Across Canada, similarly determined community advocates have breathed new life into old railway bridges years after the last trains rolled along the tracks. Instead of providing safe passage for shipments destined for faraway buyers, the abandoned railbeds now connect neighbours and history. Just as Trail did in New Brunswick, Canadians from across the country have spoken up for historic pieces of Canada’s rail infrastructure that outlasted their original purpose.

In St. Thomas, Ont., “the railway city,” Matt Janes had little trouble convincing people that the Michigan Central Railroad Bridge over Kettle Creek was worth saving. Residents had already rallied to preserve the town’s Canadian Southern Railway station, which was restored as a space for events and offices starting in 2005.

Beginning in the 1870s, the Canadian Southern Railway line — with St. Thomas at the centre — provided a Canadian shortcut between Michigan and New York. The current Kettle Creek bridge was built in 1929 to withstand heavy trains. To avoid disrupting rail traffic during construction, crews suspended a temporary railway line above the active tracks, earning the bridge recognition as an engineering marvel of its era.

It’s now a local landmark, towering nearly 30 metres above the steep, lush valley surrounding Kettle Creek. The bridge sat dormant for more than a decade after being taken out of service in 1996 — that is, until rumours surfaced that it would be torn down for scrap steel. “The bridge itself is iconic,” says Janes, director of the non-profit On Track St. Thomas. “We thought it would just be a real shame if that bridge was totally abandoned and demolished.”

Instead, the community group rallied support to turn the bridge into an elevated greenspace. After a fund­raising campaign, they bought the bridge in 2013. Since 2017, the St. Thomas Elevated Park has provided a community gathering place with seating areas, public art and a panoramic view of the farms and forests of the Kettle Creek Valley.

Elsewhere in Canada, rail traffic through downtown Red Deer, Alta., between Calgary and Edmonton was so frequent in the 1980s that the city asked the Canadian Pacific Railway to relocate outside city limits. As the CPR began pulling up tracks, residents in the Riverside Meadows neighbourhood wanted the bridge across the Red Deer River to stay — people had gotten used to crossing the bridge on foot, despite the safety risk. “This is the only bridge on the Red Deer River that has never fallen prey to the ice in the spring and was part of what made Red Deer possible,” wrote resident Shirley Hocken in a letter to city council in 1991. “This bridge has always been an integral part of people’s lives that have lived on the north side of the river.” The CPR Pedestrian Bridge is now getting a $22-million refurbishment. Slated to be unveiled in fall 2026, it will include a plaza and two sites for public art.

Back in Fredericton, Patty Trail now lives beside the trail system she helped create. The bridge has become the hub she always imagined. “I’m older now, but everybody gathered on the bridge at night,” Trail says. “Everybody loves it.”