Misplaced Pages

#20979

72-615: The original Dome Mine was discovered by Jack Wilson of the Harry Preston crew in 1909, one of the crews whose successful finds launched the Porcupine Gold Rush . The vein Preston discovered dripped with gold and was referred to as the "Golden Staircase". A new company, Dome Mines Limited , was capitalized in 1910 to develop the namesake Dome Mine, producing 247 tons of high-grade ore its first year. The company built

144-524: A Charger locomotive and three Venture passenger cars . The train sets are for the restoration of Northlander train service between Toronto and Cochrane, which would operate four to seven times per week depending on season. There would be 16 stops: Toronto ( Union Station ), Langstaff , Gormley , Washago , Gravenhurst , Bracebridge , Huntsville , South River , North Bay , Temagami , Temiskaming Shores , Englehart , Kirkland Lake/ Swastika , Matheson , Timmins and Cochrane . ONR operates or operated

216-547: A Métis guide, Billy Moore, and used the Canadian Pacific Railway 's mainline running along the northeastern edge of Lake Huron to the Mattagami River . They started off by canoe and eventually reached Porcupine Lake, exploring around the area for some time. Although he found gold in numerous quartz outcroppings, the tiny flakes he saw were in stark contrast to the nuggets that could be panned in

288-500: A candle along it, but instead of wax it was gold. The team later found that the bootprint of one of the D'Aigle team-members had pressed directly into a vein of gold. They staked 12 claims near their discovery and then– because different sponsors had staked them food money –they flipped a coin to determine how to divide the claims. Hollinger won the toss and chose the six claims on the west. Noah Timmins and his brother, Henry , former Mattawa, Ontario merchants who had bought into

360-479: A community, also called Dome, of approximately 60 houses leased to miners with families. The mine was developed using open-pit mining for the first 200 feet, then resorted to underground mining methods . After the Great Porcupine Fire of 1911 ravaged communities and mining infrastructure throughout the region, the mine was rebuilt such that by March 1912, a 40- stamp mill was processing 400 tons

432-553: A crowd who formed to see the samples. They received backing from a group in Scotland to develop the plots, forming the Scottish-Ontario Mine. The name later changed to Canusa (Canada–USA) and finally to Banner Porcupine over the years. The mine proved to have excellent surface gold veins, but stopped shortly underground and was never very productive. In early June, Jack Wilson, backed by two Chicago businessmen, led

504-673: A day. The mine was incorporated in 1912 and acquired Dome Extension in 1916. Through its early years, Ambrose Monell , Joseph Delamar, and Jules Bache served as presidents of Dome Mines Limited. A rich ore body was discovered at the 23-level of the Dome Extension in 1933. Goldcorp ceased the mining operations on December 31, 2017, after 107 years of production, at that time "the longest continuously operating mine in Canada". An enormous discontinued open pit (Super Pit), huge man-made mountain of waste rock and working mill are now in place at

576-473: A mine on the lake in 1907, along with a crude mill. They had managed to produce a single bar of gold by the next year, when a fire burned the mine down. They decided not to bother setting it back up again, and abandoned the site. By 1909 the north was being inundated by prospectors travelling up the new railway and hunting down any hint of riches. As the stories of the Porcupine gold started to filter back to

648-419: A new trail where needed. The party arrived at the mine site on New Year's Day 1936, and soon acquired 560 acres of claims, including those of Hollinger, Miller, Gillies and Millerton. In 1910, Dome Mines began operations by sinking four shafts, the deepest being seventy-five feet. McIntyre was the last of the three to go into operation; McIntyre's partners were constantly quitting due to his behaviour, and it

720-415: A party of four prospectors and three native guides into Tisdale Township. On June 9 then came across a dome of quartz sticking out of the ground and decided to trench around it. As Wilson later noted, As I was examining the seams in the quartz, about twelve feet ahead of me I saw a piece of yellow glisten as the sun struck it. It proved to be a very spectacular piece of gold in a thin sean of schist... when

792-402: A plan for passenger rail services. In May 2021, the provincial government announced plans for Ontario Northland and Metrolinx to resume passenger operations between Toronto and northeastern Ontario with a 13-stop route to begin service by the mid-2020s. In November 2021, the decision was made to make the new terminus Timmins (previously Cochrane) due to its size and the fact that it serves as

