S and L Railway

The development of the Sydney and Louisburg Railway [sic], like the tracks it laid across the landscape, followed a winding course through Cape Breton’s history. For well over half a century, the S&L Railway played a pivotal and memorable role in the life of the island. For seven decades the S&L supported and sustained the industries, businesses, and people of the northeastern corner of Cape Breton Island. Once it was among the most active freight lines in Canada, a fact that belied its nickname, the “Slow and Lazy.” Its main responsibility – its principal achievement – was that it carried tens of thousands of tons of coal to their place of export. At the same time, it moved hundreds of industrial-area workers to and from their places of work. Along the way and over the years the S&L also touched the lives of thousands of ordinary Cape Bretoners. These were people who had little or nothing to do with coal or industry. Day-shoppers, berry-pickers, sight-seers, tourists, people on their way to dances or loved ones – all made use of the S&L. For 70 years the winding and weaving line of the S&L Railway was one of the threads of local society, helping to stitch together the communities it linked.
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries railways came to be the dominant form of transportation on the North American continent. Cape Breton Island was not untouched by the phenomenon. Like so many Cape Breton enterprises, the first railways on the island owed their existence largely to coal. The S&L was no exception. To move the large quantity of coal that could be mined on Cape Breton there would have to be an efficient system of transportation. Essentially that meant railways and ships. At first, the rails were made of wood and horses provided the power. In time, steel rails replaced wooden ones and steam locomotives gave horsepower a whole new meaning. Soon it was clear that a network of railroads had to be built to connect the collieries to tidewater.

The S. & L. Railway 1895-1968
"There is a land of pure delight

Where hand-fired steam still reigns,

Where mighty Mikes roar day and  night,

And Moguls haul mixed trains."

In 1960 this poem introduced an article in Railroad Magazine, urging railfans to visit the Sydney & Louisbourg Railway, the last all-steam Class 1 railroad in North America, before the romance of steam gave way to the efficiency of diesel power.

Due to the availability of Cape Breton coal for fuel, the first diesel engine was not placed in service on the S & L until 1961, and the last steam locomotive was not retired until 1966. Only two years later the S & L ceased operation. What remained of the line was taken over by the Cumberland Railway, now known as the Devco Railway, and operated over a reduced system by the Cape Breton Development Corporation. The Cape Breton Steam Railway, a descendant of the S & L, bias been revived by Devco and is a reminder of the long history of mutual dependency of the railroad and coal industries on Cape Breton.

The first coal mine on the island was opened »by the French at Cow Bay (Port Morien) in 1720, and a little more than a century later some of the first railroad track in North America was laid to facilitate the removal of coal to local shipping wharves. The mining industry developed rapidly, if a bit erratically, during the 19th century. In a thirty-six year period near the close of the century, 30 new mines were opened, including those in North Sydney .and Glace Bay, with simultaneous construction of numerous small railroads connecting the collieries with the shipping ports.

The Nova Scotia government recognized the need for an alternative outlet in Louisbourg which would link the various railroads around Sydney with Louisbourg harbour and permit the shipment of coal at any time.


Incentives were offered to anyone who would construct such a road, but the first attempt in 1873 was a poorly-built narrow gauge line which failed to meet the needs of the coal companies. Few trains ever made the run to Louisbourg over this road, and in 1883" a major portion of the roadbed was destroyed in a forest fire.

In 1891 H. M. Whitney came to Cape Breton to establish the steel industry. The resulting Dominion Coal Company, later the Dominion Coal and Steel Company, consolidated ownership of both the numerous local coal mines and the railroads which served them. Construction was begun on a railroad to connect the collieries with Louisbourg, and upon its completion in 1895 the Sydney & Louisbourg Railway was one of the most modern lines in Canada. The portion of road from Victoria Junction to Lingan, now used by the Cape Breton Steam Railway, was opened about 1907 to serve the mines around New Waterford. The new mine at Lingan was opened a§ 1971.

The volume of freight hauled by the S & L rose sharply during its early years. By the 1950's the S & L had 31 steam locomotives operating over 116 miles of track, 39 miles of which was main line. The railroad employed 400 men and hauled 4,000,000 tons of freight annually — chiefly coal, and more per mile than any other railroad in Canada. The number of passengers carried on the S & L, mainly employees of the mines going to and from work, reached a peak of 176,000 in 1913. The coming of automobiles reduced this traffic until passenger trains were eliminated after World War II, although mixed trains continued to ran daily, except weekends.

During both world wars the ports of Sydney and Louisbourg were important staging areas for Atlantic convoys, and the S & L was a vital link in the supply of fuel and steel manufactures. Until the advent of regular air service to Newfoundland, both ports were also terminus for rail and passenger traffic between Newfoundland and the rest of Canada.

It was a neighbourly and unpretentious railroad, and it operated on a persona] basis that meant a lot to the people it served. The railroad ran picnic excursions and "blueberry specials" that would stop anywhere to let passengers off, and pick them up in the evening. It took little for a hunter or vacationer to flag a train and get on, and the crews always took a lively interest in the latest news along the line. Many times, often in foul weather and blizzards, the S & L sent out a locomotive and caboose to take a doctor somewhere, or bring someone into hospital. There may have been more pranks and practical jokes played by S & L men than on any other line in the country, but they were tough and competent railroaders — in the early days, before air brakes, they spent many runs climbing over the icy tops of coal hoppers to brake^, the trains — and they moved an enormous amount of coal.

The change to diesel power on the S & L and the demise of the railroad soon after, were closely related to the crisis affecting Cape Breton’s coal industry in the J960*s. The conversion of _ North American railroads from steam power resulted in a serious loss of customers for the island's coal. This, coupled with the loss of industrial markets following the extension of the Alberta gas line to Montreal, meant less coal shipped from Cape Breton and less need for the rail link to Louisbourg. At present most coal is used in Sydney, and several trains daily still pass over the route from Lingan to Sydney.