I hope you’ve been enjoying the live presentations on YouTube. If you have, or haven’t taken them in, the next one is ready to go!
Please join me tonight (Tuesday, May 5) at 7pm EST for Leeblain: The Ghost Town of Gunflint. It is an intriguing story of optimism and failure that revolves around the PAD&W Railway and the Paulson Mine in the pre-1900 Boundary Waters. There are many twists and “what ifs” in this obscure piece of area history.
Please click on the link below for more information.
First part of three videos featuring High Track, the old Canadian Northern grade between Stanley Junction and Kakabeka Falls. This 3.7-mile section along the Kaministiquia River was once part of the mainline from Port Arthur (Thunder Bay) to Winnipeg that was built from 1899 to 1902 (modern CN-Kashabowie Sub). Because of grade issues, it was abandoned in 1911 when the line was re-routed.
This part of High Track, located near the PAD&W bridge over the Kaministiquia, features a very interesting spot known as “The Oaks.” Watch and learn more.
Video of the former railway grade at Stanley, ON. Stanley was a major station on the PAD&W from 1889 to 1899. When Canadian Northern began construction on their line to Winnipeg, it became the junction point between the two lines. However, in 1912, a new route was opened from Twin City (MP 11.8) to Kakabeka which bypassed Stanley. Its importance declined, though it remained a station until 1938 when the PAD&W was abandoned.
A little sad posting this, but here it goes.
Unfortunately, the last piece of the PAD&W Railway has disappeared after 131 years. When the line was abandoned in 1938, all but 1.74 miles of the rails were removed. Those were left to service the brick plant in Rosslyn, but almost all them were torn-up in 1989. All that remained was a 2000-foot spur near Twin City Junction. They managed to hang on for another 30 years, but sadly lost their battle to time as well.
There is a small section still in the ground, but it is likely that they too will be taken up soon enough. This means that the bridge at Stanley/Harstone and the Silver Mountain Station are the last physical traces of the PAD&W left.
https://padwrr.com/info/chronology/
Available in 4K (though it might not be available due to YouTube lowering bandwidth worldwide).
Still looking for things to do during the COVID-19 situation? Why not join me for my next live presentation?
On Tuesday, April 21 at 7pm EST I’ll be presenting Rails into the Wilderness: The Port Arthur, Duluth & Western Railway. Hear where the story all starts with in this classic presentation. Learn about the early history of the PAD&W, the struggle to get the line constructed and how it all fell apart so quickly. This talk will feature a number of period and modern photographs.
Please click on the link below for more details.
Looking for something to do during the COVID-19 situation? Why not join me for a talk on a fascinating piece of area history?
Tonight, April 7th, I’ll be presenting Gunflint & Lake Superior: Ontario’s Private American Railroad live on YouTube. This is a very unique and obscure story that spans the two countries that share the Boundary Waters. The presentation contains some great information, as well as numerous period and modern photos. Click on the link below for more details.
Please join me if you can and feel feel to share this link with anyone who may be interested. The live stream starts at 7pm Eastern time.
Video from Saturday’s hike at Iron Range Hill, between Mileposts 59 and 60.5.
Iron Range Hill, between Sandstone and Iron Range Lakes, had the heaviest grade on the line at over 2 percent. There is a famous series of photographs taken of the hill in 1915-1916 showing a train stuck in deep snow on its way to North Lake (MP 71).
In the video I mistakenly refer to the Height of Land as the end of this section. In fact, the Height of Land was further down the line, west of Iron Range Lake. The top of IRH and the Height of Land have a similar elevation.
Video from Saturday’s hike at the former PAD&W bridge west of Stanley at MP 20.
This bridge is the last remaining structure on the railway, and was built in 1922. At the time, the line was part of Canadian National Railways, and was known as the North Lake Sub-Division or the North Lake Branch. It was the third bridge at this location; the original was constructed in 1889 and the first replacement installed in 1902. The last train rumbled over it in March 1938, 82 years ago this month. The whole line was abandoned in October of that year.
It was converted to vehicular use at some point afterwards (for sure before 1960) which it continues to faithfully do. The bridge is in need of some repair, which hopefully occurs soon to keep this great reminder of the railway operating well into the future.
Available in 4K (though it may not be available due to YouTube lowering bandwidth worldwide).
In honour of the 115th anniversary of its completion, and the 12th anniversary of its demise, we revisit the Gunflint Corduroy Trestle.
This amazing structure was built in the winter of 1904-1905 by the Pigeon River Lumber Company for their logging railroad, the Gunflint & Lake Superior. To climb the ridges south of the lake, the company built a very crude trestle by corduroying logs and topping it with gravel. Just over 250 feet long, the elevation increases 25 feet in that distance, creating a brutal 10% grade. It was probably one of the most unusual railroad trestles in all of North America.
Later that year they purchased a Shay locomotive (SN-683) to work this section of the line.
Sadly, the trestle was lost in 2008. The year before it was engulfed by the Ham Lake Fire and the logs smoldered for months. The USFS was forced to dynamite the structure to extinguish the fire. I’m glad I was able to see it before its demise and shoot this footage. My apologies for the shaky recording; I was very young, rather excited and there was no stabilization!
A video of 300-foot rock cut on the Port Arthur, Duluth and Western Railway near Round Lake, MN.
Poverty, Agony, Distress & Want! 