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Algoma Central Railway

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Railway transport

                     Algoma Central Railway
                              logo
    Reporting marks   AC, ACIS
         Locale       Northern Ontario
   Dates of operation 1899 – 2001
      Track gauge     4  ft 8½  in (1435  mm) ( standard gauge)
      Headquarters    Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

   The Algoma Central Railway ( AAR reporting marks AC, ACIS) was a
   railway in Northern Ontario that ran between Sault Ste. Marie and
   Hearst, with a branch line to Michipicoten Harbour. The area served by
   the railway is sparsely populated, with few roads. The railway is well
   known for its Agawa Canyon tour train. The railway was purchased by
   Wisconsin Central in 1995 (which in turn was purchased by Canadian
   National Railway in 2001) and is now operated as part of CN's Eastern
   Division.

History

   The Algoma Central Railway was initially owned by Francis H. Clergue,
   who required a railway to haul resources from the interior of the
   Algoma District to Clergue's industries in Sault Ste. Marie;
   specifically, to transport logs to his pulp mill and iron ore from the
   Helen Mine near Wawa to a proposed steel mill (which was later named
   Algoma Steel). The Algoma Central Railway was chartered on August 11,
   1899. The railway's Dominion and provincial charters gave it authority
   to build north from Sault Ste. Marie to a junction with the Canadian
   Pacific Railway's main line, as well as a branch line to Michipicoten
   Harbour, on Lake Superior near Wawa.

   In 1901 Clergue acquired the charter of the Ontario, Hudson Bay and
   Western Railway, who were intending to build a line between the CPR
   main line and Hudson Bay and then changed the name of the Algoma
   Central Railway to the Algoma Central and Hudson Bay Railway,
   anticipating a connection either to Moose Factory on James Bay, or to
   some point on Hudson Bay.

   The Algoma Central fell victim to the bankruptcy of Clergue's
   Consolidated Lake Superior Corporation in 1903. At that time, the line
   reached 56 miles north of Sault Ste. Marie with a 20 mile segment
   running east from Michipicoten Harbour that did not yet connect with
   the main line. Construction was stopped, but was resumed in 1909 and
   the line was extended northward through to junctions with the
   Michipicoten Harbour branch (at Hawk Junction), the Canadian Pacific
   Railway (at Franz) and the Canadian Northern Railway (at Oba). In 1914
   it finally reached Hearst, a town 296 miles north of Sault Ste. Marie
   that was a divisional point on the National Transcontinental Railway.
   By that point, Clergue's dream of building a railway to Hudson Bay or
   James Bay had long been abandoned, and the railway's northern terminus
   remained at Hearst, around 150 miles from James Bay. However, the
   phrase and Hudson Bay was not removed from the railway's name until
   June 30, 1965.

   The Algoma Central was the first Canadian railway to fully dieselize,
   in 1952.
   The Algoma Central Railway's popular Agawa Canyon Tour Train
   Enlarge
   The Algoma Central Railway's popular Agawa Canyon Tour Train
   Waypoints on the Algoma Central Railway
   Enlarge
   Waypoints on the Algoma Central Railway

   In the 1960s, the railway began to promote the natural beauty of the
   District of Algoma to tourists, especially the Agawa Canyon, a canyon
   around the Agawa River, 114 rail miles north of Sault Ste. Marie that
   is not accessible by road. The Algoma Central developed a tourist
   stopover here, which was a great success for the railway. Due to the
   popularity of the Agawa Canyon excursions, the Algoma Central would run
   the longest passenger trains in North America, often up to 20 to 24
   cars long. During the 1970s and 1980s around 100,000 people per year
   would tour Agawa Canyon.

   The railway had been in the shipping business since 1900, when it had
   purchased four steamships. Starting around the 1960s, the railway
   greatly expanded its marine operations and diversified into trucking,
   real estate, forestry, and mining operations. These operations were
   more profitable than the railway operations, and on April 30, 1990, as
   part of a corporate reorganization, the name of the company was changed
   to Algoma Central Corporation, and the Algoma Central Railway became a
   subsidiary of it. A few years later the Algoma Central Railway was put
   up for sale. On February 1, 1995, Wisconsin Central Ltd. purchased
   Algoma Central Railway Incorporated, operating the railway as a
   separate subsidiary, Wisconsin Central Canada Holdings. In 1998, Algoma
   Steel closed its iron ore mine in Wawa, and the branch line between
   Michipicoten Harbour and Hawk Junction was abandoned. Wisconsin Central
   Ltd. was acquired by Canadian National on October 9, 2001, whereupon
   the Algoma Central became part of CN's Eastern Division.

   The railway is the subject of a song by Stompin' Tom Connors.
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algoma_Central_Railway"
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   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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