Created by the Delaware & Hudson Railway (D&H) in 1881, the Napierville Junction Railway (NJR) was the D&H subsidiary in Canada. Its purpose was to provide the easiest and fastest line with minimal grades from Rouses Point, NY, to a point near

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

(St. Constant Jct, QC, now Delson, QC), selected for its good connections to both of the city's main passenger terminals. Until the end of September 1917, the D&H used the connection over the

Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; french: Grand Tronc) was a railway system that operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The rail ...

's Victoria Bridge into

Bonaventure Station Bonaventure is a Montreal Metro station in the borough of Ville-Marie in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is operated by the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) and serves the Orange Line. It opened on February 13, 1967, four months after m ...

. At Delson a junction also exists with the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) via the St. Lawrence Bridge into Windsor Station, used by the D&H from October 1, 1917 until the end of passenger service in 1971, and by

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

's Adirondack between 1974 and 1986. At its opposite end at Rouses Point, NY, the railway continued onto the D&H's Canadian Main line toward Schenectady, NY.

Operation

Starting in 1967, the Napierville Junction Railway had two MLW RS-2 locomotives and 4 cabooses which served to pull consists from Upper

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

to Montreal, QC. For clearing the train crew through customs and passengers, the Lacolle railway station in

Lacolle, Quebec Lacolle () is a municipality in southern Quebec, Canada, located in the administrative area of the Montérégie, on the Canada–United States border. The population as of the Canada 2011 Census was 2,680. The Lacolle River runs eastward throug ...

, (7 miles from the NY state border) served as the stop for the NJR. From customs to maintenance this was the NJR's operating office, which then led to the Delaware and Hudson headquarters in Albany, NY. In 1971, the NJR's days were numbered when the D&H merged the NJR back into one entity. This continued to operate like this until the early 1990s when the D&H was bought and merged into the Canadian Pacific Railway thus turning the Rouses Point to Delson line into Canadian Pacific's Lacolle Sub.

Post-1971 operation

Although the entire NJR route is still in service, very few traces of its Napierville Junction Railway heritage remain. One of their brown cabooses is displayed in

Mooers, New York Mooers is a town in Clinton County, New York, United States. The population was 3,592 at the 2010 census. The town is named after Benjamin Mooers, an early settler. The town forms part of the northern border of Clinton County and is northwest of ...

. Their locomotives were repainted as D&H in the 1970s.

References

External links

{{Commons category-inline Rail transport in Quebec Railway companies established in 1881 Railway companies disestablished in 1971 Defunct New York (state) railroads Delaware and Hudson Railway Canadian companies established in 1881

Operation

Post-1971 operation

See also

References

External links