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I am Ironman!

09 Jul

My alter ego? I wish! Secret childhood fantasy? Nope. So what gives Dave? Well, today we celebrated my youngest son Noah’s fifth birthday and Ironman was one of the toys he received as a gift. Noah is quite enamoured with superheroes, in particular Spiderman, Batman and Ironman. He even picked out a Batman cake.

I was never into those things as a child, though now as an adult I find my kids interest in them intriguing. It would kinda be cool to have a special power, or a suit like Ironman. I must say I did like the movie, particularly the end when Tony Stark answers the reporter’s questions with the statement, “I am Ironman!”

Anyway, back in the real world, things are chugging along. The first week of holidays has passed by and I feel somewhat relaxed, though things are still very hectic. Last week I wrote about our quick trip to Duluth and the pace of things has not stopped. On Wednesday I spent the better part of the day hiking the railway (which I will talk about later), and then it was a short turn around to make it to the airport to pick up some relatives who were flying in from Italy. Showing them the sights has kept me and the family hopping, since there are five of them and I have to help shuttle them around.

On Thursday we headed out to Kakabeka Falls, which is one of the traditional places to visit around here. Not as big or tall as Niagara Falls, they are nonetheless quite a beautiful sight. The only negative that day was the heat; we are still struggling through some warm temps, and it doesn’t show any signs of letting up! I was certainly feeling pretty sweaty and gross after walking around the falls for a while, but I guess I shouldn’t complain. It could be -30C outside and I could be sporting a parka instead!

On Saturday we took our guests to my in-laws camp for a day at the lake. I think the kids (as well as mine) enjoyed the warm weather and the temped lake water; I’m sure they’d like a return trip at some point. Maybe this Saturday might be a good time, since we still need to visit Ouimet Canyon, the Amethyst Mine and Sibley.

Rail bed, Wolfe Siding, July 2012.

Things have been progressing as well on the railway front. As I already mentioned, last week I was able to get out for my first hike after the end of school. I decided that I would tackle the section of railway just west of Wolfe Siding (that area is now officially know as Suomi) since I had never hiked that area before and I didn’t complete it when I was there in early June.

I tried to get out as early as I could since I knew it was going to be hot later in the day. It is roughly a 45 minute drive from my house to where Wolfe is located on Whitefish Lake. I would start my hike where I ended the last one at Mileage 46 Road and work my way 3km east to Wolfe. My previous hike had been very difficult due to the heavy growth and I was hoping that it would not be a repeat of that experience.

Telegraph pole, Wolfe Siding, July 2012.

One of my main objectives for the hike was to locate any remains of a bridge on a creek about 900m east of Mileage 46 Road. I had been to that spot in 1998, but I wanted to see what was still left. I was in for a bit of a surprise though, as I would find a few more things than I anticipated!

About 200 metres into my walk I made the first discovery, broken shards of what had been a ceramic culvert (or culverts-there may have been two) under the grade. Another 250 metres later I made my best find, the prized telegraph insulator. Every time I hike the railway I am always scanning the south side of the grade looking for telegraph poles and potentially a very rare insulator. As I was winding my way along, dodging the trees and deadfall, I happened to look back on the grade and caught something white on the ground. Sure enough it was the remains of a pole with the insulator still attached. I marked its location in my GPS as I knew I didn’t want to lug my find along with me.

Culvert, Wolfe Siding, July 2012.

As I continued east I did find the remains of the bridge, and then a 150m long, very high embankment. From there I entered a relatively open area of the railway, which would stretch almost the whole way to Wolfe. About 1km west of my destination, and just beside Mile 46 Road there was another interesting discovery; an intact ceramic culvert. The grade above it had been supported by rock, and the culvert was still doing its job and handling the flow of water under the grade.

After reaching Wolfe I began my return journey and shortly thereafter I came across something very neat. About 400m west of Wolfe I had wandered slightly off course, but it the process I made a discovery. I noticed a pile of rocks very close to the grade, arranged in a circular pattern that definitely was not natural. I then remember I had seen the same thing weeks earlier when I found a telegraph pole closer to Mackies. This was the base of the pole, where it had been inserted into the ground and the rocks were there for support. While I could not find the pole, I now had an obvious clue to help me find other poles. I then proceeded to locate another four poles on my way back, making a total of six poles (I guess five) for the trip.

Glass insulator, Wolfe Siding, July 2012.

After 3 hours and nearly 7 kilometres I had made it back to my truck. I drove the short distance up the road to photograph and retrieve the insulator I had found earlier. It will make a fine addition to the similar items I had donated to the Duke Hunt Museum in the past.

Speaking of the Duke Hunt, my presentation there is rapidly approaching. I just finished printing off some posters to put up and I need to get my butt in gear with the slide show. Since I’m busy writing this blog today, tomorrow night might be a good time. However, my thoughts right now are preoccupied with Thursday’s impending trip to Leeblain.

