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I can feel it in the air…

05 Feb

It’s coming. It might not be completely discernible right now, but it’s on its way. I can’t wait. Not that I don’t like things right now, but it’s a much more preferable scenario. I’m sure I’m not the only one; there are many like me who are waiting. It’s even been foretold that its arrival is imminent.

Confused? If you’re not, you know I’m talking about spring. Yes, glorious spring. A time when the weather warms, the snow recedes and my yard smells like dog crap. As I gaze out the window I just know it won’t be long now. Even though it was a balmy -10C today (-19C with the wind), I know that soon enough we will be reaching positive temperatures on a consistent basis. The days are getting longer and the sun is getting warmer. It hasn’t been a particularly terrible winter (aside from the -38 a few weeks ago), but I’m just ready for it to be over. Over the last number of years February and March have been very warm, so I hope that trend continues.

So with the beginning of February comes the beginning of a new semester. New classes, new faces and a fresh start; this job is always about change. It’s only day two, but things are looking good so far. My Grade 11’s are a nice bunch and it will be a great way to start the day. My Gr.10 Applied has lots of rambunctious boys, so they will be a handful at times, but I’m sure the content will keep them interested.

I have been spending a lot of time preparing for my Gr.12 World Issues eLearning course in the last few days. I certainly have a much better handle on what I want to do, but it still is a big challenge wrapping my head around this new medium. The course material is all online, but as the teacher I need to decide how much of each unit/topic to cover and what assignments the students will complete. As they say preparation is 90% of the battle, but in this case there is going to be a lot of “on the fly” learning.

Even though work is a little less hectic, as usual there are still a ton of things going on. Next Thursday we leave for the Glazier coaching clinic in Minneapolis and there are many things still left to take care of. It will be a nice diversion though, a little football to get my mind off school and railway stuff. Looking forward to it as well; it is a great coaching development opportunity. On the Friday morning there are 3 back-to-back sessions on the 3-5 defence, which is the scheme that our team runs. I should get a lot of good stuff from that. This clinic is also a nice program builder, as we have a chance to learn together as a staff.

Tomorrow I have an executive meeting of the Silver Mountain Historical Society. We will be ratifying the new constitution for the society, which is the next step in the process to becoming officially incorporated. Unfortunately I’ve hit a bit of a slow patch with the whole Leeblain thing, as I am waiting on some action from the Ontario government. I’ve never worked with any type of bureaucracy, so I guess I need to understand that all of this takes time and things don’t happen overnight. However my plan is to be persistent, as keeping the pressure on will remind people that this is an important issue.

Now speaking of Leeblain, my biggest railway news of the week is the upcoming presentation at Gunflint Lodge on Saturday. I spent most of my free time in the past week preparing for this event and I really hope I am ready to go. It’s always tough figuring out what to include and what to leave out; I want to stick to one hour so I hope I don’t go overboard.

In the morning I have an on-air interview with WTIP radio in Grand Marais to talk about the presentation. This is the second interview I’ve done with these wonderful folks; the first was this past summer when I did the talk at the Chik-Wauk Museum. It’s such a great way to promote the event and my work, but just like Saturday I will be a bit nervous when the time comes.

I certainly wish I could spend more time at Gunflint than the one night that I will have. I could have stayed Friday as well, but with the trip to Minneapolis the following week I didn’t want to be away from the family for two weekends in a row. However I know I will make the most of the time and take in everything that I can. If I’m lucky I will be able to do this again at some point in the future and maybe I’ll be able to stay longer. I’ll be sure to take lots of pictures in any event!

Gunflint Lake, May 2011.

Gunflint Lake, May 2011.

Well, I do need to get rolling. I will definitely have a lot to say next week. Until then…

 
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Posted by on February 5, 2013 in History, Miscellaneous, Railway, Research, Writing

 

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I must be doing something right…

29 Jan

So I just checked the counter on my “dashboard” and I have just eclipsed the 5,000 views mark for this blog since I first created it in November 2011. Impressive…most impressive! I had to throw that one in there, since I am wearing a Darth Vader t-shirt today (Ethan and Noah’s favourite, the one where Darth is walking an AT-AT instead of a dog). Anyway, a big thank you goes out to all of you, the readers, who have taken the time to peruse my often witty, sometimes boring ramblings. Most of you are fellow Canucks, some of you are our neighbours to the south and a few are from far away places such as Vietnam, Jersey and Malta. I hope you return for more entertaining, insightful musings.

