Misplaced Pages

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74-605: The Intercolonial Railway of Canada ( reporting mark IRC ), also referred to as the Intercolonial Railway ( ICR ), was a historic Canadian railway that operated from 1872 to 1918, when it became part of Canadian National Railways . As the railway was also completely owned and controlled by the Government of Canada , the Intercolonial was also one of Canada's first Crown corporations . The idea of

148-695: A 2-digit code indicating the vehicle's register country . The registered keeper of a vehicle is now indicated by a separate Vehicle Keeper Marking (VKM), usually the name of the owning company or an abbreviation thereof, which must be registered with the Intergovernmental Organisation for International Carriage by Rail (OTIF) and the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) and which is unique throughout Europe and parts of Asia and Northern Africa. The VKM must be between two and five letters in length and can use any of

222-743: A grand station, built to rival the Canadian Pacific Railway station in McAdam . Following a February 24, 1906 fire, the Moncton shops were rebuilt at a new location at the insistence of the local Member of Parliament, Henry Emmerson , who was the Minister of Railways and Canals in Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier 's cabinet. The replacement shops were built northwest of downtown while the former shops location

296-464: A hyphen. Some examples: When a vehicle is sold it will not normally be transferred to another register. The Czech railways bought large numbers of coaches from ÖBB. The number remained the same but the VKM changed from A-ÖBB to A-ČD. The UIC introduced a uniform numbering system for their members based on a 12-digit number, largely known as UIC number . The third and fourth digit of the number indicated

370-699: A lesser extent Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland . A railway connection from the Province of Canada to the British colonies on the coast would serve a vital military purpose during the winter months when the waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and St. Lawrence River were frozen and shipping was impossible, but it would similarly serve an economic purpose for the Maritimes by opening up year-round access to new markets. Significant surveys were conducted throughout

444-581: A meeting of representatives from the Maritime colonies; Nova Scotia , New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island . Britain encouraged a Maritime Union between these colonies, hoping that they would then become less economically and politically dependent on the Crown, and provide for greater economic and military power for the region in light of the American Civil War . However, another colony,

518-708: A much longer journey to a Maritime port. As a result, Portland boomed during the winter months when Montreal's shipping season was closed. Nevertheless, the geopolitical instability in North America resulting from the American Civil War led to increased nervousness on the part of British North American colonies, particularly wary of the large Union Army operating south of their borders. The demands for closer political and economic ties between colonies led to further calls for an "Intercolonial Railway". An 1862 conference in Quebec City led to an agreement on financing

592-700: A predecessor of the CNW, from which the UP inherited it. Similarly, during the breakup of Conrail , the long-retired marks of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) and New York Central Railroad (NYC) were temporarily brought back and applied to much of Conrail's fleet to signify which cars and locomotives were to go to CSX (all cars labeled NYC) and which to Norfolk Southern (all cars labeled PRR). Some of these cars still retain their temporary NYC marks. Because of its size, this list has been split into subpages based on

666-561: A railway connecting Britain's North American colonies arose as soon as the railway age began in the 1830s. In the decades following the War of 1812 and ever-mindful of the issue of security, the colonies of Upper and Lower Canada (later the Province of Canada after 1840) wished to improve land-based transportation with the Atlantic coast colonies of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick , and to

740-468: A result of post- Second World War highway construction and airline usage. During the 42-year life of the ICR from 1876 to 1918, the railway had grown to a monopoly position in land transportation. Following its demise in 1918, the ICR trackage and facilities formed the majority of CNR's Maritimes operations and CN (acronym abbreviated post-1960) maintained Moncton as its principal regional headquarters well into

814-403: A union within provinces. The Province of Canada (consisting of present-day Ontario and Quebec) requested one of their own delegates to attend the conference. If not for the inclusion of 8 Canadian delegates from the province of Canada, the constitution would not have been proposed within federal union. The conference concluded on Wednesday September 7, but the representatives agreed to meet again

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888-410: A wider union including the Province of Canada would also be beneficial to them; Prince Edward Island was unsure, however, and very much against confederation. The delegates also believed that union could be achieved within a few years, rather than in an undefined period in the future as they had originally planned. The initial intentions of the conference was for the Maritimes to discuss the possibility of

962-673: The Department of Railways and Canals purchased the Drummond County Railway from James Naismith Greenshields and folded it into the ICR to provide the railway with a direct route from Sainte-Rosalie (east of Saint-Hyacinthe where it met the GTR main line) to Lévis. After this purchase was complete, the ICR stopped using the GTR's route via Richmond. The ICR opened a branch of 10.06 kilometres (6.25 mi) on June 22, 1903, between Rivière Ouelle Station and Pointe St. Denis on

