Check out this video by Joanne Stover in Churchill ….sow with cubs sauntering down the main drag. What a wild town. Stay tuned for more updates from Natural Habitat Adventures groups currently touring Churchill. Beluga whale season is in full swing as well as wild flowers galore.
The following article from CBC news describes the derailment situation near Churchill, MB.
CBC News Posted: Jun 03, 2014 10:04 AM CT Last Updated: Jun 03, 2014 2:12 PM CT
Via Rail is blaming “operational reasons” for the cancellation “until further notice” of trains between Winnipeg and Churchill. (CBC)
A derailed freight train has forced Via Rail to cancel its passenger trains between Winnipeg and Churchill until further notice.
OmniTrax Canada says 13 grain cars from a 50-car load derailed on the Hudson Bay Railway line, about 32 kilometres south of Churchill, at around 5 p.m. Monday.
At the time of the derailment, the train was heading to a grain storage facility at the Port of Churchill. No injuries were reported, according to OmniTrax.
“We take incidents like this very seriously. Our staff was onsite immediately to assess the incident and begin response procedures,” Sergio Sabatini, OmniTrax’s chief operating officer, said in a statement. (Read the full statement below)
“Our staff have started re-railing efforts and clean-up of minor spilled product to ensure the track is passable for freight and passenger traffic as soon as possible.”
Via Rail spokesperson Mylène Bélanger said the derailment is making the track unusable.
About 22 Via Rail passengers heading to Churchill from Winnipeg were delayed in Thompson. They have since been flown to Churchill to complete
their trip.
Bélanger said 40 other passengers were scheduled to travel with Via Rail between Winnipeg and Churchill in the next week, and they’ve been given an opportunity to cancel their trips or change their dates.
“We’re really sorry for the inconvenience that this situation may cause, but it’s unfortunately impossible for us to operate our trains over this line until further notice,” she told CBC News on Tuesday.
Tony Dasilva, who owns Gypsy Bakery in Churchill, said he’s waiting for the train to deliver fresh produce he has ordered.
“When you live in a small town like Churchill … when you don’t hear the noise of the train coming in, we’re all looking and see what’s happening,” he said.
Dasilva said employees with rail transport company Omnitrax told him about the derailment when they stopped by his shop for coffee.
He said he may have to look at flying goods in if the rail line remains closed for more than three days.
OmniTrax says it may take a few days until service to Churchill and the port is fully restored.
The following is a statement sent Tuesday by Sergio Sabatini, chief operating officer of OmniTrax:
At 17:00 on Monday, June 2, OmniTrax Canada staff were called to assess and respond to an incident on the HBR line, approximately 20 miles south of Churchill, Manitoba. Thirteen grain cars of a 50-car load derailed en route to the grain storage facility at the Port of Churchill. There were no injuries.
We take incidents like this very seriously. Our staff was on site immediately to assess the incident and begin response procedures. Our staff have started re-railing efforts and clean-up of minor spilled product to ensure the track is passable for freight and passenger traffic as soon as possible.
The safety of our crews and the protection of the products we transport is of the highest priority in these efforts. At this time we expect it may take a few days to restore full service to Churchill and the Port.
VIA Rail Canada (viarail.ca) wishes to inform its passengers that, for operational reasons, until further notice, trains #693 and #692 will not operate between Winnipeg and Churchill, except for train #692 that will operate between Thompson and The Pas on June 4th.
VIA Rail is communicating with customers who have reservations on the affected trains. We regret the inconvenience that this situation may cause. Customers wishing to cancel or change their date of travel may do so at no additional charge by calling 1 888 VIA-RAIL () or (hearing impaired).
With the northern summer approaching and fall polar bear season just on the other side, I wanted to share some of the classic photo’s from the archives.Those who make the trek to Churchill in the summer to see the amazing tundra with all its’ wildflowers and micro-environments, thousands of beluga whales, foxes, bears and incredible, diverse bird life. The calm serenity of the foggy, chilly summer makes the isolation in nature all the more healing to the soul. If you have the itch to head north this Summer or Fall, Natural Habitat Adventures has a custom trip for you.
