The Gunflint and Lake Superior Railroad was a logging line operated by the Pigeon River Lumber Company from 1902 to 1909. It connected to the Canadian Northern Railway Duluth Extension/North Lake Subdivision (ex-Port Arthur, Duluth and Western Railway) at Milepost 79. It travelled six miles from the Ontario side of Gunflint Lake into Minnesota passing Crab and Whisker Lakes to near Topper Lake.
This video covers the site of the US Customs buildings at the narrows between Little Gunflint Lake and Gunflint Lake. The Customs agent was Richard Dowman. The land was owned by the Merritt Family of Marquette, MI and is often referred to as “Merritt’s Camp.”
The Gunflint and Lake Superior Railroad was a logging line operated by the Pigeon River Lumber Company from 1902 to 1909. It connected to the Canadian Northern Railway Duluth Extension/North Lake Subdivision (ex-Port Arthur, Duluth and Western Railway) at Milepost 79. It travelled six miles from the Ontario side of Gunflint Lake into Minnesota passing Crab and Whisker Lakes to near Topper Lake.
This video covers the crossing of the Canada-US border from Ontario to Minnesota at the narrows between Little Gunflint Lake and Gunflint Lake. Remains include spikes, rail connectors, rails, telegraph wire and rock cuts.
Extra Credit is video series that examines topics related to history in the Thunder Bay District and exploring that history.
Thirty years is a long time for anything, and in this case, it is the amount of time I have spent researching and exploring parts of local history. When I started, I was a young university student looking for something to fill the time and for a little adventure. Now I’m a middle-aged guy with a family who has taken on the goal of trying to preserve some of the past for future generations. I have seen and done a lot in these past three decades and this is a little of that story.
The Gunflint and Lake Superior Railroad was a logging line operated by the Pigeon River Lumber Company from 1902 to 1909. It connected to the Canadian Northern Railway Duluth Extension/North Lake Subdivision (ex-Port Arthur, Duluth and Western Railway) at Milepost 79. It travelled six miles from the Ontario side of Gunflint Lake into Minnesota passing Crab and Whisker Lakes to near Topper Lake.
This video covers the Ontario portion of the line, from the junction with the Duluth Extension to Gunflint Lake, featuring numerous spikes, boundary markers and possible remains of the Canadian customs house.
This is the story of one of the most unusual rail lines in North America.
In 1902, the Pigeon River Lumber Company, a Wisconsin company based in Port Arthur (now Thunder Bay), Ontario, acquired some timber limits in Minnesota near the International Boundary. The company had been logging along the boundary further to the east near Lake Superior since its incorporation in 1900.
To facilitate the logging, a small railroad was built in Minnesota, eventually reaching 6 miles in length. It connected to the Canadian Northern Railway Duluth Extension (formerly the Port Arthur, Duluth and Western Railway), a line completed in 1893 with the intention of reaching Duluth, Minnesota and accessing iron deposits in the area, both of which failed. For seven years, until 1909, hundreds of thousands of logs were hauled the 80+ miles to the company’s sawmill in Port Arthur and thus created one of the most unique rail operations in North American history. A logging railroad, with no US terminus and only accessible through Canada, hauling logs cut in Minnesota across the border to be processed in an Ontario sawmill.
Sadly, there are no known photos of the railroad or logging operations. The International Boundary Commission map below shows the first two miles of the railroad down the east side of Gunflint Lake while the photo, taken by photographer George Shiras III, shows the American customs facilities approximately 10 years after the logging ceased.
This map shows the the route of the G & LS from the branch with the Duluth Extension to Crab Lake.US Customs House, circa 1919-1920 (G. Shiras III).
Remember when you were a kid and time seemed to stretch on forever? The school year took eons to get through and summer vacation lasted an eternity? I certainly recall those days. I don’t think it’s just me, since other people say the same thing, but doesn’t it feel like time goes faster the older you get? The school year flies by and a two-week break disappears in two days. Sometimes it makes you wish you were a kid again.
Hey kids, I’m finally back. I know, I don’t write as often as I should; in fact, I don’t remember the last time I wrote a post. I think it may have been last April. In any case, it was a long time ago. It’s now 2024, and yet another year has flown by. As you can guess by the title, or maybe you didn’t, I recently celebrated my 50th birthday. I’m happy I made in through 2023 relatively healthy, but turning 50 isn’t that exciting. In fact, if I’m being honest, it’s a bit depressing…I’m getting old. I really don’t feel 50 mentally, maybe physically some days, but it’s hard to believe I’ve made it through a half century on the planet. Good for me!
