Deer Lake and Corner Brook - August 31 and 31st

Sunday, this is the view when we woke up this morning, before leaving for Deer Lake. So clear you can even see the shores of Labrador. Looks to be a great travel day.

We left by 7:45 am and headed down the highway. There's minimal traffic and I cruised along for the  most part at 115 km. Speed posted 100 km. (71 mph/ 62 mph)

We didn't need to stop other than for fuel and a pit stop as we've seen all the points of interest on our way to L'Anse aux Meadows.

The trees are getting bigger the closer we get to Deer Lake.

We arrived at the Deer Lake Motel at about 1 pm. Our room wasn't ready, so we took a short drive to the Deer lake beach. By 1:30 the motel staff called to say we can check-in now.

They sure have brown sand.

We noticed a power plant at the mouth of the lake when we crossed the bridge.

Picture from Google

The Deer Lake hydroelectric plant is an operating hydroelectric generating station located in Deer Lake, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, owned and operated by Kruger Energy.

Key Facts
Capacity: Roughly 125 to 129.6 MW.
History: Completed in 1925 by the Deer Lake Power Company to supply electricity primarily to the Corner Brook pulp and paper mill.
Infrastructure: Features an 11-kilometer canal, a main dam at Grand Lake near Howley, and multiple turbines.
Water System: Regulates water flow into Deer Lake and the Humber River.

The Deer Lake Motel looks freshly painted and new floors etc. A very nice place to stay. We ate a tasty late lunch in the restaurant. They also provide a free hot buffet breakfast, so great value. Ray finally got to try toutons (a fry bread).

We sat out in the lobby alot as they have the most comfortable chairs. There's one of these in our room and had to take turns. lol

Our current rental car, a Volvo. Has quite a bit of pep and drives nicely, other than the automatic steering gets confused with multiple lines at intersections. I have to make sure it doesn't steer you wrong while in cruise control. Took a little getting used to, but now I know to "hold on" before these multiple lines. :) Picture is a little blurry. lol

We may have driven a car to the motel, but some chose this. lol

This is Ray's favourite part. They have homemade cinnamon buns.

Tuesday morning we decided to take a drive to Corner Brook, about 40 minutes away. I originally planned this as a down day and do laundry. I got that done at the Viking Village, so we have a free day. First though, we dropped Ray's computer off to be fixed. For some reason he couldn't access the internet anymore??? Turned out to be a glitch in his Norton antivirus and the guy put in the patch and voila everything's fine.

I did a little research earlier in case we made it there. They have the Newfoundland Rail Museum, so I knew Ray would be a fan as well. We went to the Captain James Cook Historic Site, that overlooks the town and pulp mill. What a lot of windy narrow roads up the hill to the overlook. Good thing for Google lol Corner Brook Pulp Mill is one of the few surviving mills.

Now I know where all the trucks with these small logs end up with only a little going to firewood.

This cool rock they used around the statue came from there. The ripples were caused by water.

There was a camper with a couple of fellows. This guy having his morning coffee with a view.

Next up the Newfoundland Train Station Museum.

Basically the railway ended after Trans Canada Highway was built, pretty much along the same path as the railway.

The Newfoundland Railway operated as a 548-mile narrow-gauge system across the island from 1898 to 1988.

Construction and Early Years (1881–1897)

1881: Construction began on the first line from St. John's to Whitbourne, using a 3 ft 6 in narrow gauge.
1890: The government hired contractor Robert Gillespie (R.G.) Reid to extend the tracks.
1897: The trans-island line reached Port aux Basques.
1898: The first cross-island passenger train ran from St. John's to Port aux Basques. 

Eras of Operation

Reid Family (1898–1923): Operated by the Reid Newfoundland Company, which managed the railway, coastal steamships, and land grants.
Government Operation (1923–1949): Taken over by the Newfoundland government via the Railway Settlement Act.
Canadian National Railways (1949–1988): Absorbed by Canadian National (CN) after Newfoundland joined Canada in 1949.
Terra Transport (1978–1988): A CN subsidiary that ran the final years of service. 
Economic Impact
Industries: Opened up the remote interior, driving the growth of timber, pulp and paper (such as mills in Grand Falls and Corner Brook), and mining.
Communities: Created new inland towns and regional hubs like Clarenville and Lewisporte. 
Decline and Closure
1969: Regular passenger service ended and was replaced by buses.
1988: Rail operations officially ceased on October 1, 1988, marking the end of common-carrier narrow-gauge railroading in North America.
Legacy: The old railbed is now preserved as the T'Railway Provincial Park. 







Ray got to climb in the operator's chair of the plow.


Ray really wanted this hat for his collection of CN Train stuff.

They have mostly CN dishes etc as they couldn't find any Newfoundland Railway stuff.

CN placemat

We had a great little tour. Ray received his phone call that his computer's ready, so back to Deer Lake.

We picked up Subway Sandwiches for lunch and then spent the afternoon in the lobby people watching.We packed up the car and separated out the stuff we needed for the next 2 days, as the car would be parked a ways away from the AirBnB that we are staying in. Less stuff to haul in.

Tomorrow Trinity NL