Dominion Atlantic Railway

Dominion Atlantic Railway
Map
Overview
HeadquartersKentville, Nova Scotia
Reporting markDA
LocaleNova Scotia, Canada
Dates of operation1894–1994
SuccessorWindsor and Hantsport Railway
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length288 miles (463 km)

The Dominion Atlantic Railway (reporting mark DA)[1] was a historic railway which operated in the western part of Nova Scotia in Canada, primarily through an agricultural district known as the Annapolis Valley.

The Dominion Atlantic Railway (DAR) was unusually diverse for a regional railway, operating its own hotel chain, steamship line and named luxury trains such as the Flying Bluenose. It is credited with playing a major role in developing Nova Scotia's tourism and agriculture industries.

The DAR's corporate headquarters were originally located in London, United Kingdom, until 1912, followed by Montreal, Quebec, but was always operationally headquartered in Kentville, Nova Scotia, where the railway retained a unique identity and a high degree of independence until the end of the steam era. A depiction of Evangeline from the poem Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie published in 1847 by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was incorporated into the DAR logo along with the text 'Land of Evangeline Route'.[2]

The company is still legally incorporated and files annual returns with the Nova Scotia Registry of Joint Stock; its headquarters are now in Calgary, Alberta. Portions of the line were operated by the Windsor and Hantsport Railway until 2011.

  1. ^ The Official Railway Equipment Register. Railway Equipment and Publication Company. June 1917. p. 363.
  2. ^ Gray, Charlotte (2004). The Museum Called Canada: 25 Rooms of Wonder. Random House. ISBN 9780679312208.