Ontario Northland

Le Chemin de Fer Ontario Northland, ou Ontario Northland Railway en anglais (ONR), est un chemin de fer canadien et une compagnie de la couronne provinciale. The Ontario Northland Railway (ONR, AAR reporting marks ONT, ONTA) is a Canadian railway and provincial Crown corporation. Its north-south mainline has a southern terminus at North Bay, passing through Cochrane, and a northern terminus at Moosonee, on the south shore of James Bay - all in its namesake province of Ontario. An east-west secondary mainline connects Calstock (near Hearst) with Cochrane and a line extends from Swastika (south of Cochrane) into the neighbouring province of Quebec where it terminates at Rouyn-Noranda. The railway's forty kilometres of track in Quebec are operated by a subsidiary, the Nipissing Central Railway.

Originally built to develop the Lake Timiskaming and Lake Nipissing areas, this railway soon became a major factor in the economic growth of the province. After decades of hard construction through the Canadian Shield it reached James Bay in 1932. While blasting the route through the shield, geologists discovered vast deposits of valuable minerals such as gold, silver, copper and nickel. The railway also made it possible to exploit the vast timber resources of Northern Ontario. The importance of the ONR is witnessed by the vast increase in mineral exploration and exploitation, giving rise to the valuable mining stocks on the Toronto Stock Exchange and indirectly leading to Southern Ontario's economic boom during the 1970s.

The railway was incorporated as the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway on March 17, 1902, by an act of the Ontario parliament, the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway Act. 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 reached New Liskeard, in the Lake Timiskaming area, by 1905. 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, Ontario grew out of the fortunes of silver taken from the grounds. 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, stating that it would be unprofitable. For four years the terminus of the line remained at Fraserdale, near Abitibi Canyon, where a hydroelectric dam 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 a point at the mouth of the Moose River near the old trading post of Revillon Frères. It 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 with the District of Timiskaming. A name change would also avoid confusion with the Texas and New Orleans Railway, which had the same initials. The Ontario railway would often have 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 1950s and 1960s. Sherman Mine in Temagami was opened in 1955, 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 1991, ONR acquired some buses from the sale of Gray Coach by Stagecoach Group.

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 was sold to ONR.

In December 2000, the Ontario government announced that it would be privatising the railway. CN submitted a bid in March 2002, and in October the government gave them 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 remains in public hands. On February 25, 2005, CN and ONR signed a routing agreement in which ONR would transport CN's freight traffic that travels between Noranda and either Hearst or North Bay.

Ontario Northland est reconnu pour son train touristique Polar Bear Express qui circule de Cochrane à Moosonee, faisant 6 aller-retours par semaine durant les mois d'été. Le train quitte Cochrane au matin, reste quelque heures à Moosonee et retourne au soir. Même si les ours polaires sont rarement visibles à Moosonee, le voyage permet de découvrir la culture amérindienne et l'histoire ferroviaire. Il y a aussi un train mixte marchadises/passagers, appelé affectionately Little Bear (petit ours, ourson). Ce train se déplace entre Cochrane et Moosonee et arrête volontiers le long du trajet pour embarquer ou débarquer des canotiers ou des chasseurs. Le Northlander est un autre train de passager du ONR qui voyage en partie sur des voies du CN entre Toronto et Cochrane via North Bay. Le Northlander effectue un voyage par jour dans chaque direction, six jours par semaine.

Le Northlander arrêtes aux gares suivantes:

• Toronto
• Washago
• Gravenhurst
• Bracebridge
• Huntsville
• South River
• North Bay
• Temagami
• Cobalt
• New Liskeard
• Englehart
• Matheson
• Cochrane

Les arrêts du Little Bear et du Polar Bear Express:

• Cochrane
• Moosonee
• Moose Factory

Le Dream Catcher Express s'arrête à:

• North Bay
• Temagami

Ontario Northland opère aussi un service d'autobus et de courrier entre Toronto (du Terminus Yorkdale du Go Transit) est plusieurs endroits dans le centre et le nord de l'Ontario.

