Terra Transport
Reporting marks	CN, TT
Locale	Newfoundland, Canada
Dates of operation	1979 – 1988
Track gauge	3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)
Headquarters	St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador

Terra Transport (TT) was the name for the "Newfoundland Transportation Division", a wholly owned subsidiary of Canadian National Railway (CN), created in 1979 as a means to organize the company's operations on the island of Newfoundland. Image File history File links Terra_Transport_herald. ... Reporting marks on two CP Rail covered hoppers passing Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, June 20, 2004. ... For other uses, see Newfoundland (disambiguation). ... Rail gauge is the distance between two rails of a railroad. ... A foot (plural: feet or foot;[1] symbol or abbreviation: ft or, sometimes, ′ – a prime) is a unit of length, in a number of different systems, including English units, Imperial units, and United States customary units. ... An inch (plural: inches; symbol or abbreviation: in or, sometimes, ″ - a double prime) is the name of a unit of length in a number of different systems, including English units, Imperial units, and United States customary units. ... A millimetre (American spelling: millimeter, symbol mm) is an SI unit of length that is equal to one thousandth of a metre. ... Nickname: The City of Legends Motto: Avancez (Go forward) Coordinates: Country Canada Province Newfoundland and Labrador Established August 5, 1583 by Royal Charter of Queen Elizabeth I  - City Mayor Andy Wells  - Governing body St. ... The Canadian National Railway (CN; AAR reporting marks CN, CNA, CNIS), known as Canadian National Railways (CNR) between 1918 and 1960, and Canadian National/Canadien National (CN) from 1960 to present, is a Canadian Class I railway operated by Canadian National Railway Company headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. ... For other uses, see Newfoundland (disambiguation). ...

Background

Canadian National Railways (CNR, CN post 1960) acquired the Newfoundland Railway in 1949 from the Government of Newfoundland under that dominion's Terms of Union upon entry into Confederation. The majority of the Newfoundland Railway's operations were not economically self-sustaining, requiring significant subsidization, however it was only after the construction of the Trans-Canada Highway across the island in the early 1960s that the railway began to see serious declines in traffic. Newfoundland Railway logo or herald (used 1926-1949) The Newfoundland Railway was a historic railway that operated on the island of Newfoundland and was the longest narrow gauge railway system in North America. ... We dont have an article called Canadian-confederation Start this article Search for Canadian-confederation in. ... Trans Canada Highway over Canada Map The Trans-Canada Highway is a federal-provincial highway system that joins all ten provinces of Canada. ...

At the same time, CNR also took over the Newfoundland Railway's ferry service between North Sydney, Nova Scotia and Port aux Basques, Newfoundland and promptly began to make improvements by bringing in vessels dedicated to carrying automobiles and trucks throughout the 1950s-1970s. North Sydney, Nova Scotia Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia North Sydney is a town located in Nova Scotias Cape Breton Regional Municipality. ... Port aux Basques and the other Marine Atlantic ferry ports Channel-Port aux Basques (also Port aux Basques) is a town at the extreme southwestern tip of the island of Newfoundland fronting on the eastern end of the Cabot Strait. ...

By the early 1970s, CN was facing increased scrutiny from federal politicians who complained about the railway's continuous losses, mostly brought about by the government forcing the company to undertake various endeavours in the national interest, often at the expense of business and economic logic. As a result, CN sought to restructure itself and placed many of those operations into separate subsidiaries to clarify the accounting behind their existence. The criteria for identifying these were:

• the operation loses money and requires subsidization
• the operation is not part of CN's core freight railway business

As a result, in 1977, all east coast ferries operated by CN were placed into a new CN Subsidary, CN Marine; all passenger rail services were placed into a new Crown corporation VIA Rail; all telecommunications networks were placed into CN Communications; all commercial property were placed into another subsidiary; Air Canada was made yet another new Crown corporation; and finally in 1979, all of CN's freight railway operations on Newfoundland were placed into a new CN division named Terra Transport. CN Marine was a Canadian ferry company headquartered in Moncton, New Brunswick. ... VIA Rail Canada (also referred to as VIA Rail and VIA; pronounced vee-ah) is an independent Crown corporation offering intercity passenger rail services in Canada. ... Air Canada Boeing 767-300ER C-GGFJ Air Canada Boeing 767-300 C-FOCA Air Canada is Canadas largest airline and flag carrier. ...

