Ottawa Valley Railway

Ottawa Valley Railway (reporting mark RLK) is a Canadian railway that operates 150 miles (240 km) of track in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, and is owned by Genesee & Wyoming Canada Inc., the Canadian subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming Inc.[1]

Ottawa Valley Railway
Ottawa Valley Railway
RLK #3029 entering the CP Sudbury yard
RLK #3029 entering the CP Sudbury yard
Overview
HeadquartersNorth Bay, Ontario
Reporting markRLK
LocaleOntario, Quebec, Canada
Dates of operation1996 (1996)Present
PredecessorCanadian Pacific Railway
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length150 miles (240 km)
Other
Websitewww.gwrr.com/ovr
Cartier Subdivision
CPKC Cartier Subdivision
70.47
Jct CN Bala Subdivision (256.8)
69.2
Jct Falconbridge Spur (0.0)
69.1
Coniston
Wanapitei
62.7
Stinson
55.1
Markstay
Hagar
42.0
Warren
33.9
Verner
26.5
Cache Bay
23.4
Sturgeon Falls
17.0
Collings
10.5
Beaucage
1.0
Clanachan
0.0
Huard
OVR North Bay Subdivision
North Bay Subdivision
OVR Cartier Subdivision
117.3
Huard
116.9
North Bay
115.2
Mile 115.2
CN Newmarket Sub
111.9
ETI Canada spur
111.4
Thorncliff
104.9
Camey
97.4
Bonfield
90.7
Rutherglen
89.3
Columbia Forest Products spur
84.0
Eau Claire
76.9
Morel
71.8
Mattawa OVR Temiscaming Subdivision
70.0
end of steel
65.0
Rankin
56.0
Hodgson
50.3
Deux Rivieres
45.6
Aylen
35.8
Adelard
27.7
Stonecliffe
20.3
Mackey
15.0
Moor Lake
5.3
Wylie
0.0
Chalk River
Chalk River Subdivision
Temiscaming Subdivision
40.5
Temiscaming
39.4
Grimmer
38.7
Gordon Creek
32.9
Beauchene
21.0
Crest
12.0
Snake Creek
6.7
Ceramic
Ottawa River
0.0
Mattawa OVR North Bay Subdivision

The railroad began operations on 30 October 1996 under the auspices of RaiLink Canada, and fell under the control of RailAmerica after that company bought RaiLink in July 1999.[2][3] It was formed to operate both local trains and through-service Canadian Pacific Railway trains between Sudbury, Ontario and Smiths Falls, Ontario.[3] On July 23, 2012, Genesee & Wyoming Inc. announced that it intended to purchase RailAmerica in a deal valued at $1.39 billion.[4][5] Approval of the purchase was granted by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board on December 19, 2012.[6]

Currently, the OVR operates between Sudbury and Temiscaming, Quebec,[7] reduced from its original routing between Sudbury and Smiths Falls with a branch to Temiscaming.[8]

The rerouting came about as a result of the reduction of both local traffic on the line and through traffic operated by the Canadian Pacific. As traffic was reduced on other CP routes, that railway was able to redirect trains onto its lines through Toronto, and RailAmerica's lease on the line to the east of Petawawa, Ontario ended in December 2009.[3] The OVR continued operating the route between Sudbury and Temiscaming, and in early October 2010, RailAmerica and CP reached a new agreement under which those operations would continue, while CP would continue procedures for ending service to the east of Mattawa.[7] On 3 August 2011, it was announced that the rails between Renfrew and Pembroke, Ontario were planned to be removed by the end of the year, with the remainder of the MattawaSmiths Falls route to be removed in following years.[9]

The OVR interchanges with the Canadian Pacific at Sudbury, as well as with the Canadian National Railway at North Bay, Ontario, the Ontario Northland Railroad at North Bay, and the Huron Central Railway at Sudbury.[2]

The railway once hauled around 70,000 carloads a year, the majority of which came from CP's intermodal bridge traffic. The rest of it was self-generated, and included chemicals and forest products.[8] Very little of this traffic came from east of Mattawa.[10] As of 2013, carloadings amount to approximately 8,000 per year.[1]

References

  1. "Ottawa Valley Railway". Genesee & Wyoming Canada Inc. 2014-02-19. Retrieved 2014-03-03.
  2. "Ottawa Valley Railway - RLK". Canadian Pacific Railway. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
  3. Cummings, Andy (March 2010). "Short line falls to recession". Trains Magazine. Kalmbach Publishing.
  4. "Genesee & Wyoming to pay $1.39B for RailAmerica". STL Today.com. Associated Press. July 23, 2012. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
  5. "UPDATE 4-Genesee & Wyoming to buy RailAmerica for $1.4 billion". Reuters. July 23, 2012. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
  6. Surface Transportation Board, Decision, Case No. 42772 Archived 2013-04-29 at the Wayback Machine, December 19, 2012
  7. "RailAmerica inks new deal to operate Ottawa Valley Railway". Trains Magazine. 4 October 2010. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
  8. "OTTAWA VALLEY RAILWAY (RLK)". RailAmerica. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
  9. "Workers begin salvaging Canadian Pacific's Ottawa Valley line". Trains Magazine. 3 August 2011. Archived from the original on September 20, 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
  10. Cody-Rice, Edith (August 5, 2011). "Death knell for Ottawa Valley rail line". The Millstone. Archived from the original on 2020-09-21. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
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