It's almost as if there is a regional imperative to keep everyone else downAnd the elephants in the room are BC and Quebec, who are both 'anti-everything' these days and also happen to be our cheapest routes to tidewater and international markets for various natural resource products...
Sigh... if it wasn't for Lac Megantic
No need for a twin-rail line. Simple sidings for meets will do. If you run your trains on a schedule, they won't be sitting for very long.
And the elephants in the room are BC and Quebec, who are both 'anti-everything' these days and also happen to be our cheapest routes to tidewater and international markets for various natural resource products...
Sigh... if it wasn't for Lac Megantic
) in Quebec has the contract to provide about 75% of construction materials needs for the Nunavik annual resupply. We get the orders in, and then we know the ships schedules (which one to where and when). We assemble the products at our Chambly store, from our various suppliers, most of which are in the greater Montreal area, but can be as far as Toronto and Chicoutimi, so that all can be packed and crated a few days before the ship's departure. We can accommodate changes to the orders up to 48 hours before departure. When the shipping time comes, our own truck deliver the crates to the port, in 40 to 45 minutes. They often encounter the trucks from Vicwest or Acier Picard delivering the steel construction beams and siding/roofing, both of which produce them at their facilities in Sorel - 1 hour 15 minutes from the port. Most of the other products needed for the resupply be they food or everyday items are in the same situation.oh I agree but it can absolutely derail your logical plans.
It's almost as if there is a regional imperative to keep everyone else down
Imagine if Canada had to build something like the Panama Canal? We would still be arguing a 100+ years later about the costs
That is par for the course I guess, it only took them a century to build a 10 mile 2 lane Bridge to PEI, which was a promise made to them at Confederation.
It's almost as if there is a regional imperative to keep everyone else down
Imagine if Canada had to build something like the Panama Canal? We would still be arguing a 100+ years later about the costs
That is par for the course I guess, it only took them a century to build a 10 mile 2 lane Bridge to PEI, which was a promise made to them at Confederation.
It's not quite like that.
We all know that, in terms of shipping cost, expressed in ton per kilometer, shipping (by sea) is the cheapest, followed by rail, then trucking, and finally, air cargo as most expensive.
So here is an example of the situation we are talking about: Hardware chain BMR (the one I work for
You couldn't do that from Churchill. A lot of that stuff would first have to find its way to Winnipeg (that part is not that hard - just a little more expensive because of the shipping cost by rail/truck over distance) and then sent by train to Churchill. That last part is not only extra cost, but creates a potential bottleneck (single track if something happens) and a need for much longer lead times than "48 hours before shipping" as the cut off time.
It can be done, and IMHO, should be done to the extent possible, but we should be aware that it not a panacea for cheaper resupply of the Arctic.
The railway won biggest, I think
I think that the case for an all weather road today is a strong one and regardless what decision is made on the RCN/CCG stationing assets there.
An all-weather road would be a bloody slog. Unforgiving terrain up there. Mostly swamps and bogs.
Which is a major rail maintenance issue.
Understood but is the terrain substantially different than what we just went through in putting a road from Inuvik to Tuk?
Is the issue/concern - ice or depths or both?
Fury and Hecla Strait - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
Technically navigable in the right conditions?