Since I am a bona fide literary heavyweight, I guess I need to make sure that this week’s installment is packed full of great material, both delicious and nutritious! As per usual, it has been a crazy week, with tons of things going on and it doesn’t appear that it will change anytime soon.

So I’m currently sitting here watching my Grade 12’s finish their exam, fitting in some sentences while I circulate and answer questions. This is my last exam, which means that by tomorrow all my marks will be in and another weight will be lifted off my shoulders. Thursday and Friday are both PD (Professional Development) days, filled with meetings, information sessions and preparations for second semester. At least we get a chance to go out for lunch on those days, which is a nice change of pace.

I do have a bit of apprehension heading into the new semester, since I am teaching my first ever eLearning class. eLearning is a fairly new program whereby course content is delivered online using a system called the Learning Management System (LMS). While I’ve never taught in this medium, I’m sure I can handle the technology portion just fine. I am a bit concerned about the fact that I’ve never done the course before, which is Grade 12 World Issues (geography). I’m sure I will be fine, but it is always a challenge teaching something for the first time and figuring out exactly how to work it. I’ll find out soon enough!

Remember last week when I wrote about the absolutely frigid temperatures, the likes of which I’ve never seen before? Well today it was 39 degrees warmer at +1C with some slushy, wet snow…this weather rollercoaster is absolutely insane! However the weekend was gorgeous, and coupled with the recent snowfall, allowed me to finally get up the mountain for the first time this year. It felt good to get out into the fresh air, especially after being cooped up in the house because of the cold weather. The only “sore” point was the fact that my body didn’t appreciate the 7k walk and 700 foot vertical climb. My legs were pretty stiff trying to get out of bed the next morning!

Looking north on the trail, January 2013.

Looking north on the trail, January 2013.

Loch Lomond, January 2013.

Loch Lomond, January 2013.

Descending the big hill, January 2013.

Descending the big hill, January 2013.

It has been another very busy week on the railway front once again. There has been some movement with the Silver Mountain Historical Society, as we press toward the incorporation of our group. I’m trying to get some action going on a logo for the society, which will help us with marketing once the incorporation goes through.

In my last installment I wrote about several photographs that I received from Library and Archives Canada and my attempts to identify them. I’m happy to report that one photo was most likely taken at Whitefish Lake, where the Snowden Brothers operated a logging business. Another appears to be a construction camp at the east end of North Lake. The third shows a locomotive, which has added another piece to our ongoing investigation of the Black Auntie.

I did spend a bit more time on Ancestry trying to gather more information about the railway management. I did make some headway, but my principal task of locating photos has proved very frustrating. I wish there was just a magic place that had all the pictures I was looking for!

Most my interesting piece of news from the past week was an email I received from Gunflint Lake. If my article on Leeblain is selected for publication, I thought it would be important to have a detailed map of what the site looked like. My biggest problem is that the only map of the area was done nearly 20 years after the town was established. I needed some expert help, so I contacted long-time resident and current Gunflint Lodge owner Bruce Kerfoot. Bruce’s mother Justine (who I was fortunate to meet in 1997), first arrived at Gunflint in the late 1920’s and became a legend in the Boundary Waters area. I met Bruce back in 2011 at the Gunflint Green-up and I was hoping that he could help me out.

In response to my inquiry, Bruce sent me a map that completely shocked me. I was aware that there were several buildings at the site, but Bruce’s map showed the locations of 8 structures on top of the station beside the grade. Unfortunately this information has provided me with yet another mystery; if there were so many structures at Leeblain, why are they not on the 1911 Boundary Map? My theory is that some buildings, such the trading post/hotel, were shifted to Gunflint Narrows. I can’t wait until the spring so I can get out to Leeblain and do some exploring!

Leeblain, 1931 Boundary map (surveyed 1911).

Leeblain, 1931 Boundary map (surveyed 1911).

Speaking of Leeblain, next weekend is my presentation at Gunflint Lodge. Things are rapidly coming together and I guess I need to get my butt in gear and finish the slideshow. Another busy week ahead…what’s new!

