CN North Sydney Ferry Dock Diagram

This is a diagram from CN Newfoundland Area Passenger Sales, showing the dock area in North Sydney, Nova Scotia for ferries going to Newfoundland. Thanks to Ian Reid for sharing the scan.

The rail lines coming into the area are shown, with a small switching yard, and tracks to the rail car ferry, the transit shed (for cargo transfer), and the public wharf. Parking areas and the terminal building are also depicted.

Click on the image to see it at full size. I did a little cleanup on the diagram but it’s mostly as I received it.

Given the “noodle” diagram, this is post 1961, and obviously pre 1988. I would guess it’s from the 1970s given that passenger service ended before the railway did.

I compared this to the CN car control diagram from 1967 and 1988 (they are the same).

The car control manual lists these tracks:

• SA20 – Imperial Oil – 525′
• SA23 – Imperial Oil Runaround – 115′
• SA25 – Tail Track – 635′
• SA26 – Vacant – 335′
• SA30 – Sydney Engineering – 160′
• SA34 – Government Wharf – 590′
• SA35 – Government Wharf – 395′

Note that the yard is not shown at all, and the track to the public wharf is not shown.

Harold Jenkins was a prolific Maritime-area railway photographer. I was one of several people who contributed to obtaining his collection, which now resides with the Middleton Railway Museum. Harold took several photos of the Sydney area, including this photo from July 28, 1963 showing the Canadian National Railways ferry terminal building, complete with a CNR Express Telegrams sign.

Note the two passenger express boxcars at left, along with a more conventional boxcar. The tracks to the right would go to the freight shed and the rail car ferry. There’s a small freighter by the transit shed, and a ferry behind the boxcars. I don’t see this “express car” track in either diagram, so perhaps it was removed shortly after this photo.

There’s a photo of this area here (source web page) showing part of the yard, switcher CN 3630, and one of the passenger ferries. Note the “reacher” flatcars used to keep the locomotive off the ferry and apron.

I have never been to North Sydney so I don’t know what remains there. I understand the yard was paved over, and from the satellite views available I can see where the track curved toward the wharves. The “transit shed” is gone, since freight moves in truck trailers to Newfoundland now.

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