Did you know that 100 years ago the railway landscape of northern Ontario was dramatically changed by the construction of a single 30-mile piece of track?
In 1919, Canadian National Railways (CNR) came into existence through the government ordered merger of Canadian Northern Railway, the Canadian Government Railways and other bankrupt lines (the nationalization process would take until 1923 to complete). One of the immediate tasks for the new company under the direction of D.B. Hanna was the rationalization of the often-duplicated lines in its new network. One such area was north of Lake Superior. Challenging geography, namely a large body of water aptly named Long Lake, had brought the former Canadian Northern Railway and National Transcontinental Railway within 30 miles of each other near the railway stations of Longuelac/Longlac (CNoR) and Nakina (NTR).
Studies as early as 1917 had suggested that linking the two lines would reduce travel distances between Toronto and Winnipeg by 100 miles. Additionally, the grades would be better as it would eliminate the decent to Lake Superior at Port Arthur and subsequent ascent westward. Surveys were conducted in 1919 and 1922 and construction was authorized in December 1922. The contract was awarded to the Foley Brothers and Hervey (the Foleys built the Canadian Northern line through the area in 1911-1914) and the work was completed by December 1923.
The impact of the cut-off was immediate and profound. Mainline trains would now follow the old Canadian Northern route to Longlac, thence to Nakina and on the old National Transcontinental route to Winnipeg. The annual savings to the railway were estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. There were casualties with this decision, however. The NTR line from Nakina eastward to Hearst now lost much of its traffic. Eventually renamed the CNR Pagwa Subdivison, most of the line was abandoned in 1986. Likewise, traffic diminished greatly on the former CNoR line west of Longlac to Port Arthur. Renamed the Kinghorn and Dorion Subdivisions respectively, they were merged into one line, the Kinghorn, in 1960. It managed to sustain traffic until 2005 when it was decommissioned by CN.
Images from Canadian Railway and Marine World, January 1924 and Lake Nipigon Sheet, Department of the Interior Map 1927.
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