Railway Coastal Museum ? St. John?s, Newfoundland
By Larry Peters, Copper Development Association Project Manager & Architectural Applications Specialist

In 1880, 69 years before Newfoundland became the 10th province to officially join Canada,  construction started on a narrow-gauge (3-feet by 6-inch) railway that would, when complete, span across various parts of the province such as Whitbourne, Harbour Grace, Trepassey, and Conception Bay, among other towns and outports. Construction was no easy task and at one point, the journey from one end of the line to the other (St. John?s to Channel-Port aux Basques) took over 28 hours.
However, that railway consistently had financial issues and difficulties over the years and by the late 1980s, it was officially abandoned. (Newfoundland, on the island as compared to Labrador, is one of the few jurisdictions in North America to not have train service of any kind). As a result, in many locations the tracks and equipment were simply left to rot, or torn up for scrap. Thankfully, in some towns, stations were redeveloped for other uses. The former Newfoundland Railway terminal in St. John’s (the provincial capital) is one of the spared stations. It now hosts the Railway Coastal Museum, and features a beautifully patinated copper batten seam roof. A number of other copper details ? such as the dormer windows ? are also well crafted. There are also a number of cast bronze plaques around the property, noting historical figur...