• Home
  • News
  • Stories
    • Learning & Literacy
    • Food, Farming & Fishing >
      • Recipe Collection
    • Culture & Heritage
    • Wellness
    • Environment
    • Opinions, letters and reflections
  • About Us
  • Jobs
  • E-magazine
  • Calendar
  • Albert County
    • Living in Albert County
    • Our Villages
    • Attractions
    • Community Groups
  • Advertising
  • Donate
  • Exploring Our Trails
  • Blog
Connecting Albert County

culture and
​heritage

Tracking Our Railroad History

21/11/2018

0 Comments

 
PictureSalem & Hillsborough Railway Station, 2007. Photo Deborah Carr
by David Jonah
 
Salem and Hillsborough Railroad
The Salem and Hillsborough Railroad ran from Salisbury to Harvey. Today, as you go up the road to the Big Stop from Salisbury’s Main Street, you cross the main rail line between Moncton and Saint John. The spur line from Hillsborough joined the main line there. Trains stopped overnight at Hillsborough Station where a hotel was available. The end of the line was Harvey Bank across from Riverside-Albert, near the then-active  wharfs. Most of the remnants of the line are part of ATV trails today.

Picture
My father told me stories from those steam-rail days. The hotel in Hillsborough was once used for a criminal trial, a murder prosecution of a very determined prisoner. On a very hot summer day, the windows were wide open to let air in. As the lunch break was finishing, the blast of the departing south-bound train was heard leaving the station. As the locomotive passed the open windows, its smoke and steam created a momentary distraction as people turned away from the windows to shelter their eyes, noses and mouths. 
 
As the air cleared, the people inside looked up to see the prisoner give a wave as he leaped out of the window and landed on a passing rail-car roof. He crouched down as the train gathered speed and departed the village. A race to Albert Mines station found no sign of the escapee. I cannot recall the end result. Presumably he was recaptured, but the area around the gypsum mines had a long, slow, grade climb and somewhere he parted company with the train or found a less visible hiding place. This is oral history only. My father had more colourful details, but memory fails me. 


Turtle Creek Trestle
Traveling south and east in a snaking, crooked line about five kilometres from the eastern edge of Salisbury, the engineers encountered the vast, marshy spread of the Turtle Creek chasm. One hundred years later, the Turtle Creek watershed has become the present-day water source for Moncton. The Turtle Creek Trestle was south and east of the present Turtle Creek hamlet highways crossroads. The location felt remote and in the middle of nowhere, as I recall.
 
Trestles required a significant investment of time and labour. The massive trestle was considered a marvel of engineering at the time due to its great length and the depth of the chasm. I cannot recall the exact depth of the chasm, but I sensed that it was a few hundred feet deep.

PictureHiram Creek Trestle. Photo submitted by David Jonah.
Weldon Creek Trestle
Weldon is a blip on the current Route 114 but was once thriving. The bridge (later metal-sided) had to withstand the strong, tidal-ice action of the creek. I once read a document (later lost in a fire) that recounted finding rare minerals when the bridge anchors were being dug.
 
Hiram Trestle
The Hiram Trestle, as I recall, was named for a famous rail engineer who was from the area. It was located immediately beyond the Downey saw mill on Dawson Settlement Road. The trestle was about 5-6 stories high and was a feat of 1800's timber-and-post construction with massive bracing at intersecting angles. These were notched and bolted in patterns to prevent and withstand the pounding vibrations arising from the steel wheels of the pumping motion of the steam locomotives. Think of your car on unbalanced tires at 60 mph and you get the idea of the destructive force on man-made supports spanning a distant point of land with what looked like a weir of matchsticks. 


David Jonah is a media consultant specializing in corporate communications and digital communications technology. He lives in Parkindale. 
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Culture & Heritage
    Connecting Albert County would like to thank the following supporters & advertisers:

    Platinum supporters
    - Bennett and Albert County Health Care (BACH) Foundation  
    ​- Albert County Pharmacy
    - CR Yardworks & Equipment
    ​​- Hon. Rob Moore, MP for
    Fundy Royal


    Gold supporters
    - CBDC Westmorland Albert 
    - ​Albert County Funeral Home​​


    Silver supporters
    - 
    Albert County Chamber of Commerce 
    - Crooked Creek Convenience 
    - East Coast Kids Child Care & Learning Centre
    ​ 
    - 
    Fireside Home Heating
    ​ 
    - 
    Foods of the Fundy Valley​
    - The Garden Guy (Micheal McBurnie) 
    - 
    Hon. Mike Holland, Minister, MLA-Albert 
    ​
    - 
    The Old Church Farmers' Market​
    - Village of Hillsborough
    - Village of Riverside-Albert

    Bronze supporters

    - Broadleaf Ranch ​
    - CCRC
    ​
    - 
    Cape Enrage Fundy Log Cabin
    - Falcon Ridge Inn B&B 
    - Fundy Highlands Motel and Chalets
    - Hillsborough Baptist Church 
    - Jeff MacDougall, SouthEastern Mutual Insurance 
    -​ Village of Alma


    If you would like to support Connecting Albert County, visit our Advertising page or Donation page. With your support, we can continue to share the news of rural Albert County.

    Comments
    We welcome comments to our blog postings. Please provide your email address and name with your comment, and respect our content guidelines.

