In 1893, the Coast Railway Company of Nova Scotia was incorporated under a charter to build a narrow gauge line between Yarmouth and Lockeport, by way of Barrington and Shelburne. Construction took place very slowly and what little trackage had been already built was converted to standard gauge in 1895. In 1899 the company was renamed the Halifax and Yarmouth Railway (H&YR) and received a new charter to build east from Lockeport to Liverpool, Bridgewater and Halifax. By 1903 the line had barely reached Barrington.