Trip north lacking in several areas
Renovations needed to spark more interest
Other Stories by this Author
I have been to some of the most desolate parts of the world and have travel horror stories to prove it.
I have been pickpocketed and bamboozled. I have dealt with taxi drivers who had a death wish and bus drivers who were trying to qualify for the Indy.
I have had hotel rooms where the mice and the cockroaches fought for supremacy as soon as the lights went out. I have woken up to giant lizard things scurrying across the ceiling and been served food that looks like the giant lizard things. I have been seasick, food poisoned and dehydrated.
In short, I’ve paid my travel dues.
So when we decided to take a little trip north we were not expecting too much hardship. The plan was simple, board the Ontario Northland Railway at Union Station in Toronto and keep going north until you can’t go any farther. The ONR is run by the Ontario government to service remote northern communities. The villages of Moosenee and Moose Factory on James Bay are at the end of the rail line. That was our destination.
Separated by the Moose River, the two isolated communities are really one. Founded in 1673 as a Hudson’ Bay trading post, Moose Factory is Ontario’s oldest English settlement.
To get there, it’s a day long trip by train from Toronto to Cochrane. After overnighting in Cochrane, a second train, dubbed the Polar Bear Express, goes north for another six hours to complete the journey.
And here’s where the trouble started.
The Ontario government spends a lot of money promoting this service and attracting tourists to Ontario’s far north… but that doesn't mean that the equipment is well maintained or even clean.
The Polar Bear Express is a jumble of used equipment inherited from Via Rail. On both our trip north and our return journey, frequent breakdowns were the norm. On the hottest day of the year, the air conditioning and lighting kept failing since the onboard generator was on the fritz. The water fountains on board didn’t work so water had to be bought in small bottles for $1 each.
Our trip north was delayed for several hours when all of northern Ontario lost telephone service. Somehow, all cell phones and internet connections were affected and so too was the ONR. This was not as big of a deal as it sounds since the trains are hardly ever on time. But it did mean sitting in the station at Cochrane for 2 hours. When we did make it to our destination we were hot and tired and glad that we had arranged for someone to meet us at the station and drive us to our hotel.
Since the train is never on time, the locals wait for it to arrive before heading to the station. This led to a curious site out the train window. The area went from deserted to chaotic in minutes with ‘taxis’ (really mud-covered pickups with the word taxi written in the dirt across the door) fighting for the 5 parking spots next to the station. These were in competition with private vehicles picking up family, women who emerged to sell crafts, kids who came to stare at the lunacy and a pack of dogs that barked excitedly at the chaos. Somewhere we found the van with the words “Niska Lodge” in the front dashboard and hopped in.
The Niska is perhaps the best hotel in the area, being newly renovated and with basic but clean amenities. We had been told that the Bear Lodge was better, but when we dined there that night we were glad they had been booked up. Threadbare carpeting and a musty odor gave the place a distinctly East German feel, circa 1979. The food in the dining room was of the same vintage. The chicken kiev I ordered was a heat-and-serve entree that looked like it came directly from the Price Club, after gaining a few years of freezer burn. Since it was served with instant potatoes and mushy peas that even an Englishman wouldn’t touch, we decided to skip dessert and run back to our hotel.
I say run since the black flies were just starting to wane and the deer flies were coming on strong. Black flies are tiny but have a sharp stinging bite. Deer flies, on the other hand, are huge and have dull stinging bites that leave marks only slightly less gory than getting too close to Dick Cheney during hunting season.
The next day's sightseeing started with a foray down the Moose River to James Bay. The settlements are actually close enough to the bay that it’s hard to tell where the widening river ends and the Arctic Ocean starts.
Seals and beluga whales are often sighted but we saw neither -- there were too many deer flies in the way. On the trip down river, a stiff wind stopped the little biters from doing too much damage, but on the return trip there was hardly any breeze and the 100 passengers aboard the tour boat abandoned the open air deck and crammed into the stifling below deck in an attempt to escape our winged tormenters.
Unfortunately, the deer flies followed. A hundred people swearing and swatting in a hot confined space for an hour is not exactly the worst travel experience I have ever had -- I mean it was still better than having to deal with Canadian customs but it came close.
Our next adventure was crossing the Moose River to Moose Factory. There are several important historic sites in the village like St. Thomas Anglican Church. I was looking forward to seeing the famed beaded moose hide alter cloth that had taken area women years to complete, but the structure has been closed for years due to its rotting foundation. The padlocked front door is as good a metaphor for lost opportunities as I can think of.
The original Hudson’s Bay store is boarded up too but the house that once sheltered the Hudson's Bay employees is now the main museum and contains an interesting collection of artifacts and documents from Canada’s earliest history. Two or 3 other historic sites in Moose Factory, such as the stone powder magazine and the blacksmiths shop, are well preserved but most historic buildings lay forlorn and forgotten and will soon be lost if they are not renovated.
Back in Moosonee, the original museum is now a wreck, and the artifacts have been moved into a converted rail car near the train station. I tried to visit it, but no one opened it that day and no one seemed to know who was supposed to. Infuriating.
Yet for all its faults, this is a destination that has potential. With new equipment, the Polar Bear Express could attract more users. With better and more accommodation, more tourists would probably visit, and for a draw, all that needs to be done is to fix up the historic sites that are now slowly rotting away. There is a great potential for jobs.
Until that time, I’m sad to say that taking the train north isn’t a trip I could recommend.