    Archives

    February 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    February 2020
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    November 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    October 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014

    Categories

    All
    150th
    27th Battalion
    Abiel Peck
    Aboiteaux
    Aboriginal
    Abraham Gesner
    AC175
    Acadian Culture
    Acadian Expulsion
    Acadian Resistance
    Acadians In Albert County
    ACTA
    Albert County
    Albert County 175
    Albert County Cancer Walk
    Albert County Exhibition
    Albert County Historical Society
    Albert County Museum
    Albert County NB
    Albertite
    Alma
    Armistice
    Armour Transportation
    Artisans
    Artists
    Arts And Crafts
    Atlantic National
    BACH Foundation
    Bagpipes
    Ball
    Bay Of Fundy
    Beausoleil
    Board Game
    Brownies
    Caledonia Mountain
    Camelia Airheart!
    Canada 150
    Cannon
    Cape Enrage
    Car Show
    Carve
    Carving
    CCGS Captain Molly Kool
    CCRC
    Celebration
    Celtic Music
    Cemeteries
    Chase The Ace
    Childhood
    Childhood Memories
    Children's Book
    Chocolate River Publishing
    Christmas
    Classic Cars
    Community
    Community Groups
    Community Spirit
    Connecting Albert County
    Crooked Creek Adventures
    Culture
    Curryville
    Devil's Loft
    Donate
    Donations
    Dorothy Brzezicki
    Dr. Black
    Dream Team Canada
    Dykes
    Elgin
    Embroidered Cards
    Exhibition
    Fair
    Female Sea Captain
    Fibre Arts
    Fiddle
    Figurine
    Fishing
    Fishing Boats
    Fleet Launch
    Folk Festival
    Follow The Goose Butt
    Foods Of The Fundy Valley
    Friends Of Fundy
    Fundy Ceilidh
    Fundy Guild
    Fundy National Park
    Fundy Park
    Fundy Quilt Show
    Fundy Studio Tour
    Fundy Sugar Woods Festival
    Garden
    Gardening
    Gary Steeves Insurance
    Ghosts
    Ghouls
    Girl Guides
    Girls
    Goblins
    Growing Up In Albert County
    Guides
    Harp
    Harvey
    Harvey Hall
    Headstone
    Heritage
    Heritage Awards
    Heritage Fair
    Hillsborough
    Hillsborough Elementary
    Hillsborough Farmers Market
    Hillsborough Kiwanis
    Hillsborough Public Library
    History
    Holmstrom
    Hopewell Cape
    Hopewell Cape Museum
    Ian Duncan
    Icebreaker
    Irish
    Joseph Broussard
    Kiwanis
    Lewis Steeves
    Lifetime Membership
    Lobster
    Local Author
    Logging
    Maple Sugar
    Market
    Molly Kool
    Molly Kool\
    Molly Kool Award
    Monument
    Music
    Nature
    NB
    New Brunswick
    New Brunswick Railway Museum
    Oaks
    Octopus Garden Cafe
    Paddle For A Cause
    Pathfinders
    Peace Park
    Peck Colonial House
    Petitcodiac River
    Pierre Thibodeau
    Pirates
    Plant
    Pottery
    Prime Minister Bennett
    Quilt
    Quilt And Fibre Arts Show And Sale
    Quilting
    Quilts
    RA Fire Department
    Railroad
    R. B. Bennett
    R.B. Bennett
    RB Bennett Centre
    Restoration
    Restore
    Rising Tide Festival
    Riverside Albert
    Riverside-Albert
    Riverside Consolidated School
    Role Model
    Rural
    Rural Fair
    Rural School
    Salem & Hillsborough Railroad
    Salmon River
    Sara Liptay
    School
    School Closure
    School Garden
    Scrub
    Shepody
    Shepody Days
    Shepody Food Bank
    Shoe Tree
    Sistema
    Soap Box Derby
    Sparks
    Spinning
    Spring Activities
    Steeves 150
    Steeves Family Reunion
    Steve Arsenault
    Summer
    Tablut
    Tales-from-the-creek
    Teledrive
    Tele Drive Albert County
    Tele-Drive Albert County
    The Incredibly Truthful Diary Of Nature Girl
    This Is My Canada
    Thomas Calhoun
    Tides
    Tourism
    Traditions
    Trains
    Urban/Rural Rides
    Variety Show
    Victory Campaign
    Viking
    Vimy Ridge
    Volunteer
    Wabanaki Tree Spirit Tours
    Walk For Hope
    Weaving
    Wedding
    Wilson
    Winter
    Woman's Institute
    Workshops
    World War 1
    Young Adult Fiction

    RSS Feed

CONTACT
ADVERTISING
CALENDAR
​PUBLICATION

SiteLock
Copyright © Connecting Albert County, 2016 | Albert County, New Brunswick, Canada
  • Home
  • News
  • Stories
    • Learning & Literacy
    • Food, Farming & Fishing >
      • Recipe Collection
    • Culture & Heritage
    • Wellness
    • Environment
    • Opinions, letters and reflections
  • About Us
  • Jobs
  • E-magazine
  • Calendar
  • Albert County
    • Living in Albert County
    • Our Villages
    • Attractions
    • Community Groups
  • Advertising
  • Donate
  • Exploring Our Trails
  • Blog