Railway development.

Projected lines, surveys, construction, betterments, etc.

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Canadian Northern.—A seven stall roundhouse has been built at Port Arthur, together with repairing shops and extensive accommodation.

An elevator capable of containing 1,500,000 bush., and costing $350,000, is being erected on the dock at the foot of Arthur St., Port Arthur. J. A. Jamieson, of Montréal, is the contractor. Seven thousand piles have been driven to provide a foundation for the superstructure. The freight shed on the dock is 40 ft. wide and 175 ft. long.

The Co. proposes, in conjunction with the C.P.R., to build a union station at the foot of Arthur St., Port Arthur, and on its own account to build a $50,000 hotel, provided an agreement is arrived at between all parties concerned as to the disposal of the government reserve.

The contract for clearing the right-of-way on the Duluth extension, from Stanley to Gunflint, has been let to S. Yorke. New ties will be put in, and the road bed and rails brought up to the standard of the main line.

The first section of 125 miles of the Ontario division from Stanley west has been inspected by the Dominion and Ontario railway inspectors, and passed. It was then handed over to the operating department, and a train service put in operation. The roadbed is 1 ft. wider than the government's regulations call for, while the curvature, except in one or two instances, is well within the limit. The grades are easy.

Rails have been laid some seventeen miles beyond Atikokan or 156 miles from Port Arthur, and the grading of the road from this point to Rainy lake is being actively pushed forward. The work of bridging Rainy lake has been let to J. R. Turnbull. It will be divided into two sections, the first 21.44 miles long, the longest stretch being 1/2 mile; the second is 3 miles in length taking in Commissioner's bay and Poey inlet. The grading of the road between Fort Frances and Beaver Mills on Rainy River is going on very rapidly. The International bridge, carrying the line across Rainy River into Minnesota, is under construction, everything being almost ready for the building of the steel superstructure. The bridge is a quarter of a mile in length.

W. Mackenzie stated to a reporter, May 15, that the section of the line between Port Arthur and Winnipeg would be completed in time to permit it to participate in taking this year's wheat crop of Manitoba and the Northwest to Lake Superior.

Kelly Bros. are the contractors for the preliminary work on the Red River bridge. It will be constructed in almost a straight line from the foot of Water St., Winnipeg, the St. Boniface end being 17 degrees out of being a straight line. R. J. Mackenzie recently stated that provision would be made on the bridge for foot passengers.

The C. N. officials will occupy the former headquarters of the Northern Pacific Ry. Co. at Winnipeg.

The site of the old Manitoba hotel, Winnipeg, will, it is said, be utilized for the erection of a building, consisting of an arched glass station where people can walk directly off Main street to their trains.

For information as to branches to be built in Manitoba, see "The Manitoba Ry. Contracts," pg. 182.

A round house and freight shed is to be built at Dauphon.

A report from Portage la Prairie that the N.P. branch from Portage la Prairie to Beaver would be extended to Gladstone so as to give a through connection from Winnipeg to the end of the C. N. track at Erwood this year, is stated at Mackenzie, Mann & Co.'s Toronto office without foundation. A route, however, has been surveyed, and everything is ready to go on with the construction whenever it may be determined on.

The section of the C.N.R. from the northwest boundary of Manitoba to the Saskatchewan River, where it enters Cedar Lake, a distance of 60 miles, is all under construction, with the exception of a small portion at the boundary where the junction with the line from Gladstone Jct. will be made. The exact point of junction has not yet been definitely determined. Grading is in a forward state on all parts of the line under contract, and the laying of the rails will be commenced in a few weeks. The line will be worked through from Winnipeg to Saskatchewan, a distance of 315 miles, the Co. having running powers over the C.P.R. from Portage la Prairie to Gladstone Jct. The Prince Albert extension which has been constructed to Erwood, 280 miles from Gladstone Junction, will be treated as a branch line in the meantime. By fall the C.N. will be able to run through traffic from Port Arthur to Saskatchewan, 844.86 miles.

Railways: C.No.Ry.

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