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, which was intending to build a line between the CPR main line and Hudson Bay. He then changed the name of the Algoma Central Railway to The Algoma Central and Hudson Bay Railway Company, 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 90 km (56 mi) north of Sault Ste. Marie, with a 32 km (20 mi) segment running east from Michipicoten Harbour that did not yet connect with the main line. Construction was stopped, but it was subsequently 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 476 km (296 mi) 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 240 km (150 mi) 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.
In the 1960s, the railway began to promote the natural beauty of the District of Algoma to tourists, especially the Agawa Canyon, a canyon carved by the Agawa River, located 114 rail miles (183 km) north of Sault Ste. Marie, and not accessible by road. The Algoma Central developed a tourist stopover here and it proved to be a great success for the railway. Owing 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 during 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, with the Algoma Central Railway becoming one of its subsidiary. 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 the song Algoma Central 69 by Stompin' Tom Connors.
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