CN in Newfoundland

CN's operations in Newfoundland revolved around the former Newfoundland Railway, which was the longest narrow gauge railway in North America, stretching for 1000 kilometres across the island from the ferry terminal in Port aux Basques to the provincial capital at St. John's. Many of the island's largest communities developed, largely because of their location along the mainline, and as a result, the Trans-Canada Highway parallelled its route in many places. Newfoundland Railway logo or herald (used 1926-1949) The Newfoundland Railway was a historic railway that operated on the island of Newfoundland and was the longest narrow gauge railway system in North America. ... Rail gauge is the distance between two rails of a railroad. ... Nickname: The City of Legends Motto: Avancez (Go forward) Coordinates: Country Canada Province Newfoundland and Labrador Established August 5, 1583 by Royal Charter of Queen Elizabeth I  - City Mayor Andy Wells  - Governing body St. ...

The money losing operations in Newfoundland were largely because service times were slow due to the narrow gauge equipment. CN invested heavily in improving the track during the 1950s-1960s but the narrow gauge operation still couldn't compete with the flexibility of trucks. Significant time was lost at Port aux Basques where standard gauge railway cars from mainland North America were lifted off their wheels and onto narrow gauge wheels for use in Newfoundland. Time would also be lost where this couldn't be done and cars would be completely unloaded and then the contents reloaded onto narrow gauge cars. Another money-losing factor in the operation was that CN had to operate dedicated railway car ferries. The ferryboat Dongan Hills, filled with commuters, about to dock at a New York City pier, ca. ...

The most significant change made under the Terra Transport subsidiary, were the immediate changes to the carriage of less-than-carload (LCL) freight. A large fleet of distinctive green intermodal shipping containers were ordered and began to be used in place of boxcars. Containers could be stacked on mainland trains, then fitted onto the decks inside the ferries and then placed on flatcars of trains in Newfoundland - or for time sensitive goods - they could be transported entirely by truck. During the last years of the railway on Newfoundland in the early 1980s, it was common to see trains composed almost entirely of the distinctive TT containers. The handling time for freight dropped considerably as containers could be easily removed from the trains in each community and the loading/unloading at Port aux Basques was significantly improved over standard freight cars. Another significant change was made by 1984 when all of CN's branch lines were closed and abandoned in the province, leaving only the main line operational. An intermodal train carrying both shipping containers and highway semi-trailers in piggyback service, on flatcars, passes through the Cajon Pass in February, 1995. ...

However despite these "improvements", Terra Transport was unable to turn a profit for CN and the federal government. The specialized ferries were still needed for carrying non-LCL railway cars and by the mid-1980s were requiring replacement. A change in the federal government in Ottawa saw a Conservative administration take over which wanted to eliminate subsidies for money-losing operations. In 1986 the last of the railcar ferries was sold off as the government changed CN Marine into a non-railway controlled entity named Marine Atlantic. Terra Transport operations were now captive on the island and would only handle import/export LCL and inter-island non-LCL freight. The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (PC) (In French: Parti progressiste-conservateur du Canada) was a Canadian centre-right conservative political party that existed from 1867 to 2003. ... CN Marine was a Canadian ferry company headquartered in Moncton, New Brunswick. ... Marine Atlantic ferry ports and current routes Marine Atlantic Inc. ...

Abandonment

In 1987, the federal government deregulated the railway industry in Canada and CN promptly applied to abandon its Newfoundland operations under Terra Transport. The political firestorm that followed saw the federal and provincial governments negotiate a one-time payout of $800 million (CAD) from Ottawa to St. John's to fund highway improvements. These two agreements were called: Deregulation is the process by which governments remove restrictions on business in order to (in theory) encourage the efficient operation of markets. ...

• the "Trans-Canada Highway Program"
• the "Regional Trunk Road Agreement"

For major improvements to the Trans-Canada Highway (TCH) and to Regional Trunk Roads (RTR), following the termination of federal support to, and closing down of, the Newfoundland Railway.

The agreements were signed in December, 1987, however continuing public outcry and legal challenges kept the railway operational for several more months. Finally on June 20, 1988 it became official that the railway would cease operations as of September 1, 1988. Following the official abandonment, the railway operated salvage trains for dismantling track in remote locations, however by November, 1988 the last trains were finished and the track was completely removed for scrapping by 1990. June 20 is the 171st day of the year (172nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 194 days remaining. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... September 1 is the 244th day of the year (245th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...