Other Manitoba and Saskatchewan Developments

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by esquire

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/m...umas-1.4143982

Apparently a deal has been struck to sell the Omnitrax-owned Hudson Bay Railway from The Pas to Churchill along with the Port of Churchill to the Missinippi Rail consortium of First Nations for $20 million.

I wish them all the best, but with the massive amounts of money needed to maintain and operate such a huge railway it sounds like a very shaky proposition. I know that Mathias Colomb Cree Nation has experience running a railway with Keewatin Railway up to Lynn Lake, but the HBR is a far larger and more capital-intensive enterprise. I hope it works out but I doubt it will.

the line to lynn lake doesn't run all the way to lynn anymore stops at the old fox mine depot due to the town wanting reducilas amount of property tax for the line to be there.. the town of lynn lake is a municipality so it gets shafted on funding that the province would normally give a town if they were a town


northern manitoba has no vision so it festers

[bomberjet]

Lynn Lake should take some initiative and become a town. Just saying.

[esquire]

^ Get off your lazy duffs and make something of yourself, Lynn Lake!

But seriously though, what is even left in that town? Is there still an operating mine there? I remember visiting in the 90s and it seemed half abandoned, with many of the buildings boarded up. Obviously a far cry from the boomtown it was in the 70s when the mine was operating at full speed.

Seems that almost every town in the north has that kind of depressing, forlorn feel... they all have shut down mines or sawmills, with tons of dilapidated buildings left over from the 60s and 70s boom era. The only exception might be the Hydro towns along the Nelson River where they're still riding the wave of construction and development.

[LilZebra]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

This would open up both tourism and general business. I bet most of us would take a drive up to Churchill at some point in our lives. Likely more than once. How may go by train? Likely not many of us.

The issue that's stopping me from visiting Churchill is not train vs car, but the shopping amenities once I'd get there.

Sure Churchill is not T.O, but... I prefer to visit big cities. In the 70s when we took two trips to the Rocky Mtns. (Banff, Jasper) I was not really excited about camping trips. But in '85 we rode the car to the Twin Cities and I was awed.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by LilZebra

The issue that's stopping me from visiting Churchill is not train vs car, but the shopping amenities once I'd get there.

Sure Churchill is not T.O, but... I prefer to visit big cities.

Churchill is not, and never will be a shopping destination. But that's not why anyone would ever go there... it's a fascinating place with interesting historical and natural attractions.

Churchill and the remote fly-in northern fishing lodges are arguably Manitoba's only true world class tourist attractions.

[bomberjet]

^What Esquire said. Not sure if there was some sarcasm coming through on Churchill being a shopping destination. I apologize for that.

Churchill is purely in the "eco-tourism" department at the moment. In the future, it would be in the Thompson category of "northern hub" type place. At that point, I assume it would have stores like Sobeys or Canadian Tire.

[esquire]

^ The thought of a full on big box store in Churchill is hard to fathom... it's a tiny town with only about 1,000 residents.

I will say, I first visited Churchill in 1987 when HBC ran the remote northern stores that are now operated by Northwest Co. Given that I associated The Bay with the big downtown Winnipeg store, I remember finding it amazing that little old Churchill had its own Bay store.

And here it is!

[bomberjet]

Getty Images no less. In the big leagues!

[esquire]

^ I merely googled that photo. Hats off to you though, Wolfgang Kaehler, wherever you are

[bomberjet]

I always like checking old images vs new. When the only way to tell the date is by the vehicles! I bet that building still looks the same, just more rundown.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

I always like checking old images vs new. When the only way to tell the date is by the vehicles! I bet that building still looks the same, just more rundown.

You know, it actually looks pretty good these days...



Churchill is a very well kept town by northern standards, though.

There are a lot of more remote places where the Northern Store is one of the only non-dilapidated buildings in town. NWC does a pretty good job with the upkeep of their stores.

[bomberjet]

Well I'll be. Looks great. I haven't been to many Northern stores around the Province. But have heard they are good corporate peoples.

[Bdog]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ The thought of a full on big box store in Churchill is hard to fathom... it's a tiny town with only about 1,000 residents.

I will say, I first visited Churchill in 1987 when HBC ran the remote northern stores that are now operated by Northwest Co. Given that I associated The Bay with the big downtown Winnipeg store, I remember finding it amazing that little old Churchill had its own Bay store.

And here it is!

Perhaps the only Hudson's Bay store on Hudson Bay?

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

Lynn Lake should take some initiative and become a town. Just saying.

it was incorprated as a municipality so was leaf rapids

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ Get off your lazy duffs and make something of yourself, Lynn Lake!

But seriously though, what is even left in that town? Is there still an operating mine there? I remember visiting in the 90s and it seemed half abandoned, with many of the buildings boarded up. Obviously a far cry from the boomtown it was in the 70s when the mine was operating at full speed.

Seems that almost every town in the north has that kind of depressing, forlorn feel... they all have shut down mines or sawmills, with tons of dilapidated buildings left over from the 60s and 70s boom era. The only exception might be the Hydro towns along the Nelson River where they're still riding the wave of construction and development.

northern store
the shell err esso moved to the shell (run by some guy whos to lazy to replace light bulbs literaly theres a box of new ones and he wont change em windows buted and gas is 20c more then the crdlock gas behind the northern store that penner oil has setup

lynn lake taxi in the old esso
lynn inn / restraunt / bar and vendor
town hall
the red barn (restraunt space open in the summer ofr amaricans to stop in
some finacial planner office?
the hardware store is still going
the old ford dealer is now a auto mechanic shop
least one other buisnes im forgeting about


but yea downtown lynn lake will be nothing but empty lots pritty soon sept for a few buildings still in use...



king of obsolete is still up there doing his thing it seems


the west side of town the homes are generaly looked after


the east side is a mas of empty lots........


theres some sorta gold mine slowly working its way to becoming an active mine that pays for the airport to stay open see w happens

about the only industry up there these days is fishing and the mine remediation

was sad to see the town decline as far as it has

but going here is worth it

[rrskylar]

Neat to see pics of a place we never see! How are the bugs up there?

[Stormer]

Enbridge Line 3 replacement construction has commenced. It is an $8.2B project mostly in SK and MB. Should give the economy a shot in the arm.

[1ajs]

while the churchill rail line falls apart the line to lynn lake is suppost to be seeing major work starting next week including it being extened back into town from the mcveigh stop

[esquire]

^ I rode that train to Lynn Lake once, when it used to go all the way to the end of the line... beautiful scenery as I recall, but a bit of a crawl.

Why does the line end in McVeigh now?

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ I rode that train to Lynn Lake once, when it used to go all the way to the end of the line... beautiful scenery as I recall, but a bit of a crawl.

Why does the line end in McVeigh now?

the town was wanting to charge a crazy amount for property tax and they riped the line out at the edge of the municipality of lynn lake