1036-722: The First World War , particularly since as the CPR line to Saint John ran through the state of Maine on its eastward route from Montreal, thereby any war shipments on CPR would violate the United States' neutrality. Halifax grew in importance, particularly as Germany introduced use of submarines for the first time to a large-scale conflict, requiring the Royal Canadian Navy and the Royal Navy to institute

1110-655: The Gaspé Peninsula , redundant and it was sold in 1998 to short line operator Quebec Railway Corporation which operated for a time the New Brunswick East Coast Railway and associated subsidiaries. The ICR line from Truro to Sydney was sold to a short line operator, the Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia Railway , in 1993. The former ICR main line from Sainte-Rosalie to Charny and the east end of Lévis to Rivière-du-Loup, as well as

1184-748: The Halifax Explosion on December 6, 1917, played havoc with much of the ICR's infrastructure in the Richmond neighbourhood of north-end Halifax. The ICR's North Street station was heavily damaged and its Richmond Yard and shipping terminals were destroyed or rendered unusable. Hundreds of freight cars were destroyed and dozens of passenger and military hospital cars were heavily damaged. Many ICR employees, most notably train dispatcher Vincent Coleman , responded with heroism and desperate determination to evacuate wounded and summon relief. The explosion severely but only briefly hampered war-time operations at

1258-729: The Ocean passenger train between Halifax and Montreal following the entire route of the ICR the entire way except for the waterfront section in Levis. Former ICR stations in Lévis and Pictou have been designated as National Historic Sites of Canada , as well as the Joffre Roundhouse constructed by the ICR in Charny . The establishment of the ICR has been designated a National Historic Event . Reporting mark In North America ,

1332-471: The Province of Canada , comprising present-day Ontario and Quebec , heard news of the planned conference and asked that the agenda be expanded to discuss a union that would also include them. Coincidentally there was a circus in Charlottetown during the conference, and it was much more interesting to the majority of the population. At the very least, the circus made making accommodations for all

1406-613: The United States and Europe at Halifax and Saint John, provided railcar ferries to Cape Breton Island, and steamship services operated by the Newfoundland Railway to Newfoundland at North Sydney. As a government-owned railway and the only operator of a rail connection to the port of Halifax and the extensive defence establishment there, the ICR became a lifeline for the Canadian and British war effort throughout

1480-487: The 1830s–1850s. Several rival routes emerged: a southern, a central, and a northern route. In 1849, Major William Robinson recommended the northern route as most secure from American attack. Funding talks were established between the various colonial administrations and the British government, but progress remained slow and little was accomplished beyond talk. Railway construction came to the Maritime provinces as early as

1554-655: The 1880s). In 1915 the ICR, together with the federally-owned National Transcontinental Railway (NTR) and the Prince Edward Island Railway (PEIR), as well as several bankrupt or defunct shortlines in New Brunswick, were grouped under the collective banner of the Canadian Government Railways (CGR) for funding and administrative purposes, although each company continued to operate independently. On September 6, 1918,

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1628-459: The 1980s. Until the late-1970s, the ICR line through northern New Brunswick and eastern Quebec continued to host a large portion of CN's freight and the majority of its passenger traffic to Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland. In 1976, a 48-kilometre (30 mi) "cutoff" was built from Pelletier, Quebec , to a point on the former ICR main line west of Rivière-du-Loup, eliminating 320 kilometres (200 mi) of mountainous trackage on

1702-513: The 26 letters of the Latin alphabet . Diacritical marks may also be used, but they are ignored in data processing (for example, Ö is treated as though it is O ). The VKM is preceded by the code for the country (according to the alphabetical coding system described in Appendix 4 to the 1949 convention and Article 45(4) of the 1968 convention on road traffic), where the vehicle is registered and

1776-669: The British North American colonies was never far from the minds of government and civic leaders and in an 1851 speech at a Mason's Hall in Halifax, local editor of the Novascotian , Joseph Howe spoke these words: I am neither a prophet, nor the son of a prophet, yet I will venture to predict that in five years we shall make the journey hence to Quebec and Montreal, and home through Portland and St. John, by rail; and I believe that many in this room will live to hear

1850-491: The CNR system on January 30, 1923. The ICR had been called the "People's Railway" and this slogan was similarly applied to the CNR for a period. Despite many claims of political interference in its construction and subsequent operation, the majority of IRC from an operations viewpoint remained economically self-sufficient. This was largely because ICR balance books never had to contend with falling freight and passenger revenues as

