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The Albert Railway Company was incorporated in 1864 to build a line from Salisbury, on the European & North American line, to Albert. The line would be built to tap into the natural resources of the area. During this period large amounts of minerals were being removed such as Albertite from the Albert Mines area and Gypsum from around Hillsborough. However, shipping of materials by water was difficult since ships could only navigate the waters of the Petitcodiac River around Hillsborough during the warm weather months. In 1875 McDonald and Co. began construction of the line. They quickly gave up the contract and the line was completed a year later by another firm. In 1877 the section of track from Hillsborough to Albert was opened. The next year the Harvey Branch Railway was incorporated to build a three mile extension of the line from Albert to Harvey Bank. The main investor in this enterprise was a Mr. Gaius Turner who wanted the line built to provide a convenient way to move materials to his shipyard at Harvey Bank. The entire line was reincorporated as the Salisbury & Harvey Railway Company in 1889 after the railway had been forced into bankruptcy by its English bondholders several years earlier. A separate railway the Albert Southern Railway was incorporated in 1878 to build a line from Albert to Alma. This section of the line was completed in 1891. However, only three years later the collapse of the Shepody River Bridge which connected Albert to Harvey effectively brought about the end of the line from Albert to Alma. The line from Harvey to Alma continued until 1900 but there had been little usage of this section of the line before the collapse of the bridge, except to transport timber, and now without a link to the main line the track was abandoned. The Salisbury to Albert section of the line was purchased by the Dominion of Canada and operated by the Intercolonial Railway until that railway was taken over by Canadian National. The Section of track from Albert to Salisbury continued to operate although with only one trains per week by 1946. The section from Hillsborough to Salisbury still had daily trains during this period. The section of track from Albert to Hillsborough was finally closed in 1955. The rest of the line continued to be profitable until 1981 when the Gypsum plant at Hillsborough was closed. Canadian National then abandoned the line the next year.

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Albert Railway line
19th Century
New Brunswick, Canada
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Credits:
New Brunswick Railway Museum

3

Runaway Train
27 January 2002
New Brunswick, Canada
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Credits:
New Brunswick Railway Museum

4

Dangerous Maneuver
27 January 2002
New Brunswick, Canada
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Credits:
New Brunswick Railway Museum

5

Hiram Creek Crib Bridge
19th Century, Circa 1890
Dawson Settlement, New Brunswick, Canada
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Credits:
New Brunswick Railway Museum

6

Salisbury & Harvey engine #1
20th Century, Circa 1893
Hillsborough, New Brunswick, Canada
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Credits:
New Brunswick Railway Museum

7

Shepody River Bridge Collapse
19 June 1894
Albert, New Brunswick, Canada
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Credits:
New Brunswick Railway Museum

8

Turtle Creek Viaduct
20th Century, Circa 1900
Turtle Creek, New Brunswick, Canada
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Credits:
New Brunswick Railway Museum

9

Petitcodiac River Bridge
20th Century, Circa 1912
New Brunswick, Canada
TEXT ATTACHMENT


Credits:
New Brunswick Railway Museum

10

Albert Manufacturing Company Plant
20th Century, Circa 1923
Hillsborough, New Brunswick, Canada
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Credits:
New Brunswick Railway Museum

11

Salisbury & Harvey engine #6
20th Century, Circa 1912
Albert, New Brunswick, Canada
TEXT ATTACHMENT


Credits:
New Brunswick Railway Museum

12

Canadian National engine #1139
20th Century, Circa 1950
Hillsborough, New Brunswick, Canada
TEXT ATTACHMENT


Credits:
New Brunswick Railway Museum

13

Canadian National engine #1147
20th Century, Circa 1951
Hillsborough, New Brunswick, Canada


Credits:
New Brunswick Railway Museum