These are public timetables for Le Chemin de Fer de Matane et du golfe / The Canada and Gulf Terminal Railway Company, dated April 25, 1966 and October 27, 1969.
The CFMG (as it was known, by its French initials) was an independent railway that ran from Mont Joli, Quebec (where it connected with CN) to Matane, Quebec on the Gulf of St. Lawrence. A ferry connected Matane with Baie Comeau on the other side of the Gulf.
CN took the CFMG over in 1975, and later sold it to the Quebec Railway Corporation. In late 2008, when CN acquired the QRC’s assets, this line became part of CN again.
Earlier, passenger service was provided by an ex-New York Central gas-electric car, with a trailer. Later service was provided by a mixed train, a freight train with a passenger car attached.
There’s a nice group of photos of the CFMG over at Old Time Trains.
Timetable 174, Effective April 25, 1966
This timetable is a small folded piece of paper, printed on both sides.
Note the information printed in both French and English.
The timetable features connections with CNR trains at Mont-Joli, namely the Ocean (#14/15), the Scotian (#11/12), the Chaleur (#16/17) and unnamed trains #18/19 – which CN called 618 and 619 and only ran between Matapedia and Montreal.
Timetable 183, Effective April 25, 1966
The format is the same as the 1966 timetable, except that it was printed on bright yellow paper.
The contents changed quite a bit over the three years.
The schedule changed. Previously train #2 departed Mont-Joli at 0815, arriving at Matane at 0935, then departing Matane at 1040 as #3 to get back to Mont-Joli at 12:05…. basically four hours in the morning.
In 1969 the schedule was essentially 3 hours and 45 minutes later. Train #2 departed Mont-Joli at noon instead of 08:15. The rest of the times were shifted the same.
The CNR connections differed as well – the Ocean was no longer shown. It was rerouted over the “National Transcontinental Railway” aka the Edmundston to Moncton route, rather than the northern New Brunswick route.
The Ocean “detour” started on October 29, 1967 and continued until January 7, 1970, part of CN’s efforts to sustain passenger service amid continuing passenger desertion to automobiles.
This information is from Douglas N.W. Smith’s excellent book, “The Ocean Limited: A Centennial Tribute“.
I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Mr. Smith at Real Rails 2025 and thanked him for writing this book. We can always use more books about trains in the Atlantic provinces.