At the time of my travels across Northern Ontario, word had been going around for a couple of months that Canadian National's former Algoma Central line was on borrowed time. On October 6th, a sobering visit to Hawk Junction confirmed the rumours -- the old Algoma Central is very much a railway on its death throes. According to the local section-men and veteran train crew aboard Hawk Jct. to Hearst local 571, traffic on the line has dwindled drastically. These days, the twice-weekly local finds the majority of its traffic between the ONR at Hearst and the CN mainline at Oba. Franz, on the other hand, is infrequently serviced with only one or two cars received/dropped-off a month. Worse yet, the south end of the line from Hawk to Sault Ste. Marie hasn't seen the passage of a revenue freight train since April 15th. Despite these veteran railroaders doing their best to keep the mood upbeat, the air of melancholy was undeniable. These men, many of which whom have been with the company for 30 + years, are witnessing their seniority, railway, and ultimately their livelihood changing in-front of their eyes. I couldn't help but feel a knot in the pit of my stomach as these men, who have worked on this railroad since the ACR days, described their frustrations and anxieties with being bumped to the bottom of the seniority list, and essentially, forgotten. Times are indeed tough on the old Algoma Central Railway. For a brief moment, though, former glories were rekindled as EMD SD70M-2 8830 notched out of Hawk Junction with sixteen loaded log cars -- supposedly, the first time a train has departed Hawk with loads in months. While the future of the ACR remains uncertain, CN will continue to rumble along the Tracks of The Black Bear a few times a week serving communities in Northern Ontario.