SECTION 10

#1732771991021

864-583: A railway on this route still desired, the new Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway was incorporated on 17 March 1902, by the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway Act of the Ontario parliament . The railway was to be a provincial Crown corporation overseen by the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway Commission. Construction on the railway started in 1903, and the settlement of Redwater in

936-524: A regional transportation hub. A test run was conducted in March 2021, and again in November of 2021 where several northern Ontario mayors, MPPs, and local residents were taken from North Bay to Toronto's Union station. In December 2022, the provincial government announced that it would purchase 3 new train sets from Siemens Mobility Limited at a cost of $ 140   million. Each train set would consist of

1008-521: A routing agreement in which ONR would transport CN's freight traffic between Noranda and either Hearst or North Bay. On April 14, 2010, there was news of a proposed Ontario Northland takeover of the controversial Ottawa Valley rail tracks. However, this development never came to fruition. On March 23, 2012, the Ontario government announced that it would begin to wind down the ONTC, citing increased costs to

1080-483: A small number of larger holdings. By 2001, 67 million troy ounces of gold have been mined from the Porcupine area, making it by far the largest gold rush in terms of actual gold produced. For comparison, the well-known Klondike Gold Rush produced about 12 million troy ounces. The Porcupine rush, along with the Cobalt Silver Rush and Kirkland Lake Gold Rush , all in the early 20th century, drove most of

1152-470: A troy ounce. Improvements in mining techniques had by this time dramatically improved recovery rates and cost of operation, and a third wave of mines opened. These efforts included reprocessing of the massive tailing piles left by the previous mining efforts. Most recently many of the remaining plots were acquired by Goldcorp Inc . (Porcupine Gold Mines). Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway The Ontario Northland Railway ( reporting mark ONT )

1224-659: Is a Canadian railway operated by the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission , a provincial Crown agency of the government of Ontario . Originally built to develop the Lake Timiskaming and Lake Nipissing areas, the railway soon became a major factor in the economic growth of the province. After decades of difficult construction through the Canadian Shield , workers reached James Bay in 1932. While blasting

1296-477: Is a canoe car, which is in service in the summer as part of the Polar Bear Express passenger train. The car can hold up to 18 canoes. Canoeists can put canoes on this car as part of their baggage, although canoes are often stowed in boxcars. It is the only known train car specifically designed for transporting canoes and kayaks . In 1977, the railway purchased four RAm/DE train sets retired from

1368-623: The Abitibi Canyon Generating Station was being built on the Abitibi River . Between 1928 and 1930 the railway was extended north at a slow pace. The pace of construction was quickened in 1930 as a make-work project due to the depression. The extension to James Bay was opened on July 15, 1932. The terminus of the railway was at the mouth of the Moose River near the old trading post of Revillon Frères . It

1440-564: The Great Depression changed the economics of running a mine, and an increased demand due to a lack of faith in paper money led to higher gold prices on the market. A number of sites formerly ignored due to low production were suddenly rendered profitable. By 1932, approximately 75% of the gold mined in Canada came from the Kirkland Lake and Porcupine camps. By the late fifties, the Porcupine camp employed 6,000 miners. By

1512-531: The Trans Europ Express by the Dutch and Swiss railways , for use on its Northlander train. However, the experiment was not entirely successful. The locomotives were scrapped in 1984, although the passenger cars survived until the early 1990s. These surviving passenger cars were pulled by rebuilt Canadian locomotives ( EMD FP7 ). The rear end of the locomotives was altered to fit to original cars. With

SECTION 20

#1732771991021

1584-461: The 1950s many of the original plots had been mined out, and only the richer veins remained profitable. By the mid-1960s most of the mines in the area had closed. Even the main Hollinger eventually closed in 1968. Gold prices started to rise, inflation adjusted, for the first time starting in the later 1960s, rising to $ 150 by the 1970s. By the late 1980s this had increased to an average around $ 400

1656-482: The 23-level of the Dome extension was discovered in 1933. The Hollinger site was also wiped out in the fire, but rains that followed washed off the now unprotected topsoil to reveal many more veins of gold-bearing rock. The mine was processing 800 tons of ore a day by 1914, and that year they were able to announce that they had proven reserves worth at least $ 13 million, and started paying dividends. In 1916 they were

1728-569: The Klondike, and he remained unimpressed. Nevertheless, he returned the next summer in 1907 with a larger party including several experienced prospectors and tools needed to break down the rock. Several test pits were dug, but none of them seemed terribly promising. Bob Mustard, one of the prospectors in the D'Aigle party, stated "Quartz veins in Ontario never pay to work." D'Aigle apparently agreed, and they simply abandoned their tools in their latest pit and headed south. Seven claims were staked by