Ever since I had heard that the road to Gunflint Lake had been repaired I have been itching to get to that area of the railway. With the potential development that might be occurring there, my trip is even more urgent. Late last week I received an email from an acquaintance with the US Forest Service. He informed me that he had seen an excavator at Leeblain, which certainly got my attention. The only part of the trip I am not looking forward to is the drive, which is almost 150km, most of which will be on gravel roads. Hopefully all goes well and that I will be able to bring back some great pics of the area (and I don’t keel over from the heat-it’s supposed to be 38C with the humidity). I’m also praying that no damage has been done to the rock ovens at the ghost town.

Anyway, gotta get rolling. Tomorrow we’re off to Grand Marais with our guest for a little visit south of the border. I’m sure I’ll have a lot to say in next week’s post. Until then…

 
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Posted by on July 9, 2012 in Hiking, Miscellaneous, Research, Writing

 

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School’s out for summer!

03 Jul

Yes, the legendary rocker Alice Cooper put it best, though it would be nice if school was out forever! I guess I wouldn’t get paid then, and unemployment sucks. Oh well, the two month break is very much appreciated and will be very relaxing.

In a stroke of perfect timing, the weather over the last week has seemed to settle down. The temperatures have been on the rise and at times it has even been uncomfortably hot. I guess that is what happens when the weather is all over the place and the sudden onset of heat gives the body a bit of a shock. Could be worse though; there are people in the northeast US who are dealing with 40C temps and no power. Kinda makes the 28C in my bedroom Sunday night a bit more bearable.

So, what have I been up to? Well, with aforementioned hot weather on the weekend, the family and I decided

Bass Lake, June 2012.

that camp was the best place to beat the heat. We really hadn’t been out to camp this year, aside from a few short little visits, so it was nice to get out to the lake. Swimming in the water was a treat as well, especially after a relaxing sauna. My kids love being at camp, a sort of change of pace from the regular routine. The only part I hate is when I have to cut the grass, since I LOVE to cut grass and do yard work. It only took 2.5 hours to do the whole thing!

If you’re a regular follower, you’ll have noticed that I’m a day late with this post; that’s ‘cause I was away from home for a few days. The family and I headed down to Duluth, MN for the night on Monday to do a bit of shopping and we just returned home. It was a nice little break, though the only downside (if you can call it that) was the heat. Yesterday was hot, and today was even hotter. The heat generated a pretty wicked thunderstorm last night, with bolts of lightning flashing across the sky; it was quite impressive.

Duluth Lighthouse, July 2012.

We spent most of today either driving or inside, which was a good thing since the truck thermometer was showing 30C+ (it was 33 at one point). We drove down to Minong, WI to take a look at some boats and the heat was absolutely stifling there. Even now it still is 34C with the humidity; I might just hide in the basement so I can get a decent sleep!

On the railway front there is not a lot to report. I wasn`t able to get out hiking last week, but I am heading out tomorrow. I want to finish the hike I started along Whitefish Lake between Wolfe Siding (Suomi) and Mackies. It`s not supposed to be as hot tomorrow (25C), but I`m not taking any chances and I will be heading out early to beat the heat.

Even though I was not out in the bush on field work, I did get a few things accomplished last week. While I was finishing up exams, I had a little lieu time coming to me, so I took Tuesday afternoon off and ended up at the Lakehead University (LU) Library. The Library you ask? Yes, the library. Seems pretty bizarre, but I had some time and there was some stuff I want to look at.

The internet has been a gold mine of information for me, but unfortunately not everything I find on the net is downloadable. They are like tempting little morsels, taunting me with what they might hold. I had found some hard copies of some material I was after at LU so I decided to pay my old alma mater a visit. It had been quite a while since I had been in the library to look up old books, so I was a bit dumbfounded at first. I had to ask for directions!

Most of the information I was after was located in old mining and forestry reports. There was some valuable information, particularly in the mining reports, since the Gunflint Range that holds the Paulson Mine extends into Canada for some 50 miles; the railway was supposed to tap into some of this Canadian iron as well. These geologic reports shed a lot of light into the quality and quantity of iron located in this extension of the Mesabi Iron Range. You can imagine how disappointed I was however when one book, which was supposed to have 4 maps of iron location along the railway, was missing two of the maps. They had been torn out! Thanks dirt bag whoever you were-now I have to try to find this book elsewhere, probably in Toronto!

I also found some time to start working on an article for the Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society, of which I am a member. I have been wanting to write an article for TBHMS on Leeblain for a while now, and since I have already written one article this year (no idea when that will be completed), I thought I would move on to something else. I have about 550 words so far, which is a decent start. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to work a bit more this week, as I know I will have to put it on hold soon to begin working on my slide show for my presentation on the 25th of this month. We’ll see where I am by next week.

Anyway, I better wrap things up since I have an early morning. I’ll have a bit more to report after tomorrow’s hike, and next week I will be on time! Until then…

 
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Posted by on July 3, 2012 in Hiking, Miscellaneous, Research, Writing

 

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Uh, I think we have enough rain now. Thanks.

