Sketches of the Restigouche


Farewell to the IRN
by Doc Berthelot

On April 6, 1885, the Restigouche and Victoria Colonization Railway Company was incorporated for the purpose of constructing and maintaining a rail line from Campbellton to St. Leonard.

That rail line, which would become known as the IRN, had a rich history here - a history that ended with the abandonment of the line by the federal government and the drawing up of the last spike last month - 81 years after the first spike was driven into the ground.

Although the original railway company handling the line was formed in 1885, it would take 15 years and numerous company changes before actual construction would begin.

In 1896, the word "Colonization" was dropped from the company name. In 1897, the Restigouche and Western Railway Company was incorporated to take over the original Restigouche and Victoria Railway.

In 1900, the railway company was given further authority to construct a bridge across the St. John River from St. Leonard providing the U.S. government and the State of Maine passed the proper legislation to go along with the project.

Financial problems beset the Restigouche and Western Railway Company. After only 10 miles of line had been constructed from Campbellton, the railway company, $150,000 in debt, was vested over to the International Railway Company on June 22, 1906.

Between 1900 and 1911, different portions of the line were completed and opened for traffic:
1900 Campbellton to Felix Gulch 10 miles, total 10 miles
1903 Campbellton to Felix Gulch 11 miles total 11 miles
1904 Campbellton to Upsalquitch 7 miles total 18 miles
1905 Campbellton to Napier 2 miles total 20 miles
1907 Campbellton to Millerville 9 miles total 29 miles
1908 Campbellton to Robinson 14 miles total 43 miles
1909 Campbellton to Jardine Brook 37 miles total 80 miles
1911 Campbellton to Old INR Jct., 31.4 miles total 111.4 miles

The issue of the bridge from St Leonard into Maine was settled in 1913. The railway company handed over the project to the Van Buren Bridge Company, a new incorporated Maine company that same year. This company was given the authority to construct the bridge across the St. John River.

In 1914, an agreement was made to see the International Railway Company, all its assets and property to the federal government. The selling price: $2.7 million. The government had five years to make the sale final. In the meantime. the government would lease the property at an annual rental of $90,000.

On May 20, 1916, the Dominion Government of Canada took title of the International Railway Company of New Brunswick.

In 1919-20, the government dismantled the old INR line from Campbellton to Christopher Brook, a distance of 7.4 miles.

The Canadian Government Railways built a new connection from Tide Head on the Intercolonial Railway to Christopher Brook - 2.66 miles.

A rail connection was also constructed between mileage 105 and mileage 105.06, from mileage 105.68 to St. Leonard's Junction and a wye of .24 miles was built.

To link the entire line together, a segment of track from mileage 105.06 to mileage 105.68 was leased from the Van Buren Bridge Company.

From then until its abandonment, the INR was a busy branch line and a rich source of local history and folklore.

Situated in the Restigouche Uplands, it ran through a densely forested region, diminished in size by vast stands of spruce and fir trees.

Products moved along the line were almost exclusively forest products (lumber, logs and wood chips). Way freight leaving Campbellton for Edmundston would go up one day and come down the next. A wye at Kedgwick provided a short turn-around from Campbellton. Not confirmed was another wye at Jardine Brook used extensively by the Irving Lumber Company.

But the INR was also a busy passenger line at one time. Trains carried one baggage car and three coaches offering passenger service between Campbellton and Edmundston. Trains No. 37 and No. 38 provided round trip service Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays each week, while trains No. 216 and No. 217 were mixed passenger-baggage trains westbound on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and eastbound Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

During the days of the steam engine, the Miller Lumber Company operated at Grog Brook Dam. The company was the first to send wood chips to Fraser Co. in Atholville by rail.

In 1923, a huge forest fire devasted a large area of Restigouche County. In two sidings at Upsalquitch, conveyor belts lead to the river. Charred trees cut into pulp were driven down river and two sets of train cars at a time were loaded from the conveyors and taken to Campbellton.

There were train stations located all along the line - at Upsalquitch (mileage 13.5), Millerville (mileage 21.3), Barbarie (mileage 32.6), Kedgwick (mileage 49.7), St Quentin (mileage 65.1), Jardine Brook (mileage 73.1), Violette Brook (mileage 83.6), Veneer (mileage 86.8) and Flemming (mileage 97.1).

The upsalquitch station, built in 1903, was destroyed in the forest fire of 1923. It was rebuilt and finally closed permanently in Oct. 1957.

The Kedgwick station still stands, but the St Quentin station was demolished.

The INR was dotted with 26 bridges, the largest of which was the Upsalquitch bridge, built in 1903.

The line also contained 30 public road crossings, four private road crossings and 84 farm road crossings.

CN, the Canadian National Railway Company, eventually became owners of the INR line and in 1983, applied to the Canadian Transport Commission to abandon the st. Quentin Subdivision.

After dragging its feet on the application for 6-7 years, permission was finally granted.

The last spike on the INR was pulled at Tide Head at 2:05 p.m., September 10, 1991, marking the end of an era.

The INR lives on, now, in the memories of the thousands of railroaders who worked along her rails.

Links of Interest