Rails Around the Rock: A Then and Now Celebration of the Newfoundland Branchlines

by Ken Pieroway

Rails Around The Rock is an all-colour then & now celebration of the branchline and industrial railways of Newfoundland. In this follow-up to Rails Across the a then and now celebration of the Newfoundland Railway and on the 30th anniversary of the closing of the last branchline, the reader is taken on a photographic journey to the beautiful bays and coves and to the interior of the province. Through images captured from 1956 to 1984, readers can ride the mixed trains on the Carbonear, Argentia and Bonavista branchlines, follow extra freights on the Lewisporte and Stephenville lines and watch trains on the Grand Falls Central and Buchans Railway move their commodities. The images of internationally acclaimed train photographers, James A. Brown, Steve Danko, Bill Linley, Phil Mason, Steve Patterson, Robert J. Sandusky, Rich Taylor and others are spread throughout these pages. When their magnificent photographs are compared to the same scene as it exists today the changes that have occurred are remarkable, illustrating how both nature and progress have reclaimed the right of way.

180 pages, Paperback

First published September 25, 2014

Reviews

[Georgette Clairmont · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the before/after and the beautiful photographs and history about the images.

[Ida Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the railway history in pictures

[Steve Boyko · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a worthy sequel to "Rails Across the Rock". Like its predecessor it pairs historic photos of the Newfoundland railways with present day views of the same location.

This book shows the branch lines and private railways that existed on the Rock until 2005. The photos are gorgeous and the captions are generous.

The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because of a few typos and awkward phrases that better editing could have fixed up. Other than those minor blemishes, the book is great and I heartily recommend it.