1924-661: The Halifax peninsula to a new "Ocean Terminal" was accelerated. The ICR repaired the North Street Station to serve for another year but switched passenger service to a new south end station near the present day Halifax railway station in January 1919. For most of its history the Intercolonial reporting mark was ICR, but was changed to IRC during the First World War. Intercolonial publications, newspaper reports and popular usage used ICR. The railway's logo

1998-651: The ICR lines from Moncton to Saint John and Moncton to Halifax remain in operation under CN. A short section on the waterfront of Lévis was abandoned on October 24, 1998, due to network rationalization, resulting in the CN main line between Charny and the east end of Levis running on former NTR trackage. Despite the replacement or upgrading of bridges and track since the 19th century, almost the entirety of Fleming's route continues to operate; its fills and rock cuts and iron bridges, once considered extravagant, remain much as they were when they were built. Via Rail continues to operate

2072-695: The ICR main line and branch lines. Passenger trains on the ICR operated between all points on the system which included the following major sections: Several " name trains " were started by the ICR, including the Maritime Express and the longest-enduring "name" passenger train in Canada to this very day, the Ocean Limited . ICR passenger trains also connected with steamship services to Prince Edward Island at Shediac and Pictou , steamship services to Quebec at Pictou, steamship services to

2146-503: The Maritimes to Canada's then-largest city to transit without interchanging. In 1887 the ICR took over and completed construction of a line running from Oxford Junction to Stellarton , along Nova Scotia shores of the Northumberland Strait. This line was known as the "Short Line" and it provided an alternate route for ICR trains heading to Pictou County and Cape Breton Island from New Brunswick. The Temiscouata Railway

2220-673: The Maritimes, with the company employing thousands of workers, purchasing millions of dollars in services, coal, and other local products annually, operating ferries to Cape Breton Island at the Strait of Canso, and carrying the Royal Mail. The IRC was the face of the federal government in many communities in a region that was still somewhat hostile to what many believed was a forced Confederation (anti-Confederation organizers remained active in Nova Scotia and particularly New Brunswick into

2294-599: The Metrolink system—even though it is operated by Amtrak. This is why the reporting mark for CSX Transportation , which is an operating railroad, is CSXT instead of CSX. Private (non-common carrier) freight car owners in Mexico were issued, up until around 1990, reporting marks ending in two X's, possibly to signify that their cars followed different regulations (such as bans on friction bearing trucks) than their American counterparts and so their viability for interchange service

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2368-641: The Province of Canada (Ontario and Quebec) in 1867. Section 145 of the British North America Act, 1867 created a constitutional requirement for the federal government to build established the Intercolonial Railway: Despite being enshrined in the BNA Act of 1867, it would still be another decade before a route was finally selected and construction was completed; however, as a start, the federal government assumed

2442-708: The South Shore of the St. Lawrence. In 1904 the ferry Champlain entered service between Pointe St. Denis and the North Shore ports of St. Irenée, Murray Bay and Cap à l'Aigle. Also in 1904, the ICR purchased the Canada Eastern Railway , giving it a connection to the Fredericton area. Moncton became the headquarters for the company and extensive shops and yard facilities were built, as well as

2516-682: The VKM BLS. Example for an "Einheitswagen" delivered in 1957: In the United Kingdom, prior to nationalisation, wagons owned by the major railways were marked with codes of two to four letters, these codes normally being the initials of the railway concerned; for example, wagons of the Great Western Railway were marked "G W"; those of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway were marked "L M S", etc. The codes were agreed between

2590-541: The acquiring company discontinues the name or mark of the acquired company, the discontinued mark is referred to as a "fallen flag" railway. Occasionally, long-disused marks are suddenly revived by the companies which now own them. For example, in recent years, the Union Pacific Railroad has begun to use the mark CMO on newly built covered hoppers, gondolas and five-bay coal hoppers. CMO originally belonged to Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway ,

2664-503: The bankrupt Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) was nationalized by the Borden government, as part of a three-year long programme of re-organization of Canadian railways by Minister of Railways and Canals John Dowsley Reid . The CNoR's government-appointed Board of Management was directed to assume control of the CGR system at this time. On December 20, 1918, Reid consolidated the management of

2738-579: The biggest Canadian public works project of the 19th century. Sections of the railway opened as follows: The ICR was initially built to broad gauge of 5 feet 6 inches (1,680 mm) to be compatible with other railways in British North America, namely its component systems, the NSR and the E&;NA, as well as its western connection at Rivière-du-Loup, the GTR. Before the construction