Anyway, I need to get rolling. This coming Sunday is Superbowl, so I’m sure there will lots of news to talk about. Until then…

 
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Posted by on January 29, 2013 in Hiking, History, Miscellaneous, Railway, Research, Writing

 

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So this is what Siberia feels like

22 Jan

If you’re old enough, you might remember hearing references being made to Siberia i.e. being sent to Siberia, or how cold it was in Siberia. Since I was born in the 70’s, I certainly have vivid recollections its mention. The Cold War was on and the Russians were the bad guys; I heard all about how they sent people to prison in Siberia and they never came back (or maybe that was just my mom threatening me). Since I had never been there, all I could do was envision what it was like. I imagined a cold, forbidding place, far removed from any vestiges of civilization. Today reminded me a lot of those younger days, but that’s a story for later.

So here we are in the last few days of classes before exams, which start on Thursday. I still haven’t completely caught up on my marking, but I’m getting there. Unfortunately I’ll be back to square one with three sets of exams and two sets of culminating activities to mark soon enough. Oh well, I guess that’s why they pay me the big bucks right?

The crazy thing in all of this is that the next semester has not started yet and it’s lining up to be even busier, at least in the beginning. I already have four days that I’m out of the classroom in February alone. One is for eLearning orientation (yes, I am doing an online class), one is for open house, another is for a department head meeting and the last is for our trip to the Glazier coaching clinic in Minneapolis (yes, we’re going back this year). I generally hate to be out of the classroom; it does mess with the continuity and it is more work for me to be away than to be there. However, most of it has to do with the fact that I am complete control freak with my classes and I like to do things my way!

Anyway, you’re probably wondering what’s with the title. If you guess I was alluding to the weather, you are correct. Remember a few weeks ago when it was +7C and rained? Ya, well that’s a distant memory. The last several days have been some of the coldest I’ve ever experienced; there might have been colder, but I don’t remember. Without a doubt it’s the coldest it’s ever been since I got married. How bad it is? Well I’ll tell ya.

So it started snowing on Friday…finally! And thank God for that, because things could have gotten ugly without any snow cover on the ground. It snowed all day Saturday and stopped in the evening. Sunday was pretty chilly, which made snow blowing the driveway quite wonderful. However, the worst was yet to come!

Falling snow, January 2013.

Falling snow, January 2013.

Yesterday was cold, damn cold. When I left work to pick up the kids, my truck almost didn’t start. It had been sitting in the parking lot exposed to the sub -30C wind-chill all day. On the second try it went, but felt like a block of ice the entire drive. The thermometer never moved from -28C and it was 3:30 in the afternoon! The temperature continued to drop, and by the time I went to bed it was -38C with the wind.

One of my morning routines immediately after getting up is to check the outside temperature (the wireless sensor is on the northwest side of the house). I was shocked to see it display -37.2C, by far the coldest I’ve ever recorded at my house in 10 years (it bottomed out at -37.8 by 7:00). When I got to work, the wind-chill was sitting at -45C! That’s kinda one of those unfathomable numbers…I may have stated earlier today that it was “stupid” cold. Funny thing is that it does even come close to breaking the all-time record, which was set at -41.1C. Brrrr!

Early morning temperature, January 2013.

Early morning temperature, January 2013.

-45 with the wind, January 2013.

-45 with the wind, January 2013.

Well, all this frigid weather means that there’s a lot of time spent inside, and that gave me chance to do some extra railway stuff. Most of it involved research, but I did do a little work in preparation for my upcoming presentation at Gunflint Lodge. The event has been confirmed for February 9th at 7:30pm (CST) at the Gunflint Lodge Conference Center. I’m pretty excited about the presentation and especially that I get to go to Gunflint to do it. Now I just need to convince my wife to come with me and enjoy a little break from the kids!

It had been a while since I stuck my nose in the computer and did some railway stuff other than writing. I always love the rush I get when I’m on the hunt…you’re still talking about historical research right Dave? Yup, and call me a nerd, but I find it exciting! Whether I’m out in the field or following a trail on the computer, nothing beats trying to locate the next clue. This is why this project is so amazing; I never get tired of discovering new things. It will be a sad day when I finish all my research.

