ABOVE: It’s 9:20 p.m. and Train 291 has arrived at the station at Pukatawagan. More than 100 people are on hand to collect their provisions and loved ones. The trip from The Pas has taken almost 12 hours on this day, since there were pickups and setouts to be made all along the route as well as some maintenance work dropping ballast. The Puk train is truly the last working mixed train in North America. LEFT: Government investment helps preserve this important transportation conduit serving the remote region north of The Pas.
North America’s Last Mixed Train
Cooperative operated by the Manitoba Provincial Government. Here, the catch is sorted, graded and prepared for commercial distribution throughout Canada. It is an important source of revenue for the Reserve since many of the indigenous peoples here live off the land. Moreover, it demonstrates that KCR service provides an essential connection to the outside world in a region with few transportation options. Of the 52 passengers on board today,
ten detrain at Sherridon. Our mixed train picks up those two empty ballast hoppers we left behind the day before for return to Cranberry Portage. North America’s last working mixed train departs Cranberry Portage at 4:02 p.m., arriving at The Pas just three hours later. On the platform to meet our train once
again is Michelle Rounds. She greets the passengers as the crew prepares to set out the fish car for unloading at the Freshwater Fish Cooperative siding east of the station. Ever the woman on a mission, she walks the cars to inspect their condition and plan tomorrow’s workday, which promises to again be a long one.
Riding the Puk mixed is a wonderful anachronism in modern railroading. Mixed trains were once common in an era when railroads throughout North America valued their distant communities and the services provided to them. Make no mistake, the trip to Puk is
a hardcore one from start to finish. You can get to The Pas on triweekly VIA train 693 from Winnipeg, arriving at 1:45 a.m. I took the train and found it to be very comfortable, especially in the Park- series car used as a first-class lounge in high season. The Pas is a medium-sized town with a hospital, shopping malls, gas stations, and hotels. You will need to prepare yourself if
you are going to ride the mixed train to Puk. Bring any food and drink you’ll need for the two-day journey. Other than the part-time train commissary, there are no food facilities north of The Pas. Lodging in Pukatawagan isn’t scarce
— it’s nonexistent. There are no hotels in town, but camping near the station area is permitted and likely your only option if you choose to visit. Late spring to early fall is the only practical time for camping, since the winter season is a long, snowy interlude with temperatures routinely sinking to -30°F. Warm clothing and hiking boots are useful in
Visit the Keewatin Central Railway web site at
www.kcrail.ca
this rugged country. Cellular service is adequate up to Cranberry Portage; north of there satellite phone service is the most reliable form of communication. Tickets to ride the train are reasonably
priced at C$40 each way, available for purchase at The Pas station. Call the Keewatin Central at (204) 623-5255 or visit their website at
www.krcrail.ca for updated information. As I walk down the platform thinking
back fondly on my journey of the past two days, the words of Gordon Lightfoot’s “Canadian Railroad Trilogy” resonate in my mind: There was a time in this fair land when the railroad did not run/ When the wild majestic mountains stood alone against the sun/Long before the white man and long before the wheel/ When the green dark forest was too silent to be real. I’m off to the hotel for a few hours
of sleep and soon will be back on this same platform to catch VIA Train 693 to Churchill, a place where polar bears roam. That’s a story for another time.
Denis E. Connell is a retired police chief from New Jersey and a founding partner of Railpace Newsmagazine.
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