ONR 1955 Public Timetable

Breaking!

90 years ago this month!

Did you know about this Pioneer Zephyr incident in Canada on 2 May 1934? 

I'm reading a history of EMD (written by/for GM in 1948) which mentions this event. 

No date is given in the book's account.

I was able to find a contemporary newspaper account.

I don't have an employee timetable which covers this line back then.

However ... after a westbound passed through an interlocking and a yard ... there was quite an elbow-bend at Essex.

The collision with the truck loaded with 'scrap iron' probably occurred at quite a low speed - and certainly nothing approaching 100 mph! 

from: Lawrence (Kansas) Daily Journal-World, Wednesday, 2 May 1934 (Google newspapers)

*  *  *

This Ontario Northland public timetable is a recent purchase from a 'railway show'. What were then seen as endless opportunities in northern Ontario are reflected in the scope of the railway's transportation operations. The post-war development of the internal combustion engine and the new types of equipment it could power in the Canadian Shield were central to this economic optimism.

The prominent place given to the railway's new carbody units in this timetable indicates that the Government of Ontario endorsed the idea that 'you have to spend money to make money'. Or another perspective ... 'you can create significant labour and plant redundancies through the strategic application of new technologies'.

The last operation of a steam locomotive on the ONR took place on 25 June 1957.

Belle of Temagami in the 1940s
from: Railway Steamships of Ontario; Dana Ashdown; 1988; Boston Mills Press.

Chief Commanda, undated
from: Steam Into Wilderness; Albert Tucker; 1978; Fitzhenry & Whiteside.

CNR 1993 National Transcontinental Route

We took a one-day trip along part of the former NTR. 

Maps and timetables are used to provide a few details about the line.

from: Road Book; 1958-9; Ontario Motor League.

Our route is shown by these old triptik-style maps.
We're travelling west from Cochrane to Hearst and on to Nipigon.

Recapping from our last 1993 vacation segment (there's a link at the end) ... we were resuming our trip west to Portage la Prairie on the more level 'truckers' route' via Cochrane, Ontario. We were there early enough in the morning to see an Ontario Northland train and a crew member on the cab ladder. It was at the south side of the 'union' station which was used by both the CNR and ONR in recent history.

The 1520 was an FP7A built by GMD in 1953 for the Ontario Northland.
By my calculation, it is timetable southbound.

At the Cochrane Railway and Pioneer Museum, the steam locomotive was built by CLC in 1913 and used by the Canadian Northern Railway - which had no track here. It is painted for the Temiskaming & Northern Ontario.

The 4025 and 4032 were working on the north side of the Cochrane station.
The were facing westbound as I shot into the morning sun with my snapshot camera.

Historical note:
A 1990s 'snapshot camera' is snapped exactly the same way as a
modern fully-automated DSLR camera 'costing thousands more!'

... except you have no hope of ameliorating any adverse results from your framing decision,
... and the consequences of any errors are only seen a week after you return home from vacation,
... and without GPS in your camera, you wish you had maintained a 'shooting log'.

Above and below you can see Cochrane from the air circa 2020. 

During the era of our trip, the CNR and ONR routes reached the station from the southeast. 

At the west end of town, the ONR turned north. The CNR continued northwest.

*  *  *

Here are pages from an old Ontario Northland employee timetable showing the approach to Cochrane and the route beyond to Moosonee. The timetable images which follow won't be formally 'sourced' with a caption. You'll find them among the photos taken along the route.

*  *  *

Below, is the whole route of the National Transcontinental from Moncton to Winnipeg. You can see a dip south to cross the St Lawrence at the NTR's Quebec Bridge. After Cochrane, it runs through places which include Kapuskasing, Nakina, Sioux Lookout and Transcona on its way west. This federal project - intended to be operated by the Grand Trunk after completion - was designed to get western grain to 'tidewater' as directly as possible. 

As an oversimplification ... only Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier (1841-1919) really wanted to see the National Transcontinental Railway built. Because: reasons!

