Quebec Oriental Railway and the Atlantic, Quebec and Western

I received a very interesting email a week or two ago from Michel Simard. Attached was a public timetable for the the Quebec Oriental Railway (Matapédia-Paspébiac) and the Atlantic, Quebec & Western (Paspébiac-Gaspé) from May 4, 1926. There was a daily train each way on the route now run by VIA's Chaleur.

On May 30, 1929, both railways were sold to the Canadian National Railway for a total of $902,800 dollars (source (PDF)).

The train took 10 hours and 20 minutes to go from Matapédia to Gaspé in 1929. VIA is scheduled to do the same run in 6 hours and 37 minutes, so speeds have picked up in 79 years!

Click on the images for a larger version.





Thank you, Michel!