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Pugwash and Spring Hill Railway

By John R. Cameron

Pugwash, on the shore of the Northumberland Strait in Cumberland County and now the location of important salt mines, was an early target for railway promoters seeking to connect the Intercolonial with salt water. Eventually, it was served by the Short Line, until that line was abandoned by CNR. The Pugwash and Spring Hill Railway was chartered in 1872 (c.61) to connect the coal mines at Spring Hill (now generally spelled Springhill) to Pugwash. At Pugwash the coal could be shipped up the St Lawrence to Montreal. Other proposals were attempting to connect Springhill to the Bay of Fundy in order to tap the American market. On completion, this railway would get 10,000 acres of Crown lands. In 1874, the Legislature agreed that it would be enough if the railway just ran from Thompson Station on the Intercolonial to Pugwash Harbour (c.61). The Act was extended and new incorporators (investors) were added in 1877 (c.73) and again in 1879 (c.69).

[SOURCE: A Legislative History of Nova Scotia Railways, by John R. Cameron, 1999.]

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