28 May

A monsoon is a seasonal prevailing wind which lasts for several months. The term was first used in English in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and neighboring countries to refer to the big seasonal winds blowing from the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea in the southwest bringing heavy rainfall to the region (Dictionary.com).

Pic from the net of Vibert Road in Oliver-Paipoonge.

So you’re probably thinking, “Dave, you live in Thunder Bay and according to Dr. Koppen, it is a Humid continental (Dfb) climate (sort of)…you don’t experience monsoons!” As I demonstrate some of my geography skills in jest for you, it seems as though we do. It has been raining for the better part of five days now. It is actually quite bad; several outlying municipalities have declared emergencies today as well as the city of Thunder Bay. We have received well over 100mm of rain that have caused flooding, washouts and for the first time in my teaching career, cancelled buses. Some unfortunate people have had their basements ruined. The ditches, creeks and rivers are full of water; my backyard looks like a swamp! The sun is supposed to return on Wednesday, so let’s hope it dries up soon.

This week is the last week of May and it could not come soon enough. My burnout only seems to get worse! Football training camp starts soon and there are a whole bunch of things that need to get done before that happens. There is timetabling, graduation and a bunch of meetings still to go. I know that it will fly by, but it doesn’t make it any easier. I just need a breather!

Another picture from the net of an OPP SUV in a rather precarious situation.

All the rain doesn’t bode well for my plans to do any hiking in the near future. Rather hard to walk near rivers and lakes when they’re flooded. On Sunday I decided that since I could not hike, I would take the boys on a little drive. My one hour expedition turned into three hours, but it was all good. What could I possibly do in those wet conditions you ask? Well, my main objective was to create some places on Facebook with my phone so that I could effectively locate them when I post. I didn’t get everything done, but the Harstone Bridge, Harstone, Silver Creek, Hymers, Sellers, Leeper and Nolalu are now all officially recorded. I’m sure I’ll finish the job soon enough…the drive made me want to look at these areas sometime soon.

The most dramatic development of my week (other than the flood of course), was when I was informed that a very sensitive area of the railway is due for some development. The North-Gunflint Lake corridor is my favourite on the railway and I try to get there as often as I can (I booked my field work for August 5-8 at Gunflint). It is the farthest area from Thunder Bay and fairly inaccessible, so it has remained mostly free from human interference.

Rock oven at Leeblain, August 2011.

I received an email on Saturday that there were plans in the works to possibly open a resort on the Canadian side of Gunflint Lake, near the ghost town of Leeblain. I have spoken about Leeblain before, and it contains the remains of an old hotel and workers camp, the most important of which are several rock ovens. These ovens were used by Italian labourers on the railway to bake bread and in other places such as BC they are preserved in parks. About 2.5km west of Leeblain is the Gunflint Cross I wrote about a few weeks ago.

I’m not against the development; it would actually be nice to access Gunflint Lake without have to endure a 1 hour boat ride from North Lake or go through the US. However, I think it is critical to ensure that these important historical sites are preserved and protected. I’ve written emails to local MLA’s Michael Gravelle and Bill Mauro, as well as the local archeological review officer for the Province of Ontario; hopefully someone listens to my pleas. I will certainly mention any developments should they arise in my subsequent blogs.

Now speaking of Gunflint and Leeblain, I’ve confirmed my plans to visit the area this summer. On August 5th I will be doing my railway/mine presentation at the Chik-wauk Museum and I had hoped to conduct some fieldwork in the following days. By chance I stumbled upon long-time Gunflint summer resident and current lodge owner John Schloot. Back in the 60’s John spent many summers on Gunflint and often visited the Bishop family on North Lake and the old railway station there. He recently purchased the Moosehorn Lodge on Gunflint, which is now known as Cross River Lodge.

I’ve visited the US side of Gunflint Lake several times, staying mostly at the Gunflint Pines Resort, but I also spent an evening at the historic Gunflint Lodge. John graciously suggested that I stay at Cross River and I was more than happy to oblige. Besides, John has old films of the North Lake Station taken in the 60’s and I am very eager to see them. He has even kindly offered to provide me with a copies that I can post on my YouTube channel. The trip should be interesting since I managed to convince my wife Jo-Anne to tag along with the kids. She’s not particularly outdoorsy, so hopefully we can find some things for her and kids to do while I hike the railway. If the weather is good, it should prove to be very a memorable visit.

Anyway, I think it is about time to wrap things up. Maybe be next week the water levels will have subsided somewhat and everyone can return to a relatively normal routine. Until then…

 
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Posted by on May 28, 2012 in Hiking, Miscellaneous, Research, Writing

 

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Did I say how much I hate yardwork?

14 May

I guess it is Karma. Growing up I lived in my parent’s three-bedroom bungalow in the Westfort area of Thunder Bay. My parents were both immigrants from Italy, and they retained many of the Old World traditions when they came here. As such, our city sized yard only had grass in front of the house; the backyard consisted of patio and garden. Lots of garden. So, where I am I going with this? Well, despite the pathetically small amount of grass that we actually had, I hated cutting the grass. My dad would always yell at me for not cutting it, even though it took about 10 minutes to do it.