Anyway, there have been a lot of great revelations. I’m not sure what started it all, but I did spend a lot of time looking at things on ancestry.ca. That site has been absolutely phenomenal for my line of work. Well worth the money. I think it started with my thinking about Leeblain, and specifically the customs house that operated at the eastern end of Gunflint Lake from 1903 to 1909. I looked up the two gentlemen who ran it, then moved on to Archie Bishop who owned a sawmill on North Lake circa 1911.

Somehow or other I ended up with a census record showing that certain key railway people were all boarding together in Port Arthur in 1891 (Alex Middleton, Richard Hazelwood and Ross Thompson). That then led me into a search of these gentlemen and then some. It was at this point I made interesting discovery.

George Middleton (Alexander’s brother), was a primary contractor of the railway along with prominent area politician James Conmee. While the railway was being constructed, the contractors had control of the line, and so Alexander served two terms as president (and chief engineer) in 1890 to 1891. He was eventually succeeded in his role as chief engineer by Richard Hazelwood. Hazelwood as it turns out, thanks to Ancestry, is George’s brother-in-law. Nothing like a bit of nepotism!

My next mission is to try and track down pictures of these people, which doesn’t look to be an easy task. Maybe Ancestry will come to the rescue again…fingers crossed! Speaking of pictures, I just received three pictures I ordered from Library and Archives Canada today. One is of a locomotive, which may help in solving our engine mystery. The others show a construction camp and workers loading logs; now I’ve got more work to do trying to figure out where they were taken!

Anyway, time to finish my marking. Hopefully be next week it will be a tad bit warmer. Until then…

 
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Posted by on January 22, 2013 in History, Miscellaneous, Railway, Research, Writing

 

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Lazy Mayans, burnt tongues and Christmas chaos.

24 Dec

Well, since you’re currently reading this post, you too have survived the most recent end of the world-apocalyptic prediction. Yup, those Mayans were sure on the ball; maybe they were procrastinators and ran out of time (ha-ha) to finish their calendar? Could be a plausible explanation. Not like anyone else has ever put things off until the last minute and turned out a crappy final product. So there, the Mayans were not wrong, they were just lazy…the world according to Dave!

Anyway, it is the night before Christmas and the house is finally quiet. I guess it could be worse as I could have been at work today. Yes, I am officially on holidays, though the craziness of the last few days doesn’t make it seem like it. I was very glad when Friday rolled around last week as it meant the end of a very long haul that started in September. It is typically a very fun day for obvious reasons; we teachers probably like it more than the kids!

In the last number of years it has become tradition for me to cook pancakes for my period one class to reward them for their efforts with the city Christmas cheer campaign. Although it is a bit of work on my part, I know they appreciate it (I normally make pancakes from scratch, but that’s not possible in this case). Hopefully I can keep this up for the next 15 years!

Now the only black spot on that day was another food related incident with my Grade 12’s. They got me again! As we prepared to leave the class for the annual Christmas assembly, one my students casually offered me a jelly bean. I really had to try it. I thought, “It’s a jelly bean, it can’t be that bad!” As I bit into it, I was immediately greeted by the taste of…orange. Perfect right? Unfortunately that was suddenly replaced by a searing sensation on my tongue. I had just eaten an Ass Kickin’ jelly bean, wonderfully flavoured with habanero peppers. My God! Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice…

So as I’ve already mentioned, the last few days have been a bit hectic, but since tomorrow is Christmas, I’m hoping that things will slow down in a few days. Today we had the family over for dinner and of course it was non-stop excitement. My wonderfully wife did a big chunk of the heavy lifting so it could have been worse for me. The boys are tucked in for the night and Santa is on his way. Time to relax a bit!

Once things settle down, I hope to spend time working on some railway stuff. I’ve decided to put the Historical Society on the back-burner for a week or two so I can get to a few things that I’ve neglected for a while. One of my principle tasks is to get some writing done on the Leeblain article.

I did spend quite a bit of time last night working on it last night. It actually felt really good to immerse myself into some research and writing again. Leeblain is one of those great what if’s in the story of the railway. Over the last few years I’ve spent quite a bit of time there and I often find myself looking around trying to envision what that spot would have looked like had the railway succeeded and the town grown into the metropolis that it was supposed to be. Certainly it would have transformed the Gunflint Lake area.

