Here are three slides showing the Salem & Hillsborough Railroad in operation in the 1980s and 1990s. The S&H was a tourist railway that operated from 1984 to 2004 in the Hillsborough area south of Moncton, New Brunswick. I had the pleasure of volunteering for the railway in the last few years of its operation.
I recently bought some slides of the railway off an auction site and I wanted to share them with you here.
The lead slide was taken by Douglas Courtney on July 26, 1992 and features ex CN 8245 leading the passenger train, near Salem I believe. Note the two people riding the front of the locomotive!
The next slide is a Wendell Lemon slide showing a double header train – probably a special train – with ex Devco 208 locomotive S&H 8208 leading, and ex CN 7941 trailing, together with a caboose, a boxcar, and at least one coach car on October 20, 1985. I’d love to learn more about this run!
The third and final slide was taken by George W. Turnbull in the yard in Hillsborough, NB on June 30, 1986. This is ex Devco 209, one of two RS1 locomotives acquired from Devco by the S&H. It is apparently midway through being repainted from Devco colours.
Unfortunately 208 and 209 were lost in the disastrous 1994 fire in Hillsborough.
Ex CN 7941 was traded to CN for CN 8245, which remains on the property today along with CN 1754, which was donated by CN after the fire.
Just One More Thing
Here are a few more articles on the Salem & Hillsborough Railroad:
- The Sunset Dinner Train, 1985-2005
- Death of a Bridge
- Overnight in Hillsborough
- David Othen’s Salem & Hillsborough
I wish there was a book on the S&H. I’d love to read it.