In May of 1986, my brother Eric was heading west on No 1 and he was kind enough to get up at the crack of dawn and spend several hours photographing the Heron Bay and Nipigon Subdivisions out the rear window of the Park car for my benefit. This collection is finally seeing the light of day in its entirety.
Computers and the internet are more powerful than ever before, so it is finally feasible to present the photos, and government topographical maps I purchased at the time, in a format that reveals a pleasing amount of detail.
When Google and Bing first offered aerial views of the Canadian landscape I found it thrilling that it was finally possible to 'see' where I had worked. The CPR line was usually within extremely low definition zones of Canadian wilderness, and one really needed to know where to look - but it was there. Today, it is possible to present an oblique view of the line to hi-lite the general contours of the land and to 'line up' the right-of-way across the Canadian Shield.
... How the early railway builders would have marvelled at the metamorphosis of their paper surveys and their muskeg-level knowledge of the land ... into a universally available bird's eye view of what had been created.
This post will look at the line west from White River to Marathon. Above, beyond the White River townsite and the yard, you can see the faint railway right-of-way (left) and Highway 17 (right) split as they pass around a forest products industrial site. To the right of Highway 17, a similarly distinct hydro corridor can be seen paralleling the road.
After passing the First Nations Reserve at Mobert, the CPR line will continue to thread its way between small lakes and bare rock outcroppings in this heavily-glaciated region. Once the line reaches the area near the Pukaskwa Park label, the it will tend to follow the shore of Lake Superior to Thunder Bay.
Above: Crews based in Schreiber worked on the 'west end' Nipigon Subdivision to Thunder Bay ... or the 'east end' Heron Bay Subdivision to White River. Spareboard trainmen living in Schreiber were assigned to trains operating on either subdivision ... as they gained experience on the lines and knowledge of the operating practices used along them.
Below: You can see the cross-country descent of the Heron Bay Sub to near lake level. Building the line near the shore of Lake Superior did not necessarily provide an efficient 1980s operating legacy. In other words, it was not the most direct route between eastern Ontario and British Columbia ...
However, given the limited funds available in the 1880s ... the relatively primitive technology used to drill and blast igneous rock ... and the human-, horse-, or steam-powered technology used to 'cut and fill' a railway roadbed ... there were advantages to building across the Canadian Shield by following Lake Superior's shore ...
The ability to use water for transportation was one advantage. Rails and other essential bulk supplies could arrive by ship during the navigation season. In winter, some distribution of materials could continue by sledge once the lake froze.
Furthermore, the 'end of track' where the line 'grew itself' into the wilderness was not limited to one single point - you can imagine the fast construction across the generally flat Prairies as an example. Given the amount of rock which had to be blasted and moved, there was a great advantage in landing supplies at a number of small harbours, and from those harbours, starting many segments of the surveyed line at the same time.
... As construction progressed, the sections met up ... until a ceremonial last spike between Montreal, Winnipeg and the Rockies was driven at Mile 102.7 of today's Heron Bay Sub on Monday, May 18, 1885 ( ... or the 16th, if you prefer ... the date actually recorded on the 1935 cairn). [see Van Horne's Road; Lavallee; 1974; Railfare. > page 170]
Once the CPR was completed and steam locomotives converted from burning local wilderness wood to imported coal, the water provided more cheap transportation. Jackfish (east of Terrace Bay) and other lakeside coal facilities allowed stockpiles to be built up during the navigation season for further distribution during the winter.
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The journey west from White River begins ...
Sliding to the right may be necessary to see all of the largest images.
If you wish, clicking on the link below will open an employee timetable in a new tab.
Four-digit pencilled numbers are just my labelling of contour lines as they cross the CPR. This was for a late-1980s Simmons-Boardman desktop train dynamics simulator - which is explained in Nipigon Sub, Part 2. These numbers peter out after we head west past Mobert because I devised a more efficient process for compiling my database.
On the map above, notice line relocations near Mile 3, 5 and 10 which took the line away from the White River. The town of White River itself and the yard were sometimes flooded in the spring.
The Manitouwadge Subdivision ran about 35 miles north from Struthers (Heron Bay Sub Mile 34 above) to Manitouwadge - where two mines were located. CPR had joint trackage with the CNR (which approached from the north) beyond the townsite. Neither line reaches the town today, and the former rights-of-way have been converted into roads in some locations.
The following aerial images are all from Google:
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| Manitouwadge circa 2020 looking south, showing the Geco and Willroy mine sites. The CNR line passed under the word 'Google'. Barehead was the first CPR station south of the town. |
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| Looking north from the former wye track at Struthers to Manitouwadge. The feature to the left is the Hemlo gold mine. |
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| Hemlo gold mine circa 2019 as seen from the Trans-Canada. (Google) |
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| Hemlo gold mine circa 2020 |
I think you can see the artificial features (including tailings ponds) of the Hemlo mine from the top to the bottom of the image above. If you find the Struthers wye (right side: Mi 34) ... and the southwest curving deviation of the CPR line from the Trans-Canada at the left margin of the image above (left side: Mi 38.5) ... you'll get some idea of the footprint of the mine.
