[charland]

Hi All,

Have a few more miles of mainline completed on the DAR route, took a few screenies to show you.

It's 9 AM and time for Train 24 to depart the Kentville yard and work it's way to Windsor.





8135 crosses Mill Creek as it leaves Kentville town limits.





Train 24 follows the Cornwallis River Valley as it heads to Windsor.



Train 24 arrives at it's first stop of the morning, New Minas. On the left is Hostess Foods, on the right the Maritime Co-op, both require daily switching.



After completing their switching chores the crew head to their next stop, Post Williams.



About and hour later Train 1 make an appearance on it's return from Halifax.



Paul :-)

[Guilford309]

Hello Paul,
where might this fantastic route be taking place?

[charland]

Hi Shawn,

Here's a map I made a few years ago for a British model magazine article on a DAR layout I designed:



I'm working on the Kentville to Windsor part now, it's the Halifax Sub. Phase 2 will add Windsor to Windsor Junction, then Phase 3 will add a part of CN's Bedford Sub from Windsor Junction to the Halifax station that the DAR had trackage rights to. the line is gone from Yarmouth to Hantsport, about half way between Kentville and Windsor. The Windsor to Truro portion was abandoned in the early '80s. The remainder from Hantsport to Windsor junction is now operated by the Windsor and Hantsport Railway, the vast majority of their operation is moving gypsum between two mines in Windsor and a car dump in Hantsport.

Paul :-)

[Guilford309]

Paul, today, wouldn't this line be interchanging with the New Brunswick Southern Railway and New Brunswick East Coast Railway?

Looking forward to this one, I already download the cars and locomotives you have released for it. ;)

[charland]

Hi Shawn,

No, the DAR never had a physical connection to the CP. They interchanged with the CN at Truro and Windsor Junction NS. Until the early '80 pretty much all the traffic from the west was interchanged at Truro and the "local" Halifax/Dartmouth cars at CN's Rockingham yard. Passenger traffic ran right into CN's Halifax station. In the early '80s (might have been the late '70s) a major bridge was washed out on the Truro line forcing all interchange traffic to Rockingham. When CP sold the remaining portion of the DAR to the Windsor and Hantsport the trackage rights were not part of the deal and the WHRC now interchanged at the real end of the DAR line, Windsor Junction.

Closest thing to a direct connection to CP in Saint John, NB was a ferry from Digby.

Paul :-)

[Guilford309]

Hmm alright, thanks for that info ;)