Does anyone know if they are still running passenger trains on the Quebec North Shore and Labrador? I read an article about these unique operations several years ago, and it seemed like it would make a fun 5-6 day trip for me sometime (I live in NY state). Recent web searches have found little/no info online. This is an Amtrak posting board but it doesn't look like many people visit the Canada room so figured I'd give it a try. Anyone have info??
Posts: 38 | From: Highland, NY, USA | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Many of the threads on this board are about VIA Rail Canada -- don't worry about that. I think the title of this forum should be "AMTRAK and VIA" -- they called it that for a few weeks last year, then they went back to calling it just "AMTRAK."
Sorry -- I have no info about the QNS&L
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
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I don't think this service is now (if it still exists) or ever was operated by VIA. It is probably still there, but may not be daily. There are no roads into the area.
Posts: 2808 | From: Olive Branch MS | Registered: Nov 2002
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"The Quebec North Shore and Labrador Railroad
100 Retty, Sept Iles, Quebec G4R 4L5 (Tel 418 968 7805/7808; fax 418 968 7183) and Airport Road, Labrador City, NF A2V 2K5 (Tel 709 944 8205/2490; fax 709 944 8431). ..... QNS & L trains with Dome cars leave early on Tuesday and Thursday morning from Sept Iles, and on Wednesday and Friday from Labrador City. Some... to Schefferville. For information call 418 968 7539."
Not sure how "dated" this information is --- but a phone call will tell.
Posts: 460 | From: North Central CT | Registered: May 2004
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QNS&L Passenger Service: The QNS&L also transports passengers, vehicles and miscellaneous supplies. Passenger service is subsidized by the Canadian federal government. The trip from Sept-Îles, Quebec to Labrador City takes just over 8 hours. Although mining operations in the town of Schefferville have been abandoned, the train connection continues to serve the area.
The QNS&L, with a main line of 573 kilometres from Sept-Îles to Shefferville, Quebec, and a 58 kilometre spur line from Ross Bay Junction to Labrador City, is a short line built and operated by the Iron Ore Company of Canada. The railway was inaugurated in 1954, after 3 years of construction that required one of the largest civilian airlifts in history. The spur line from Ross Bay Junction to Labrador City was opened in 1960.
Most of the freight carried by the QSN & L is iron ore. Each train consists of 169-240 cars, hauling up to 20,000 tonnes of ore. It takes about 42 hours to make the 414 kilometre round trip between Labrador City and Sept-Îles.
And the railroad's reason for existence:
The towns of Labrador City and Wabush are located just inside the Labrador border, high in the Labrador interior. They grew up in the 1960s around the open-pit iron mines which are the region's main industry. This whole region is rich in iron ore, which is mined at two locations: Wabush Mines in Wabush, and the Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOC) at Labrador City. The operations are on an enormous scale: millions of tons of iron ore are carved out of the earth each year by enormous earth-moving machines, crushed and processed, and shipped by rail to Sept-Iles on the Gulf of St. Lawrence. To arrange a tour of the mines, call 1.709.944.7788
The following may or may not be good information, but it is the best I could find. "It is necessary to book your ticket. For this, call the travel agency "Voyages Inter inc." tel : (418)962-9411." Being able to speak French might be a plus.
Another source gives me: "QNS&L - Quebec North Shore and Labrador Sept-Illes & Schefferville, QC This isolated service draws a straight line north 588km (356mi) through Caribou Country -- traveling from Sept-Illes to Schefferville, Quebec each Thursday -- and returning each Friday. A mid-run spur-line into Newfoundland makes Labrador City ideally situated for an over-night stop. Auto transport (motorail) can also be arranged. No website, call 418-968-7805 (Quebec), or: 709-944-8205 (Labrador)!"
Quebec North Shore & Labrador Railway(QNS&L) takes you through breathtaking wilderness on this 8 hour journey from Sept-Iles, Quebec to Labrador West. It operates two return trips per week. Also available once a week is a trip from Labrador West to Schefferville, Quebec, that takes approximately 8 hours. For Information: In Labrador City Call: (709) 944-8205 In Sept-Iles Call: (418) 968-7539
Good Luck
Posts: 2808 | From: Olive Branch MS | Registered: Nov 2002
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I looked into this a few years ago but never went. It was running then; I even phoned them, I thought at some toll free number, not the one Mr Harris gives, but I could be wrong. As mentioned, it is not VIA Rail, and it runs only about twice a week (and maybe changes seasonally) and connections were tricky, involving stayovers in Sept-Iles etc. In addition, the trip I planned was very long--I was thinking of taking the Amtrak to Montreal, then either a bus to Sept-Iles or better yet the VIA into someplace in Gaspe (a place with an R, I think) to catch that Relais Nordik boat, which stops in Sept-Iles northbound (I was looking into all this in summer, of course). Also, some Canadian friends told me traveling alone in the wilds of upper Quebec and Labrador might be inadvisable for a female, and I have not found a friend who wants to join me yet. But . . . maybe someday . . .
There were some who posted here who drove to Sept-Iles to catch it, which I cannot do . . . but maybe they will post again.
Also, on the recommendation of folks here, I did read that wonderful Hammond Innes book about the building of this railroad (in the 1950s), tres romantique. I think it was called something like The Land Got Gave to Cain (that is what Labrador is called).Highly recommended--possibly out of print, but you can reserve an old copy from your library's interlibary loan, as I did. The book also introduced me to Innis, whom I've been reading periodically ever since (I read Campbell's Kingdom during my Canadian Rockies trip last May)
Let us know what comes of your investigations! And do post here, otherwise I probably won't see it!!!
Posts: 2642 | From: upstate New York | Registered: Mar 2004
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quote:Originally posted by sojourner: Also, on the recommendation of folks here, I did read that wonderful Hammond Innes book about the building of this railroad (in the 1950s), tres romantique. I think it was called something like The Land Got Gave to Cain (that is what Labrador is called).Highly recommended--possibly out of print, but you can reserve an old copy from your library's interlibary loan, as I did.
Ahh, another one of the wonders of our sometimes off-topic conversations. I read this book well after being introduced to both Innes and the QNS&L, meeting the QNS&L through a story about its construction in Trains. Innes could make you feel the chills when he wrote about cold weather happenings. Most of his tales tended to be set in high lattitudes, usually at sea or connected to it is some way.
Posts: 2808 | From: Olive Branch MS | Registered: Nov 2002
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posted
Hi everyone... I was just doing my own Googleing on this unique passenger service when I stumbled upon this thread. Yes, indeed, this train still exists. Tshiuetin Rail Transport operates the train over QNS&L tracks from Sept-Isles, Quebec to Ross Bay, Labrador and on their own track between Ross Bay and Schefferville, Quebec. The train departs Sept-Isles at 09:00 Mondays and Thursdays to Schefferville and returns at 08:00 the following days. The trip is scheduled to take 12 hours each way but I hear that 15 hours is more realistic. The Canadian Government recently announced an extension to the subsidy to keep the train operating until at least December 2009.
posted
I requested the Hammond Innes book on our library catalog, which contains the holdings of 73 library systems. The title is, "The Land God Gave To Cain: a novel of Labrador," published by Knopf in 1958.
Just to clarify, the book is a novel (fiction) based on two real journeys of the author. One was in 1953 during the construction of the railway. The second was in 1956 to check the information of the 'partially-finished' book.
I have read about 50 pages, and it is well-written and an interesting read. The facts are based on his journeys, yet the story is a story.
Posts: 76 | From: Steubenville, OH | Registered: Oct 2004
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