, in
2003 .]]
The ('''ONR''',
AAR Reporting Mark s ONT, ONTA) is a
Canadian Railway and provincial
Crown Corporation . Its north-south mainline has a southern terminus at
North Bay , passing through
Cochrane , and a northern terminus at
Moosonee , on the south shore of
James Bay - all in its namesake province of
Ontario . An east-west secondary mainline connects
Calstock (near
Hearst ) with Cochrane and a line extends from
Swastika (south of Cochrane) into the neighbouring province of
Quebec where it terminates at
Rouyn-Noranda . The railway's forty
Kilometre s of track in Quebec are operated by a
Subsidiary , the Nipissing Central Railway.
Originally built to develop the
Lake Timiskaming and
Lake Nipissing areas, this railway soon became a major factor in the economic growth of the province. After decades of hard construction through the
Canadian Shield it reached James Bay in
1932 . While blasting the route through the shield,
Geologist s discovered vast deposits of valuable
Mineral s such as
Gold ,
Silver ,
Copper and
Nickel . The railway also made it possible to exploit the vast
Timber Resource s of
Northern Ontario . The importance of the ONR is witnessed by the vast increase in mineral exploration and exploitation, giving rise to the valuable mining stocks on the
Toronto Stock Exchange and indirectly leading to
Southern Ontario 's economic boom during the
1970s .
The railway was incorporated as the ''Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway'' on
March 17 ,
1902 , by an act of the
Ontario Parliament , the
Temiskaming And Northern Ontario Railway Act . The railway was to be a provincial Crown corporation overseen by the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway Commission. Construction on the railway started in
1903 , and reached
New Liskeard , in the Lake Timiskaming area, by
1905 . As it passed by Long Lake, near the 103 mile marker, the largest silver rush in Canada was sparked by workers looking for trees for railway ties. The town of
Cobalt, Ontario grew out of the fortunes of silver taken from the grounds. The railway reached
Englehart in
1906 , and Cochrane in
1909 . In the next few years, several branch lines were built.
In
1921 , construction on a line north to James Bay was started. In
1923 , the new
Conservative Premier of Ontario,
Howard Ferguson , halted further construction, stating that it would be unprofitable. For four years the terminus of the line remained at
Fraserdale , near
Abitibi Canyon , where a
Hydroelectric Dam was being built on the
Abitibi River . Between
1928 and
1930 the railway was extended north at a slow pace. The pace of construction was quickened in
1930 as a make-work project due to the depression. The extension to James Bay was opened on
July 15 ,
1932 . The terminus of the railway was at a point at the mouth of the
Moose River near the old trading post of
Revillon Frères . It was named
Moosonee , from the
Cree meaning "at the moose".
A name change for the railway was first proposed in
1942 by
Arthur Cavanagh , who was chairman of the commission between
1940 and
1944 . He noted that it would have the advantage of associating the railway with the province, not just with the
District Of Timiskaming . A name change would also avoid confusion with the
Texas And New Orleans Railway , which had the same initials. The Ontario railway would often have boxcars misdirected in the
United States , while receiving invoices that should have gone to
Texas . The railway's name was changed to the ''Ontario Northland Railway'' on
April 5 ,
1946 , when a bill amending the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway Act received assent.
Three new mines were opened in Northern Ontario in the 1950s and 1960s.
Sherman Mine in
Temagami was opened in
1955 ,
Adams Mine in
Kirkland Lake in
1963 , and
Kidd Creek Mine in Timmins in
1967 . The Ontario Northland Railway built spurs to serve these mines.
In
1993 ,
CN applied to abandon sections of its underused former
National Transcontinental Railway mainline across northern Ontario (it had previously abandoned the portion of the line between Calstock and
Nakina in
1988 ). The portion between Calstock and Cochrane was sold to ONR.
In
December 2000 , the Ontario government announced that it would be privatising the railway.
CN submitted a bid in
March 2002 , and in October the government gave them exclusive rights to negotiate a purchase of the railway. However, the deal fell through on
July 2 ,
2003 , over the government's insistence on job guarantees, and the railway remains in public hands. On
February 25 ,
2005 , CN and ONR signed a routing agreement in which ONR would transport CN's freight traffic that travels between Noranda and either Hearst or North Bay.
Ontario Northland is best known for the daily Polar Bear Express
{Link without Title} train which runs from Cochrane to Moosonee, bringing
Tourist s six days a week during the summer months. The train leaves Cochrane in the morning, stays for a few hours in Moosonee and returns in the evening. The name is something of a
Joke , because there are no polar bears in Moosonee (once in a while there are some nearby) and the train travels at no more than fifty miles per hour. There is also a "mixed" freight/passenger train affectionately called the ''
Little Bear ''. The mixed train transports passengers as well as supplies to Moosonee and the
Train will happily stop along its route to pick up or drop off
Canoe ing and hunting parties. The ''
Northlander '' is another ONR passenger train which runs partly on
CN tracks from
Toronto to
Cochrane via
North Bay . The ''Northlander'' makes one trip per day in each direction six days a week.
Ontario Northland also operates bus services and parcel between Toronto (from Yorkdale GO Terminal and locations in Central and Northern Ontario.
Some locations served by bus service:
ONTR operates the following bus types:
Connections with other railway systems are made as follows:
The railway currently owns around 25
Diesel Locomotive s, and roughly 700 items of
Rolling Stock . One of its more unusual pieces of rolling stock is a canoe car, which is in service in the summer, as part of the ''Little Bear'' passenger train. The car can hold up to eighteen canoes. Canoeists can put their canoe on this car as part of their baggage. It is the only known train car specifically designed for transporting
Canoe s and
Kayak s.
In
1977 , the railway purchased a
Trans-Europe Express train set retired from the
Dutch Railway s, for use on its ''Northlander'' train. However, the experiment was not entirely successful. The locomotives were scrapped in
1984 , although the passenger cars survived until the early nineties.
The ''Ontario Northland Transportation Commission'' was established as the ''Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway Commission'' in
1902 to oversee the railway. In
1946 , with the name change to the railway, the name of the commission was changed to the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission. The use of the word "transportation" instead of "railway" in the commission's name reflected a new, expanded mandate for the commission.
In
1937 , the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway Act was amended, enabling the Commission to operate
Bus es,
Truck s, and
Aeroplane s in order to carry passengers and freight. By
1938 the Commission had acquired 11 buses. In
1945 , the Commission acquired the Temagami and the Nipissing Navigation Companies. Legislation in 1946 allowed the Commission to acquire, construct, and operate
Boat s, as well as
Hotel s,
Tourist Resort s, and
Restaurant s. In
1960 it purchased a trucking firm, Star Transfer.
The railway is still operated today by the commission, which still runs various other transport enterprises, including a
Bus coach services along the
Toronto -
North Bay -
Timmins -
Hearst and
Toronto -
Sudbury -
Timmins corridors, and a telephone and telecommunications company (
Ontera ). The commission is an agency of the
Ontario government and is used to promote development in northern Ontario.
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