When my (at the time) fiancée and I were deciding where to live, we decided we wanted a bit more space than a city lot offered. So we bought property in South Neebing, and our house now sits on 1.5 acres of land. Although some of it is still treed and not landscaped, it still takes me over 3 hours to cut all the grass in the yard. I often curse at how much time it takes to cut the grass, edge, rake, etc. Don’t get me wrong, I love where I live, but I swear I can hear my Dad looking down at me and laughing. The 10 minute job doesn’t seem so bad now. So Karma has bitten me in the posterior!

We’ve now reached the midway point of May and the time is flying by! This weekend is the Victoria Day long weekend here in Canada, which usually marks the beginning of the summer season. We might make a trip to my in-laws camp for the day, which is located about 65 km east of our home. Speaking of camp, it is interesting how people in Canada refer to “camp” by many different names. I have cousins in Toronto, and their first reaction to the word camp was “what?” Isn’t camp like summer camp? You see, people in southern Ontario refer to it as the “cottage.” Sounds too citified for us up here in the north; camp is so much more outdoorsy. I’ve heard that in Manitoba they call it the “lake.” Anyway, whatever you call it, enjoy this weekend in the outdoors!

Since we’re on the topic of the outdoors, I’m getting even more excited about the hiking season. This week I decided it was time to post more videos from my archives to YouTube. It was really a response to a request on the Facebook page for information about communication on the railway, such as telegraph lines, etc. I had footage from my 1997 trip to North-Gunflint Lakes that contained a few old telegraph poles that I found on Little North Lake, so I decided to upload a video. While I was at it, I put together a bunch of other videos from that ’97 footage; I will be posting them over the next few weeks, but I did put a second video up. This one is of the “Gunflint Cross.”

The Gunflint Cross is one of the most interesting legacies of the railway. It is a small cross, approximately 18

Gunflint Cross, 2008.

inches high, carved into the south side of a rock cut along Gunflint Lake near the 84 mile marker. The cross was created in 1892 as a memorial to a tragic accident that occurred during the construction of the railway. On October 8th, crews were blasting rock for the right of way when one of the charges failed to detonate. After waiting about 20 minutes, workers began removing rock to investigate the cause of the “hang fire” when the explosives went off; Joseph Montegia was struck and killed by the force of the blast. He would be buried in Port Arthur at St. Andrew’s Cemetery and some of his fellow workers carved the cross in his memory. So after 120 years it still remains in its spot, a mute testimonial to the men who built the railway.

The cross makes me think about Gunflint, and today I came across a reminder that I will make my first presentation in years this summer. I’ve mentioned this event in previous posts, but today I found a reference to it on the net. I’m excited about this lecture, I titled it “The Port Arthur, Duluth and Western Railway and the Paulson Mine: Hopes and Failures in a Border Wilderness.” It is going to be very different from anything I’ve done in the past as it will be outdoors. From my experience as a teacher, I’m sort of used to an indoor environment with a projector and a Smartboard. I guess I will have to explain things very thoroughly since I have no visuals to accompany my information. Let’s hope it is a nice day and a good turn out!

Anyway, enough for this week. Until then…

 
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Posted by on May 14, 2012 in Hiking, Miscellaneous, Research, Writing

 

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Vimy Day One

04 Apr
Well we’re on our way! We just took off from Thunder Bay and now headed for Pearson Airport in Toronto to make our first connection. There’s only 55 minutes between flights, so we don’t have a lot of time to hang around before we head to Montreal.

Some of my initial nervousness has dissipated, but I’ll feel better when we get to Paris. The kids are very excited, and it is contagious! We are travelling with a group from our sister school St. Ignatius, so it’s nice having some familiar adult faces around. I know we’re going have a great time.

I’ve already started the Tweeting, and it will continue once we get to Toronto. I’m going to sign off for now, since it’s hard to type in these cramped seats (never flown on a Q400 before).

On our way to Montreal…late. The flight was supposed to leave at 5:00, but because of a catering delay, we left behind schedule. The flight we are on continues on to Brussels, so I guess the food is important. Apparently we are supposed to fly a bit faster than usual (595 mph)to make up time (I think our scheduled arrival is 5:30, which still gives us an hour layover).

So we spent a lot of time standing around at the gate, but at least there is some elbow room on this 767. Before we know it we will be landing and hustling to our gate. Hopefully there will be time to grab something to eat…I’ve only eaten a granola bar since 11. I’m dying of thirst more than anything else; between this cold I’m getting over and the dry air it’s horrible! Anyway, going to sign off again until we’re over the ocean.

Air France A380 beside us in Montreal.

Back in the air again, this time 40 minutes late! The joys of air travel I guess. This time the issue was an Air France A380 that was preventing us from backing up. I didn’t even realize it was an A380 until after I had taken a picture of it. This time we’re on a 777, the newest plane in Air Canada’s fleet. Cruising at 32000 feet and at 621 mph…very cool, especially since the air temp is -49C!