2812-410: The construction was to be tendered to local contractors, with engineering oversight to be provided by Fleming's staff, however political interference and contractor negligence (or incompetence) led to escalating costs on some of the contracts, forcing Fleming to assume some of the direct contractor duties as violators were discovered and purged from the project. Perhaps the greatest case of cost overruns

2886-475: The delegates difficult, since there had not been a circus in Prince Edward Island in over 20 years. There was no one working at the public wharf at the foot of Great George Street when the Canadian delegates arrived on the steamship SS Victoria , so Prince Edward Island representative William Henry Pope had to handle receptions by himself, including rowing out to greet the new arrivals. Owing to

2960-448: The first letter of the reporting mark: A railway vehicle must be registered in the relevant state's National Vehicle Register (NVR), as part of which process it will be assigned a 12-digit European Vehicle Number (EVN). The EVN schema is essentially the same as that used by the earlier UIC numbering systems for tractive vehicles and wagons , except that it replaces the 2-digit vehicle owner's code (see § Europe 1964 to 2005 ) with

3034-528: The following: Despite pressure from commercial interests in the Maritimes and New England who wanted a rail connection closer to the border, the Chaleur Bay routing was chosen, amid the backdrop of the American Civil War, as it would keep the Intercolonial far from the boundary with Maine. Fleming was appointed "engineer in chief" of the ICR project by the federal government. The majority of

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3108-525: The former NTR to Quebec City. Following this development, the majority of freight traffic to the Maritimes shifted to the NTR's line through central New Brunswick, relegating the ICR line east of Rivière-du-Loup to secondary main line status. Following CN's privatization in 1995, the company undertook a network rationalization program which made the IRC line between Moncton and Rivière-du-Loup, along with its trackage on

3182-529: The home country may also be included. The Association of American Railroads (AAR) assigns marks to all carriers, under authority granted by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board , Transport Canada , and Mexican Government. Railinc , a subsidiary of the AAR, maintains the active reporting marks for the North American rail industry. Under current practice, the first letter must match the initial letter of

3256-417: The home of the colony's Lieutenant Governor. The conference had begun on Thursday September 1 with a banquet for the delegates. Parties and banquets were held each night after the day's discussions had ended, except for Sunday September 4, when they did not meet. The representatives from the Province of Canada dominated the conference, overshadowing the concerns of the Maritimes, and laying out foundations for

3330-404: The installation of iron bridges over streams and rivers rather than the cheaper wooden structures that many railways of the time favoured. This latter decision proved extremely far-sighted as the strength of the bridges and their material saved the line from lengthy closures on numerous occasions in the early years during forest fire seasons. The scale of construction on the Intercolonial made it

3404-415: The mark, which consists of an alphabetic code of two to four letters, is stenciled on each piece of equipment, along with a one- to six-digit number. This information is used to uniquely identify every such rail car or locomotive, thus allowing it to be tracked by the railroad it is traveling over, which shares the information with other railroads and customers. In multinational registries, a code indicating

3478-663: The mid-1830s with the opening of the Albion Railway , a coal mining railway in Nova Scotia's Pictou County and the second railway to open in British North America . Construction in the 1850s saw two important rail lines opened in the Maritimes to connect cities on the Atlantic coast with steamship routes in the Northumberland Strait and the Gulf of St. Lawrence: An intercolonial rail system in

3552-474: The name Canadian Government Railways but continued to be widely known as the Intercolonial. An equally important connection was the line from Cape Breton where the largest private employer in Canada, the Dominion Steel and Coal Company (through its predecessors) produced vast quantities of steel and coal for the war effort, much of which was carried by the ICR westward to other industrial centres, before returning via Halifax for shipment overseas. The tragedy of

3626-502: The next month in both Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Quebec City (see Quebec Conference ). A ball was also held on September 8, after which the delegates returned home. In addition to political meetings, the delegates participated in social activities like special lunches, small boating trips, and a ball, which gave delegates the opportunity to bond. The delegates from the respective provinces met again on September 10 and 12, 1864 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where further discussions arose regarding

3700-482: The operations of the NSR and E&NA which were to be wholly absorbed into the ICR. The route connecting the NSR and the E&NA was not contestable as the line had to cross the Cobequid Mountains and the Isthmus of Chignecto where options were limited by the local topography . In New Brunswick, it was a different story, as the choice was narrowed to three options. A commission of engineers, headed by Sandford Fleming had been unanimously appointed in 1863 to consider

