Overview | |
---|---|
Headquarters | Sherbrooke (as QCRR) |
Locale | Lennoxville-Newport |
Dates of operation | 1870–1923 |
Successor | Québec Central (CPR) last passenger 1960 abandoned 1990 tracks removed 1992 |
Technical | |
Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
Length | 51 kilometres (32 mi) |
The Massawippi Valley Railway was a short line railway established in 1870 between Lennoxville, Quebec, and the Vermont border. Part of the Quebec Central Railway from 1926, the line was abandoned in 1990 and removed in 1992. Most of the former railway's right of way is now used for bicycle trails.
The Connecticut River Division of the Connecticut and Passumpsic Rivers Railroad had completed its line from White River Junction, Vermont to Newport in October, 1863 and to the Canada–US border in May, 1867. [1] The Canadian Pacific Railway already served Sherbrooke and Lennoxville, Quebec; the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad (later part of the Grand Trunk Railway) linked Montréal via Sherbrooke to Portland, Maine. [2]
This left a gap where passengers and freight would be transferred to stagecoaches upon arriving in the Eastern Townships from Vermont.
The border gap was bridged in 1870 by the Massawippi Valley Railway Company, a short line railway extending 31 miles (50 km) from Beebe Junction (on the US border) to Lennoxville (on the CPR line).
A branch 2.4 miles (3.9 km) long brought a rail link from Beebe Junction into Stanstead, Quebec. [3] [4] Service was initially provided using steam locomotives. [5]
Distance (from Sherbrooke) [6] | |
0 miles (0 km) | Sherbrooke (CPR) |
2.9 miles (4.7 km) | Lennoxville |
3.3 miles (5.3 km) | Adams |
12.4 miles (20.0 km) | North Hatley |
21.3 miles (34.3 km) | Ayers Cliff |
33.9 miles (54.6 km) | Beebe Junction |
40.2 miles (64.7 km) | Newport (Vermont) |
A leasehold on this Massawippi line extended the reach of the Connecticut and Passumpsic Rivers Railroad line 110 miles (180 km) (White River Junction - Newport) northward to the Canadian Pacific Railway at Sherbrooke. Onward connections could then be made to Montréal or Québec City in the north and to Boston and New York in the south.
The rail line encouraged growth of the individual villages which it served, bringing new summer visitors to rural communities such as North Hatley, Quebec while facilitating the export of Canadian wood, produce and natural resources. [7]
In 1884, Massawippi Valley Railway's management included John Gilman Foster (1859-1931) as president, [8] Stephen Foster as vice-president and William S. Foster as treasurer. [9] All three simultaneously held positions of authority at the National Bank of Derby Line.
On April 8, 1895, a southbound Boston & Maine Railroad passenger train derailed upon striking a boulder on the track; the engineer and fireman, injured by burns from steam, were transported to Newport but did not survive. [10]
By 1909, Beebe Junction had become the main point of entry to the North Derby, Vermont / Stanstead, Quebec region for customs purposes, a rôle it would only relinquish in the late 1920s as U.S. Route 5 led to increased road traffic at the expense of the railways. [11]
Massawippi Valley Railway was operated by the Connecticut & Passumpsic Rivers Railroad from 1870 to 1919, then leased by the Boston & Maine Railroad from 1919 to 1926. [10]
CPR had leased the Quebec Central Railway in 1912; [12] that railway in turn leased both the line north from Newport and the connecting Massawippi Valley Railway in June 1926. [13]
Throughout the 1930s passenger service ran from Quebec City to Newport, allowing travellers to make onward connections.
The number of Quebec City - Sherbrooke passenger runs which continued to Newport was progressively curtailed during the 1940s and 1950s, ending entirely by 1960. [14] The Quebec Central Railway was out of the passenger business by 1967 and abandoned the Massawippi line in 1990, ceasing all operations by 1994. The rails through Beebe Junction were removed in 1992. [15]
While the rail line from Newport southward remains in operation as the Washington County Railroad, the only onward Canadian rail connection at Newport is westward through Richford, Vermont via a branch of the Canadian Pacific Railway which joins that company's mainline between Cowansville and Farnham, Quebec. There is no longer a direct, straight-line rail connection from Newport to Sherbrooke.
Much of the former right-of-way is now a Shared-use path:
The 1870 Massawippi Valley Railway station on the main street of Beebe Plain, Quebec still stands but is now a private residence. [20] [21] Likewise, North Hatley's former railway station is now a private residence, having previously been the town hall for the village of North Hatley and Hatley Township, as well as housing a coin laundry. The station at Ayer's Cliff was demolished ca 1970.
Stanstead is a town in the Memphrémagog Regional County Municipality in the Estrie region of Quebec, located on the Canada–United States border across from Derby Line, Vermont.
Beebe Plain is an unincorporated community in the town of Derby in Orleans County, Vermont, United States, which extends into the municipality of Stanstead, Quebec, Canada. The village is divided by the Canada–United States border between Canada and the United States; the Canadian portion of Beebe Plain had the status of an incorporated municipality in its own right until 1995.