... The NTR's genesis was head games being played upon the Canadian Northern's William Mackenzie by the Grand Trunk's Charles Melville Hays. This occurred during the early stages of the Canadian railway building boom - just before 1910. If the CNoR thought the GTR was going transcontinental (perhaps we'll call it the Grand Trunk Pacific), then maybe the CNoR could be bluffed into being taken over by the GTR for a discount price. They didn't know it at the time, but both these railways' game theory reactions to each other ended in mutually assured destruction ...

World War One began - to the railroaders' surprise (not including Hays) - and British and US private capital was rushed into profitable war goods production .... and government bonds so governments could afford to buy war goods. Savvy investors could make money coming and going!

Selling urgently needed artillery shells, tin hats and tinned provisions to the British government produced a much higher return on capital than transporting ... something, something ... thousands of miles ... at a future date ... over rickety tracks ... from the Canadian backwoods ... or from former buffalo pasture.

By 1920: Charles Melville Hays had died on the RMS Titanic (1912), CNoR went bankrupt, the Grand Trunk was bankrupt, the NTR could never be profitable ... and these and other railways were eventually tipped into the Canadian National Railways system.

Historical what if? ...
Had the Grand Trunk's well-established eastern network combined with the Canadian Northern's western network, perhaps a strong privately-owned competitor could have emerged to balance the CPR.

The particularly helpful and illustrative published map below was produced by taking a modern map of the CNR and running a black marker along the route. Notice there is also a supplemental route connecting Sioux Lookout (Superior Junction) with the lakehead ... maybe 'tidewater' isn't always everything it's cracked up to be?

from: The National Transcontinental Railway; Ron W Layton; 1979; Upper Canada Railway Society. 

*  *  *

Below, you can see the routes as the Canadian government presented them in map form in 1915.
Cochrane is at the top right corner - the lakehead is at the bottom left corner.

There is no connection between Nakina and Long Lake - for reasons you have figured out.

A couple of 1993 photos of the Kinghorn Subdivision will appear below as well.

*  *  *

Back to our trip ...

At some unknown mileage, here is the mighty National Transcontinental Railway ...
which we altered our vacation route to experience and photograph!

None of the track structure seen here is original, of course, 

(notice all the rail anchors - here, for a descending grade),

but this was the NTR route.

This particular section was just part of the NTR dream.
Eventually the CNR did find other sections of the line quite useful.

The bridges at Fauquier.

At Kapuskasing, we see the S-13 locomotive number 108. 

It was built in July 1967 and has been here for its entire service life. 

The railroader can be forgiven for wondering why his picture is being taken.

Because of 'free trade' and the 'death of print' (newsprint to digital news) ...
paper mills up here were changing corporate hands every couple of days,
so the paint scheme does not necessarily reflect the current owner in 1993.

The back of Kapuskasing station.

I think the illuminated CNR signboard 

- that white panel over the main door -

faced the highway before the change to VIA.

CNR steam locomotive 5107 was built by MLW in May 1919. 

On the 'St Jean' in 1962, 5107 operated on a doubleheaded fantrip to Garneau with the 6153. 

This was my first fantrip and I felt a kind of 'duty' 

to check on an 'old friend' at Kapuskasing 31 years later.

Other retired engines don't always fare so well against the elements
as a result of the sin of outdoor 'preservation'.

Above is a typical northern Ontario image.

The rail is lighter than the CNR mainline.

The bolt pattern of the siding track and the snowplow target suggest a non-CNR line.

With a CNR snowplow target and probably a passenger 'station'

here is another light-railed set of tracks.

... It is quite possible that I quickly photographed both directions at an interesting crossing

and that the two previous images go together.

*  *  *

Having left the NTR route, we will now have sporadic contacts with the Kinghorn Subdivision. This was the Canadian Northern's main line west through the lakehead, which then dipped below the US border to abide by the CPR protective 'monopoly clause' before it arrived at Winnipeg.

The meandering eastern route of the CNoR was one factor in the decision to seek a more direct route to ...
[say it with awe] ... Tidewater!

