can have one of the most scenic hiking/bicycling trails in Canada.

What a beautiful building for a Library with a boardwalk adjacent to the waterfront, a CBRM transit ferry going to Archibald's wharf and the Trans Canada trail right beside it. You can see the railway in lower right corner.Just saying North Sydney would love to have something like that.

A municipal and a Provincial election coming up. I suggest you ask all candidate's the question. "If not the trains then what?

See if they have any Vision?

Do not let the railway end up in the hands of Greedy business people looking for a fast buck

The government made the mistake of selling our right of way, now lets make them get it back and let Parks Canada protect this history, create healthy recreation and boost our tourism.

Insure that this right of way will always be there in case we might need it in the future. Although I would think that if a train was ever needed in our future, it would be cheaper and safer to run a new route that doesn't pass through our communities

Just some neat pictures I had to share

Was this North Sydney?

A Narrow Gauge Train alongside certain areas of trail would be a big draw for the Cruise Ship and NFLD passenger. Unique form of CBRM transit.

This is pretty neat also. It is a bus and a train, carries 25 passengers and is fuel efficient. Toyota manufactures it and it looks like it could stop on a dime, unlike a traditional train. This would allow sharing of the right of way with hikers and bicyclist.This could be the answer to our local transit problems and could also be manufactured in New Glasgow. I believe there is a mothballed plant in New Glasgow that used to built Train components.

