11-12-2009, 09:10 AM
This is the rest of the story that I developed for the Algonquin Highlands Transportation Co and the OA&GB Ry. I didn't really need it for my modelling purposes, but it does give a nice closure, and it also avoids the demolition of the Highland Inn... 
In the mid-1950s the Governments (provincial and federal) were in full swing with both economic development schemes and "naturalization" plans for wilderness areas. For its part, the Ontario Government proposed preserving the natural state of the Park by buying out or expropriating private properties in the Park including the Highland Inn, moving Park HQ to Whitney on the eastern border, and removing the railway altogether. This (real) proposal was met with strong resistance by the inhabitants and local business owners. Eventually their argument that the hotel, service buildings, and station, as well as local industries, were in situ and the proposed use would not change, won the day (unfortunately this did not happen in real life). The added benefit that tourists would spend money in the area with otherwise limited economic potential lead the Governments and CNR to grant AHT Co a 99 year lease to operate both the railway and the hotel.
On the federal front, improved roads and the St Lawrence Seaway were both under development. Depot Harbour (western terminus) had been in decline since the end of WW2 following the destruction of the grain elevators and freight shed in a fire. With the opening of the St Lawrence Seaway, Depot Harbour's niche as a transhipment point became irrelevant as ocean-going ships were able to steam directly into the heart of the continent (Thunder Bay) to deliver and pick up a wide variety of commodities to and from the West (again, a real event).
As a result, large scale freight traffic, including the grain and coal traffic, ceased almost overnight, and CNR turned over the entire route to AHT Co. The line was now dedicated almost entirely to passenger service, although local industry continued to generate demand for a small volume of freight service. In the 1970s, a trio of Budd RDCs replaced the venerable doodlebug and Mack Railbus (both over 50 years old at that point). Freight shipments were also finally discontinued as local roads were constructed or improved to most points along the railway.
Andrew
In the mid-1950s the Governments (provincial and federal) were in full swing with both economic development schemes and "naturalization" plans for wilderness areas. For its part, the Ontario Government proposed preserving the natural state of the Park by buying out or expropriating private properties in the Park including the Highland Inn, moving Park HQ to Whitney on the eastern border, and removing the railway altogether. This (real) proposal was met with strong resistance by the inhabitants and local business owners. Eventually their argument that the hotel, service buildings, and station, as well as local industries, were in situ and the proposed use would not change, won the day (unfortunately this did not happen in real life). The added benefit that tourists would spend money in the area with otherwise limited economic potential lead the Governments and CNR to grant AHT Co a 99 year lease to operate both the railway and the hotel.
On the federal front, improved roads and the St Lawrence Seaway were both under development. Depot Harbour (western terminus) had been in decline since the end of WW2 following the destruction of the grain elevators and freight shed in a fire. With the opening of the St Lawrence Seaway, Depot Harbour's niche as a transhipment point became irrelevant as ocean-going ships were able to steam directly into the heart of the continent (Thunder Bay) to deliver and pick up a wide variety of commodities to and from the West (again, a real event).
As a result, large scale freight traffic, including the grain and coal traffic, ceased almost overnight, and CNR turned over the entire route to AHT Co. The line was now dedicated almost entirely to passenger service, although local industry continued to generate demand for a small volume of freight service. In the 1970s, a trio of Budd RDCs replaced the venerable doodlebug and Mack Railbus (both over 50 years old at that point). Freight shipments were also finally discontinued as local roads were constructed or improved to most points along the railway.
Andrew