No Dual Sports on NFLD T'Railways?

[C-Stain]

A friend of mine and one of Newfoundland's native son's recently took up Dual Sport Riding and has expressed an interest in riding the Newfoundland T'Railway next summer. He recently emailed the T'Railway Council for a Trail Permit and additional information and posted below (with his permission) is the correspondence:

Name - Noah
Date - Sun, 21 Oct 2012 17:42:27
Location - Lane
Message - How does one become a member? also do you support adventure
motorcycle rider's on this trail system? Thank you

Subject: T'Railway Provincial Park
Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2012 16:39:07 -0230

Noah:
I'm afraid we don't endorse motorcycle riding along the NL T'Railway
Provincial Park. Any vehicle which can be registered and licensed for road
use is prohibited under our Parks legislation. As for membership, we're
currently undergoing a restructuring which should be completed in November.

Regards,


NL T'Railway Council
Gander, NL

Subject: RE: T'Railway Provincial Park
well that is very unfortunate..as a native from nl. i have endorsed people from other provinces that this would be an excellent adventure and great for tourism. you should look into this a little more.. i think you could market this and could be a great adventure. i have 10 plus people who would do this trip next summer. would love to hear your thoughts on this.

Noah:
I appreciate your comments but the reality is that we’re developing a trail, not a road. The insurance implications of opening the trail to more and more motorized users would be devastating and quite frankly, something we could not afford to cover, even if it were available for widespread motorized use, to say nothing about extra maintenance costs and the expanded duty of care that would be required from a legal point of view. Statistics show that most tourists, by far, want trails they can use safely for walking and in close proximity to where they’re visiting and because it’s a provincial park, naturally there will be restrictions on use. I hope this explains our position.

NL T’Railway Council

Does anyone have any additional information on this? It seems unfortunate that its been included on GravelTravel.ca and many inmates have already expressed an interest in doing it next year, but I'd hate to end up in trouble with the Constabulary...

[C-Stain]

I know there was some discussion on the Ridetherock that covers this subject... I guess my Google-fu does work!

http://www.ridetherock.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2630

[damurph]

I have ridden 80% of it. From St John's to Paradise it is not legal and from Paradise to Conception Bay South it is a PITA with crosssroads and such but from Holyrood to Corner Brook it is free running. The TCH incorporated it from Steady Brook alongside the Humber river. There is no police or monitoring presence and there has never been an incident that i am aware of with any vehicle. it is quite normal to see cars and pickup trucks as alot of cabins are incorporated alongside the old railway lines. Howley has a section that has been converted to a logging road as well as other communities that use it for access to specific areas.
It is a non issue. hope this helps

[Natnewt]

I spent my childhood riding these tracks. Most kids get around from town to town and adults to their cabins back in the day. A lot of the railway in central NL is too far away from civilization for people to go out walking.

[WVhillbilly]

Just take an unlicensed bike.
Problem solved

[Deadly99]

I'm keeping it a part of the TCAT route

Many locals said it's no issue...if it becomes an issue...well that would suck..