Weston Subdivision "The North Mountain Line" or "the Weston Line" 1914-1961

The Weston Subvision ran 14.5 miles west from Centreville, on the Cornwallis Valley Railway branch, to Weston. Trains originated in Kentville.

History

A typical North Mountain Line station and warehouse at Lakeville with train approaching.

Started in 1910, the Weston Subdivision was completed in 1914. A railway trade magazine article in 1908 mentioned the then-proposed Weston Subdivision. It was often referred to as the North Mountain Railway, the North Mountain Line or the Weston Line but was officially incorporated as the North Mountain Line Railway Company Limited in 1902.^[1] The first shareholders were C. Fitch Kemp, Thomas Robert Ronald, Archibald Denny and Robert Lee Campbell, of London, England, and Percy Gifkins, of Kentville, Nova Scotia. All the London residents were on the board of directors of the DAR, (Kemp - President, Ronald - Vice President, Campbell - Secretary, Denny - director) and Percy Gifkins was the General Manager of the DAR. It received a charter to build a railway in 1904 and renewed it in 1906.^[2] (According to Marguerite Woodworth's book, page 136, but the legislation allowed construction starting in 1902.) However the owners lacked the money to start construction.

Land acquisition and right of way permissions were sought in 1910 and the Dominion Atlantic Railway announced construction was beginning in April 1910 with an expected completion in 1913.^[3][4] In reality, it took the resources of the Canadian Pacific Railway to complete the line after the CPR bought the DAR in 1912. The company Kirk and Cooke of North Sydney, NS were awarded the contract to build the roadbed in October 1912. The contract called for the line to be completed as far as Bligh’s apple warehouse warehouse at Lakeville by Fall 1912 with the whole 15 miles finished by August 1, 1913.^[5] Stations were built by J. H. Hicks & Sons of Bridgetown.^{[6] [7]} Kirk and Cooke Contractors built a construction camp at Centreville and brought in 100 contract labourers, mostly from Italy, as well as hiring local horse teams and day labour.^[8] By August 1913, tracks had been laid and railway cars were running as far as Lakeville, while large crews were working on the roadbed as far as Weston.^[9] Work included many large concrete culverts and a long pipeline from a spring on the North Mountain to the wye at Weston to supply a locomotive water tank. A cookhouse and quarters for the workers were built at Chute Road near Weston.^[10]

Mobilization for war in August 1914 prolonged construction and delayed the completion of the line. Intermittent freight service began in September 1914^[11] with regular freight service beginning on December 1, 1914 when the line was completed at a cost of $413,000. However the terms of the federal railway subsidy program had required that the line be completed by August 1, 1914, so the CPR had to absorb the complete cost of construction.^[12] Passenger service began more slowly and was a officially launched by a large special excursion on August 1 1916 from Weston to Kingsport which attracted large crowds including "nearly everyone from Somerset".^[13] At completion, the North Mountain Railway Company was absorbed by the DAR and the line became the Weston Subdivision. It was often known collectively, with the Kingsport Subdivision, as the CVR (Cornwallis Valley Railway).

Full operations officially began on August 15, 1918 with a mixed train operating each way on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Conductor Mansfield Nichols was the first regular conductor while Hugh Copeland was the usual engineer in the first year.^[14] The Weston line offered modest passenger service but hosted heavy freight volumes during the fall and winter apple season. Summer traffic included fertilizer and limestone.^[15] The three-days-a-week schedule lasted for most of the line's history except for a few years in the 1930s when trains ran daily. On Sept. 13, 1928, one of the North Mountain Line trains, the evening run from Weston to Kentville with 6 freight cars and 1 passenger car derailed just past the Aldershot crossing. The passenger car and a boxcar of apples toppled over. Conductor K. Melvor seriously injured and 3 passengers received minor injuries.^[16] By the 1940s, the regular mixed trains were discontinued, but freight specials continued to operate varying with the amount of freight required. However the decline of the Annapolis Valley's apple industry and the growth of highways caused a dramatic drop in traffic in the 1950s, leading to repeated request for abandonment in the late 1950s which were finally granted in 1961.

Map of the North Mountain Railway in 1929

The Weston Line was unique in several ways. Instead of station agents, it employed a travelling agent who rode with each train, selling tickets and settling freight and express as he went. The station wickets were seldom used as most business was done aboard the train, although each station did provide a waiting room with a stove and built-in benches.^[17]

Every North Mountain Line station, except Somerset, served as dwellings for the Section Foremen and their families.^[18] These stations were all slightly modified versions of the standard CPR Station No. 4 Plan.^[19] The Billtown Station, which still survives today, was a typical example. The only other surviving station is Somerset, which was moved to Berwick, heavily modified and converted to a private home.

On January 31, 1961 the entire Weston Subdivision was abandoned as the CVR was reduced to a spur from Kentville to Mill Village.

Trains

Train No. 21 Noon to Kentville

Train No. 22 Morning to Weston

Train No. 23 Evening to Kentville

Train No. 24 Afternoon to Weston

Gallery

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  Construction train with ballast dump cars, probably during the construction of the Weston Subdivision, the North Mountain Line, circa 1913.

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  Locomotive No. 16 "Atalanta at the Weston Station, unknown date.

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  "Atalanta" at Weston with driver Dan Deloughry.

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  DAR specials for the North Mountain Line in The Kentville Advertiser, Sept. 24, 1918.

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  Lakeville station and appple warehouse, 1923.

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  Interior view of the W. B. Burgess track-side apple warehouse in Woodville, featured in an education stereoscopic view, circa 1920-1924.

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  Woodville with l to r the North Mountain Fruit Co, the station, the Herbert Oyler Woodvill, the McLean-Wood-Foote and the W. B. Burgess warehouses, May 1931.

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  The Billtown Station, used for storage in Lakeville, April 6, 2008.

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  "The Station Master", a groundhog in the Billtown Station, April 6, 2008.

• 

  Topographical map of Weston Subdivision

References and Footnotes

External Links

• Ivan Smith's History of the CVR at ROCA.
• Ivan Smith's History of Railway Companies in Nova Scotia
• 1949 Dominion Atlantic Railway Passenger train service schedule at Ivan's Smith's site
• Ivan Smith's North Valley Railway Overview.
• Mike's CVR Fruit Warehouses Photo Page and Slide Show
• Mike's CVR Fruit Warehouses Google Map]

Locations

Locations categorised under "W" are on the Centreville to Weston leg (west). <math>Insert formula here</math>