At or near Longlac, you can observe that this route gets more use than the NTR.

Between Beardmore and Nipigon, the topography changes into the familiar

'north of Lake Superior' format.

Again, this may be a north-south view of the same crossing.

This would be the Kinghorn Subdivision.

*  *  *

Our vacations were often very busy and timed to take advantage of every spare minute we could be away on the road. After two days of driving while trying to find photo spots, one gets kind of tired. The final day between Thunder Bay and Portage was always the longest for us.

If you haven't seen our first day along the ONR,
when we were simply 'really work-tired',
here is the link.

ONR 1993 Temagami to Cochrane

ONR 1993 Temagami to Cochrane

Thanks to an arbitration decision in 1889, we had something to photograph as we drove north during our 1993 vacation. In 1889, the northern boundary of Ontario reached James Bay.

... It was inevitable, that someday, someone in the Ontario provincial government would dream of having a seaport.

As politicians say today: Tidewater!

from: Confederation; 1967; Rolland Paper Company.

Above, the result of the 1889 decision.
The ragged line follows the Albany River and other bodies of water.
Ontario's current boundaries were established in 1912.

*  *  *

Here is a nice summary of some of the future Ontario Northland Railway's key historical dates. Give yourself 100 bonus points if you know why the railway was renamed ONR in 1946 - the answer follows below.

A History of Canadian RPOs; LF Gillam; 1967; self-published.

Ontario highway map; 1990; Province of Ontario.

Above is a roadmap which shows some railway lines - as all proper roadmaps should. You can follow the line of the ONR from North Bay (in the bottom right corner) and trace its route to Cochrane (in the top left corner). 

After scrolling over to the second map segment, farther to the right, you can continue from Cochrane to 'Tidewater!' at Moosonee. 

Ontario Northland Railway employee timetable; June 5 1977; ONR.

The map above - from an employee timetable - shows the branch lines schematically.

Initially, and through ONR history, these branch lines were much more important to the railway than ... '_ _ _ _ water!'.

At this point, let's deal with the 800 pound moose in the room. Moose Factory was NOT the place where antlers were bolted onto the latest model of moose. The Hudson's Bay Company had two kinds of agents acting for them in the new world - traders and factors. A factor-y was where one or more factors could be found.

Canada Descriptive Atlas; Minister of Immigration & Colonization; 1933; Govt of Canada.

In the 1930s, the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway was building toward its seaport - mainly as a Depression relief measure.

You can see the T&NO Railway line by scrolling far to the right.

This atlas from the Government of Canada shows the various riches to be found in the northern Ontario hinterland. WP (dev and undev) is water power. A northern clay belt is often flat and good for agriculture ... if you can find a crop which tolerates a short growing season.

In Canada, it often seems that it was accepted practice that railways were built into the wilderness of the Canadian Shield kind of blindly. There would be lumber, pulpwood and perhaps pockets that were arable. However, these activities generated mainly seasonal traffic. To pay the year-round bills of a railway, one needed to find mineral riches. 

Fortunately, the T&NO ran into considerable mineral wealth as it was being built.

Another 'Canadian technique' used in the building and operation of the T&NO was to make it a crown corporation run by commissioners. Generally, the latter were from the private sector - rather than professional bureaucrats. The socialism of public funding (and the first debt taken on in the history of Ontario ... {but not Upper Canada: canals!}) kind of indicates that private money really wasn't interested in building blindly into the woods. It took 'vision' to do this.

Similarly, one can debate whether canals and wilderness railways benefitted citizens broadly. The capitalists who had a say in their building and operation often got more than a railway salary, a 'spinoff job' in a local hotel, or a nice steamboat ride out of their creations.

To spoil the ending, here is a current aerial view of the northern terminal area of the ONR. The railway townsite was built quite a distance from Google's blue saltwater.

The problem was silty, shifting sands - the same problem that caused the Hudson Bay Railway to abruptly reroute from Port Nelson to the mouth of the Churchill River. You can see how poorly drained and sluggish the nearby watercourses must be during most months of the year.

