On this day 30 years ago, Canadian National Railway is given permission by the Canadian Transportation Agency to abandoned its Graham Subdivision, which operated between Conmee Junction (northwest of Thunder Bay) and Superior Junction (east of Sioux Lookout) in northwestern Ontario.

This line was unique and had a very colourful history. It was constructed by the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway between 1905 and 1908 and was intended to provide access to Lake Superior for the Grand Trunk Pacific/National Transcontinental network. It was an anomaly as it was a GTP line, but connected to the NTR side of the transcontinental line and thus became intertwined in the story of multiple companies. In the early years, it went through a dizzying series of name changes:

1908 Grand Trunk Pacific Lake Superior Division

1915 Canadian Government Railways Fort William & Raith Subdivisions

1919 Canadian National Railways Fort William & Raith Subdivisions

1919 Canadian National Railways Lake Superior Subdivision (October)

1923 Canadian National Railways Graham Subdivision

1924 Canadian National Railways Crest & Graham Subdivisions

1925 Canadian National Railways Crest, Raith & Quorn Subdivisions

1926 Canadian National Railways Raith & Quorn Subdivisions

1931 Canadian National Railways Graham Subdivision

Although it saw considerable traffic at times in its history, business had declined considerably by the early 1990s. The last regular train ran in November 1992 and the line sat idle until the abandonment approval in May 1994.

Today the right of way is owned by Wagner Forest Management. One of the most popular sites for visitors is the Flett Tunnel, located a short distance west of Flett Station and approximately 50 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay. The photos show the western portal of the tunnel in 1909 and 1996 respectively.