LT&L's (now scrapped) PA-1 #700 in the short-lived late-1950s passenger paint scheme

The Le Coeur, Terrance and Lynville Railway was formed in 1878 by the merger of the Chemin de Fer Quebec et Trois Rivieres (Quebec to Montréal, Montréal to Sherbrooke), the Le Coeur and Terrance Railroad (Quebec to Lynville), and the Bangor and Quebéc Railway (Lynville to Bangor, ME).

The LT&L was always on friendly terms with its neighbor, the Parsons Vale and Termite Railroad, to the extent of sharing terminal and suburban operations in Montréal (via their joint subsidiary Chemin de fer terminal de Montréal). Over the years, the two railroads pooled locomotives, ran joint passenger trains, purchased each other’s stock, and eventually merged in 1961.

LT&L history

1860
Chemin de Fer Quebec et Trois Rivieres founded.
1864
CdFQ&TR extended to connection with the Montreal & Southern Railway.
1866
Le Coeur and Terrance Railroad founded.
1867
LC&T builds from Quebec to Thetford Mines.
1869
CdFQ&TR builds from Montréal to Ottowa.
1871
LC&T purchases M&S.
1872
LC&T extended to Lynville, at the Maine border.
1874
Bangor and Quebec Railroad founded (owned by the LC&T.)
1875
B&Q connects to LC&T
1876
CdFQ&TR builds Montréal to Sherbrooke.
1877
LC&T builds Terrance to Thetford Mines.
1878
CdFQ&TR, LC&T, B&Q merge, become the Le Coeur, Terrance and Lynville Railway.
1880
Parsons Vale and Montreal Railroad merges with M&S to form the Chemin de fer terminal de Montréal.
1884
Augusta branch (Bangor to Augusta) built.
1899
Sherbrooke to Thetford Mines built.
1930
Purchased 10% PV&T stock.
1940
First diesel locomotives – ALCO S-2’s 100-109 – purchased.
1961
Merged with PV&T.
1962
Augusta branch electrified at 3000VDC.
1963
B&Q from Bangor to Lynville abandoned.
  • Copyright © 2023 by David Parsons (orc@pell.portland.or.us) unless otherwise noted
    Sat Jun 20 20:38:57 PDT 2009