Our flight is pretty much full of students going to France, which might make my prospects of getting some sleep slimmer. I wonder if they are doing the same tours as us, just with a different guide? That would make some of these places we are visiting insanely busy! I guess we’ll find out soon enough.

They are probably going to serve some food soon, which is great since we did not have time to eat between the connecting flights. Hopefully it’s good! After that will be sleepy time…I’m exhausted! I’ve been going since 6:00am and at airports since noon. Tomorrow will be another crazy day as we’re not expected back at our hotel until 10:00. I’m going to be bagged! 

So dinner was not bad, for airline food. Chicken breast in some sort of mushroom sauce, with wild rice pea carrot something or other. There was a bean corn carrot salad that wasn’t bad either. The brownie was very good! Anyway, I’ll shut it down for now and get back to this before we land.

Sunrise over Ireland, April 5, 2012.

Wow, that was the best, most restful four hours of sleep I’ve ever had! Good Lord! I have certainly forgotten how much flying across the ocean sucks! Boy am I exhausted. I just couldn’t find any comfortable position. Maybe I could have been more like my seat partner Allister who managed to sleep with her head on the tray table. I’m obviously awake right now, and just finished devouring the blueberry muffin and apple juice they gave us for breakie. 


Since we’re going to be landing in a bit, I guess this wraps up day one (even though it technically is day two already). I’ll start today’s adventures with our arrival in Paris.

Until then…
 
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Posted by on April 4, 2012 in Miscellaneous, Travel, Writing

 

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Leavin’ on a jet plane…

02 Apr

Don’t kiss me though, but you can smile for me! (and I’ll be back next Tuesday).

Yes, that time has arrived. This time tomorrow I’ll be on a plane headed to Paris. It’s hard to believe the time has already arrived…wasn’t it just December and I was having the first parent meeting? I’m both nervous and excited for the trip; I’ve never taken students on anything like this before. However, I know that I have a good bunch of kids so things will be okay. Just my usual pre-event nerves! I still have some packing to do, but otherwise I think I’m ready to roll.

Yesterday our Tour Director Hugues or Hugo sent me the tentative itinerary; it looks awesome! In Paris we’ll visit the Louvre, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Eiffel Tower and whatever else comes up. Then we’re off to Rouen, from where we will visit Dieppe and Normandy (there will be a tour of Rouen in there somewhere). The trip to Normandy will take us to Juno Beach and the Canadian cemetery at Beny sur Mer. I think we’ve convinced Hugo to take us to the Bretteville cemetery south of Caen near Cintheaux as well. This will be an interesting visit for me, as fallen members of the Black Watch and Lake Superior Regiment are interned in this cemetery. I’ll explain if the visit happens.

From Rouen we go to Amiens, which allows us to get to Passchendaele and Ypres. We’re going to attend the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate in Ypres, which should be quite the experience. The Last Post has been played there for almost every day at 8:00pm since 1928. The next day we head to the ceremony at Vimy Ridge. I think we need to be up at 5:00am…that’s crazy even for me! That should be quite the experience, though I usually hate big crowds so we’ll see how I do.

In other school related news, it is now April so that means we’re getting closer to football spring training. Where does the time go? Geez this has been a busy year. Last week I finally found some time to re-edit the highlight video from the fall and get it posted on YouTube. Turns out (which I didn’t know) that the folks at YouTube are in a spat with Warner Bros music; you can’t upload anything with their music on it. So that’s why my video never worked…the only problem was finding non-Warner Bros music. Anyway, it’s finally online and you can watch it here.

The unfortunate side effect of my busy past few days is that I didn’t really have any railway time. There was no research…I’m sure I’ll get back at it when I return. I did do a little revising on the article, adding a couple of things here and there, but nothing substantial. Hopefully I can get this sent in soon and that will be one last thing to worry about.

So I need to get rolling. For those of you who read this blog for railway news, I will be hijacking it for the next week to blog from Europe. I’ll also be missing my usual Monday entry since I’ll be away.

Until Wednesday…

 
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Posted by on April 2, 2012 in Miscellaneous, Research, Writing

 

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I can see that on Google Maps?

26 Mar

Why yes you can! If you have no idea what I mean, which is probably the case, I’ll explain later. Patience!

So what’s new Dave? Well, I’ll tell ya. As of today, there are only 8 more sleeps until I’m on a plane headed for France. As you can tell, I’m getting pretty excited. Even though there is a bit of nervousness for this experience, the thought of visiting some new places overrides it all. The only big concern I have so far is the flight. We fly from Thunder Bay to Toronto, then catch a quick connecting flight to Montreal and from there to Paris. We only have a 55 minute layover in Toronto, which is tight, but we are flying Air Canada the whole way so the transfers are all in the same terminals. There is also the benefit of flying with other people, as we are travelling to Europe with our sister high school St. Ignatius. In Toronto I’m assuming we’ll meet up with the third group that is on tour with us, a school from St. Catherines.