3774-444: The owner of a reporting mark is taken over by another company, the old mark becomes the property of the new company. For example, when the Union Pacific Railroad (mark UP) acquired the Chicago and North Western Railway (mark CNW) in 1995, it retained the CNW mark rather than immediately repaint all acquired equipment. Some companies own several marks that are used to identify different classes of cars, such as boxcars or gondolas. If

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3848-405: The owner, or more precisely the keeper of the vehicle. Thus each UIC member got a two-digit owner code . With the introduction of national vehicle registers this code became a country code. Some vehicles had to be renumbered as a consequence. The Swiss company BLS Lötschbergbahn had the owner code 63. When their vehicles were registered, they got numbers with the country code 85 for Switzerland and

3922-421: The port and forest industry town of Dalhousie . At Rivière du Loup, in the 1880s the ICR made connections with the steamers of the St. Lawrence Steam Navigation Company. This steamship line was absorbed by the Richelieu & Ontario Navigation Company in 1886. In the late 1880s, the ICR received running rights over the GTR main line between Levis and Montreal (via Richmond ), allowing passengers and cargo from

3996-413: The port. The railway mobilized repair crews from across Eastern Canada to clear debris with remarkable speed and resumed its full schedule five days after the explosion, albeit with diminished passengers cars as many were severely damaged. Wharves and freight facilities were rebuilt for wartime service within a month. Construction that had begun on a second route using a vast rock cut through the south end of

4070-415: The railroad name. As it also acts as a Standard Carrier Alpha Code , the reporting mark cannot conflict with codes in use by other nonrail carriers. Marks ending with the letter "X" are assigned to companies or individuals who own railcars, but are not operating railroads; for example, the TTX Company (formerly Trailer Train Company) is named for its original reporting mark of TTX. In another example,

4144-416: The railway with the Maritime colonies and Canada splitting construction costs and Britain assuming any debts, but the deal fell through within months. It is speculated that this failure to achieve a deal on the Intercolonial in 1862, combined with the ongoing concerns over the American Civil War, led to the Charlottetown Conference in 1864, and eventually to Confederation of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and

4218-459: The railways and registered with the Ministry of Railways , Government of India . Charlottetown Conference The Charlottetown Conference (A Conference to discuss the Confederation of Canada) was held in Charlottetown , Prince Edward Island, for representatives from colonies of British North America to discuss Canadian Confederation . The conference took place between September 1 through 9, 1864. The conference had been planned as

4292-444: The railways and registered with the Railway Clearing House . In India, wagons owned by the Indian Railways are marked with codes of two to four letters, these codes normally being the initials of the railway divisions concerned along with the Hindi abbreviation; for example, trains of the Western Railway zone are marked "WR" and "प रे"; those of the Central Railway zone are marked "CR" and "मध्य", etc. The codes are agreed between

4366-426: The reporting mark for state-funded Amtrak services in California is CDTX (whereas the usual Amtrak mark is AMTK) because the state transportation agency ( Caltrans ) owns the equipment used in these services. This may also apply to commuter rail, for example Metrolink in Southern California uses the reporting mark SCAX because the equipment is owned by the Southern California Regional Rail Authority —which owns

4440-411: The steamship service of the Quebec & Gulf Ports Steamship Company, which was reorganized in 1880 as the Quebec Steamship Company. By the late 1880s, this concern operated only one steamer, the Miramichi, between Quebec and Pictou; all of its other vessels had been shifted to service between New York and the West Indies. In 1884, the ICR built a branch from its mainline east of Campbellton to service

4514-498: The unexpectedly large number of visitors in the city, a sizeable proportion of the Canadian delegates remained aboard the Queen Victoria while others found accommodations at the Franklin. Meanwhile, circus-goers and the Maritime delegates had taken up the accommodations in town. Unfortunately, there is no formal record of what was said during the Charlottetown meetings. What we know has been gathered from private sources, such as letters written home by delegates. We do know that there

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4588-449: The union and idea of the constitution. Following meetings in Halifax, representatives met in Quebec city, on October 10 to 27, 1864. The Quebec Conference fostered a draft constitution for the proposed federal union. Canada was founded on July 1, 1867 through negotiation at the aforementioned conferences above. To the south, during the Civil War , the United States Army grew dramatically in size. Some historians believe that Confederation

