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The Nosbonsing & Nipissing Railway Company

Location: The subject rail line is located in northeastern Ontario just south of North Bay.

History: Incorporated in 1886, the Nosbonsing & Nipissing Railway Company (N&NR) was a pure logging railway venture that broached the watershed between Lakes Nipissing and Nosbonsing, south of North Bay (Wassi Falls to Astorville). Built and owned by the Booth Lumber Company, the operation was initially constructed as a jack ladder operation in 1883. The demand greatly exceeded the ability of the jackhammer to operate so it was determined that a railway would be constructed in its place. Company owned steamboats would transport the logs from various points on Lake Nipissing to the terminus where they would be loaded onto flatcars. Here, a small community known as Wisa-Wasi developed. Once being transported to Lake Nosbonsing, the logs would be transferred to the Mattawa River and hence down the Ottawa River to the Booth mills at Chaudiere Falls. The journey would sometimes take as long as two years but Booth was able to avoid CPR freight rates in the process. With the demise of the lumber industry in the area, the railway was abandoned in 1914 and converted into a road. Of interest, up until the line was abandoned, the N&NR had the right-of-way over train movement on the Northern Extensions Railway that extended between Gravenhurst and Callander, thus having the ability to hold up the crack passenger trains for whatever time it took.

Approximate Milage: 6 miles.

Current Status: The line was abandoned after the demise of the lumber industry in 1914. Few if any traces remain today of the line.

Principle Stations: Wassi Falls and Astorville.

Remaining Stations: There were no passenger stations constructed on the subject line.

Last Updated: February 21, 1998

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