I guess the biggest concern right now is some of the labour issues ongoing with Air Canada; fingers crossed I’m hoping all will be okay! I know that the kids are getting pretty pumped as well and part of my excitement stems from their enthusiasm. It will be amazing to experience the history we talk about in the classroom. From what I’ve heard, there will be over 150 schools from across Canada converging on Vimy Ridge on April 9th. Representatives of the government will be attendance, as well as His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada. Who knows, maybe we’ll meet the GG!

On the railway front, I finally have finished my half of the Minnesota History article. It only took me two months, but I’m pretty proud of myself. There are still some tweaks that need to be made, but there’s nothing major left to do. The final word count is 3200, which is over my limit, but there is so much to talk about. I’m not sure how things will make it through the revision process, but I guess I will find out. Not having written anything of this nature does make me a bit nervous, as you do worry how people will receive your abilities and writing style. It will probably be fine, but I’ll be very happy when it makes it to print!

So, the Google Maps thing. I happened to be looking on Google Earth and noticed that they updated some of their maps of the area. Google Earth/Maps has been great in the past for helping me locate the railway and plot the data to my GPS, especially along areas like the Whitefish River that have been eroded over the years. I want to hike the area around Hymers this summer, so I thought, “hey, what if I do an overlay and see how they match?” Well, it isn’t the first time that I’ve tinkered around with Google Earth and map overlays, but probably the most successful I’ve been at it. Some of you may be baffled, so I’ll explain.

Map overlay of the Hymers-Sellars area.

Google Earth has a feature that allows you to overlay or superimpose scans of paper maps onto the satellite photos. It does take a bit of work, as you have to line up key geographic features between the two, but once it’s done it yields awesome results, especially if you are doing historical research.

So I took a copy of the 1960 Geological map of the Hymers-Sellars area, scanned it and did the overlay. It is a good quality map and lined up quite easily. I was amazed when I began playing with the transparency of the map and comparing the current topography with the one from 52 years ago…what a difference! The technology certainly gives you an appreciation of the forces of nature and changes it undergoes. The Whitefish River has changed its course significantly and it makes me wonder how things looked when the railway was built in the early 1890’s. When I hiked the railway back in the 90’s I would often lose the grade where it had been eroded by the river; now with this overlay I can mark the data points on my GPS and hopefully track the railway without any complications. I’ll be trying this overlay with other map areas in the future.

The main reason why I was playing with the maps was due to a request I received last week via email. The Municipality of Oliver-Paipoonge is looking into creating some recreational trails within their boundaries and contracted a landscape architecture firm to do some consultations. I was contacted by a gentleman at the firm who saw some of my photos on Google Earth and was looking for more information about the railway and the old grade. I dug up some of my maps of the railway for his research, and that got me looking at them. You know the rest of the story.  I will be attending the open house meeting on the trails that is being held at the Murillo Town Complex (4569 Oliver Rd) tomorrow from 4-8pm as the architects have some questions for me.

Last tracks of the PAD&W Railway, Rosslyn, ON.

Now because of the meeting and the recent mild weather we have been experiencing, I decided to take a little

drive yesterday (though the warm temps seemed to have disappeared). The real motivator however was the 74th anniversary of the last train run on the railway. On March 24, 1938 engineers discovered that several bridges near Hymers had been weakened by high water on the Whitefish River. No passenger trains would ever travel the rails after that day. Faced with increasing competition from buses and trucks, CN had lost $79,000 over the two previous years. The line was probably in poor shape due to years of neglect so the decision was made to abandon it in October. The rails were taken up the next year.

Tracks and switch, Rosslyn, ON.

I drove to Twin City Crossroads, which is just east of the village of Rosslyn. Here can be found the last remaining tracks of the railway. They are not the original steel (dated 1903), as they were replaced when Canadian Northern took over in 1899. However, they are the closest one can come to the old railway. After photographing the tracks, I drove further west, past Rosslyn to the site of the old Brick Plant. More tracks can be found here, along with a switch that allowed rail cars onto the factory spur. From there the rail bed continues west, just south of Rosslyn Road until you reach the intersection of Fraser Rd, at which point the road becomes Harstone Drive and sits directly atop the grade. I went about 2km west, to where there was a spur that ran to the Stanley Ballast Pit. I think I found the spur, but it was too wet and cool to do any real exploration.

Anyway, until next week…

 
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Posted by on March 26, 2012 in Hiking, Miscellaneous, Research, Writing

 

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Shorts in March?

19 Mar

Yes, you read that title right. So, you’re probably saying, “it’s March, in the northwestern Ontario…what is he thinking?” Well, I’ve never worn shorts in March, but there’s a first time for everything right? I guess it all started last week when we were in Minneapolis and the mercury climbed to +18C; things only got better from there! Yesterday the temperature rose to +21 and I couldn’t help myself…actually I got too hot in pants. So I broke out the shorts and made history! Needless to say I feel very proud of my accomplishment. I even Tweeted about it 🙂

Today unfortunately it was back to work and boy was I dragging! Teaching is a great profession with some good holiday time, but coming back from vacation is always tough. This is especially difficult when you have to jump right back into the swing of things such as the Battle of Passchendaele and the Enlightenment. I’m certainly going to sleep well tonight!

