Railfanning on Prince Edward Island?

PEI is famous for its Cows brand ice cream

Back in October 2015 I went to Summerside, PEI for work for four days. I didn't have much time for non-work activities, but I did manage to see a precious few train-related items.

Most people know that there are no* railway tracks on Prince Edward Island since CN ceased operations and the last train left on December 28, 1989.

* well, none of any appreciable length. There is some track at the Elmira Railway Museum and maybe a few lengths here and there throughout the Island.

There are still a few railway items around on the Island. There are several train stations on the island, some in private hands and some in public hands. In Summerside itself, the former CN station is the town library and is handsomely decorated with murals. I walked over to it late one evening after getting my Greco donair fix.

Former train station in Summerside, PEI

Prince Edward Island had a few grain elevators, and three are still owned by the provincially-owned PEI Grain Elevators Corporation. The largest is located outside Kensington next to the former CN right-of-way.

Kensington, PEI grain elevator

An elevator like this would not be out of place on the Prairies! It was built in 1971 and is of wood construction, unlike the other two elevators at Roseneath and Elmsdale.

Speaking of Kensington, this town houses two important railway artefacts - the only locomotive on the island, CN 1762, and the beautiful Kensington railway station. I photographed them (and the above grain elevator) en route to the airport in Charlottetown. Fortunately it was a lovely day for photographs.

CN 1762 in Kensington, PEI

CN 1762 is an RSC-14 locomotive that would not have been out of place on the Island. I'm not sure how much it operated on the island, if at all, but it ended up here.

Kensington, PEI train station

The Kensington train station is fairly unique with its New Brunswick fieldstone construction. It is a National Historic Site and currently hosts the Island Stone Pub.

That was all I had time to visit on that trip. I was pleased to be able to meet up with the talented Taylor Main and Chris Mears of the great Prince Street Terminal blog.

Other railway sites of note on PEI include:

• The Elmira Railway Museum, mentioned above
• The Borden railway station (a replica?) and ex-CN 78301 caboose
• The Montague railway station
• The Charlottetown train station

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Further reading:

• My previous visit to Kensington.
• My five-part series on Diesels on Prince Edward Island
• David Othen on PEI railroading
• Recent news item on the Elmira Railway Museum