Things have been busy as usual. We’re heading back to school in a couple days after a nice break, which as I already alluded to went by way too fast. It was good to get away from the grind for a bit though. When things start up again on Monday, we only have two and a half weeks before we move into exams. Then it will a new semester, which means that we’re on the downward slide toward summer. It’s hard to believe but I have now, fingers crossed, moved into the last bunch of years of my teaching career. Back in November I completed my 26th year in the classroom…that really makes me feel old!
So, it’s now January and we’re smack in the middle of winter. It really doesn’t feel like it though. In fact, the weather has been downright bizarre. It was a super dry fall and that trend has continued into the winter. We are well below our normal snowfall, with only a few centimetres on the ground, which just fell right before New Years (yes, we had a brown or green Christmas, or whatever you want to call it). We are getting some snow today though. The temperatures likewise have been off the charts, as it only has been “cold” the last week. It was +14C one day in mid-December and Christmas Day was +8C. People are blaming things on El Nino, but I’m sure there is some climate change at work as well.
December 2022.December 2023.Camp, December 2022Camp, December 2023.Camp, December 2023.January 2024.
I am currently in the quiet season for my railway work if you haven’t noticed. This is the time of year that I get around to posting all of the videos I did back in the spring and the fall. I am also trying, “trying” being the key word, to finish off my book on the Pigeon River Lumber Company and the Gunflint and Lake Superior Railroad. I actually need to look at some of that material in the coming weeks while we are locked inside away from the cold. I did make arrangements to complete one of the pieces of research I need for the book. Hopefully, if things work out okay, I’ll be heading down to Gunflint in May to meet up with the archaeologists from the Superior National Forest to explore the remains of the logging camp (Camp 8) that I found back in 2017. This was supposed to have been done back in October 2019, but a freak snowstorm ruined those plans and then the pandemic hit. I can’t believe it will have been five years since I was last down in that area.
My work on the Kinghorn line continues unabated though. There is always something to do with that project, whether it be updating information on my website, fiddling with GPS data or planning for the upcoming season of exploring. Since I completed hiking the entire line back in August 2022, I have now committed to redoing most of the sections of the line to improve the information in the video series I have put together. It is a time-consuming process and does generate a bit of stress, since I try to get as much work in as I can during the early spring and mid fall when the leaves are down and things are more visible. Hopefully I will have most of the sections redone by this fall so I can just concentrate on more specific areas.
Anyway, it’s time to move along. I can’t promise I’ll be back soon because I know that will be a lie. Let’s just say I’ll be back with more updates at some point down the road. Until then…
One hundred and twenty years ago tomorrow, the Gunflint and Lake Superior Railroad (G&LS) was incorporated in the State of Minnesota. Owned by the Pigeon River Lumber Company, a Wisconsin business headquartered in Port Arthur (Thunder Bay), Ontario, the logging line was built to harvest timber along the southwest shore of Gunflint Lake and adjacent areas in the northeast part of the state.
The G&LS was in operation between 1902 and 1909 and branched off the Canadian Northern Railway Duluth Extension (originally the Port Arthur, Duluth & Western) at Milepost 79. It was likely the most unusual railroad in all of North America as it was an American line, but had no terminus in the US and its only access was via Canada. All the timber harvested in Minnesota was shipped to the company’s mill in Port Arthur for processing.
Today there are vestiges of the line still visible, but they are rapidly disappearing. The photos, taken between 1997 and 2016, along with the map (which shows the area in 1911), covers the initial few miles of the line as passes from Ontario across the international boundary into Minnesota. Corduroyed logs, some rails and even a line shaft from a Shay locomotive litter the route. The most amazing remnant of the line was a massive corduroyed log trestle on the south shore of the lake beside the Crab River, which helped it climb the massive ridges in the area. Unfortunately the trestle was burned in a 2007 fire and the following winter the Forest Service was forced to dynamite it to extinguish the smoldering embers inside.
PAD&W-G&LS junction, May 2016.G&LS International Crossing, May 2016.G&LS Grade, May 2015.Corduroyed logs, October 2015.Shay 683 rear line shaft, Gunflint Lake, July 2000.Rails, Gunflint Lake, October 2014.Corduroy Trestle, August 1997.Corduroy Trestle, August 1997.Corduroy Trestle, August 1997.This map shows the the route of the G & LS from the branch with the Duluth Extension to Crab Lake.G&LS rock cut, October 2015.
