Some time near the end of last week, the train stopped running. About a hundred feet of track got washed out around 30 miles south of Moosonee. Tons of gravel have to be hauled to rebuild the road bed. And then new track has to be laid. I’m told that the earliest we’ll see a train here again is Wednesday, the day after tomorrow.
I am told that the culprit (or primary culprit) is Ontario Hydro — or the contractor for Ontario Hydro. People are blaming the Ministry of Natural Resources, as well, for failing to do proper inspections. And, so far as that goes, if the people in the train company REALLY cared about the service they provide — or are supposed to provide — they’d have noticed the mess a long time ago. But they don’t have to worry about their jobs, because they have no competition. The power line was none of their business. They never noticed. Ten to one they would have if there had been a highway parallel to the train tracks. Certainly a motorist would have noticed.
A new power line was installed over the last few months — a line that would power the mine site 150 miles to the north on The Attawapiskat River. Evidently the contractor for the new line built temporary bridges over the creeks draining the swamps through which the power line runs. South of Moosonee the power line parallels an existing power line — the one that powers Moosonee and Moose Factory. And they both are right next to the train tracks for the Ontario Northland Railroad. Makes a good deal of sense. However, when the job was done the contractor failed to clear the debris. That debris then clogged the creeks and streams. Those creeks and streams may appear perfectly innocent in the summer, fall, and winter. In the spring, however, they wake up and dance. This year they closed the railway.
Those who already have tickets are being transported by the train company by charter aircraft. The rest of us have to wait for the next train.
As though that were not enough … somebody at the construction site hit the phone wire on Saturday morning with a back hoe or something like that. The phone company has installed a fibre-optic cable in the railroad’s road bed. The cable runs from Cochrane to Moosonee. It’s our connection with the outside world. You’d think that a cable buried in a railway roadbed would be safe. It was — until the roadbed gets washed out — or, actually, until the crews start working on the washed-out roadbed. The ATM machines on The Island, long distance phone connectivity, and internet access all went down — suddenly and without warning. That broken cable affected more than Moosonee and Moose Factory. A large chunk of northeastern Ontario lost phone service as well.
By Sunday morning the phone line was back in business. There have to be some busy crews down there in the swamp. (Actually, it’s UP there in the swamp.)