Canadian Northern Ry. construction.

The work of filling in the yards at the terminal at Port Arthur has been suspended until spring, but work on the elevator and other works is being pushed. A rearrangement of the office space at the station has been made by which Supt. Gorrie will move to the first floor, leaving the ground floor for the local operating staff. The roundhouse is now fitted for 12 locomotives, the additional five stalls having been completed. Two miles of siding have been laid out which are expected to be sufficient to accommodate the winter business.

Ballasting is going on along the line towards Fort Frances, and tanks and station buildings have been completed to the 21st siding. At Atikokan, 139 miles west of Port Arthur, the first divisional point, a 10-stall roundhouse has been built. The second divisional point will be at Rainy river.

Since the beginning of Dec. tracklaying has been proceeding east from Fort Frances, as well as west from the Port Arthur end, and the tracks were expected to meet by Dec. 30. At the Fort Frances end H. Mann's tracklaying machine was used and the engineers report that it has been doing good work. R. McCallum, of the Ontario Department of Public Works, recently inspected 106 miles of the line, and reports the road-bed to be an excellent one, the grade varying from 6 ins. to 1 ft. in 100 ft., while the curves are also very slight. In the Rainy river valley there is a straight run of 18 miles in one instance. In some localities the road has been a very expensive one to construct.

The telegraph line along the track from Fort Frances, Ont., to Winnipeg, Man., has been completed.

We were officially informed, Dec. 14, that the press reports crediting the C.N.R. with being about to extend its line from War Road, Minn., through Rosseau and Kitson counties, Minn., were merely rumors and without foundation. The Co. is not doing any work of any kind in that direction.

The Carman branch is to be extended through to Somerset, Man., next season, where a connection will be made with the old Northern Pacific branch line from Morris to Brandon. The present length of the Carman branch is 52.5 miles. It is reported that some difficulty has arisen between the Co. and the town of Carman respecting the location of the station, and that W. Simpson and E. L. B. McLeod have applied for an injunction to restrain the Co. from proceeding further with construction.

The management disclaims any intention of building a branch from Neepawa, Man., through a Riding Mountain district next summer, as reported in the daily press. Press reports state that surveyors have been at work in the vicinity of Neepawa in connection with a C.N.R. extension, probably from the main line to Neepawa. See Morden & Northnwestern Ry., pg. 4.

No track was laid during 1901 beyond Erwood, Sask., the terminus for 1900, but a beginning will, it is said, be made in the spring as there are 25 miles of grade ready, and some additional mileage partially graded. The line is located as far as Prince Albert, 180 miles from Erwood.

J. R. Armstrong, C.E., who has completed a general survey of the route of the extension of the line from Prince Albert to Edmonton, states that it will cross the north branch of the Saskatchewan river within the limits of Prince Albert. For 15 or 20 miles from the town the country is hilly and will be somewhat difficult to build through, and the balance of the country is bluffy, but presents no special features of difficulty. Mr. Armstrong, with W. F. C. Parsons, C.E., is now engaged in staking out the right of way ready for the commencement of construction in the spring.

A statement is reported to have been made on the authority of Mr. Pace, of the Co.'s staff, that the Co. intends to construct 350 miles of line next year between the present track end at Erwood and Edmonton, the work being carried on from both ends. The distance between these two points is about 610 miles.

The information available in Victoria and Vancouver, B.C., in regard to the statements given out in Montréal respecting the extension of the C.N.R. to the Pacific Coast and referred to in our Dec. issue, pg. 37, does not confirm the reports that an arrangement had been concluded between Mackenzie, Mann & Co., the B.C. Government and the Dominion Government, The Victoria Times says the matter has not even been considered by the Dominion Government; the Victoria Colonist awaits "further information on the subject," and bespeaks the sympathy of the people with the Commissioner of Lands and Works, Mr. Wells, in the negotiations he is now conducting, while the Vancouver World states that Mackenzie, Mann & Co. have wired that Mr. Wells has promised to submit legislation to provide a provincial subsidy of $4,000 a miles for the proposed roads, at the session of the Local House in Jan.—only this and nothing more.

Railways: C.No.Ry.

Stations: Atikokan, Fort Frances, Port Arthur, Rainy River

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