The Gull

I had an inquiry recently from someone whose mother and sisters took a train from Rhode Island to Nauwigiwauk, NB back in the 1920s and 1930s. I did a little digging and provided her with some information on the Gull, the joint passenger service provided by the Boston & Maine, the Maine Central, Canadian Pacific and Canadian National.

1941/04/27 Gull schedule

The Gull began on March 2, 1930 and ended in 1960. I believe it started as a dedicated train on the Boston and Maine and ended up as a set of cars (often a Pullman sleeper and a coach, from what I have read) that was passed from railroad to railroad until it reached the terminus. The intent was for passengers to not have to change cars when changing railroads.

There was a “through sleeper” service called the “Gull” that ran all the way from Boston to Halifax. http://faracresfarm.com/jbvb/rr/run_thru.html#Gull I don’t know when this service started, but if it was around in the time period you are looking at, they would have stayed in the same sleeper all the way from Boston to their destination.

More information on the Gull

Schedules:
April 1941
June 1954

Earlier named trains running from New England to Halifax were:

• Pine Tree Acadian - The first train departed on June 28, 1929. It ran from Boston to Halifax, but it did not last long. A similarly named train, the Acadian, started in 1927 from Montreal to Halifax.
• Down Easter - The first train was also on June 28, 1929. It ran from New York to Halifax. This is not to be confused with Amtrak's Downeaster.

Here is a consist of the eastbound Gull at Lewiston, Maine at 1:48 A.M. on Feb. 20, 1932:

• Locomotive Boston and Maine No. 3702
• Express
• Mail
• Baggage
• Coach - 23
• Coach - 13
• Sleeping Car Halifax - 12
• Sleeping Car St. John - 12
• Sleeping Car Bangor - 22
• Sleeping Car Calais - 24
• Club St. John - 8

Total cars: 10, Passengers: 114

By the way, Nauwigiwauk was a station stop in 1919 according to this CN public timetable on my site. Train 18 (eastbound) stopped at 8 AM.

Note: I've had this post in "draft" status for literally years, so I decided it was time to post it. Hopefully people will comment with more information on the Gull.