Do you ever feel like you’re in a funk? You know, when you’re spinning your proverbial wheels and not seeming to get anywhere. I think we’ve all been there at some point. For me, winter is always a time when I feel a little despondent, mostly because I can’t get out and hike where I want to (winter hiking just isn’t the same). I wish there was a way to describe it better…
Hey kids, I’m finally back. It’s been months since my last post, as the last time I put some thoughts down on the keyboard was back in May, so it’s been quite a while. I keep saying I have to write more regularly, but that never happens. I used to write this blog weekly or biweekly, then it became monthly and now I’m lucky if it’s a few times a year. I guess I’m just so busy with other things and at times lack the energy to collect my thoughts. I had the outline of a post in August all ready to go, but unfortunately never really got it started. I’m here now though, right?
Anyway, as I already stated, things are hectic as usual. The school year has been an insane whirlwind; I can’t believe we’re almost done the first semester. It was just yesterday that we were starting up the year. As typically happens, football makes the first part of the year fly by. Our season wasn’t particularly successful on the score sheet, but it was great to see the team improve immensely in a short period of time. Our senior team, with whom we won two Junior championships in the past, was able to capture the city title as well as a provincial bowl game. I had the privilege of travelling with the team to Guelph for the game, and it was especially memorable as my older son Ethan was a member of the squad.
So, speaking of school, there’s big things on the horizon. Finally, after several years of delays, we’re heading back to Europe. We planned this year’s trip back in 2019 following the previous jaunt across the pond. We were supposed to go in March 2021, but unfortunately this whole pandemic thing got in the way; you may have heard of it. In any case, excitement is building. All our previous trips were to northern Europe, but this time were going to sunny (hopefully) Italy. We just received our flight and some of our hotel information the other day, so excitement is building. As I’ve done in the past, I’ll be blogging daily about our adventures.
Since I haven’t written in such a long time, I should give you a hiking recap of the past year, as my last post was right at the start of the season. It was another prolific one, even though I said it wouldn’t be as busy as 2021. I hiked and biked 430 kilometres, drove over 9200 kilometres to those hikes and put together 139 videos (in 2021 it was 350km, 12000km and 134 videos). I was all over the area, from here in Thunder Bay all the way to Longlac and many places in between. This included a week-long trip to Geraldton in August, which was necessary to alleviate some of the driving to get to the east end of the line.
Some of the hikes involved redoing areas that I had covered in the past, either to improve the video or relay information that was not available when I first started exploring the Kinghorn. I also was out a lot with the drone, which really helps convey some of the detail about the line that you cannot see from the air. One of the big projects of the year was to finally finish the video about the Macdiarmid Tunnel, which I had started back in 2021. I had to record it twice, since I found out that my newer GoPro camera (Hero 9) doesn’t do as well in dark conditions as my old GoPro (Hero 7). You can check out some of my drone shots and the tunnel video below.
Black Sturgeon River Bridge, May 2022.McKirdy Pit, May 2022. Orient Bay, May 2022.Jellicoe Yard, May 2022.Longlac Junction, August 2022.Orient Bay, August 2022.Cove Inlet, August 2022.Nipigon River Bridge, September 2022.Cash Creek Trestle, October 2022.
While I’m patiently biding my time until I can get out hiking again, I have turned my attention to a project that has been put on the back-burner for quite some time. My planned book on the Pigeon River Lumber Company/Gunflint & Lake Superior Railroad is still alive, but because of Covid, I was not able to do some research to complete the book. In the fall, I received an email from the Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society regarding the progress of the book, indicating they might be interested in publishing it. I had done a little bit of digging while I was off in the spring, but I really needed to get to the Archives of Ontario in Toronto and hopefully into Minnesota for some archaeological work. Over Christmas, I cleaned up a few things and then sent in a proposal to the historical society for them to have a look at. With any luck, I’ll be able to head down to Minnesota in the spring and I’ll have to figure the whole Toronto situation. Ideally, I’d like to get the book completed next winter.
Anyway, it’s time to move on. I’ll be back soon, I promise. As I indicated earlier, I have the trip to Italy coming up in March, so I’ll definitely have a post before and during our time there. Until then…
Has it been a year already? Yup, it’s been longer than that unfortunately. Twelve months ago no one could have foreseen what has transpired in that time. Sigh! Like me, you’re all likely suffering from Covid fatigue, and it has certainly turned the spotlight on mental health. I know I am struggling at times like everyone else, and there are moments I just want to do one thing…
Hey kids, I’m finally back! I know it’s been another long stretch since I last wrote, but as I’ve already stated, it’s been tough to keep motivated. Hopefully all of you have been keeping safe during this difficult time. I feel like a hermit in my house, but I’m a firm believer that we need to stay the course to get through this pandemic. I find it quite frustrating that there are still people who cannot fathom that this is real and continue to flaunt the health requirements/mandates such as masks and physical distancing. Obviously, they do not know their history, since pandemics have been around since the beginning of time and will continue to do so in the future. But I digress.
