Northern Manitoba & Mining 5

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In the 1960's HBM&S got involved in custom smelting. There was a lot of zinc and copper concentrate that was shipped here from mines of other parts of Canada. Much of this was mixed with a lot of our own, which increased our production, and helped lengthen the life of our own ore reserves.

In 1957 when I hired on, I can recall all locomotives being electric. With HBM&S owning their own power generating station at Island Falls known as Churchill River Power, it was much more efficient for the use of electric locos. In the 1960's the electrical locos were gradually fazed out and replaced with diesels. This reduced maintenance on trolley lines, and the diesels were able to go out onto CN lines where trolleys did not exist so the diesel locomotive became more serviceable, and fitted the needs of daily yard work.

Today when we see a diesel locomotive approaching our city, it has somewhat of a different appearance. The rail line is owned and operated by Omni Track which is an American company known today as Hudson Bay Rail. They were providing the movement of grain to Churchill, Manitoba, and also the removal of concentrate and zinc products from our Hudbay operation in Flin Flon, Manitoba. Just recently, the fall of 2016, they ceased their operation to Churchill, and the closing of the grain terminal. A serious loss to a northern community. They have also reduced their trips to Flin Flon to twice a week.

This image is one that reminds me of some of the more high production days of the ore reserves from Snow Lake, Manitoba. When I look at this tressel in Channing that has been part of the track system to Flin Flon since the beginning of Hudson Bay Mining & Smelting Co., Ltd., this year celebrating 90 years. Many tons of ore, concentrate, and all employees prior to 1950 came to Flin Flon over this tressel. It has carried many loads.

This is one of the final Otters owned by Hudson Bay Air Transport which was based in Channing. This image was taken on the Churchill River just below the copper dam at Whitesands. They were dropping off supplies, and propane for the resident caretaker, at the Whitesands copper dam. This was just prior to Churchill River Power being sold to the Saskatchewan Power Corporation.

This picture illustrates, once again how Beavers, Otters, and before that Norseman was such a vital link in the development of mining, fishing, and tourism in northern Manitoba. Here is a supply of lumber being brought in to a fly inn fishing plant for an expansion project.

In the 1940's and 1950's Bombardier in Quebec developed what was known as the bombardier, there was the wide gage and the narrow. The one in the picture is a narrow gage, it was a model of the 1950's, and the wide gage looked exactly the same but the body and track were wider which had it's advantages. This made exploration somewhat easier for geologists and line cutters, and it was also a great invention for the commercial fisherman.

The wide track Skidoo is another product of Bombardier. It was a great asset to trappers, line cutters and geologists, as it allowed access to many areas with much greater ease, but didn't provide the same comforts as the bombardier. One thing you didn't want to do was to get either one of them down in slush on a lake, as it created a lot of hard work to get them out.

This is an image showing H.B.M.&S tractors parked for the summer season. The Lynn tractor took over from the common everyday work horse for the simple reason that they could haul larger and heavier loads. As the demands of the mining industry grew, so did the demands for moving more supplies, equipment of a heavier nature, in a faster method that teamsters and horses, could not provide. Looking back it is interesting, how man has always strived to move things more efficiently, greater volume, and quicker which believe it or not has always helped to reduce the work force.

This is an image which was given to me by Ron Dodds. It was an image that was created back in the days when the boy scouts made their annual trip to Camp Whitney. This image is included in this presentation as one can see that if you grew up in Flin Flon, trips to Camp Whitney on the train and by boat, was likely a good part of your childhood memories.

I have chose this image of a 4 horse team as my closing image on this 5 page presentation. This image takes you back to the beginning where we had nothing but men with a strong will and determination, along with horses to carve out a path for the future of Manitoba's industry. As a northerner today, I feel we owe a lot to the men and women who went before us, as their jobs were not easy, and their rewards were not always close to what they deserved. Many of us feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to grow up in the community, and also many Manitoba and Saskatchewan farm boys and girls to of had employment which provided us with a good life style, decent benefits, pensions, and the opportunity for retirement.

This summer we will celebrate 90 years as a mining community, which is definitely a mile stone, as very few mining communities have existed as long, and have been as successful as ours. The future of our community today is very much hanging in the balance. By 2018 - 2020, we could look at the fact that there will not be an operating mine on our doorstep as there was in the past. Whether someone will develop or find another mine in the rocks around our community, at the moment is in limbo. However, what will be will be, and putting these pages together has brought back many memories of the lives in this community. I hope these pages help you enjoy the past as much as I have, putting them together. Thank you and look forward to your comments.

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