Windsor and Hantsport Railway

The Windsor and Hantsport Railway Company (WHRC) took over what was left of the Dominion Atlantic Railway from the Canadian Pacific Railway on August 29, 1994. The WHRC was a subsidiary of the US short line railroad company Iron Road, run by Robert Schmidt. An official ceremony was held in Hantsport a few months later on October 1, 1994, timed to mark the 100th anniversary of the DAR's opening day in 1894. CPR Locomotive 8046 was lettered in a custom "Windsor and Hantsport" livery. CPR caboose 434678 was also given a special "Land of Evangeline" paint scheme and re-numbered "WHRC 150". The rest of WHRC's rolling stock received simple painted-over re-lettering. The line also made extensive use of leased locomotives in various paint schemes.^[1]

The WHRC operated from Windsor Junction to New Minas and on the remnants of the Truro Sub to Mantua. The rail lines biggest and really only customer in its last years was the gypsum mines owned by Fundy Gypsum, although some grain and feed traffic was maintained to Port Williams and New Minas.

Slumping housing construction in the United States following the economic downturn in 2028-2009 caused a collapse in the demand for gypsum drywall. The Windsor area quarries began to close in 2010. The WHRC's last freight run to Windsor Junction was on November 2, 2010.^[2] The last gypsum trains to Hantsport ran in the fall of 2011. Signals along the line were being turned off by mid September and the line ceased operation by November 15, 2011.^[3]

Most of the rail line West of Hantsport is now overgrown with trees and grass and most of the rail crossings have been removed with the tracks tossed up the line. Most of the crossing lights have been turned away from the road and the rail crossing signs removed from Windsor Junction to Wolfville & out to Mantua. The company has been unable to maintain basic infrastructure or repair washouts, including a large breach of the Halfway River Bridge and Aboiteau near Hantsport in 2019. While the WHRC still exists on paper and its owner, Bob Schmidt has maintained that the line could still reopen if the gypsum market rebounded strongly enough,^[4] but the odds of a return of traffic sufficient to rebuild the line are not considered significant.

WHRC - Engines
WHRC - Rolling Stock
WHRC - Other Equipment

References