Quebec Central Railway

The Quebec Central Railway (reporting mark QCR) was a railway in the Canadian province of Quebec, that served the area of Quebec called the Eastern Townships, south of the St. Lawrence River. Its headquarters was in Sherbrooke. It was originally incorporated in 1869 as the Sherbrooke, Eastern Townships and Kennebec Railway, and changed its name to the Quebec Central Railway in 1875. It would eventually own around 300 miles (483 km) of track. In 1912, the Canadian Pacific Railway leased the Quebec Central for 99 years.

Passenger service ended in April 1967, and freight service ended in November 1994. The Quebec Central was abandoned on December 23, 1994. However, because the CPR only owned 10% of the Quebec Central's stock, it could not tear up the track and dispose of the right-of-way. In December 1999, a local resident who owned a trucking company (Express Marco Incorporated) bought the railway from the CPR and revived it, with trains running starting in June 2000. The railway operated tourist excursions in addition to regular freight service.

The company went out of business in 2006 however, ending once more railway traffic on the line.^[1][2]

References

1. ^ Morin, Pascal, Le Québec Central démantelé?, Journal de Sherbrooke, 2006-08-10, consulted le 2007-05-29.^{[dead link]} (fr)
2. ^ Quebec Central Railway

Bibliography

• Booth, Derek, Quebec Central Railway: From the St. Francis to the Chaudière, volume III in the series Railways of Southern Quebec, Railfare DC Books, Pickering, Ontario, 2006, 160 pages, ISBN 978-1-897190-02-9

External links

Railways portal

• A Listing of Quebec Central Railway Information
• Quebec Central Railway