Northern most Canadian RR?

[train2]

On the Trains mag website I see a news item of a new planned railroad more northern then the current north end of line at Hudson Bay. I am not a subscriber so I can not access the article. I might buy the issue when it comes out in a month or two, but in the interim can anyone provide some details?

T2

[umtrr-author]

Not sure if this is what you mean, but this is interesting...

http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editoria ... ng-of-fire

This is about the best I could do for a "fair use" quote-- the piece is an editorial and jumps around a bit:

KWG Resources, a junior mining company that owns 28 per cent of one of the chromite deposits and controls the best land route into the region [of Northwestern Ontario, called the "Ring of Fire"] (most of the land is muskeg and difficult to build on), has a public-private-partnership rail proposal. The railway would cost up to $2 billion and need about two years for environmental studies and permitting, plus another three years for construction. The company already has spent $15 million on engineering and environmental studies. Part of this proposal suggests that aboriginal communities would eventually own and operate the railroad.

Going to the website of KWG Resources...

http://www.kwgresources.com/

...we get:

KWG Resources Inc ("KWG") is an exploration stage company that is participating in the discovery and delineation of chromite deposits in the James Bay Lowlands of Northern Ontario. These deposits appear to promise the hosting of a globally significant source of chromite which may be refined into ferrochrome, a principal ingredient in the manufacture of stainless steel. KWG has been a pioneer in exploring the James Bay lowlands in a joint venture with Spider Resources Inc. ("Spider") since 1993. This has resulted in the discovery of several diamond bearing kimberlites and the McFaulds Lake copper-zinc volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits in 2004, the discovery which precipitated a staking rush that defined the "Ring of Fire".

But Wait! There's More! Scroll down a bit on the KWG Resources home page and you'll find a map of the proposed railroad.

That having been said, might the White Pass and Yukon qualify as the northernmost railroad in Canada? Although it no longer runs to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory as a common carrier, if you count the tourist operation to Fraser, BC, that seems to be farther north than what KWG is proposing.

[Ken V]

The proposed rail line into the "Ring of Fire" in Northern Ontario does indeed sound interesting. If constructed, it would become the northernmost railway in Ontario but it would hardly be the furthest north in Canada. The Hudson Bay Railway line to Churchill, Manitoba would still go farther north than that. But, it too is not the winner of the title. That honour would go to CN's line into Hay River, Northwest Territories on the shores of Great Slave Lake. The White Pass and Yukon route to Whitehorse (or Carcross, Yukon where operations currently end) comes in a close second.

But, perhaps, Trains Magazine is talking about something else (like maybe the much discussed railway to Russia under the Bering Strait?)

Update: Here's what Trains is talking about; a new mining railroad on Baffin Island.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/global ... _news_stmp

A $2 billion, 90-mile railway will be built over four years on Baffin Island to haul ore for the Mary River project. It will be the northernmost rail line ever, as one Canadian TV report I saw recently proudly proclaimed. (Take THAT, Trans-Siberian railway).

It will be built over sensitive permafrost — a major engineering challenge — and run year-round to feed super-pure ore to foreign, resource-starved markets.

This would be a stand-alone railway which would not be connected to the main rail system.

Also: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-o ... om=2021933

[NellieBly]

Actually, I'm not sure that would be the most northerly rail line, on several counts. First, the iron ore line to Narvik, Norway reaches 70 degrees north latitude, which looks to be about as far north as the line on Baffin Island. Second, there is a line north of Murmansk, to the White Sea, which is even a bit farther north than that. Finally, there is a short mining line near Kirkenes, Norway, currently out of service but being re-opened, that is farther north than either of those and almost certainly farther north than the Canadian line.

I've been to Narvik by rail (on an iron ore train, no less), and it's pretty far north (although, thanks to the Gulf Stream, it's forested and quite pretty). Haven't been on the other railroads.

[george matthews]

Actually, I'm not sure that would be the most northerly rail line, on several counts. First, the iron ore line to Narvik, Norway reaches 70 degrees north latitude, which looks to be about as far north as the line on Baffin Island. Second, there is a line north of Murmansk, to the White Sea, which is even a bit farther north than that. Finally, there is a short mining line near Kirkenes, Norway, currently out of service but being re-opened, that is farther north than either of those and almost certainly farther north than the Canadian line.

I've been to Narvik by rail (on an iron ore train, no less), and it's pretty far north (although, thanks to the Gulf Stream, it's forested and quite pretty). Haven't been on the other railroads.

About 20 years ago I went to Narvik on an Interrail pass. ( I found it so expensive that I went back on the return train). It's a very pleasant countryside and the rail route descends from the Swedish plateau down an amazing route alongside a fjord. It was late August and I had taken warm clothing but found it quite hot, even in Gaellivare the iron ore town. That's the mostl northerly train in western Europe.