Dominion Atlantic Railway - Marine Operations

Marine Operations

The DAR maintained a strategic link between Halifax and the Bay of Fundy and Gulf of Maine ports of Windsor, Digby and Yarmouth. A key component to the DAR's passenger and freight business was through the connections with various ferries that operated in these waters, mostly from Digby and Yarmouth. A smaller service also operated across the Minas Basin from the smaller ports of Kingsport and Wolfville.

In 1901, the DAR owned and operated nine steamships in the Bay of Fundy and Minas Basin services, serving routes between Digby-Saint John, New Brunswick with connections to the CPR and IRC, and Kingsport-Parrsboro-Wolfville connecting at Parrsboro with the Cumberland Railway's line to Springhill; the MV Kipawo being the 13th and last vessel on this particular service. The service was terminated during World War II after the vessel was requisitioned by the Royal Canadian Navy.

In 1904, service was expanded to use three surplus steamships to include a Gulf of Maine operation between Yarmouth-Boston and Yarmouth-New York. These services launched the DAR into the forefront of Nova Scotia's nascent tourist industry and the railway subsequently built a resort hotel at Digby, the Digby Pines Resort and the Cornwallis Inn in Kentville. After the Canadian Pacific Railway purchased the DAR in 1911, they sold some of its steamship connections, such as the Yarmouth steamships, but expanded others, such as the Digby-Saint John route, which received large new steamships such as the SS Princess Helene.