The Timber Train

Experience Canadian History,Culture on the Timber Train

The Timber Train is a treat for anyone who takes it, a time to sit back and enjoy a form of transportation which offers a freedom matched only by passenger ships such a the retired Queen Mary.

People have been confined to the seats of cars, trucks, buses and planes for so long, the easy feeling of riding on the railway has been lost.

The Timber Train has restored that feeling, and offers a view of some of Canada's finest scenery along a river steeped in Canadian history and culture. You get various tours of Temiscaming, a quaint Quebec town opening its arms to a flood of tourists, some no farther away than North Bay.

Throughout the train ride, about two hours each way, an announcer and guides fill fill you in with history of the river, from the days when horses pulled steamboats around portages, and voyageurs and early Canadian explorers paddled the Ottawa on their way west.

"For the children--if you are wearing green and you know what kind of tree grows from an acorn, come and see me. You'll win a prize" says the voice over the intercom.

A few minutes later, the voice again, "And the winner is...Natasha."

"Imagine," says the girl about eight. "I got beat by a three-year-old."

The ride is for all seasons. The spring colors are a soft green of the leaves on deciduous trees and tamarack showing off their new needles. The forest wall also shows off the tender white of pin cherry blossoms.

During the trip, Jack Whalen, a local historian and retired Mattawa guidance and history teacher, makes a stop at every seat, explaining the past.

As people stare out at the huge Holden Dam, he tells them it took four years, 2,000 people, 300,000 cubic metres and 6,000 tonnes of steel to build. It opened in 1952.

There's more history because it was built on what was the La Cave rapids, described by Greyb Owl (Archie Belaney) in the 1930's as splenderous and dangerous.

After the train arrives in Temiscaming, passengers have three options--guided tours of Tembec Inc's pulp and paper mill, tours of the town or exploration on foot, including a visit to the Wolf Lake First Nation Algonquins who have arts and crafts displays and moose stew and bannock.

The train, which boards at 8:30 a.m., in Mattawa and departs at 8:45 a.m., arrives in Temiscaming at 11:15 a. m. It departs Temiscaming at 2 p.m. and is back in Mattawa at 4:15 p.m.