Video of the former railway grade and station at North Lake, ON. North Lake was one of the original stations on the PAD&W line when it opened in 1893. It later saw the additions of a section house, turning wye and coal bunker. The turning wye and coal bunker were constructed prior to 1902 and the station was added in 1907.
Tag Archives: abandoned railway
Port Arthur, Duluth & Western Railway MP 71 I
Video of the former railway grade and station at North Lake, ON. North Lake was one of the original stations on the PAD&W line when it opened in 1893. It later saw the additions of a section house, turning wye and coal bunker. The station remains shown in the video was built by Canadian Northern Railway in 1907 and was one of their Third-Class stations. It was abandoned in 1923 and was still standing into the 1970s.
See the 1997 video for comparison (links in the video).
Canadian Northern Railway (Port Arthur-Winnipeg) MP 20-22 III
Third 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 midway between the two stations, features several washed out embankments and a spot with ties still in their place.
Canadian Northern Railway (Port Arthur-Winnipeg) MP 20-22 II
Second 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 1.5 miles from Stanley, features the first of several long embankments. This one is in remarkable shape and is over 350 feet long.
Canadian Northern Railway (Port Arthur-Winnipeg) MP 20-22 I
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.
Port Arthur, Duluth & Western Railway MP 11.8
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).
Port Arthur, Duluth & Western Railway MP 59-60.5
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.
Port Arthur, Duluth & Western Railway MP 20
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).
Corduroy Trestle, Gunflint & Lake Superior Railroad 1997
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!
PAD&W of Minnesota MP 89.7/4.2
A video of 300-foot rock cut on the Port Arthur, Duluth and Western Railway near Round Lake, MN.
Poverty, Agony, Distress & Want! 