Posted by Michael MacNeil
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Michael MacNeil My Post Follow Me 2016-07-31 8:16 AM ADT Reply 0 0 http://www.wired.com/2008/05/half-bus-half-t/
Michael MacNeil My Post Follow Me 2016-07-31 8:21 AM ADT Reply 0 0 http://www.treehugger.com/public-transportation/its-train-its-bus-its-cambridge-guided-busway-video.html
Michael MacNeil My Post Follow Me 2016-07-31 9:06 AM ADT Reply 0 0 @ Jason Morrison facebook comment Jason we do not have the business case to interest any Railway company or government to take on the expense of operating a rail way on the Cape Breton section. If we continue to be stubborn and resist change we might end up losing everything. My post here is to try and get people to understand how important it is to get our right of way back and then protect it. If a business case ever happens for a railway in Cape Breton we will have a right of way. With regard to the Grand Narrows bridge, I believe it might be already protected A National Heritage site, if its not, it should be. We need to be flexible in our thinking and open to change. I do not know if the Bus to Train idea would ever work. However it might be a way to have our railway and trail. (sort of have your cake and eat it too) If the idea did work, why couldn't a smaller diesel locomotive haul the odd rail car from Sydport at night when the rail/trail was shut down to hikers/bicyclist and hook it on to the main line in Port Hawkesbury? Jason Morrison Follow Me 2016-08-01 10:35 AM ADT Reply 0 0 Hi Michael, I tried to post directly the other day but had to make a facebook post due to computer issues. I agree 100% that the ROW should be protected, preferably with rails. The cost to relay the track is enormous compared to rehabilitating track that is already in place. It might seem that I am stubborn about the rail line but as a member of the Scotia Rail group, I have meet with politicians at all levels and local businesses over the rail line, there is enough business for a smaller operation and if the railway can capture even a small percentage of the truck traffic going to NFLD it would be viable without a container terminal. I don't resist change, but loosing a mode of transportation is not a good change, it will hurt local jobs in the long run as fuel cost rise which will only make the employment situation in CBRM worse. The good thing is it cost nothing to let the rail line sit there until a plan can be developed. The Windsor and Hantsport Railway in this province has been shut down for years but its owner is taking a different approach, he is in talks with the counties his railway runs through to have a rails with trails system. Allowing people the use the ROW with the rails in place in case he develops enough traffic to restart the service, which I believe he is working on. This is a great idea which could be copied here, but I doubt G&W will agree. We can't even get them to agree to allow the road to cross the tracks off SPAR Road. Jason Morrison Follow Me 2016-08-01 10:52 AM ADT Reply 0 0 Part 2. I think the Rail bus idea is great, I have looking into this before, specifically at some of the Japanese equipment because they are leaders in the rail field. There are some hurdles with foreign rail equipment though as they don't pass North American standards which are set very high for crash tests. Japans rail system is very different, they have light weight efficient trains and multiple safety measures in place to avoid accidents. North American train systems are designed to survive a crash instead of avoiding it in comparison. As a result most foreign equipment fails crash tests and need special waivers if they are permitted to be used. The only self propelled rail cars that pass NA standards are of course the venerable 70 year old RDC, the American Railcar DMU and the Nippon Sharyo DMU which is now in use in Canada by Metrolinx to connect the Toronto Airport with Union Station. Out of these options the RDC is the most cost effective with a rebuilt unit costing between 1.2 and 2 million compared to the all new equipment at 4 plus million per car. I personally like the KiHa 120 used by JR West, its small and efficient but would not be permitted to run here without special permission. As for Grand Narrows Bridge I believe it does have historical status but I don't think there are any measures in place to prevent it from being removed. At this point in the game we want G&W to be responsible to remove it as the cost to remove it would be greater then the scrap value, thus lowering the scrap value of the rail line. That being said the bridge is iconic and I hope will be there for another 100 years. :) Michael MacNeil My Post Follow Me 2017-09-06 9:56 PM ADT Reply 0 0 Jason they have lawyers who even threatened your group about taking selfies on the tracks. You do know that CN agreed to return rail service back to Cape Breton if it ever was threatened after the sale. The $460.000.00 would be better off spent if we sued CN [comment deleted] Posted 2016-08-02 11:01 AM ADT [comment deleted] Posted 2016-08-02 12:22 PM ADT Michael MacNeil My Post Follow Me 2018-06-18 5:10 PM ADT Reply 0 0 Update on Windsor and Hantsport railway... It seems the land owners are up in arms the past year trying to fight this sale. Didnt work out to good for them Jason. I stick with the public should own abandoned railways in this country and lease to any company that may wish to use them. Meanwhile let the people enjoy them for recreation and promote healthy living for our healthcare system https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.uniacketrails.ca%2Fnews%2F2018%2Fmore-news-coverage-the-halifax-examiner&h=AT1p1kP6ON0ubGfVBKlOCBV98NXa5LaftiDS6eaFkvkwztp7VxYcfSkIN6Z7KmxHgIZ5lrO96fs_WkB9wTv4-TJ8LuNjfuNL_S_l4cMKmKBu_djSdmXv2_VsgKg7Tcxe
Michael MacNeil My Post Follow Me 2016-07-31 10:27 AM ADT Reply 0 0 https://capebreton.lokol.me/its-a-bus-its-a-train
Audrey Hood Follow Me 2016-08-02 10:26 AM ADT Reply 2 0 Property in front of our farm was exporiated from great grandfather for the railroad. We were always told that it was for railroad only and if the railroad was discontinued the property would return to the landowner. We did not release our land for the railway to lease to other for cabins, we were never informed about leasing. Our great grandparents did not realize the importance of waterfront properties, they encouraged development and want the railway to prosper and develop the island. Now the railway is gone, these properties should be returned to the orginal owners if possible at a reasonable price, or if this is not possible , it should be developed into a walking trail so all people would be able to enjoy this area. It was Canadian taxpayers money which was used to develop the railway, it should be returned to the Canadian taxpayers. If nothing else, the orginal owners should be given a 20 ft. exc ess to the water. Michael MacNeil My Post Follow Me 2016-08-02 10:51 AM ADT Reply 0 0 Audrey I agree. It would be great to hear from others that have the right of way crossing through their property. We never had a say when CN sold it to an American company. It is time for the government to fix that. With the railway running through most districts of the CBRM makes it a good question to ask your future councillor If not trains then what? Mr Mayor?
[comment deleted] Posted 2017-09-06 9:05 PM ADT
Steven Smith Follow Me 2017-09-06 9:34 PM ADT Reply 1 0 Once it's gone, we'll never get it back. It should cost the government nothing to leave the property lines intact. Take the rails and the bridges if there is no income, but leave the right of way. Maybe in 10, 20 or 50 years from now rail will be viable and we'll need that real estate. But once it's gone, we'll never get it back. [comment deleted] Posted 2017-09-06 10:06 PM ADT
Matt Gardiner Follow Me 2017-09-09 8:14 AM ADT Reply 0 1 I believe the only reasonable use for the track, is to carry rail cars and be upgraded heavily, to carry double stacks like the trains out west do. We have tons of walking trails across this island already, we don't need more. Cape Breton needs that railway. It could serve as an option to get coal off the Island if donkin coal is not burned in nsp boilers. We need to push for responsible ownership of the railway. Responsible ownership that has CB's potential crawl back into a strong economic business hub where it once stood. The NS government is so concerned with only the success of the greater Halifax area, that it shows time and time again no interest in Cape Breton and its economic woes.
Michael MacNeil My Post Follow Me 2018-06-18 5:23 PM ADT Reply 0 0 https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2FbSm8YDVsx68&h=AT3ISWYA_YK3b7nIvKUNe55p05dpIV7RY0dtC-2NVF-1Ku7LqIBchlYqQx4NQavyWK2MzazRpmrbsKWlyHH3zK4dUVmRgYEAThFy8HcTeNhNvkAy-NtZdecQ&hc_location=ufi