The Central Vermont Railway was a railroad that operated in the U.S. states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont, as well as the Canadian province of Quebec.
The Quebec Central Railway was a railway in the Canadian province of Quebec, that served the Eastern Townships region south of the St. Lawrence River. Its headquarters was in Sherbrooke. It was originally incorporated in 1869 as the Sherbrooke, Eastern Townships and Kennebec Railway, and changed its name to the Quebec Central Railway in 1875. In 1894, it built a line southward to Mégantic to connect to Canadian Pacific Railway's east-west line, the International Railway of Maine. It would eventually own around 300 miles (483 km) of track. In 1912, the Canadian Pacific Railway leased the Quebec Central for 99 years but continued to operate as Quebec Central Railway, including passenger service to American cities. The Quebec Central in turn leased the Massawippi Valley Railway, a short line from Lennoxville to Newport, in 1926; this allowed passenger service from Quebec City via Sherbrooke to the United States.
Route 143 is a north/south highway on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River, in the Centre-du-Québec and Estrie regions of Quebec. Until the mid-1970s when the province decided to renumber all highways other than autoroutes, it was known as Route/Highway 5. Its northern terminus is in Saint-François-du-Lac, at the junction of Route 132, and the southern terminus is in Stanstead, at the border with Vermont where the road continues past the Derby Line–Stanstead Border Crossing as U.S. Route 5 through Derby Line to New Haven, Connecticut.
Route 247 is a north/south highway on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River in the Estrie region of Quebec. Its northern terminus is in Magog at the junction of Route 112 and its southern terminus is in Stanstead, at the junction of Autoroute 55 less than 1 kilometre north of the Canada–United States border.
Beebe Plain is an unincorporated geographically-contiguous settlement, split politically between Canada and the United States. An unincorporated village partially in Stanstead and partially in Derby Line, it is divided by the Quebec-Vermont border. This settlement was begun by David and Calvin Beebe in 1798.
The Washington County Railroad is a shortline railroad operating in Vermont and a sliver of New Hampshire, forming part of the Vermont Rail System. The WACR began operating in 1980 over the old Montpelier and Barre Railroad in Washington County, which the state acquired to ensure the continuance of rail service, and ceased operations in early 1999. Later that year, after interim service by other companies, operations were transferred to a new WACR subsidiary of the Vermont Rail System. In 2003, operations were greatly expanded through acquisition by the state and operation by the WACR of a former Boston and Maine Corporation and Canadian Pacific Railway line between Newport and White River Junction, which had most recently been operated by subsidiaries of the bankrupt Bangor and Aroostook Railroad.
The Tomifobia River is a flowing body of fresh water in Memphremagog Regional County Municipality, in the Eastern Townships, in the province of Quebec, in Canada. The river forms a part of an international border between Canada and the United States near the village of Beebe Plain, Vermont.
The Northern Recreational Rail Trail, also known as the Northern Rail Trail, is a 58-mile (93 km) multi-use rail trail in western New Hampshire, USA, running from Lebanon to Boscawen. It uses the right-of-way of the Boston and Maine Railroad's former Northern Line, which was acquired by the State of New Hampshire in 1996. The trail is managed by the New Hampshire Bureau of Trails.
The Tomifobia Nature Trail is a 19 km rail trail in the Eastern Townships region of Quebec. It follows the old route of a Canadian Pacific railway from Ayer's Cliff to Stanstead. In between, it passes through parts of Stanstead-Est, Stanstead Township, and Ogden.
Beebe Plain is a divided village on the Quebec-Vermont border.
Iron Road Railways Incorporated (IRR) was a railroad holding company which owned several short line railroads in the U.S. state of Maine, as well as the Canadian provinces of Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
The Massawippi River is a river flowing in the territory of North Hatley and the city of Sherbrooke, in the administrative region of Estrie, in Quebec, Canada. It is a tributary of the Saint-François River which flows north to the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River.
The Beebe Plain–Beebe Border Crossing is a border crossing station on the Canada–United States border. It connects Rue Principale in Beebe Plain, Quebec with Beebe Road in Beebe Plain, a village in Derby, Vermont. Both the US and Canadian station buildings are historical properties listed by their respective governments.
The Central Maine and Québec Railway was a Class II freight railroad operating in the U.S. states of Maine and Vermont and the Canadian province of Quebec with headquarters in Bangor, Maine. It was owned by Railroad Acquisition Holdings, LLC, a subsidiary of Fortress Investment Group, LLC. It is now a subsidiary of Canadian Pacific Railway since June 2020.
The Coaticook River is a north-flowing river rising in Vermont, United States, and located primarily in the Estrie region of Quebec, Canada. The mouth of the river is located north of Waterville and south of Lennoxville, near the southern border of the city of Sherbrooke, at the Massawippi River. Via the Massawippi and the Saint-François River, it is part of the St. Lawrence River watershed.
The Niger River is a tributary of the Tomifobia River. The Niger River flows successively in the municipalities of Coaticook, Barnston-Ouest, Stanstead-Est and Hatley, in the Memphrémagog Regional County Municipality (MRC), in the administrative region of Estrie, in Quebec, in Canada.