1800-623: The La Rose silver mine in Cobalt, purchased Benny Hollinger 's claims and opened the Hollinger Mine , one of the greatest gold-producers in the western hemisphere. Noah's nephew, Alphonse Paré, described it: "It was as if a giant cauldron had splattered the gold nuggets over a bed of pure white quartz crystals as a setting for some magnificent crown jewels of inestimable value." On the strength of his nephew’s information, Noah paid $ 330,000 for

1872-512: The Lake Timiskaming area. The railway reached Englehart in 1906 and Cochrane in 1909. In the next few years, several branch lines were built. In 1921, construction on a line north to James Bay was started. In 1923, the new Conservative premier of Ontario, Howard Ferguson , halted further construction, saying that it would be unprofitable. For four years the terminus of the line remained at Fraserdale , near Abitibi Canyon , where

1944-948: The Moose River, about 19 km (12 mi) south of the shore of James Bay . There is one major branchline running eastward from Swastika through Kirkland Lake and over the Quebec border to end at Rouyn-Noranda . The railway's branch from Swastika to Rouyn-Noranda, including 40 kilometres of track in Quebec, is operated by a subsidiary , the Nipissing Central Railway . Shorter spur lines also exist running west from Rock Junction to Sherman Mine , south-west from Porquis Junction to Kidd Creek Mine , about 22 km east of Timmins , north-east from Porquis to Iroquois Falls and south from Opaz Junction to Agrium mine site. Several other mining spurs opened and closed with

2016-479: The Ontario Government announced that it would invest $ 75-million (CAD), into infrastructure and towards resuming service between Toronto and Timmins. Connections with other railway systems are made as follows: There are a series of regular runs including: The railway currently owns about 25 diesel locomotives and roughly 700 items of rolling stock . One of its more unusual pieces of rolling stock

2088-405: The abandoned tools. Gillies' report of the find shows just how unlucky D'Aigle had been: ... Benny was pulling moss off the rocks a few feet away, when suddenly he let a roar out of him and threw his hat to me. At first I thought that he was crazy but when I came over to where he was it was not hard to find the reason. The quartz where he had taken off the moss looked as though someone had dripped

2160-405: The area. Following right behind them was the smaller team of Benny Hollinger, a young barber from Haileybury, and his partner, Alex Gillies. They met Wilson's Dome group, who told them that most of the good sites were already staked as far as four miles (10 km) to the west. They decided to skip those six miles, and moved westward where they came across one of D'Aigle's test pits, the one with

2232-402: The area. Golden City (later Porcupine) and Pottsville sprung up almost overnight, followed by South Porcupine at the end of the lake, closer to the main mining areas. As the area was quickly explored and staked, the main gold producing area was revealed to be three miles (5 km) wide and five long. South Porcupine was incorporated in 1911. Mines all along the area started production over

Dome Mine - Misplaced Pages Continue

2304-594: The basis of a company that would, in 1909, become McIntyre Mines . Although his name made millions, Sandy McIntyre himself had serious drinking problems , and sold his claims to the Timmins brothers before he could grow wealthy from their rich yields. The Hollinger was the first of the three mines to go into production. In 1935, Timmins wrote that he had set out with a mining party in December 1909, and had followed an old logging road that had fallen into disuse, cutting

2376-460: The boys came back we got out the drills and hammers, and that night had about 132 pounds of very spectacular specimens. Following the vein they found it to be several hundred feet long and about 150 wide, running down the side of the hill. The vein later became known as the "Golden Stairway", and the dome of rock gave its name to the Dome Mine , which would become one of the "Big Three" mines in

2448-522: The charter and used it as the basis for a new line running northwest from Parry Sound to Sudbury , with an additional line running from Parry Sound south to Toronto . The section running south to Toronto opened on November 6, 1906. The northern section was completed in 1908, although by this time it had been rechartered as part of the Canadian Northern Ontario Railway (CNOR). With the original plans having been dropped, and

2520-547: The company to purchase new coaches and refurbish rolling stock for the Polar Bear Express . This decision was supported by other members of Provincial Parliament after the auditor general's review cited that it would have cost the taxpayer $ 820 million instead of saving $ 265.9 million over three years had the divestment proceeded. In December 2020, the province released the draft transportation plan for Northern Ontario which recommended continuing to move forward on

