Book Review: Trackside Newfoundland

Trackside Newfoundland by Bill Linley

Bill Linley has released another book in his “Trackside” series. This one is “Trackside Newfoundland“, featuring his photos from several trips to the Rock. The book is published by Morning Sun Books and is up to their usual quality standards, which is to say excellent.

Bill visited Newfoundland several times, starting with an epic railfan trip in the fall of 1967 where he and another railfan rode the Caribou and several mixed trains. He returned with his new bride in 1973, and again several times for work, followed by a visit in 1982 and 1988 just before the end of the railway.

The book starts by recounting Bill’s trips to the Island, followed by a brief history of the railway from its inception in 1881, through its acquisition by CN in 1949 following Newfoundland’s entry into Canada, all the way through the brief Terra Transport period to the end of the railway in 1988.

This 128 page book is chock full of stunning colour photographs, richly captioned with lots of detail and context. Bill photographed the trains all over Newfoundland and the variety of photos is amazing.

This book is a real treasure for anyone interested in Newfoundland’s railway history, or indeed anyone interested in rail history in general. The Newfoundland Railway was a unique, narrow gauge system and this book honours that railway’s memory.

You can buy this book from Bill, or from Morning Sun’s web site. I bought mine from Bill, and he was kind enough to sign it for me.

You can read my review of Bill’s book, Trackside in the Maritimes, here.