thumb|right|The northern end of the railway in Hay River

The Mackenzie Northern Railway is a Canadian railway operating in Alberta and the Northwest Territories. It is the northernmost trackage of the contiguous North American railway network. Since being purchased by CN in 2006, the railway's mainline consists of the Slave Lake (Smith, AB - Winagami, AB), Peace River (Winagami - Roma Jct., AB), Manning (Roma Jct., - High Level, AB), and the Meander River (High Level, AB - Hay River, NT) subdivisions.

History

The majority of the tracks which the Mackenzie Northern Railway uses were built by the federal government as the Great Slave Lake Railway, running from a point on the Northern Alberta Railways (NAR) at Grimshaw, Alberta, to the southern shores of Great Slave Lake at Hay River, Northwest Territories. The undertaking started in 1961 with a proposal to Parliament, and the line opened in 1964. This railroad was part of John Diefenbaker's vision for the north, allowing CN to operate continuously from Edmonton to Hay River.

Between November 1997 and May 1998 CN sold its lines running from Smith, Alberta, on the former NAR (north of Edmonton) to Peace River and Grimshaw and on to Hay River to a shortline operator, RailLink Canada. RailLink Canada consolidated these lines under the name Mackenzie Northern Railway.

RailLink Canada was subsequently purchased by RailAmerica, which operated the Mackenzie Northern Railway between Smith and Hay River. Commodities include agriculture and forest products from northeastern Alberta and the southern Northwest Territories, as well as fuel and supplies destined for Arctic communities to be barged across Great Slave Lake and down the Mackenzie River to the Beaufort Sea.

References

  • Popular Mechanics article on the railway