Le service d'autobus de l'ONR (lignes 1 et 2) s'arrête aux endroits suivants:

• Toronto
• Yorkdale
• Iroquois Falls
• Cochrane
• Smooth Rock Falls
• Kapuskasing
• Hearst
• Orillia
• Gravenhurst
• Bracebridge
• Port Sydney
• Huntsville
• Norht Bay
• Temagami
• Coldwater
• Port Severn
• Mactier
• Washago
• Novar
• Ernsdale
• Burk's Falls
• Sunrdige
• South River
• Trout Creek
• Powassan
• Azilda
• Chelmsfor
• Dowling
• Levack
• Cartier
• Cobalt
• Haileybury
• New Liskeard
• Swastika
• Earlton
• Englehart
• Kirkland Lake
• Ramore
• Matheson
• Val Gagne
• Gogama
• South Porcupine
• Timmins
• Cochrane
• North Bay
• Kapuskasing
• Hearst

• General Motors Diesel FP7
• General Motors Diesel GP38-2
• General Motors Diesel SD40-2
• General Motors Diesel FP7A
• Montreal Locomotive Works RS10 / 10s
• Montreal Locomotive Works RS2
• Montreal Locomotive Works RS3
• Montreal Locomotive Works S4
• American Locomotive Company S2
• American Locomotive Company RS2
• Hawker Siddeley Canada corrugated coach
• PM-class coach
• Budd dome coach
• Budd lounge car
• Budd lunch counter car
• EMD F7B locomotive
• Werkspoor locomotive
• MCI D4500
• MCI 102A2
• MCI MC9
• MCI MC5A
• MCI MC7
• MCI MC8
• MCI 102A3
• MCI 102C3
• MCI 102D

Les connexions avec les autres compagnie de chemin de fer s'effectuent aux endroits suivants:

• North Bay (CN et Chemin de fer Ottawa Valley)
• Hearst (CN)
• Rouyn-Noranda (CN)

Le chemin de fer possède environ 25 locomotives diesel, et environ 700 pièces de matériel roulant. Une de ses pièces de matériel roulant les plus inhabituelle est un wagon pour canot, qui est en service durant l'été à bord du Little Bear. Le wagon peut contenir jusqu'à dix-huit canots. C'est le seul wagon connut au monde construit spécifiquement pour transporter des canots et des kayaks.

En 1977, le chemin de fer acheta quatre ensembles de train Trans-Europ-Express retirés des chemins de fer Néerlandais et Suédois, pour les utiliser sur son train Northlander. Par contre, l'expérience n'à pas été complètement fructueuse. Les locomotives furent envoyées à la casse en 1984, alors que les wagons de passagers survécurent jusqu'au début des années quatre-vingt.

• North Bay Yard
• Cochrane Yard
• Temagami Work Shed

The Ontario Northland Transportation Commission was established as the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway Commission in 1902 to oversee the railway. In 1946, with the name change to the railway, the name of the commission was changed to the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission. The use of the word "transportation" instead of "railway" in the commission's name reflected a new, expanded mandate for the commission.

In 1937, the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway Act was amended, enabling the Commission to operate buses, trucks, and aeroplanes in order to carry passengers and freight. By 1938 the Commission had acquired 11 buses. In 1945, the Commission acquired the Temagami and the Nipissing Navigation Companies. Legislation in 1946 allowed the Commission to acquire, construct, and operate boats, et aussi des hôtels, tourist resorts, and restaurants. In 1960 it purchased a trucking firm, Star Transfer.

The railway is still operated today by the commission, which still runs various other transport enterprises, including a bus coach services along the Toronto-North Bay-Timmins-Hearst and Toronto-Sudbury-Timmins corridors, and a telephone and telecommunications company (Ontera). The commission is an agency of the Ontario government and is used to promote development in northern Ontario.