You can contact Al Kirk about travel experiences at thrifty-voyageur-travel@hotmail.com
Renovations needed to spark more interest
Tue Mar 25, 2008
Font
By Al Kirk
Other Stories by this Author
I have been to some of the most desolate parts of the world and have travel horror stories to prove it.
I have been pickpocketed and bamboozled. I have dealt with taxi drivers who had a death wish and bus drivers who were trying to qualify for the Indy.
I have had hotel rooms where the mice and the cockroaches fought for supremacy as soon as the lights went out. I have woken up to giant lizard things scurrying across the ceiling and been served food that looks like the giant lizard things. I have been seasick, food poisoned and dehydrated.
In short, I’ve paid my travel dues.
So when we decided to take a little trip north we were not expecting too much hardship. The plan was simple, board the Ontario Northland Railway at Union Station in Toronto and keep going north until you can’t go any farther. The ONR is run by the Ontario government to service remote northern communities. The villages of Moosenee and Moose Factory on James Bay are at the end of the rail line. That was our destination.
Separated by the Moose River, the two isolated communities are really one. Founded in 1673 as a Hudson’ Bay trading post, Moose Factory is Ontario’s oldest English settlement.
To get there, it’s a day long trip by train from Toronto to Cochrane. After overnighting in Cochrane, a second train, dubbed the Polar Bear Express, goes north for another six hours to complete the journey.
And here’s where the trouble started.
The Ontario government spends a lot of money promoting this service and attracting tourists to Ontario’s far north… but that doesn't mean that the equipment is well maintained or even clean.
The Polar Bear Express is a jumble of used equipment inherited from Via Rail. On both our trip north and our return journey, frequent breakdowns were the norm. On the hottest day of the year, the air conditioning and lighting kept failing since the onboard generator was on the fritz. The water fountains on board didn’t work so water had to be bought in small bottles for $1 each.
Our trip north was delayed for several hours when all of northern Ontario lost telephone service. Somehow, all cell phones and internet connections were affected and so too was the ONR. This was not as big of a deal as it sounds since the trains are hardly ever on time. But it did mean sitting in the station at Cochrane for 2 hours. When we did make it to our destination we were hot and tired and glad that we had arranged for someone to meet us at the station and drive us to our hotel.
Since the train is never on time, the locals wait for it to arrive before heading to the station. This led to a curious site out the train window. The area went from deserted to chaotic in minutes with ‘taxis’ (really mud-covered pickups with the word taxi written in the dirt across the door) fighting for the 5 parking spots next to the station. These were in competition with private vehicles picking up family, women who emerged to sell crafts, kids who came to stare at the lunacy and a pack of dogs that barked excitedly at the chaos. Somewhere we found the van with the words “Niska Lodge” in the front dashboard and hopped in.
The Niska is perhaps the best hotel in the area, being newly renovated and with basic but clean amenities. We had been told that the Bear Lodge was better, but when we dined there that night we were glad they had been booked up. Threadbare carpeting and a musty odor gave the place a distinctly East German feel, circa 1979. The food in the dining room was of the same vintage. The chicken kiev I ordered was a heat-and-serve entree that looked like it came directly from the Price Club, after gaining a few years of freezer burn. Since it was served with instant potatoes and mushy peas that even an Englishman wouldn’t touch, we decided to skip dessert and run back to our hotel.
I say run since the black flies were just starting to wane and the deer flies were coming on strong. Black flies are tiny but have a sharp stinging bite. Deer flies, on the other hand, are huge and have dull stinging bites that leave marks only slightly less gory than getting too close to Dick Cheney during hunting season.
The next day's sightseeing started with a foray down the Moose River to James Bay. The settlements are actually close enough to the bay that it’s hard to tell where the widening river ends and the Arctic Ocean starts.
Seals and beluga whales are often sighted but we saw neither -- there were too many deer flies in the way. On the trip down river, a stiff wind stopped the little biters from doing too much damage, but on the return trip there was hardly any breeze and the 100 passengers aboard the tour boat abandoned the open air deck and crammed into the stifling below deck in an attempt to escape our winged tormenters.
Unfortunately, the deer flies followed. A hundred people swearing and swatting in a hot confined space for an hour is not exactly the worst travel experience I have ever had -- I mean it was still better than having to deal with Canadian customs but it came close.
Our next adventure was crossing the Moose River to Moose Factory. There are several important historic sites in the village like St. Thomas Anglican Church. I was looking forward to seeing the famed beaded moose hide alter cloth that had taken area women years to complete, but the structure has been closed for years due to its rotting foundation. The padlocked front door is as good a metaphor for lost opportunities as I can think of.
The original Hudson’s Bay store is boarded up too but the house that once sheltered the Hudson's Bay employees is now the main museum and contains an interesting collection of artifacts and documents from Canada’s earliest history. Two or 3 other historic sites in Moose Factory, such as the stone powder magazine and the blacksmiths shop, are well preserved but most historic buildings lay forlorn and forgotten and will soon be lost if they are not renovated.
Back in Moosonee, the original museum is now a wreck, and the artifacts have been moved into a converted rail car near the train station. I tried to visit it, but no one opened it that day and no one seemed to know who was supposed to. Infuriating.
Yet for all its faults, this is a destination that has potential. With new equipment, the Polar Bear Express could attract more users. With better and more accommodation, more tourists would probably visit, and for a draw, all that needs to be done is to fix up the historic sites that are now slowly rotting away. There is a great potential for jobs.
Until that time, I’m sad to say that taking the train north isn’t a trip I could recommend.
You can contact Al Kirk about travel experiences at thrifty-voyageur-travel@hotmail.com
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