Tonight I read my son Ethan the “Polar Express” as his bedtime story. I wrote about this topic a year ago and I can remember my words regarding trains rolling along the line in winter. Tonight my thoughts were of Leeblain, and what it would have looked like nearly 120 years ago. What was Christmas like there in 1893? The optimism for great things must have been palpable. The experience of celebrating this event at a station/hotel in such a remote location must have been memorable, although if it was as cold as it is right now (-22C with the wind) it would not have been very toasty.

Leeblain, August 2012.

Leeblain, August 2012.

Anyway, I’m pretty pooped so I think it’s time to wrap it up. Big day tomorrow…can’t wait to see what Santa brought me! More great thoughts next week. Until then…Merry Christmas!

 
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Posted by on December 24, 2012 in History, Miscellaneous, Research, Writing

 

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Dreaming of a brown Christmas?

04 Dec

So the $64,000 question is where did all the snow go? Last week I wrote about the big dump of snow we received quite suddenly; fast forward a week and it’s gone just as fast. The abnormally warm temperatures we experienced over the last few days is the obvious culprit…we don’t usually get +8C in December. There’s no global warming right? Anyway, the big downside to all of this is that we’ve returned to that dreary, blah landscape of brown. I’m not the biggest fan of winter, but I must admit that things do look better covered in white. And besides, snow just puts me more in the Christmas mood, especially since the big day is only three weeks away!

So, other the lack of a white blanket in Thunder Bay, what’s new Dave? Well, to quote my usual response, “same ole’ crap!” Not that life is that uninteresting or negative, it’s just that I’m tired. No, not the I need a nap tired, but just that I’m a bit burnt tired. Time for a breather…a break if you will. And coincidentally enough Christmas break is just around the corner (well, 13 days from now to be exact)! As I’ve mentioned on several occasions already, I am definitely looking forward to the vacation. Things are not entirely sane right now and it will be nice to have a few less things on my plate.

What is it keeping my so busy you ask? The most obvious answer to that question is work. Despite my desire for a respite, I still have a job to do. This is usually the time of the semester that my marking tends to pile up and my illness a few weeks back did nothing but exacerbate the situation. I am behind! Marking is like this never-ending battle (well, it technically does end at the close of a semester); just when you seem to have gotten yourself caught up, you’re almost instantaneously swamped again. I guess I have another 15 years of treading water…cheers to me!

Anywho, the craziness with work has made it a bit of a challenge to get through all my railway related projects. My free time has once again, like it has been the last number of weeks, been dominated by preparations for the Silver Mountain Historical Society incorporation. Things are a little more real now since the 9th is this weekend. There is still so much to do! I think Shelley and I have nailed down the agenda, and now I’ve begun work on the actual presentation. I have part of the slideshow done for the meeting, and I’ve started work on a video for one of our principal priorities, the preservation of the North-Gunflint Lake corridor.

As the date approaches I am becoming increasingly nervous. Preparation is not the concern; as a teacher, I learned a long time ago that preparation is a critical element in the success or failure of anything. I think it’s just who I am. As a bit of a perfectionist, I do put a lot of pressure on myself when it comes to things like this…I just want things to come off as good as possible. I get the same way before football games…I routinely have to trot off to the port-a-potty on the field even though I went before we left the school. I’m sure I’ll be fine, but guaranteed the butterflies will be swirling before I start.

All the preparations for the meeting over the last few weeks has not taken every minute of my time, as I have found a few spare moments to do some other things as well. I did manage to get another vintage video up on YouTube, this time of the area around the Gravel Lakes. The Gravel Lakes are a chain of four lakes stretching for 2.5km from Sun Hill to Gravel Lake Station (mile 52); they are one of the most “interesting” sections of the railway. When I say “interesting” I am obvious being very facetious, as the Gravel Lakes are probably one of the worst pieces of grade on the entire line.

Rail bed, Gravel Lake I, July 2010.

Rail bed, Gravel Lake I, July 2010.

Rail bed, Gravel Lake II, July 2010.

Rail bed, Gravel Lake II, July 2010.

This entire stretch lies just at, or even below the water level of the lakes. It could be that the level of the lakes has risen in the past 120 years, but most likely the grade has settled into the swampy, muskeg topography of the area. If you’re not familiar with muskeg, just give it a Google. In his book “The National Dream,” noted author Pierre Berton wrote of the challenges of building railways through the Canadian Shield. He stated that many times entire sections of seemingly solid line had to be re-laid as they had settled into the muskeg; one had to be done seven times!

