The Ups and Downs of Rail Travel

A journey by train was not always easy. Spring floods would often wash out the PPJ railway in some areas. In the spring of 1932, heavy runoff took out a portion of the railway. Passengers travelling from the east had to wait hours for the westbound train to arrive on the other side of the gaping hole in the tracks so they could continue their journey west. They, along with the mail and luggage, were transferred from one train to the other on foot across the gap.

It was on the Serpentine River (also known as Crique à Bernard) that the Pontiac Power and Development Company built the first hydro dam supplying electricity to Mansfield, Fort-Coulonge and Litchfield. The bridge you see here was built for the trains.