*  *  *

1993 Vacation Photos

By this time, I'd worn out my good camera and lenses and my life was so exciting
that I was content to use a snapshot camera on vacation.

Our first point of contact is the Temagami station of the ONR.

A snapshot camera is handy if you suddenly have to hang it out the window.

The southbound Northlander.

Above and below: Englehart, Ontario.

The Superintendent and train dispatchers have been here for much of the railway's history.

While I went through three good books on the T&NO/ONR, I could not find out when Englehart became the railway's operational headquarters. Nor could I find any reference to when the Automatic Block Signal system was installed on part of the main line. 

Engine 701 is a 4-6-2 built by the Canadian Locomotive Company in 1921.

Also at Englehart:

Extra gang riding car 1872 - built in 1919 by Pullman.

ONR caboose 110.

It is easy to pin this date down - it was the day Kim Campbell became

Prime Minister of Canada - June 25, 1993.

I remember this headframe as being behind our motel in Kirkland Lake.

... but I'm not certain.

*  *  *

Here, the sunset at this time of year is around 2125hr.

The line branching off to the left (at Swastika Junction)

meanders its way to Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec.

This is the station at Swastika.

This is 'why' ...

Swastika - visit for the name, photograph for the historical significance.

For some, this ancient symbol was lucky.

However, some others found that it didn't bring them good luck after 1941.

This company still has an internet presence in 2020.

It does mineral assays.

*  *  *

Above and below: Iroquois Falls

Engine 70 is a 3-truck Shay which was built by Lima in 1926.

Close to Cochrane the next morning - a moose.

The two of us hadn't travelled together along the former National Transcontinental route and that was our main reason for straying from our usual Lake Superior CPR routing. Evidence of the NTR will appear in the next post in this series.

*  *  *

Here are some historical photos and references,
in chronological order ...

Harvest from the Rock; Philip Smith; 1986; Macmillan.

Above: Gowganda silver camp, near Cobalt - 1909.

You can see how accessible this wide and deep vein of silver was - no deep shafts were sunk in this case. You can also see the relatively primitive state of mining technology and worker safety.

The Ontario Northland Railway; Patrick C Dorin; 1987; Superior. Gift from E Gagnon.

A southbound passenger train at Cobalt 1914.

Atlas of Canada; 1915; Government of Canada.

A map from my favourite (but hard to scan) government atlas from 1915, showing the railway territories. The pink T&NO territory stops at Cochrane at this point. The pink territory south of North Bay belongs to the Grand Trunk Railway.

*  *  *

Below, the pages from the 1930s T&NO employee timetable are from:

Steam into Wilderness; Albert Tucker; 1978; Fitzhenry and Whiteside.

*  *  *

Why the Temiskaming & Northern Ontario changed its name - effective in 1946 ...

from: The New World Atlas; 1923; Collier.

from: Steam into Wilderness; Albert Tucker; 1978; Fitzhenry and Whiteside.

Arthur H Cavanagh was Chairman and general manager of the railway.
You may have noticed his name on the cover of the 'shinplaster' timetable, above.

The Texas & New Orleans was thoroughly absorbed into the Southern Pacific 

in the 1916 Official Guide - to the point that it is almost seen only in the index.

You might be sceptical that this was still a big problem in the 1940s.

*  *  *

The Ontario Northland Railway as shown in the June 1969 Official Guide:

*  *  *

from: The Polar Bear Express; Robert F Legget; November 1976 Canadian Rail; CRHA.

Left to right: Engine house, Polar Bear Express, Moosonee Station.

Facing timetable north.

Facing timetable south in March 2019, Google maps image.
The Moosonee station is beyond the green building.
Notice the roof of the Google photography vehicle:
'I heart Canada'

*  *  *

For more on the ONR, 

check out my brother Eric's two-part article 

on the Northlander. 

ONR - The Northlander

ONR - The Northlander 1994, Part 2