So, you’re probably wondering how school is going? Well, it is, kinda. Since my last post, we’ve gone through quite the stretch. The lockdown the province started in late December became a stay at home order, which affected a number of things, primarily work. With that order in place, we were told to work from home the first week in January. Then, later that month, we began working from home in the afternoons to minimize the number of people in the building. That lasted until mid-February. For the most part, cases here in our city were relatively low; then they exploded. The local health unit shutdown the schools for two weeks starting at the beginning of March. Guess what? We’re still at home! Two weeks became four, then six. The provincial government pushed the spring break to mid-April, so we’re supposed to return to school on the 19th to start the new quadmester, but that might be in doubt. Cases of the new variants have gone through the roof and the whole province has moved into the “grey” zone (which we are already in). What that means for schools after the break no one knows.
I must say it has been a huge challenge teaching from home. It is nice rolling out of bed and doing my lessons in shorts and a t-shirt. However, it is an awful way to teach. The kids are shutting down and there’s not many ways to make virtual learning more exciting. And it’s tough for us too. As a teacher, you feed off of the interaction with the students, which is non-existent when you’re staring at a bunch of black tiles. At first the kids at least responded, but now they don’t really speak either, so I spend my day talking to myself. The good news is that this was my busy quadmester, and I only teach one class for the fourth quadmester; I can breathe a bit heading into summer.
Okay, you know I’m going to bring it up so I might as well get to it…the weather. The weather has been relatively okay. Really? Ya, really. We did have a brutal 10 day or so span in mid-February where we were beset with the dreaded polar vortex. I don’t think I remember that many consecutive days of such frigid temperatures, like -30C frigid temperatures. Yuck! Since then, it’s been pretty good. It actually seemed like we would have an early snow melt with some warm weather the last few weeks, but unfortunately, we’ve had a bit of a setback with some snow and chilly temperatures. It has bounced back up this past weekend, so hopefully the snow will all disappear sooner than later and we can get on with spring.
Polar vortex cold, February 2021.Early spring thaw, March 2021.Early spring snowfall, March 2021.
Speaking of spring, it can’t come soon enough. With the Covid situation, I haven’t been out hiking since early January. Now, that doesn’t mean I’ve been idle. I’ve been working hard updating this site again with a lot of new information, so please look around. I’ve also been doing a lot of plotting. As I mentioned in my previous post, I have a busy hiking season planned, fingers crossed! I’ve revised my list and have 28 hikes of various sorts that I’d like to do…so, ya, I’ll be staying out of trouble. I just want to get out there with Luna!
I’m also looking forward to better weather and hiking because I have a new toy. I’ve been diligently saving my pennies and I finally was able to buy myself a drone. A drone? Yes, because I don’t do enough on my hikes taking pictures and video that I needed also to be able to take them from the air, right? I know, it seems a bit much, but there are so many places that I want to get photos and video from a different perspective or just can’t get from the ground. One in particular is the Blende River Viaduct. While some people are crazy enough to cross it, it is fenced off and I’m not crazy. Therefore, my only option is from the air.
My drone is a DJI Mavic Air 2, which has some really cool features including HDR video and a 48 megapixel camera. Here in Canada you have to register any drone over 250 grams with Transport Canada and take either a basic or advanced flying exam. I’ve registered the drone and done the basic exam, so all I need is more flying time. Unfortunately, I cannot fly it at my house, since I live close enough to the airport that I’m within restricted airspace. So, I have to go to camp to do any flying for the time being. As the weather warms I’ll be out there more often, so I’m sure I’ll get more flying experience soon enough.
Drone shot, April 2021.
Anyway, I think it’s time to move on. As usual I’ll be back as soon as I can with the latest news. Until then…
Extra Credit is new video series that examines topics related to history in the Thunder Bay District and exploring that history.
This first episode in the series details how I became interested in local history more than 30 years ago and how that journey has led to the videos that you see on my channel today. If you have suggestions or ideas for future episodes, leave them in the comment section. Enjoy!
Poverty, Agony, Distress & Want! 