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National Transcontinental Railway Hearst Subdivision

The National Transcontinetal Railway Hearst Subdivision began in Hearst, Ontario and made its way 125.1 miles to Grant, Ontario.

Part of the National Transcontinental District 2, it was bounded on the east by the Cochrane Subdivision and on the west by the Grant Subdivision. A significant change for the line occurred in 1924. In an effort to consolidate its lines and produce a more efficient network, Canadian National Railways constructed a 30-mile section of track from Longuelac/Longlac on the former Canadian Northern Longlac Subdivision north to the NTR just east of Nakina Station on the Grant Subdivision. To facilitate this arrangement, Nakina Station was shifted west 3 miles and the divisional facilities at Grant were moved to Nakina, which added 19 miles to the line. The old site of Nakina became Shamokan Station, and the subdivision was renamed to the Pagwa Subdivision. Nakina was now the divisional point for both the Pagwa and the Caramat Subdivisions (the Caramat began in Hornpayne, Ontario).

After the realignment of lines, the Pagwa Subdivision became a secondary route with little through traffic. It survived mostly on logging and local business. As with most secondary routes, it received minimal and often deferred maintenance, including still using 80-pound jointed rail when other lines were using 100-pound jointed rails or 115 pound continuously welded rail. This limited the type and weight of locomotives and rolling stock that could be used on the subdivision. In 1986, CN announced that it would abandon the line and the rails were removed shortly thereafter. The section of track between Hearst and Calstock was purchased by Ontario Northland Railway (ONR) in 1993 and is still in operation today as part of a branch line running west from Cochrane, Ontario.

The stations and some of the notable locations on the line are listed below (mileage shown is per the original line):

Milepost	Station, Siding or Point	Elevation (ft.)
0	Hearst	807
1.12	Hearst Junction	807
5.92	Ryland	836
12.63	Holland/Penhall	815
14.49	Valentine Creek Bridge	805
17.49	Akova	793
20.69	Kabinakagami River	818
22.39	Kabina/Calstock	797
28.56	Wapiti	788
35.46	Bertram	746
38.85	White/Shekak River Bridge	721
39.47	Skunk River Bridge	719
40.6	Nagagami River Bridge	724
41.95	Palmquist	723
43.15	Ameson	772
49.85	Nagagami/Pitopiko River Bridge	750
50.05	Nagogami/Nagagami	749
57.64	Fraser	689
58.24	Bad/Otasawian River Bridge	692
63.88	Savoff	679
64.78	Savoff West	670
70.52	Teltaka	625
75.82	Pagwa River	577
76.2	Pagwachaun River Bridge	566
77.8	Pagwa Radar Base Spur	610
78.42	Pagwa	617
85.01	Wilgar	681
85.2	Dog/Bicknell River Bridge	682
93.42	Flint/Flintdale	719
93.9	Flint River Bridge	719
98.69	Ogaming/Blanche	799
101.89	Kenogami River Bridge	814
104.55	Ogahalla	852
110.03	Watini/Lynx	893
116.6	Jobrin	972
125.11	Grant	997