Ties, Gravel Lake II, July 2010.

Ties, Gravel Lake II, July 2010.

I first walked this section back in 1994, and was completely horrified (maybe that’s a bit strong) by what I found. I even got lost at one point, as I could not believe that it was the railway winding its way submerged through the last lake; it in fact was! I returned in 1997 to grab some video (I could have sworn I was there in ’95) and found that the water levels had receded somewhat. This is the footage I posted to YouTube.

Rail bed with ties, Gravel Lake III, July 2010.

Rail bed with ties, Gravel Lake III, July 2010.

I was back in the area two years ago in the summer of 2010. This section is interesting in the fact that because it is rather swampy, not many people have travelled it since the rails were removed. There are stories floating around of the locomotive engineers setting the engine on a slow speed and walking beside it on a particularly bad area because there was a tendency to derail. There are others of the train men becoming adept at coaxing the train back on the tracks because it would derail so often. I swear these legends speak about the Gravel Lakes!

Rail bed, Gravel Lake IV, July 2010.

Rail bed, Gravel Lake IV, July 2010.

Anyway, my journey a few years ago was to gather GPS data for the grade as it is difficult to plot its location due to the settling. I found that the water levels were even lower than in previous years, revealing things such as ties that I had never seen before. Many of the ties still had spikes in them! I would imagine that after sitting in the ground for so long, and the area being so wet, that they just left them in place. I took many pictures, but sadly I did not have my video camera with me. Therefore I will be returning to the Gravel Lakes to do just that, maybe even this summer.

Ties with spikes, Gravel Lake IV, July 2010.

Ties with spikes, Gravel Lake IV, July 2010.

Anyway, time to call it quits. I’ll definitely have a lot to say after Sunday’s meeting. Until then…

 
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Posted by on December 4, 2012 in History, Miscellaneous, Research, Writing

 

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Of mountains and railways…

16 Jan

So, what’s with the title Dave? Well, it’s sort of a play on the Steinbeck novel “Of Mice and Men,” which I haven’t read by the way. I don’t really read much outside of history (go figure), mostly because I don’t have time to with all the other stuff I need to read. Anyway, I was stuck for a title and that just popped into my head. I think it’s appropriate though; just as Of Mice and Men was based on Steinbeck’s experiences, this blog was talks about my past week. So, there is a decent explanation!

Well, since I have now opened the proverbial can of worms, I guess I should elaborate on the events of the past seven days. It did take me a few days to get back in the swing of things after returning to work, and I was certainly feeling drained by Friday. I was struggling to clear up that backlog of marking, which by the way I’m still not all the way through (I can see the light at the end of the tunnel though). Saturday was our second cross-country ski lesson, which was a bit more active than the first. The kids got to experience going down a hill, and so did Dad! However, going back up the hill was interesting, especially since I didn’t have poles to help me out. My glutes were feeling it a bit later that day.

Sunday afternoon found me and boys back on the trail up the mountain, determined to surpass last week’s distance. So we headed up another level on the mountain, which unfortunately has some tough sections. One area, which is too rough and narrow for snowmobiles (most of the trails are used by both hikers and snowmobilers), includes a 250 foot vertical rise in 1100 feet. That’s a thigh-crushing, hamstring-tightening, lung-popping 23% grade…how’s that for a description! Trying to get two little boys up that is not easy, nor is the fact that I could stand to lose 10 pounds and am somewhat out of shape. However, the view makes it all worth it, as does the time I get to spend with my sons. I really hope they grow up to appreciate and enjoy the outdoors as much as I do. I’m already mentally planning where I’d like to take them on my personal day in June…Leeblain comes to mind :)

As for railway related events, I did not get to the article as I expected to (I wasn’t holding out a lot of hope). However, there were some interesting developments. On Wednesday I received an email from the Chik-Wauk Museum, which is located at the end of the Gunflint Trail (just across the border in northeastern Minnesota in case anyone is wondering). They wanted to know if I was interested in doing a presentation there at some point in the summer; of course I said “yes.” It’s been quite a few years since I done a public lecture, probably dating back to 2000. In a four-year span I gave a series of presentations on the railway (twice), mining and logging at the Paipoonge Museum (now known as the Duke Hunt Museum). There is no date yet, but hopefully I will know by the end of March. I must say that I’m excited; it love to talk about the railway and I know there will be a receptive audience. I also relish the opportunity to bring a little Canadiana to our neighbours to the south and describe how closely related our histories often are.

