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Flett Tunnel

Flett Station Flett Tunnel East Oskondaga River Bridge

The Flett Tunnel is located near the community of Finmark, ON, and one mile west of Flett Station at Milepost 39.8/40.4/10.6.

At 630 feet long, it is one of the longest railway tunnels in eastern Canada and the second largest in the area behind the Macdiarmid Tunnel. It unfortunately suffered a great deal from water seepage through the rock, forcing maintenance crews to attempt to mitigate the issue via a number of techniques, including stripping much of the overburden from above the tunnel, all of which failed. During the winter and spring, high powered rifles were used to remove dangerous icicles which formed from the roof in the cold.

Sadly, it was the site of a tragic accident in September 1906. On the 19th, crews were engaged in blasting operations when they inadvertently stuck an unexploded charge. The resulting explosion killed three men and injured another eight. The dead included Henry Parvianen, 23, Nestor Rajala, 48 and Peter Ventilainen, 23. Six years later, an eerily similar accident would occur during the construction of the Macdiarmid Tunnel on the Canadian Northern Railway.

The tunnel is the most visited former railway location in the Thunder Bay District (a permit from Wagner Forest Management is required).

Just west of the tunnel is another unique, less well known tunnel. Circa 1919 a “stream tunnel” was constructed by the Carter-Halls-Aldinger Company of Winnipeg, which likely replaced an original wood trestle. The creek in area was rerouted and a 10 foot by 10 foot tunnel was bored through the solid rock to carry the waterway under the grade.

Flett Tunnel