4662-406: The union that benefited them the most. Four of the first five days were spent outlining the Canadian position, and the Maritime representatives did not discuss their own plans until September 6 and 7. One Canadian delegate, George Brown , spent two days discussing the details of the proposed constitution, which would keep Canada within the British Empire . Most of the Maritimes were convinced that

4736-417: The use of convoys for protecting ships. Halifax's protected harbour allowed ships to load and form up into convoy formations under protection due to torpedo nets strung across the harbour entrance. The ICR swelled in its ranks of employees and equipment as it struggled to carry the burden of military supplies from central Canada to the Atlantic coast. After 1915, the busy wartime railway officially operated under

4810-418: The various companies by creating the Canadian National Railways (CNR), by means of an order issued by the Privy Council . Another bankrupt western railway system, the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (GTPR), was nationalized by the federal government on March 7, 1919, and became part of the CNR system on July 12, 1920. GTPR's parent company, the GTR was also nationalized on May 21, 1920, before being included in

4884-448: The whistle of the steam engine in the passes of the Rocky Mountains, and to make the journey from Halifax to the Pacific in five or six days. But a rail connection between the Maritime colonies and the Province of Canada was not to be for another quarter century. Central Canada's dominant railway player in the 1850s was the Grand Trunk Railway (GTR) and its profit-driven business model chose the U.S. Atlantic port of Portland, Maine , over

4958-426: Was a large bull moose herald, part of a campaign to promote hunting and fishing tourism traffic. It appeared on many promotional publications but seldom appeared on rolling stock. The ICR was Canada's first national railway (although some might argue the case for the GTR), having pre-dated the CPR by nine years, and it was also the first significant Crown corporation . The ICR was a pervasive and ubiquitous presence in

5032-471: Was agreement on the need for a detailed discussion of a potential union. It is known that the Maritime delegates put aside their idea of Maritime Union, while the Canadians could see solutions to their own problems in a larger union. The majority of the conference took place at the colony's legislative building, Province House , although some social functions such as dinners and banquets were held at other venues including Government House and Inkerman House,

5106-440: Was caused by political interference during construction of the section of new line between the NSR trackage at Truro and the E&NA trackage near Moncton. This resulted in several diversions from the most direct route: To Fleming's credit, he insisted upon a high quality of workmanship in designing the route, using fills several metres higher than the surrounding landscape, where possible, to prevent snow accumulation, and mandated

5180-415: Was completed in 1889 from Rivière du Loup to Edmundston, New Brunswick , giving the ICR a connection with the Canadian Pacific line up the St. John Valley. In 1890, the ICR completed construction of what had begun as the Cape Breton Eastern Extension Railway , with a line running from its former NSR terminus at New Glasgow eastward through Antigonish to the port of Mulgrave where a railcar ferry service

5254-722: Was converted into yard facilities. Both Rivière-du-Loup and Campbellton had unsuccessfully lobbied to become the new headquarters of the ICR following the Moncton fire. As a result of the ICR with its subsidized freight-rate agreements, as well as the National Policy of prime minister John A. Macdonald , the industrial revolution struck Maritime towns quickly. The ICR was the perfect vehicle for transporting raw ore such as iron ore and coal to steel plants in Trenton, Sydney Mines and Sydney, as well as finished and semi-finished products to other Maritime and central Canadian locations. This led to foundries and factories of various industries springing up throughout Nova Scotia and New Brunswick along

5328-425: Was even complete, Fleming had the ICR re- gauged to standard gauge in 1875, following the trend of standardization sweeping U.S. and Canadian railways at the time. In 1879, the ICR purchased the GTR line between Rivière-du-Loup and Levis , opposite from Quebec City. This line had been completed in 1860 by the GTR, and the ICR had had running rights on it since 1876. The main line of the ICR competed directly with

5402-580: Was impaired. This often resulted in five-letter reporting marks, an option not otherwise allowed by the AAR. Companies owning trailers used in trailer-on-flatcar service are assigned marks ending with the letter "Z", and the National Motor Freight Traffic Association , which maintains the list of Standard Carrier Alpha Codes, assigns marks ending in "U" to owners of intermodal containers . The standard ISO 6346 covers identifiers for intermodal containers. When

5476-563: Was instituted over a 1.6-kilometre (1 mi) route across the deep waters of the Strait of Canso to Point Tupper . The line then headed east across the centre of Cape Breton Island, crossing the Bras d'Or Lake on the newly built Grand Narrows Bridge , continuing to the port of North Sydney (with ferry and steamship connections to Port aux Basques, Newfoundland ) and terminating in the burgeoning industrial centre and port of Sydney . In 1899,

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