The New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island Railway, was a company incorporated in 1874 to build a line from the Prince Edward Island ferry terminal at Cape Tormentine, New Brunswick to Sackville where it would connect to the Intercolonial Railway. New Brunswick at the time was undergoing a large expansion of its railway infrastructure, with the miles of track doubling between 1880 and 1890. PEI joined the Canadian Confederation in 1873, under the terms of which Canada was required to provide a year-round link with the mainland. Until the building of the railway, winter transport was by Northumberland Strait iceboat.

Development

Incorporators of the company were Sackville businessmen, including

Josiah Wood Josiah Wood (18 April 1843 – 13 May 1927) was a Canadian lawyer, entrepreneur, mayor, parliamentarian, and the 13th Lieutenant Governor of the province of New Brunswick. He was born in Sackville, New Brunswick in 1843. Personal life ...

and Joseph Laurence Black. Local developers were initially unable to obtain federal funding for the enterprise, since they lacked political connections with Prime Minister John A. Macdonald's Conservatives in Ottawa. The local member of parliament,

Albert James Smith Sir Albert James Smith (March 12, 1822 – June 30, 1883) was a New Brunswick politician and opponent of Canadian confederation. Smith's grandfather was a United Empire Loyalist who left Massachusetts to settle in New Brunswick after the Am ...

, was in opposition in Ottawa. After much effort, they found an ally in Samuel Leonard Tilley who in 1882 convinced the prime minister to budget $189,200 of federal money in support of the project. That year Wood became president of the railway, and became the Conservative Party candidate for the local riding of

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...

, winning the seat in the

1882 Canadian federal election The 1882 Canadian federal election was held on June 20, 1882, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 5th Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald's Conservatives and Liberal-Conservatives retained power, defe ...

. He immediately set to securing federal support for the project. Construction began in late summer of 1882. The project soon began to run out of funding. The provincial subsidy of $3,000 per mile was only to be upon completion. The company had insufficient stock subscriptions at $150,000, one third of which were owned by Wood. With the economic

depression of 1882–1885 The Depression of 1882–1885, or Recession of 1882–1885, was an economic contraction in the United States that lasted from March 1882 to May 1885, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. Lasting 38 months, it was the third-longest ...

it was difficult to find investors. In 1884 Wood secured $150,000 in federal funding for the pier at Cape Tormentine. Due to political changes in Ottawa, Wood was finally able to secure a federal subsidy of $3,200 per mile in 1885. The entire line was in operation by September 1886. The line was immediately profitable. It was reincorporated as the New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island Railway in 1889.

Fate

It came under the control of the Canadian Government Railways in 1914 and was then operated by the Intercolonial Railway until that railway was taken over by Canadian National. In 1917 the first railcar ferry arrived at the Borden terminal on Prince Edward Island from Cape Tormentine. The line was abandoned in 1989, the same year as the Prince Edward Island Railway. Today the Confederation Bridge handles all the traffic to the Island once transported by the New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island Railway. The attractive railway station at Cape Tormentine, built in the late 1930s, continued to be used as an information centre for ferry and marine traffic. With the opening of the Confederation Bridge in 1997, the station was closed. Today remains include the abandoned station and a few other rail structures, and an abandoned lighthouse.

References

{{Canada railways Defunct New Brunswick railways Defunct Nova Scotia railways Standard gauge railways in Canada History of transport in Canada Railway companies established in 1881 Railway companies disestablished in 1914 Canadian companies established in 1881 1914 disestablishments in Canada