In 1835, editor Joseph Howe, a future Nova Scotia premier, wrote in the Novascotian that railway construction would greatly enhance trade within the province.

[1] In April 1846, the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, Sir Colin Campbell, wrote to William Gladstone, Britain's Secretary of State for Colonial Affairs, calling for a survey of a route for a rail connection linking Halifax with Montreal.

In June of that year, Captain John Pipon and Lieutenant E. Wallcott Henderson of the Royal Corps of Engineers were ordered to conduct a survey to identify the optimal route.

Construction crews completed the difficult task of traversing Nova Scotia's Cobequid Mountains in 1872[9] and the first passenger train from Halifax reached Saint John, New Brunswick on 11 November that year.

ICR responded by petitioning the government to extend its own tracks to Montreal through the purchase of a regional Quebec line, eliminating the need to change trains in Point-Levi.

The sleepers featured 10 open sections and two drawing rooms, “finished in polished mahogany beautifully inlaid with lighter woods [with] ceilings of green and gold, in the Empire style, and the upholstering…of a rich green plush.”[13] In 1900, the ICR revised the schedule of the eastbound Maritime Express to depart Montreal at 11:30 a.m., arriving in Halifax a day later at 3:30 p.m.

This allowed for an early evening arrival at Point-Levi, providing a more convenient ferry connection for passengers crossing the St. Lawrence River to Quebec City.

It ordered new passenger cars, installed upgraded tracks and bridges to carry heavier trains, and constructed impressive new stations in communities along the line.

In 1912 the railway undertook a massive project to construct a new terminus in the south end of Halifax, connecting it to the main line by blasting through miles of solid bedrock.

[10] Travellers were enchanted by the bucolic Maritime scenery as the train skirted the Bay of Chaleur, crossed the Tantramar Marshes between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and crested the Cobequid Mountains.

"[10] Begun as a seasonal summer service, it was expanded to a year-round operation in 1912, becoming a full running mate to the Maritime Express.

Some later sources identify the train pictured as the Ocean Limited;[18] however, historians Jay Underwood and Douglas Smith both confirm the image is of the Maritime Express.

The locomotive in the photograph is a smaller 4-6-0 type that had been largely replaced by bigger motive power at the time the Ocean Limited was introduced.

[10] With the outbreak of World War II, traffic on CNR's lines to the Atlantic coast soared, resulting in massive improvements to infrastructure and an expansion of passenger service.

[20] With the end of World War II and the decline in military traffic, ridership on the Maritime Express and its two running mates began to erode.

Revenue losses grew, although there were a few bright spots: the Maritime Express continued to show a profit on its Campbellton-Riviere-du-Loup route segment in 1949.

In an effort to arrest the trend, in 1952–53 CNR ordered 359 new passenger cars to replace war-weary rolling stock, including sleepers with more private rooms.

[21] In 1955, the Maritime Express lost its status as the railroad's premiere train, giving up the numbers 1 and 2 to the Ocean, which it shared with the newly inaugurated Vancouver-Toronto/Montreal Super Continental.

Despite the changes, ridership on the train continued to decline, resulting in the removal of sleeping, cafeteria and parlour cars from its consist over parts of the route.