2592-626: The divestment. They indicated that the ONR provides a fundamental link to many remote and rural communities and provides freight transport to many companies, including mining and forestry, allowing them to thrive. They indicate that the government maintained its funding to the GO Transit network in Southern Ontario and it is important to not forget about the important service the ONR provides to Northern Ontario residents. In February 2014,

2664-480: The fire, development shifted. On Labour Day 1911 Noah Timmins held a public auction for building sites on a relatively flat area of land just west of the McIntyre and Hollinger mines, creating the village that would soon develop into the town of Timmins. By the time it incorporated on January 1, 1912, it had already surpassed both Golden City (now known as Porcupine) and South Porcupine in size. Timmins has remained

2736-642: The first mine in the area to install underground electric railways, which paid for themselves in six months due to faster movement of man and ore. Hollinger then purchased the Acme and Millerton properties, creating a single 440-acre (180  ha ) plot, and becoming the Hollinger Consolidated Gold Mines in the process. McIntyre lacked the financial backing of the Hollinger or Dome, and took longer to get into full production. They had constant problems finding reasonable veins, and moved to

2808-539: The following passenger services: In June 2007 the Polar Bear Express was expanded from a seasonal excursion service to a year-round passenger train, replacing the Little Bear mixed freight/passenger train, which had operated 3 days per week. The new train carries some equipment not commonly found on passenger trains, including chain cars (flat cars) for passenger vehicles and boxcars. In April 2022

2880-472: The future goldfields. This was of little interest at the time, as the area was almost inaccessible. A University of Toronto geologist, W. Parks, followed up with three surveying runs in 1898, 1899, and 1903. These crossed through the main gold-bearing area along what was known as 'the Back Road' which has since been renamed "Goldmine Road". On his return to Toronto, he made a now-famous comment that "I regard

2952-423: The gold could be extracted through placer mining techniques. Although a number of prospectors made their fortune, operations in the area are marked largely by the development of larger mining companies, and most people involved in the mining operations were their employees. The mines peaked between the 1940s and the 1950s but still continue to produce gold although the many smaller mines have been consolidated into

Dome Mine - Misplaced Pages Continue

3024-521: The government and stagnant ridership. ONR passenger train service between Toronto and Cochrane (the Northlander ) was withdrawn and replaced with an augmented bus service, and all of the corporation's assets were to be sold off. On August 16, the Ontario Government announced that Northlander train service would end on September 28, 2012, and Ontera will be sold off. Northern Ontario municipal leaders had continued to express their fears regarding

3096-483: The initial rush but nevertheless sticking it out and eventually striking it rich along the Koyukuk River . After returning south he enrolled in a geology course at Queen's University , and used the library to pore over mining reports for new gold deposits. Discovering Parks' earlier report, he finished his course at the university and immediately set out for Porcupine. Ignoring the new railway, he hooked up with

3168-502: The larger supporting towns along the line, more and more teams headed out for Porcupine. During the summer of 1909 there were several parties in the area; it was only a matter of time before the main veins were discovered. George Bannerman set out with a partner, Tom Geddes, and started prospecting in the area north of Porcupine Lake. They found an excellent surface sample, staked several claims, and started their return trip to Haileybury to register them. When they arrived they were mobbed by

3240-467: The location. Porcupine Gold Rush The Porcupine Gold Rush was a gold rush that took place in Northern Ontario starting in 1909 and developing fully by 1911. A combination of the hard rock of the Canadian Shield and the rapid capitalization of mining meant that smaller companies and single-man operations could not effectively mine the area, as opposed to earlier rushes where

3312-590: The massive silver deposits in Cobalt were discovered, leading to a " silver rush " in 1903. This, in turn, filled Northern Ontario with miners, assayers, prospectors and all the requirements for rapid development of new mining sites. Reuben D'Aigle was the first to explicitly set out for the Porcupine Lake area in hopes of finding gold. D'Aigle had earlier been a latecomer to the Klondike , arriving after

3384-473: The mine. Alphonse Paré, a Royal Military College of Canada trained mining engineer, continued working for the family company exploring stakes and mining operations all over the world. The third great discovery was made by Sandy McIntyre (né Oliphant) , an adventurous Scotsman who, years before, gave up his factory job as to become a prospector. He teamed up with Hans Buttner, and together they staked two claims north of Hollinger's. McIntyre's findings formed