Now speaking of sleeping, there are only 15 more sleeps until Europe! Can you tell I’m excited? Tomorrow I am having the final meeting with the travellers and their parents, so the reality is really setting in. Last week I picked up a new suitcase and some travel adapters so I think I’m ready roll. I am a little concerned with the current Air Canada labour issues, but fingers crossed everything will be okay.

I’ve been looking at our hotels and where we are heading from those locations. After our two days in Paris, we move to Rouen from which we visit Dieppe and Juno Beach. Then we’re on to Amiens which is close to the Beaumont Hamel and Ypres, as well as the culmination of the trip, Vimy. On paper they seem so far away, but they are really only an hour to an hour and half apart. Anyway, enough about that; you’ll be reading about it soon.

So, what about the railway? Well, there’s a lot to report on that front. I worked more on the article last week and I’ve almost reached 2800 words. I’ll try to get more writing done tomorrow and hopefully I can wrap things up next week. Since I’m almost done, I need to start thinking about pictures and maps for the article. I think I’ve got the pictures covered, but I’ll need to try and find some decent maps. I might have to make a few phone calls and see what I can dig up.

Last week I also received some good news regarding my presentation at the Chik-Wauk Museum. After the exchanging a few emails with Ada from the museum, I’ve been confirmed for Sunday, August 5th at 2:00 pm CST. I will be talking about the railway and the Paulson Mine…obviously pretty pumped for this event! It’s been a while since I did a public lecture on the railway so I’m great to get back into the saddle so to speak.

I managed to get that Wikipedia article on Leeblain finished as well. Quite proud of myself; it was actually a bit of work to put that together, especially with all the research involved (well, more like digging through my files). Maybe this will lead to more Wikipedia stuff, though I don’t want to get too carried away…I have anough on my plate. Paulson Mine next?

Joseph Fisher Eby

For my closing comments I thought I’d mention the busy week this is going to be in the history of the railway. Here’s the list:

Thursday-Gunflint Lake Iron Company is organized in 1892 by John Paulson, Kristian Kortgaard and Orrin D. Kinney

Friday-Investor Joseph F. Eby is born in Berlin, ON in 1844 and Canadian Northern VP Donald Mann is born in Acton, ON in 1853

Saturday-the last train runs on the Canadian National Railway-North Lake Sub-Division in 1938

Of all the events, the last is probably the most important, but I`ll save my comments for next week.

Until then…

 
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Posted by on March 19, 2012 in Miscellaneous, Research, Writing

 

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Waterparks, Ikea and the Battle of Yavin

12 Mar

So I’m sitting here in the parking lot at the Albertville Outlets, typing away while my wife shops. It’s a bit too wet outside for the boys to play on the equipment, so they’re watching a movie on their DVD’s. It is Monday, so it’s blog day, so I thought I’d get a head start on this week’s post. Unfortunately I just lost part of because it wouldn’t save, so I’m now resuming this post at 7:00 CST.

Lego Store, Mall of America

Now for the title; what else would you expect from me? We’re obviously on vacation, but it is somewhat abbreviated, since we head back home tomorrow…no Duluth on this trip 😦 Besides the usual spat of shopping, we did make time for a visit to the Waterpark of America which the boys loved as usual (Dad’s legs certainly didn’t love the trips up and down the stairs to the water slides). There was also some time spent at Nickelodeon Universe…the Splat-o-Sphere was particularly wonderful. Ethan kept saying to me, “isn’t this awesome!” as I struggled to keep my lunch down. We also squished Ikea into the agenda, as we were looking for some office furniture for the newly floored basement. We also made Mom happy by eating at her favourite, the Cheesecake Factory, but we had to roll ourselves out after dinner!

Well, that leaves the Battle of Yavin right? I mentioned in my last post that Ethan and Noah were excited to visit the Lego store (Dad always is too) and they were hoping to get some of the newly released Lego sets. Their wish came true, and the boys spent Saturday night assembling the X-Wing and Y-Wing while Mommy went to Kohl’s. Since then, the Battle of Yavin (the end scene from Episode IV: A New Hope, where Luke blows up the Death Star for all you non-Star Wars people) has been raging unabated. Today we celebrated Ethan’s 7th birthday with a traditional trip to the Rainforest Café and they’ve been at it since we got back. I’m sure Luke-Red Five and Dutch Vander-Gold Leader (and poor Jek Porkins-Red Six) will relish tomorrow’s travel day and a break from the war against the Galactic Empire!

