The story
Origins
The railway which runs along the Gaspé Peninsula was originally constructed under two holding companies, the Quebec Oriental Railway, which owned the line between Matapédia and New Carlisle, and the Quebec, Atlantic and Western Railroad which owned the line from New Carlisle to Gaspé. In 1918, ownership of the line was transferred to the newly formed Canadian Government Railways. The 98 miles of track between Matapédia and New Carlisle became known as the Cascapedia Subdivision whereas the 104.2 miles of track between New Carlisle and Gaspé became known as the Chandler Subdivision. Ownership of the line was transferred to Canadian National Railways on 6 June 1919.
New Carlisle remains the division point between the two subdivisions and historically housed the majority of the crew base for the entire line. As such a seven track yard was constructed there, as well as a wye for turning trains and once contained a small locomotive and car shop. A large station was also built there in 1948 with an upstairs level built to house offices for train dispatchers. The eastern terminus at Gaspé also contained a yard, small engine and car shop, a wye, bunkhouse and a large station. All that remains in Gaspé today is the station and wye. Pulp and paper mills constructed at New Richmond and Chandler provided the bulk of the traffic for the line with numerous other smaller businesses receiving rail service along the entire route. The copper mine and smelter at Murdochville also provided constant rail traffic for many years, with copper ore and mining supplies being hauled by rail to Sandy Beach (Gaspé) before being trucked the rest of the journey to Murdochville.
1997 sale of 50 miles of the Chandler Subdivision
Major declines in traffic on the eastern end of the Chandler Subdivision (milepost 44.1 to 104.2) caused the CBC to divest itself of the 50 mile section of line east of Chandler. This section of line was purchased by the local MRC's to preserve the rail corridor on 16 June 1997. A holding company named the Corporation du chemin de fer de la Gaspésie was formed to own this section of track, with operating rights subcontracted onto the NBEC and CFMG railways.
2007
In 2007, the holding company was dissolved and a new one was created, the Société de chemin de fer de la Gaspésie, by a private bill of the Quebec Legislative Assembly.
2008 sale of the Quebec Railway Corporation
On 3 November 2008 CN announced that it was purchasing the QRC, including the New Brunswick East Coast Railway and Chemin de fer de la Matapédia et du Golfe, for $49.8 million (CAD).
As a result of this purchase, CN became the SFG's direct interchange partner at Matapédia.
SFG sub-contracts track and signal maintenance as well as rail dispatch service to RailTerm.
2009 Infrastructure Program
In 2009 the SFG and its owners, the four MRCs, reached an agreement with the Government of Canada and Government of Quebec for several million dollars in funding for infrastructure improvements on the railway line between Matapédia and Gaspé.
Read the full text
This funding was targeted at improving track and bridge infrastructure to allow SFG to carry heavier freight railway cars and to improve track speed for passenger trains.
In winter 2012 the rail line was closed after inspections revealed that several bridges required additional work and SCFG and the municipalities requested an additional $95 million over five years from the provincial and federal governments to complete the upgrades necessary to maintain track speed and freight car loading weight. On May 14, 2012 SCFG reopened the Cascapedia Subdivision of the Gaspé line, which runs from Matapédia to New Carlisle, after 5 months of work. The section between New Carlisle and New Richmond was later taken out of service again due to needed bridge repairs. As of April 2018, the Chandler Subdivision, which composes the eastern half of the line from New Carlisle to Gaspé, was still closed for repairs as well.
2015 sale of the SFG
During the winter of 2015, SFG encountered financial difficulties due to declining revenues and went into receivership. The entire line and all of SFG's assets were put up for sale by April. In May, the provincial government of Quebec purchased the railway line and oversees all maintenance on the line under MTQ (Quebec ministry of transport). All other assets were retained by SFG after Quebec purchased the rail line and still take care of railway operations and light maintenance work under contract for the Province of Quebec.
For the short term, the section of the Cascapedia Subdivision between Matapédia and New Richmond is maintained and upgraded to ensure regular freight service. The section of the Chandler Subdivision between Percé and Gaspé, will be maintained and upgraded for use by L'Amiral Tourist Train. This work was not completed as of 2017. The central section between New Richmond and Percé requires major bridge repairs. A washout near mile 25 just east of the tunnel at Port Daniel during the summer of 2015 renders passage east of mile 25 impossible until repairs can be made.
From Wikipedia’s article on Société de chemin de fer de la Gaspésie, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4