3456-682: The mines they served. Since 1993, the ONR operates a section of the National Transcontinental Railway running west from Cochrane to Calstock . The line was originally chartered as the Lake Nipissing And James Bay Railway in 1884. The original route ran roughly northward from Callander to Moose River on James Bay. However, in 1902, before construction started, the Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) took over

3528-457: The municipality of Temagami began as a small request stop when the railway reached the area of the Lower and Upper Redwater Lakes. As it passed by Long Lake, near the 103 mile marker, the largest silver rush in Canada was sparked by workers looking for trees for railway ties. The town of Cobalt grew out of the fortunes of silver taken from the grounds . By 1905, it reached New Liskeard in

3600-597: The need to get their furs to market as soon as possible and this led to the development of the Porcupine Trail , a trading route that connected the Abitibi River to the Mattagami River and passed directly through present day Timmins . There were hints of gold in the Porcupine Lake area on a number of occasions before the actual rush started. The earliest recorded mention is by a Department of Mines surveyor, E.M. Burwash, who reported seeing gold-bearing quartz as he travelled through Shaw Township, just southwest of

3672-474: The new premier of Ontario, Kathleen Wynne , met with northern community leaders and the head of the company and union to discuss the future of the company. They decided the union and management would present a reconstruction plan to the government for consideration. In late February 2014 a report to restructure the ONTC was delivered to the Minister of Northern Development and Mines. The proposal detailed how

SECTION 50

#1732771991021

3744-513: The next few years, buying plots staked during 1910 and 1911. Seeing the obvious potential of the area the T&;NO started construction of a spur line , but was delayed by the constant defection of workers to the goldfields. The province responded by shipping prisoners to work the line, handing secondary duties such as clearing trees and rock. The spur reached Golden City on June 7, 1911, and an official opening followed on July 1. More people poured into

3816-405: The north side of Pearl Lake, a symbol for the entire rush. The initial rush resulted in scores of small mines, but the hard rock mining demanded a high level of investment to be profitable, and many of the smaller sites with less valuable plots failed. There was a major first-mover advantage and many of the surviving properties were consolidated by the larger holdings to produce a single mine that

3888-407: The north side of Pearl Lake, eventually digging five shafts before finding a reasonable deposit. By this time the company was having trouble paying bills and was often being delivered goods "cash on delivery", but without a strong financial backer this was difficult to arrange. There is an oft-told story in Timmins that the first bar of gold produced by the mine was rushed to the bank so quickly that it

3960-450: The organization could be modernized both culturally and in job reductions through attrition. The report was well received by the minister who appreciated how management and labour come together to explore options for the corporation. In April 2014 the provincial government concluded the company would remain in public hands. However, Ontera (its telecommunication division) would be sold off to Bell Aliant . The government would reinvest in

4032-427: The other end of the lake. Throughout the day the smaller fires combined, and by the afternoon had merged into a single wall of fire up to 20 miles (32 km) wide at points, sweeping eastward on gale-force winds. It swept through South Porcupine around 3:30 p.m., burning it to the ground, and continued to burn its way as far as Cochrane , sending blankets of ash hundreds of miles downwind. Tom Geddes, co-claimer of

4104-448: The real center of the mining area to this day. By March 1912 the site had grown so large they were able to host a major party for the investors, shipping them in via a new spur line that ran to the site. In its first full year in operation the mine had already produced almost a million dollars of gold, with a profit of $ 500,000. Over the next five years the quarry mining gave way to shafts, producing $ 5 million in gold. A rich ore body at

4176-459: The region south of the Porcupine trail as giving promise of reward to the prospector." A major event that led to the eventual rush was the start of the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway (T&NO) running from North Bay through to Cochrane . As it expanded northward it allowed prospectors to support longer surveys deeper into the bush, looking for the minerals that were expected to stretch across all of Northern Ontario. Almost immediately

4248-453: The route through the shield, geologists discovered deposits of valuable minerals such as gold , silver , copper and nickel . The railway also made it possible to exploit the timber resources of Northern Ontario . Its north–south mainline is located entirely in Ontario , starting at its southern terminus at North Bay , running northward through Cobalt , New Liskeard , Cochrane , and on to its northern terminus at Moosonee on

4320-675: The same initials. The Ontario railway often had boxcars misdirected in the United States , while receiving invoices that should have gone to Texas . The railway's name was changed to the Ontario Northland Railway on April 5, 1946, when a bill amending the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway Act received assent. Three new mines were opened in Northern Ontario in the 1960s. Sherman Mine in Temagami

