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Speaking Of Coal

By Don Scott, Coquitlam, BC

Brought up in Moncton, N.B., I have many memories going back to the 1930's when my parents burned coal. My father always preferred coal from the mines from Springhill, Nova Scotia. At one time around the early 1940's he ordered coal from a local coal dealer in Moncton, the coal was called "Acadia", and I believe it came from the mines in Cape Breton, N.S. It was terrible, coal dust all over the basement, or then we called basements cellars.

In the 1930's a horse-drawn waggon would back up to the cellar window, after being emptied into the coal bin one would have to climb up the coal pile to put in the cellar window. Coke came later, it was clean and threw losts of heat. You would bank the furnace at night, and in the morning clean out the clinkers and build a new fire.

CN east/west freight and passenger trains between Moncton-Truro-Halifax would coal-up at Springhill Jct. N.S. Coal came in off the Cumberland Railway & Coal Company with loads that would either travel to Moncton to supply coal for steam locomotives or go east to Truro and Halifax.

The CN main-line between Moncton and Halifax was known as "wreck alley" with so many wrecks. The CN line Moncton-Campbellton, N.B. (now NB Eastern). The CN (NTR) line from Pacific Jct. outside Moncton to Edmundston (now CN's only line to Central Canada) had a bad record for wrecks.

Back in about 1937, 4-8-4 #6102 on an eastbound Moncton-Halifax freight ran into disaster at Springhill Jct. N.S. colliding with a string of runaway coal cars-killing the engine crew, the engineer by the name of Bower who lived nearby our home.

During the war years CN reactivated the former ICR/CGR "Franklin Yard" at the northend of Moncton to stock coal for steam, the coal coming from either Springhill or from the mines in Cape Breton.

2-8-0 #2442 during the early 1940's was transferred to Moncton and handled coal from the main yard to Franklin Yard, and as coal was required #2442 ran steady between the main yard and Franklin Yard. Another 2-8-0 a sister locomotive, #2441 arrived in Moncton for yard duties.

Speaking of 4-8-4 #6102, I can remember the day the locomotive was being shunt to Moncton shops, everthing on flat cars. A number of months later #6102 came out after a rebuild and put back into service.

Another coal mine in New Brunswick was located at Minto on the CP. I believe that's where just about their supply of coal came from for their steam in N.B. Their DAR would receive coal either from Springhill or Cape Breton mines to supply their Nova Scotia lines.

I believe CN in the Montreal area like CP, had coal come in from mines in the United States. Moncton, up to the late 1940's, also had natural gas which came from nearby Albert County, until the gas supply ran out.

Another railway connecting with CN near Springhill Jct. at Nappan, N.S. was the "Maritime Railway" that operated Nappan-Joggins. These locomotives were repaired or overhauled by CN shops at Moncton. Moncton roundhouse had 40 stalls-and in the boom days and with steam was a busy place, including coaling the power.

Bruce Hollett of Halifax, brought another area of coal mines in Nova Scotia-that skipped my memory-"Stellerton", and that's where the "Acadia" coal mine was located. As mentioned in my previous post--"Acadia" coal was dirty and dusty.

Years ago my parents and myself travelled on CN's "Maritime Express" eastbound from Moncton to Oxford Jct. N.S. and before the war years hauled by one of the 4-8-2's of 6000 series.

At this Junction we would board the Oxford Shortline as it was called--with an oil electric of the 158 series and a wooden coach behind (equipped with the old gas lights). Fumes from the oil-electric (nicknamed Jitneys) went back into the coach and very strong smell. The Short Line run which we were enroute to Westville, N.S., another coal-mining town, was an interesting run.

When arriving at Pugwash Jct. the train would then back about five or six miles into Pugwash on the Northumberland Strait (where millionaire or billionaire Cyrus Eaton came from and later a big industrialist in the United States, the think tank of top business people--the majority met there for a good number of years-believe they still do). After the train got back to Pugwash Jct., we continued on.

Another place this passenger run backed into was the Pictou area. At Browns Jct. the train would back all the way to the town of Pictou, then come out to Browns Jct. and then over a long bridge.

Speaking of Westville--I had relatives there-including an Uncle working at the local Westville coal mines--up at 430 in the morning and in bed at 2000. It must have been a hard life.

The oil electric would tie up overnight at Stallerton. Another route back to Moncton on CN, you could board the afternoon Sydney-Truro-Halifax passenger which they called the "Sydney Limited" as railway people nicknamed it at New Glasgow, powered by a 4-6-2 5200 series taking the train as far as Truro. Make connections with the westbound Halifax-Montreal "Maritime Express" for Moncton.

After 1940-1941 the 4-8-2 6000 class were replaced by 4-8-4's of the 6160-6179 series assigned to the Maritime Express, Ocean Limited and the new Scotian which was put on the Maritime's run to handle wartime traffic.

4-8-2's of 6000 series were put on certain Moncton-Saint John passenger runs like trains #13 and #14., also on some Halifax-Sydney trains. In 1942, the new 4-8-4 6200's arrived on Montreal-Halifax passenger runs-being runthroughs on the 840 mile run along with the 6160-6179 series-and later a few of the 6180 series.

At Trenton Car Works at Trenton, N.S. a suburb of New Glasgow, I had an Uncle who worked at the car plant from the 1930's up to 1950's ending up as forman. Today the Trenton Works under new owners has a good future, turning out rolling stock for North American railroads--I hope.

Speaking of former CN 2-8-0 #2442 shunting and hauling coal runs in Moncton during the war years--I used to ride the cab with locomotive engineer Jim Wilson (known as the Rabbi) nicknamed by other engine crews.

Doing this post brings back many memories. Today, people working on the railways seem very distant, and not very friendly like they were years ago. Truro, N.S was an interesting railway centre, and around the station there you could watch Dominion Atlantic (CP) freights and passenger trains to and from Windsor and Kentville in the beautiful Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia.

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