CN on Newfoundland
CN's operations on Newfoundland revolved around the former Newfoundland Railway, which was the longest narrow-gauge railway in North America, stretching approximately 1000 km across the island, from the ferry terminal in Port aux Basques to the provincial capital at St. John's. Many of the island's largest communities developed along the main line, largely because of their location; as a result, the Trans-Canada Highway paralleled its route in many places.
Rail operations in Newfoundland remained economically unfeasible because of slow service times, a side effect of the narrow-gauge format. CN invested heavily in track improvements during the 1950s-1960s, but the narrow-gauge operation could not compete with the flexibility of trucks. Significant time was lost at Port aux Basques, where standard-gauge railway cars from mainland North America were lifted off their bogies and onto narrow-gauge bogies for use on Newfoundland. In some cases this was not possible, and the rail car contents were unloaded and reloaded onto narrow-gauge cars. CN's operation of dedicated railway car ferries was an additional expense.
CN operated a main line passenger train, the Caribou, from St. John's to Port aux Basques. Nicknamed the Newfie Bullet, the Caribou operated until June 1969, when it was replaced by the CN Roadcruiser bus service started in the Fall of 1968. With the demise of the Caribou, the only passenger services remaining on the island were mixed freight and passenger trains on the Bonavista, Carbonear, and Argentia branch lines, and on the main-line between Bishop's Falls and Corner Brook. Terra Transport would continue to operate mixed passenger/freight service on the branch lines until 1984. The mainline service between Corner Brook and Bishop's Falls made its last run on 30 September 1988. The Roadcruiser bus service ran until 29 March 1996, when it was sold to DRL Coachlines of Triton, Newfoundland.
The most significant change made under the Terra Transport subsidiary was the move to the carriage of less-than-carload (LCL) freight. A large fleet of distinctive green intermodal shipping containers were ordered and used in place of boxcars. These containers were stacked on flatcars of mainland trains, fitted onto the decks inside the ferries, and then placed on flatcars of trains in Newfoundland, or transported entirely by truck. During the mid-1980s, trains composed almost entirely of the distinctive TT containers were common. The handling time for freight dropped considerably, as containers could be easily removed from the trains in each community and the loading/unloading at Port aux Basques was significantly improved over standard freight cars. Another significant change the closure and abandonment all of CN's branch lines in the province by 1984, leaving only the main line operational.
Despite these changes, Terra Transport was unable to turn a profit for CN and the federal government. Specialized ferries were still needed for carrying non-LCL railway cars, and by the mid-1980s were approaching the end of their operational life and required replacement. The election of a Conservative federal government brought about the elimination of subsidies for money-losing operations. In 1986, one of two remaining railcar ferries was sold off as the government converted CN Marine into Marine Atlantic, completely separating the rail and ferry services. Terra Transport operations were largely captive on Newfoundland and would specialize in handling import/export LCL and inter-island non-LCL freight.
