Hull-Chelsea-Wakefield Railway

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The Hull-Chelsea-Wakefield Railway is a 33-kilometer heritage railway running tourist trains through the scenic Gatineau Hills and beside the Gatineau River between the city of Gatineau (formerly Hull, Quebec) and the tourist town of La Pêche (formerly Wakefield, Quebec) from May to October, using a 1907 Swedish steam locomotive and 1940s-built Swedish passenger cars. On average, the railway attracts about 50 000 tourists and generates revenues of about $8 million for the region.

In 2007, a disagreement erupted between the owner of the steam train line and the municipality of Chelsea and city of Gatineau over the idea of the railway safety and maintenance. In July, a rain storm caused damage to some parts of the railway. The owner mentioned that without funding from the cities, he would have ceased the operations of the line and sold the steam train. In November, an agreement was made when the province of Quebec and the municipalities involved provided fundings for studies for future improvements to the railway. There were also plans for refurbishing the wagons as well as adding a station at the Casino du Lac-Leamy about 2 kilometers south of its current southern terminus at Quebec Autoroute 5 and Boulevard Saint-Joseph [1]

However, following a landslide in Chelsea during the spring of 2008, the railway was halted after two weekends of activity. The owner decided to sell the train and ceased activities for good. Pending a rapid sale, the railway will not run for the summer of 2008. [2]