The Northern Connection: Ontario Northland since 1902

Graeme S. Mount is a history professor at Laurentian University.

Surtees, a resident of North Bay for close to 40 years, has mastered the
nuts and bolts of railroading; the history of the communities along the
Ontario Northland Railway (known until 1946 as the Temiskaming and
Northern Ontario); the relevant politics of Ontario, Quebec, and the
federal government; and the geography and the geology of the region.

Although the author relied heavily on the Ontario Northland archives as
well as newspapers and personal interviews, first-hand testimony from
participants and observers adds vitality to this well-written narrative.
Surtees describes the boom days of Cobalt, a community he compares to
Sudbury, Ontario, and Leadville, Colorado. He describes the activities
of such personalities as poet/doctor Henry Drummond, who died of typhoid
at Cobalt; George Lee, whose personality dominated the railway for a
decade and a half; autocrat Col. C.E. Reynolds, who became the ONR’s
Chief Executive Officer via political patronage. Surtees demonstrates
that for most of its 90 years, the ONR truly dominated the lives of
those who lived in the communities it served.

Some points are readily memorable. Confusion with the Texas and New
Orleans (T&NO) Railroad, which helped itself to boxcars belonging to the
Temiskaming and Northern Ontario (also T&NO), led to the change of name.
However, residents of Swastika refused to rename their community
“Winston,” on the grounds that “Swastika” predated Hitler.

This easy-to-read book is essential for all scholars of northeastern
Ontario. The photographs, most of which lack clarity, are the greatest
weakness.