Quebec Central Railway

The Québec Central Railway is a railway in the Canadian province of Québec, that serves the area of Québec called the Eastern Townships, south of the St. Lawrence River. Its headquarters was in Sherbrooke. It was originally incorporated in 1869 as the Sherbrooke, Eastern Townships and Kennebec Railway, and changed its name to the Québec Central Railway in 1875. It would eventually own around 300 miles of track. In 1912, the Canadian Pacific Railway leased the Québec Central for 999 years.

Passenger service ended in April 1967, and freight service ended in November 1994. The Québec Central was abandoned on December 23, 1994. However, because the CPR only owned 10% of the Québec Central's stock, it could not tear up the track and dispose of the right-of-way. In December 1999, a local resident who owned a trucking company (Express Marco Incorporated) bought the railway from the CPR and revived it as the Compagnie du Chemin de fer de Québec Central (reporting mark QCR), with trains running starting in June 2000. The railway also leased trackage rights to the Trains Touristiques Chaudiere-Appalaches, a local group who operated tourist excursions on the Vallee sub.

The new Québec Central went out of business in 2006 however, ending once more railway traffic on the line. The Québec Ministry of Transport acquired the Vallee subdivision (Charny to Sherbrooke) in October 2007 and the Chaudiere sub (Vallee-Jonction to Lac-Frontiere) in July 2008, with plans to restore service. Track work was performed on various sections of the Vallee sub, and operation between Charny and St-Lambert-de-Levis was resumed. Previous owner Express Marco Inc was contracted as the interim operator. In 2013, the newly created Chemin de Fer Sartigan (Sartigan Railway, reporting mark CFS) has also started operating on the Vallee sub, moving wood products between Scott-Jonction and Charny.

All-time rosters

(work in progress)

Sartigan Railway

Fleet number(s)	Thumbnail	Acquired	Manufacturer	Model	Year	History	Notes
1828		2013	MLW	RS-18u	1958	Originally CP RS-18 8793
8033		2014	MLW	RS-23	1960	Originally CP 8033

Québec Central Railway (Express Marco)

Fleet number(s)	Thumbnail	Acquired	Manufacturer	Model	Year	History	Notes
JMG1		1998	GE	U23B	1975	Originally Southern RR 3944	JMG=Jean-Marc Giguere (owner of Express Marco) Currently stored in Charny
SG2		2000	EMD/Illinois Central	GP11	1979	Originally Reading GP7 661	SG=Sylvain Giguere
GG3		2000	EMD/Illinois Central	GP11	1980	Originally New Haven GP9 1213	GG=Gaston Giguere
DG4		2002	GE	U23B	1968	Originally Delaware & Hudson 309	DG=Dany Giguere Currently stored in East Broughton
RG5		2002	EMD	GP7R	1950	Originally Maine Central GP7 564	RG=Roger Giguere
GS9		2002	Alco	S-2m	1946	Originally N&SS S-2 13A	GS=Giguere Switcher Currently stored in East Broughton

References

• Personal notes and sightings
• Wikipedia
• Gerry Burridge's Québec Central Railway