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Caption: Terra Transport coach 757 brings up the rear of Mixed Extra 941 West departing Grand Falls for Corner Brook during Christmas week 1987. Due to a CTC order, this service would be suspended a few days later until April of 1988. Originally built in 1943 as coach No. 40 for the Newfoundland Railway by the CC&F it was assigned to the Bishops Falls - Corner Brook run from 1984 to 1988 after the mixed runs on the branchlines were cancelled. Coach 757 and her some of her sisters can be seen in active branchline duty in my latest book, RAILS AROUND THE ROCK - A Then & Now Celebration of the Newfoundland Branchlines by Kenneth G. Pieroway, released by Creative Book Publishing, September 2014.
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Thanks for posting the rear of the train after the front was posted (I see it above in ‘suggested photos’. How many patrons would normally use this service on an average day? And curious what led to the CTC to suspend passenger (mixed) service for a few months?
Also not very nice to marshall the coach behind a cattle car..
There were times when none or very few rode. Other times it was filled to capacity. During my first trip on April 20, 1987, my girlfriend and I were the only passengers for the entire 138 mile journey. This was also the case another three times. However during the final summer of operations in 1988, an additional coach was added to accommodate those wishing to take a last ride.
In 1987, Terra Transport applied to the CTC to abandon the daily coach service.The CTC ruled late in the same year that the train continue to run as a mixed but at a reduced frequency during the spring, summer and fall months due to the Gaff Topsails being inaccessible by road. The new schedule would see a coach added on Saturdays and Sundays in April, May, October and November with the frequency increased to Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays in June, July, August and September.
When service resumed in April of 1988, a fully refurbished coach 764 and steel baggage 1308 replaced the former stock car. It was however, simply a stay of execution as the entire system was abandoned on September 30, 1988 and the last scheduled mixed (Mixed Extra 917 West) ran that day. Although I was not aware of it at the time, the image I captured was taken during the last December the mixed would ever run.