GC29WP3 Bygone Rail: Norton-Chipman, Norton#1 (Traditional Cache) in New Brunswick, Canada created by ZeMartelo

GC29WP3 ▼

A cache by ZeMartelo Message this owner

Hidden : 6/6/2010

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:

Bygone Railways: Norton - Chipman, an era long gone!

Location

Milepost : 90.3
NORTON, CNR- CPR shared station (1889 - 1962)

Cache Details

The cache is a small container hidden at the base of the concrete pier where the bridge that crossed the Kennebecasis river in Norton once stood.
The bridge consisted of two spans and in 1905-1908 period when the line was renovated they were torn down and two new Howes Truss Spans were built.
When the line was closed the bridge was dynamited by the army corps and as per the locals used for shooting practice.
The railbed has been overgrown but there is a path that can be used to reach this spot.
To get to the this cache, park nearby the railway and walk your way alongside until you are 80 meters or so from the cache, look closely and you should be able to spot a path going towards the cache.

++Post pictures to help preserve the memory of the line++

* Please help maintain this cache *

Take some containers and logbooks and replace as necessary.
Thank you.

History

For years the residents of Grand Lake, Chipman, Cumberland Bay and other surrounding areas had hoped that the Intercolonial Railway would be built along the proposed "Central Line". It would have cut diagonally across the middle of the Province and thus provide them with direct access to markets in Central Canada. However, the Intercolonial Railway was instead built along the "Robinson Route" in 1872 and it would not be until 1912 that the National Transcontinental Railway line, built along the "Central Line", would be officially opened. So in 1873 a group of local investors incorporated the Central Railway Company to build a line from Fredericton to connect with the Intercolonial Railway line somewhere between Sussex and Moncton. A final decision on the route that the line would take was not made until 1886. The final route which passed by the head of Grand Lake also went through the coal rich areas around Minto and Chipman before heading south towards Norton. That same year work began on the 80 mile long track and in 1888 the line from Norton, on the Intercolonial line, to Chipman was completed and opened for business. The section of track from Gibson near Fredericton, the terminus of the New Brunswick Railway line, to Chipman was not completed until 1913. This section of track was built by a separate company the New Brunswick Coal and Railway Company, which later became the Fredericton and Grand Lake Coal and Railway Company. In 1913 Canadian Pacific took control of the line by taking out long-term leases on the line. One interesting note is that due to the fact that the bridges on the line could not accommodate the heavier diesel engines, Canadian Pacific had to run steam engines on the line into the 1960's. Abandonment of the line began in 1961 when the section from Norton to Pennlyn was abandoned and by the 1990's the entire line had been abandoned.