This years convention was held in Kirkland Lake, with accommodations provided by the Super 8 motel. Our thanks to Peter Ross for doing all of the planning and up front work to secure locations. Special thanks to Gerald Harper for helping to arrange our Friday morning trip to the Glencore Horne copper smelter located in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec. The following set of blog entries recounts my impressions as well as the fun we had once again getting together to share our interest in the Ontario Northland railway. I will try to post some thoughts and photos to summarize the daily activities.
We begin our day after a great meal on Thursday evening at Vienna's Bar & Grill. Somewhere in the night the weather changed to rain and cooler temperatures. A quick breakfast and we were off to Rouyn-Noranda and the Glencore Horne copper smelter. According to our two tour guides, Glencore is one of the world's largest copper and precious metal producers, as well as North America’s biggest recycler of electronic components.
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| Aerial view of smelting operations (Photo courtesy Horne website) |
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| Copper casting (Photo courtesy Horne website) |
Our tour started with an overview of the company and operations which take place at this site, as well a history and discussion of the geology of the area and previous copper deposits. After suiting up in coveralls, safety glasses, steel toed shoes, dust respirator, gloves and ear protection, we got the chance to see the molten copper coming out of the furnace as well as seeing the copper cast.
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| Hey we look like miners....Check out all of that PPE on ONRHT&S members as we get ready to enter the smelter bldg |
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| Boxcar spotted outside of smelter. Note reporting marks |
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| Sulfuric acid plant |
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| Switching gondolas |
Our trip back included a stop at Cheminis, MP 32 of the where members of the ONRH&TS got a chance to photograph train 211 as it passed through on its way to Noranda.
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| Cheminis MP 32. Photo by Mike Robin |
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| Passing MP32 sign. Photo by Ken Stroebel |
After returning to the Super 8, Bram Bailey gave an outstanding presentation of his new book, Trackside around Ontario’s Cottage Country, which will be available on January 5, 2019. This book will showcase various ONR, CP, ACR and CN trains around the cottage country of northern/southern Ontario. Looks like another solid read from Bram and shouldn't be missed.
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