Beluga whales in the clear, cold water of the mouth of the Churchill River. Photo Steve Selden
Summer contrasts the fall when Churchill bustles with action from all the businesses and workers catering to the travelers descending upon the frontier town with hopes of seeing the majestic interactions of the polar bears. Of course there are other sights to take in as well…foxes, Arctic hare, snowy owls and other raptors, the changing weather systems and possibly some aurora borealis displays. However, the main attraction in October and November is Ursus Maritimus…or the polar bear. Perhaps this is why the summer continues to be my personal favorite time to head north…the wide range of sights and discoveries one can find each day. Anyone that loves polar bears and their kingdom must come to the region when the bears are mostly out on the Hudson Bay ice to the north.
Curious polar bear checking out travelers.
Aurora borealis over the boreal forest in Churchill,MB. Brad Josephs photo.
Well built inukshuk and igloo in Churchill. Karen Walker photo.
A polar bear keeps a watchful eye from the shelter of willows.
Avid sled dogs in Churchill,MB. Brad Josephs photo.
A polar bear relaxes and cools in the snow. Colby Brokvist photo.
Natural Habitat travelers in Churchill. Brad Josephs photo.
Covered. Photo Brad Josephs.
Crossing tundra. Photo Brad Josephs.
Northern lights above a warm van. Photo Brad Josephs.
Young and bundled. Brad Josephs photo.
Aurora boreal forest. Brad Josephs photo.
Interesting old-time video of an Arctic US military operation. Camp Century was located on Greenland below the ice surface. Set up as a nuclear powered Arctic research camp, it was only 800 miles from the North Pole. Take a look at this intriguing video from the past. Natural Habitat Adventures will be offering a new trip to the Greenland ice cap next summer. Get some interesting background as you watch this video.
The following story is from Churchillian Rhonda Reid whom has been working with Natural Habitat Adventures in Churchill for many years now. Rhonda has been gracious to be a local “correspondent” for churchillpolarbears.org over the past few years and this story is a great one. You never know what’s around the next corner…or snow-bank in this instance. Visiting Churchill to see the aurora can have unknown effects on one’s soul.
If you have a story you would like to share about travel in the north/Arctic send it in to the site or to steveselden17@hotmail.com and we will share it with others here. And, if you’re interested in becoming a volunteer at the Churchill Northern Studies Center, here’s the link to find out how: Volunteer.
Churchill Northern Studies Center.
“I like a lot of the people that I meet through my job,… if you’re reading this and I met you through Natural Habitat Adventures then no doubt you are one of those people. I have a guest on the trip I am working on now and she is just so excited to be here. A former teacher, she is quickly becoming one of the people I like. Today we went to the Churchill Northern Studies Centre and she was just being her fabulous self when she fell into the fulfillment of a life long dream. The Studies Centre is short a volunteer and my guest is available and excited about a chance for a new temporary “job”.
When she first started talking to me about it and we broadened the conversation to the point this could just possibly happen, she became more and more excited. When she was introduced to the executive director Michael Goodyear he thought that she was kidding. I’m sure Mike hears this all the time though this time it took this very intelligent man only a few seconds to realize that he was probably speaking to his new volunteer. Local Churchillian Kim Daley recommended her for the “job” as did the one of the center’s current volunteers she had contact with, and I, as you can imagine added my two cents as well.
Churchill Northern Studies Center executive director Michael Goodyear.
I went to meet them for dinner tonight and she was so excited to tell me that she “got the job!!!!”
She signed on for a five- week stint at the Churchill Northern Studies Center as a quite excited volunteer. Washing a lot of dishes and helping to serve a lot of meals will surely be a big part of the position, while living a dream she didn’t really know she even had. The idea that there’s a place where you can work for a bed, three really good squares and a night sky holding a good possibility of a natural light show like no other, never occurred to her.
Aurora over the “aurora domes”, a prime indoor spot to photograph the lights. Photo Brad Josephs.
The adventure began at the end of her Natural Habitat trip….or actually started at the beginning of her trip…well I guess this experience became all one in the end. I’m sure that Natural Habitat will lend her the coat on her back and be sure that she is properly geared up for the cold days ahead. Being from Florida there will be more to the traditional culture shock travelers experience being in a vastly different culture. Here in Churchill temperatures in the winter provide shock even to seasoned locals.
The word of the day from my guest is Serendipity.