In other news, the countdown is still on to Europe. Three weeks tomorrow I will be on a plane to Paris! Ironically, this is my first trip overseas since I went on my own EF Tour to Greece and Rome back in 1992…the 20 year anniversary trip! Last week I was sent all the flight and hotel information so it’s that much closer to reality. Last week I also taught my two Grade 10 classes about the Battle of Vimy Ridge, so I promised them pictures direct from the battlefield. When I return, we will be starting WWII so it will perfect timing to show them pictures of Dieppe and Juno Beach in Normandy. Talk about living what you teach!

As for railway related matters, last week was a fairly productive week. I managed to get another chunk of writing done on the article, bringing my word count to almost 2300. I will definitely have to do some cutting, but maybe by re-jigging the incomplete first part of my section I can minimize what is removed. I’m hoping to finish in the next week or two, for sure before I leave on the trip. I’ll need to get Lee’s input on what he thinks, as there will certainly be some tweaking that will be necessary. A summer or fall publication date? Let’s hope!

I did get a bit of research squeezed in last week too; I need to remember to download a few things that I bookmarked while surfing over lunch at work. With a bunch of new material to print out, I guess I’ll be doing some filing over the last few days of the break. I’ve probably killed more than a few trees in the past 18 years of research. One could argue that in this electronic age I could somehow keep everything on some sort of digital file, but I would have no idea how to organize that in a way that I could keep adding material. Anyone know?

Last week I also made a little foray into the realm of Wikis, for the first time creating a new page on Wikipedia. I have edited pages in the past, but this was the first time that I made something from scratch. It was completely off the cuff too; I just thought about it while my kids were writing a test on Friday and began plucking away on it over lunch. It is by no means complete, but I hoping to finish it off at some point during the break. The topic was on the ghost town of Leeblain in case you’re wondering, one of my favourite places. I always wondered what it might look like today had it worked out. Hmmmm…

Anyway, gotta go; long day tomorrow. Until next week…

 
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Posted by on March 12, 2012 in Miscellaneous, Research, Writing

 

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March break already?

05 Mar

Wow, we’re a week away from the break and it feels like the semester just started. The last four weeks have flown by! I guess like the saying says “time flies when you’re having fun.” I wouldn’t say that it has been all fun, but I’ve certainly enjoyed the last month. My classes are settling in and hopefully this one absence per week craziness will abate.

I’m certainly looking forward to the break and I know my boys are very excited. Our usual March break routine involves a trip to the States, with stops in Minneapolis and Duluth. Last year we tried driving through to Minnie from home on Friday after work, which is a tiring 6 hour slog. However the trade-off is well worth it, leaving us more time in Minneapolis to shop and have fun. I know the boys are pumped to visit the Lego store in the Mall of America, since there are new sets to be had. I must admit that Dad is excited to check-out the new X-Wing and Y-Wing too! We have to throw in some stops for mom at the Albertville Outlet and every Kohl`s we can find, as well as celebrating Ethan`s 7th birthday at the Rainforest Café. Then it`s off to Duluth for a few days before heading home.

Now speaking of travel, the calendar tells me that we leave for Europe and Vimy Ridge in 29 days! It`s hard to believe that it`s coming up so fast…kinda makes me a bit nervous. I think that I`m taking care of things as they come up, but there`s always that bit of the fear of the unknown. Things will be fine, but I want to make sure it`s all done right.

I know that I`m very pumped to go and I`m sure the kids are equally excited. Our slick jackets arrived on Friday, black for me and red for the kids; I think that we will certainly look good if anything else. I`ve definitely made up my mind to take the Playbook with me to blog, which I will hopefully do on a daily basis. Camera, video camera, Blackberry, tablet…I`ll having everything covered in detail for sure!

Last week I did spend quite a bit of time working on the article. I’m now up to 1800 words, which is just short of the limit for my portion. I think that I’m going to have to do a bit of trimming when all is said and done to stay below 2500 words. I actually pretty excited up for this article since it will be my first published work and it will allow me to say that I’m a “historian.” The most important part however, is the valuable experience it will provide me with in the area of historical writing.

It’s also great that I’m re-visiting some of the research that I did many years ago. There is so much information associated with this project there are many things that I had forgotten; it almost like I am relearning the material all over again. It is certainly helping me understand the history of the railway in a completely new perspective. Maybe historical research, like life, is about maturity. The older and more experienced you get, the more things make sense. In a few years I’ll really be smart!

Obviously the writing left little time for research, and I doubt I’ll get much done this week. A break is good too, time to recharge and refocus. Makes me think of how many hats one has to wear when doing investigation of this nature. I really want to get to that High Court of Justice file at the Archives of Ontario because it contains a plethora of information. However I feel as if I need a lawyer to help me interpret some of the material! I guess you can’t be an expert at everything, but one can try. I’m not a civil engineer, nor have I ever built a railway, but comprehending the intricacies of it is critical. Therefore my current bedtime reading is a book on how to construct a railway…its scandalous!

Anyway, time to go. Next week’s blog will be on location in Minneapolis.

 
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Posted by on March 5, 2012 in Miscellaneous, Research, Writing

 

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