 RailLink Canada 1400, anEMD FP9Au atWaterloo, Ontario, October 7, 2003. | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Peace River, Alberta |
| Reporting mark | RLGN |
| Locale | Alberta,Northwest Territories |
| Dates of operation | 1964– |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)standard gauge |
TheMackenzie Northern Railway (reporting markRLGN) is a 602-mile (969 km)Canadianrailway operating inAlberta and theNorthwest Territories.[1] It is the northernmost trackage of the contiguousNorth American railway network.[2] Since being purchased by CN in 2006,[3] the railway's mainline consists of theSlave Lake (Smith, AB - Winagami, AB),[4]Peace River (Winagami - Roma Jct., AB),[5]Manning (Roma Jct., - High Level, AB),[6] and theMeander River (High Level, AB - Hay River, NT)[7] subdivisions.
The majority of the tracks which the Mackenzie Northern Railway uses were built by the federal government as theGreat Slave Lake Railway, running from a point on theNorthern Alberta Railways (NAR) atGrimshaw, Alberta, to the southern shores ofGreat Slave Lake atHay River, Northwest Territories.[8] The undertaking started in 1961 with a proposal to Parliament, and the line opened in 1964.[9] This railroad was part ofJohn Diefenbaker's vision for the north,[9] and facilitated shipment of lead-zinc ore from thePine Point Mine.[8][9]
The Great Slave Railway's operation was entrusted toCanadian National Railway in 1966, which had been operating the line on behalf of the federal government since it opened. A spur line continued east from Hay River along the south shore of Great Slave Lake to the mine atPine Point. This section was abandoned in 1988 after the mine closed and ore concentrate shipments ceased.[8] The total mileage in the Northwest Territories from the border with Alberta to Hay River is approximately 130 kilometres (80 mi).
The NAR had been jointly owned by CN andCanadian Pacific Railway (CP) since 1928. In 1981, CN purchased the other half of the NAR from CP,[10] allowing CN to operate continuously from Edmonton to Hay River.
Between November 1997 and May 1998 CN sold its lines running fromSmith, Alberta, on the former NAR (north of Edmonton) toPeace River and Grimshaw and on to Hay River to a shortline operator,RailLink Canada.[11] RailLink Canada consolidated these lines under the name Mackenzie Northern Railway.
RailLink Canada was subsequently purchased byRailAmerica, which operated the Mackenzie Northern Railway between Smith and Hay River. Commodities include agriculture and forest products from northeastern Alberta and the southern Northwest Territories, as well as fuel and supplies destined forArctic communities to bebarged across Great Slave Lake and down theMackenzie River to theBeaufort Sea.[11]
On January 19, 2006, CN announced the purchase from RailAmerica Inc. of the Mackenzie Northern Railway, the Lakeland & Waterways Railway, and the Central Western Railway (jointly known as RLGN/CWRL).
CN came full circle by paying $26 million for the three northern Alberta rail lines it had sold nine years previously.[12]