Ontario Northland Railway

The Ontario Northland Railway is a Canadian railway operated by the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, a provincial Crown agency of the government of Ontario. It was originally built to develop the Lake Timiskaming and Lake Nipissing areas and became a major factor in the economic growth of the province, reaching James Bay in 1932 after decades of construction through the Canadian Shield. Blasting the route through the shield uncovered deposits of gold, silver, copper and nickel, and the railway also opened the timber resources of Northern Ontario to development. Its main line runs about 705 kilometres from Washago in the south to Moosonee in the north, with branch lines serving mining and timber traffic across the region.