The Whistle Blows No More

The whistle blowing the bells clanging the side-to-side rocking motion are some of the memories I have of the Newfoundland Railway. Many of my fondest childhood memories involve the railway. My family has a cabin that once was on a branch of the railway now it sits on what’s left of the rail bed, a gravel road that has become a highway of sorts for ATVs. It was a common thing for me to board the train at the St. Johns station for the long but enjoyable winding ride to the cabin. I remember sitting next to my grandmother playing games, talking to the other passengers and drawing pictures with my crayons for some of the women on the train. I can still hear the sounds of the train rumbling down the track and the scent in the air as I watched the scenery go by standing on the caboose. It was not just the train I enjoyed but also the people. There were others heading off to their cabins those heading home and those leaving home but the workers on the train were the most interesting to me. It was amazing to watch as the conductor using nothing but a walkie-talkie guide the engineer (who could be 50 or more train cars away) to stop the train placing a specific car perfectly in place just with the phrases one car, half a car. As we rode through each community the train was always greeted by people waving as if you were best friends just passing by. And I to upon hearing the rumble and the whistle blow in the distance would come running to wave as the train rode by and with out missing a beat the people would wave back and the whistle would blow as if the train itself was saying high. Occasionally it would stop with a parcel from home for me as I spent my summers at the cabin and always a bag of ice. There was more to the railway than just the train there was also the trolley or Speeder and the Section Men who maintained the tracks. It was just as exciting to see that little orange box zoom by it was even more exciting when they would stop for a break and give me the opportunity to take a look inside the trolley. One of the biggest moments of my childhood was being able to ride along with the Section Men for a day and watch them as they worked. Opportunities like this are long gone now and are just distant memories. The last train run by our cabin was in 1984. The last train to run in Newfoundland ran on September 20, 1988 and by the end of 1990 all the track was taken up. Taking with it a way of life that I dearly miss and leaving behind the treasured memories that I can share with my daughter and son. They will never experience the rush as the train rumbles past for them there will be no childhood memories of the railway just memories of waving at those zooming by on ATVs leaving a cloud of dust on the remaining rail bead of the Newfoundland Railway.

Me and my Grandmother on the train