4392-468: The settlement effort in northern Ontario. During the late 17th century, explorers and fur traders established outposts in Northern Ontario (then part of Rupert's Land ) to capitalize on the fur trade. The Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company later developed several trading posts along major routes in Northern Ontario. The rivalry between these two trading companies resulted in

SECTION 60

#1732771991021

4464-515: The sites that started the gold rush, died attempting to save his dog. The T&NO spur line, unharmed north of the lake, sped relief supplies to the area. Eaton's funded an entire train of supplies, including blankets, tents and supplies, while churches across Ontario responded with clothing and other supplies. As crews returned to South Porcupine they found and collected the dead, including people who had died of smoke inhalation or asphyxiation and were seemingly uninjured. Some 500,000 acres of land

4536-401: The team during their prospecting, but all of these eventually lapsed. Although D'Aigle's parties were the largest, several other prospectors also made attempts to find gold in the area, potentially after hearing of his efforts. Edward Orr Taylor had camped on Nighthawk Lake three years before a major discovery. The two prospectors Victor Mansen (or Mattson) and Harry Benella (or Penella) set up

4608-455: The towns, and by the end of the summer there were 8,000 active claims. The summer of 1911 was unusually hot, reaching a record temperature of 107 °F (42 °C) on July 10. There had been no rain for several weeks, and by the evening several small bushfires had been spotted. The threat to the mining townsites was obvious, and starting on the morning of the 11th boats started ferrying women and children from South Porcupine to Golden City at

4680-530: The veins, without requiring the massive amounts of lumber needed to shore up horizontal drifts. The Coniaurum was successful into the 1950s, when the gold ran out. Another success was the Vipond , which had veins similar to the Coniaurum, and used their profits to build up a larger set of holdings. Starting in the late 1920s and early 1930s a second wave of new mines opened across the area. Low labour costs due to

4752-464: Was burned. The dead, officially numbered at 73 but thought to be as high as 200, were buried in a new cemetery across the point of the lake from the town, known to this day as Dead Man's Point. Although most of the Porcupine area mines were destroyed in the fire, the return to production was almost overnight. The Dome founders held an emergency meeting within two days, and funds to rebuild were immediately forwarded. With most of Porcupine wiped out in

4824-412: Was much more profitable. Although the "big three" were the most successful at this, there were a number of other success stories as well. The Coniaurum Mine was founded in 1924; backed by Cobalt money, they amalgamated several older plots north of the McIntyre area. The mine proved highly profitable due to the nature of the veins, which tended to run vertically. This allowed shafts to be sunk directly over

4896-577: Was named Moosonee , from the Cree meaning "at the moose". A name change for the railway was first proposed in 1942 by Arthur Cavanagh , who was chairman of the commission between 1940 and 1944. He noted that it would have the advantage of associating the railway with the province, not just the District of Timiskaming . A name change would also avoid confusion with the Texas and New Orleans Railway , which had

4968-414: Was not until 1915 that any real production started. By the spring of 1910 the rush was in full swing. Thousands of fortune seekers poured into the area, either in an attempt to stake their own claims, or more and more commonly, looking for work in high paying mining jobs. Towns, often nothing more than tent camps, sprung up along the banks of Porcupine Lake, at that point the terminus of the canoe route into

5040-500: Was opened in 1968, Adams Mine in Kirkland Lake in 1963, and Kidd Creek Mine in Timmins in 1967. The Ontario Northland Railway built spurs to serve these mines. In 1993, CN applied to abandon sections of its underused former National Transcontinental Railway mainline across northern Ontario (it had previously abandoned the portion of the line between Calstock and Nakina in 1988). The portion between Calstock and Cochrane

5112-479: Was sold to ONR. In December 2000, the Ontario government announced that it would be privatizing the railway. CN submitted a bid in March 2002, and in October the government gave it exclusive rights to negotiate a purchase of the railway. However, the deal fell through on July 2, 2003, over the government's insistence on job guarantees, and the railway remained in public hands. On February 25, 2005, CN and ONR signed

5184-454: Was still warm. Things improved dramatically when Sir Henry Pellatt , rich from the Cobalt silver mines, took interest in the McIntyre, and the mine paid its first dividend in 1917. In 1924 the company went on a buying spree, purchasing the Jupiter and Pearl Lake mines, creating a single 626-acre (253 ha) plot. In 1927 they built their Number 11 shaft, whose headframe can still be seen on

#20979