While the old gold rush townsite of Hemlo (near Mi 40) is shown on the late 1970s topographical map below, this new operation does not appear on that map at all.
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Note on siding mileage captions: Photo captions for these 1986 photos use the timetable mileage of the siding, rather than the exact mileage location of the photo.
Eric starts his 1986 photo run ...
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| Pringle mile 44.0. No 1 in the siding. Maintenance of way gondola cars are in the back track. |
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| Mile 44.0 Pringle. |
In the gondolas above, is the first of many indications that rail replacement will be taking place.
At Marathon, you'll see the work cars belonging to the rail gang.
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| Mile 44.0 Pringle. Eastbound freight on the main track. |
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| Mile 44.0 Pringle. Eastbound Eng 4709 4705. |
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| Mile 44.0 Pringle. |
Considering the consist and the time of day, this might be the Paper Train
which originated at Schreiber and did lifts and setoffs at the mills at Terrace Bay and Marathon (and sometimes at Struthers).
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| Near Mile 48. |
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| Bridge at Mile 50.5 . |
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| Bridge Mile 54, Pic River. |
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| Bridge Mile 54, Pic River |
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| East switch mile 55.2 Heron Bay. |
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| East switch mile 55.2 Heron Bay. Eastbound Eng unknown. |
You can see that the freight is about to take his medium clear (UCOR 1962) signal from the siding.
This was one of about three places on the entire Heron Bay Sub where a Rule 14(l) was sounded for a road crossing.
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| Mile 55.2 Heron Bay. |
Note the sectionman standing behind his speeder, waiting to get on the track.
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| Mile 55.2 Heron Bay. |
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| Mile 55.2 Heron Bay. |
Tailend crew members wave to each other: No defects spotted on your train.
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| West switch mile 55.2 Heron Bay. |
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| Near mile 58. |
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| Mile 60.5 talking Hot Box Detector (radio aerial visible by white light). Flashing white light indicates it is operational. |
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| Sectionmen near Marathon. |
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| Marathon mile 63.0 |
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| Marathon mile 63.0 |
At the right edge of the photo, you can just see the rounded platform shelter of the station.
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| Marathon mile 63.0 |
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| Marathon mile 63.0 Left: Rail gang equipment. Right: Setoff tracks for the mill at Marathon. |
If you check the topographic map, you'll notice that there is indeed a peninsula at Marathon, which gave the settlement its original CPR name.
In 1936, the Marathon Paper Mills Company, through its General Timber Company subsidiary, secured cutting rights in the Peninsula area. The harvesting limits were extended by the provincial government, with the condition that a pulp mill be built in the area. The end of the Great Depression and World War 2 delayed construction, but the 300 ton capacity mill began construction in 1944, with completion in 1946. Pulp logs were floated down the Pic River - under that bridge near Mile 54 - and stored in booms for later use. Back in those days, water offered quite a bargain, providing free transportation and storage of logs (less log drivers' expenses).
David Clark Everest was President of the Marathon Company and central to the mill's creation. With an interest in the historical industries of Kingston, Ontario, my brother enjoyed the coincidence that the pulp log carrier DC Everest was launched in 1952 by the Kingston Shipbuilding Company. It generally carried pulp logs from Marathon to Wisconsin and Michigan. Below is a link to Eric's write-up of the DC Everest:
For a few months in 1944, Peninsula was renamed Everest. However, Canadian postal authorities indicated this was too similar to Everett, Ontario - southwest of Barrie. The town was subsequently renamed after the paper company itself.
After changing hands and corporate identification a number of times, the mill was shut down in 2009.
Above and below: You can see the small yard which was used for setoffs and lifts from the plant. A mill company plant switcher handled spotting duties at the mill itself.
Below: You'll notice a tail track extending from the yard to the right photo margin. This is not shown on the top map.
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| Marathon mile 63.0 |
The images above and below (like the photos) are oriented with timetable east toward the top of the image.
Above: The top map from the late 1970s shows the yard, the mill company trackage and the mill. The station can be seen near the water tank.
Below: The circa 2020 Google image shows the roadbed corresponding to the removed yard. The end of the tail track roadbed can be seen at the centre of the bottom edge of the photo - immediately south of the CPR line. The roadbed which carried the company trackage can also be seen as it descends to lake level and the mill. You can also see the bare site where the mill stood on the peninsula.
Above: A Google 2012 view of the mill after it closed. The mill company railway spur is fenced off in the foreground.
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Coming in Heron Bay Subdivision, Part 2 ...