My second development was another contact in the ongoing Alexander McEwen saga. I received an email from a kind lady across the pond in Britain, who as it turns out is the great-granddaughter of McEwen’s mistress. Wow, quite the interesting tidbit! While she was not able to offer any additional information, it is another piece of the puzzle and might help me get to my goal of finding a picture of him.

Digging through my files for his information led me to a few other things on the weekend. First I continued with my article filing that I mentioned in my previous post, which unfortunately I did not get entirely through (damn US railroads!). From that I spun into looking at the book chapters and a new chapter I added regarding the sale of the railway in 1898-99. As I looked at the file, I really wished I could get to Toronto sometime in the near future. There is a file at the Archives of Ontario on the sale of the railway that has some really important information (I looked at it in 1999, but I need a second go-around). In the meantime I think I will email the archives at CIBC to see if they have any documents related to the money loaned to the railway in 1890 and how it factored into the sale. Wow, I have some work to do, never mind working on the article!

Until next week…

 
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Posted by on January 16, 2012 in Hiking, Miscellaneous, Research, Writing

 

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The Polar Express meets LMFAO

12 Dec

What does a children’s book about a train that takes kids to the North Pole on Christmas have to do with an electro pop band from California? Well, nothing really. Talk about two completely unrelated topics; however, they are the things that are currently on my mind. Surely you jest Dave! No, I haven’t started reading kids books on a whim, nor have I changed my musical tastes (LMFAO is not at the top of my playlist on my Ipod or Blackberry). I’ll explain.

The football highlight video finally made it on to the web (for all of an hour) after I made a few tweaks this weekend that were wholeheartedly embraced by the players. This year, the team (or at least the offensive pretty boys…can you tell I coach defence?) adopted the LMFAO song “Sexy and I Know It” as their motto. They even named our offensive spread package after a line in the song, “Wiggle Wiggle.” So, at the behest of the coaches, I added this song to the end of the video. The words have been stuck in my head since. Unfortunately all my efforts have come to naught; when I uploaded the video, the audio was disabled because of a copyright issue. So I deleted it and I’m back to the drawingboard looking for new music.

As for the Polar Express, I’ve been thinking a lot about one of the images in the book that I saw while I was reading it to my son Ethan one night. The picture was of the train, pulled by a steam engine, passing through a forest of conifers as it picks up children on its way to the North Pole. It was snowing and dark, and it had an almost mystical sense to it. That image made me think of the railway, and something I seldom envisioned. Most of my exploration of the PD has taken place in the summer, mostly because it makes it a lot more difficult to see things with snow on the ground. I’ve often found myself picturing what it would have looked like in the area that I am exploring when the trains were still running. The image from the book made me think of a forested and remote place, and my mind was immediately drawn to the boundary waters of North and Gunflint Lakes. I visualized a train, similar to the one in the book, gliding along the snow-covered tracks in those early years (1893-94ish) in what was a very lonely, but probably beautiful and breathtaking place. It must have been an amazing sight and I would have loved to see that!

Speaking of the railway, things having been plugging along. The research continues unabated, though nothing substantive in the last few days. Last week my investigation on Alexander McEwen (yes, apparently this is the spelling of his name) continued. I did find some bio material of his life in a June 1891 obituary, but I’m amazed that there is not more information out there on a man who is supposed to have been such a big investor. I posted on Ancestry looking for help, which netted the following response; “type Alexander McEwen 1831-1891 photographs into Google and you’ll get tons of hits.” Ah, thanks, but I posted because I couldn’t find anything on the net! Well, hopefully my plea turns up something.

As for the article, I’ve started clicking a few keys;  I’m officially up to a whopping 128 words! I must say it was a bit of a struggle. I guess I need to spend some time refining my outline to make it more specific. Maybe that will help me focus my thoughts since I have little wiggle room with the word count. It’s really tough trying to figure out what I NEED to include and what I can leave out. Makes for some tough decisions. Hopefully I’ll have time this week to write a bit more.

 
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Posted by on December 12, 2011 in Hiking, Miscellaneous, Research, Writing

 

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