Dominion Atlantic Railway - Apple Industry

Apple Industry

The DAR was closely tied to the apple industry in the Annapolis Valley. The arrival of the railway in the 1860s transformed apples from a minor locally-consumed crop to a large export industry, eventually shipping millions of barrels every year as the major supplier of apples to the United Kingdom.

Following a brief slump in World War I, apple traffic reached its peak in the 1930s. Over 150 apple warehouses were built along the DAR mainline and its branchlines. For many decades, the period from September to April saw heavy apple traffic on the DAR, moving apples from warehouses to ocean steamers at Halifax, often requiring double-headed specials.

These exports were sharply curtailed during World War II and Nova Scotia never regained its market share in Europe. Nova Scotia's apple industry eventually stabilized after the war but on a smaller scale. The large Scotia Gold co-operative apple processing plant was built beside the DAR mainline at Coldbrook, Nova Scotia using the railway to ship apple and fruit products until the 1970s.