Little Long Rapids, Ontario

I have a postmark for this place on a pair of QE2 Cameo stamps
( 1954).

After extensive searches on the internet I have found out that this is
a Hydro Electric Power Station in the middle of nowhere. The Power
Supply company website records that there was a temporary township for
construction workers at the time that the station and associated civil
engineering works were built ( presumably with apost office)but that
it was later dismantled and moved elsewhere for a new project. However
a "place names" site shows that the place still exists.

Does anyone actually still live there ? What about maintenance staff
for the plant ? If so what are the postal arrangements if any ? There
appears to be no town or permanent settlement locally. Would any mail
have to go via the Power Company, or would it have to be collected at
the nearest town on a "poste restante" arrangement ? If so which town
( so I can id a possible postcode - purely for location purposes to
hang some sort of a locality for mounting it.). Fallingrain and the
Canada postcode sites make no mention. Is there a "Rural Box"
arrangement for these very remote areas. There does not seem to be
even a road, although presumably there is a track so that machinery
and personnel can access the place. This seems to be the sort of area
where providing postal services could be somewhat challenging not to
mention expensive.

I would imagine that the "temporary town" with a totally itinerant
population would have had a high postal usage in its time so the
postmark will be fairly common?

Do any of our Canadian friends have any personal knowledge of this
type of "town" ?

Malcolm

On Jan 20, 3:43*pm, malcolm wrote:
I have a postmark for this place on a pair of QE2 Cameo stamps
( 1954).

After extensive searches on the internet I have found out that this is
a Hydro Electric Power Station in the middle of nowhere. The Power
Supply company website records that there was a temporary township for
construction workers at the time that the station and associated civil
engineering works were built ( presumably with apost office)but that
it was later dismantled and moved elsewhere for a new project. However
a "place names" site shows that the place still exists.

Does anyone actually still live there ? What about maintenance staff
for the plant ? If so what are the postal arrangements if any ? There
appears to be no town or permanent settlement locally. Would any mail
have to go via the Power Company, or would it have to be collected at
the nearest town on a "poste restante" arrangement ? If so which town
( so I can id a possible postcode *- purely for location purposes to
hang some sort of a locality for mounting it.). Fallingrain and the
Canada postcode sites make no mention. Is there a "Rural Box"
arrangement for these very remote areas. There does not seem to be
even a road, although presumably there is a track so that machinery
and personnel can access the place. This seems to be the sort of area
where providing postal services could be somewhat challenging not to
mention expensive.

I would imagine that the "temporary town" with a totally itinerant
population would have had a high postal usage in its time so the
postmark will be fairly common?

Do any of our Canadian friends have any personal knowledge of this
type of "town" ?

Malcolm



Little Long Rapids, Ont (now a ghost town.)

Latitude: 50.01667
Longitude: -82.16667

Latitude (DMS): 50° 1' 0 N
Longitude (DMS) 82° 10' 0 W

The only way to get there was by rail from Kapuskasing Ontario,
it was secluded and was a complete temporary town as three
dams were built for hydro electric power. It had a bank, theatre,
bowling alley, theatre, pool room, 2 schools, train station,
hospital,
men and women's residences and the church (which did burn down)
etc.

It was active into the 1960s. By the mid 1980s it was gone.

Blair
http://forums.ghosttowns.com/showthr...le-Long-Rapids

Blair

Thanks for that. I had looked at that thread and had gathered that as
a town/village it no longer existed. However I postulate that in close
proximity to such a major structure/development there must be SOME
sort of human habitation in order to deal with minor repairs,
maintenance and general supervision of the plant - even if only a
cabin, office, gatehouse, security facility etc. The nearest "proper"
settlement would appear to be some considerable distance away - and I
can't believe that someone would commute daily over a huge distance
particularly in winter.

What I was trying to find was the community/municipality/rural
district/post office jurisdiction or whatever which "owns" the site of
the present dam. Surely all land in Canada has an administrative area
within whose boundary it falls? This can in the UK normally be traced
through local government records. I have found a number of local
government areas in the local( by Canadian standards) area, but no way
can I find out which one contains the land mentioned.

As I said I am not looking for a definitive postcode for the place as
there is probably no mail delivery as such - but I am just looking
for a convenient ( and accurate ) peg on which to "hang the hat". as
it were.

In the UK we do not have much in the way of Hydro Electric Power, but
we do have reservoirs for drinking water in (relatively) remote areas
where "temporary" towns were set up during construction in the same
way - and in almost every case after the township has gone there is
some residual occupation by small numbers of people in isolated
dwellings.

In the case mentioned there was only rail access and the railway has
gone, but there must be vehicle access now of some sort, as how do
they get in pylons,generators and other heavy equipment - surely not
by air - there does not seem to be an airstrip - and helicopters or
float planes cannot carry the weight?

Completely OT but I have been looking, purely as interest at some of
the communities in this part of Ontario, and I cannot believe how
cheap Real Estate is! Presumably not many people want to live there !

Malcolm





On Jan 20, 9:55*pm, "Blair (TC)" wrote:
On Jan 20, 3:43*pm, malcolm wrote:



I have a postmark for this place on a pair of QE2 Cameo stamps
( 1954).

After extensive searches on the internet I have found out that this is
a Hydro Electric Power Station in the middle of nowhere. The Power
Supply company website records that there was a temporary township for
construction workers at the time that the station and associated civil
engineering works were built ( presumably with apost office)but that
it was later dismantled and moved elsewhere for a new project. However
a "place names" site shows that the place still exists.

Does anyone actually still live there ? What about maintenance staff
for the plant ? If so what are the postal arrangements if any ? There
appears to be no town or permanent settlement locally. Would any mail
have to go via the Power Company, or would it have to be collected at
the nearest town on a "poste restante" arrangement ? If so which town
( so I can id a possible postcode *- purely for location purposes to
hang some sort of a locality for mounting it.). Fallingrain and the
Canada postcode sites make no mention. Is there a "Rural Box"
arrangement for these very remote areas. There does not seem to be
even a road, although presumably there is a track so that machinery
and personnel can access the place. This seems to be the sort of area
where providing postal services could be somewhat challenging not to
mention expensive.

I would imagine that the "temporary town" with a totally itinerant
population would have had a high postal usage in its time so the
postmark will be fairly common?

Do any of our Canadian friends have any personal knowledge of this
type of "town" ?

Malcolm

Little Long Rapids, Ont (now a ghost town.)

Latitude: *50.01667
Longitude: *-82.16667

Latitude (DMS): *50° 1' 0 N
Longitude (DMS) *82° 10' 0 W

The only way to get there was by rail from Kapuskasing Ontario,
it was secluded and was a complete temporary town as three
dams were built for hydro electric power. It had a bank, theatre,
bowling alley, theatre, pool room, 2 schools, train station,
hospital,
men and women's residences and the church (which did burn down)
etc.

It was active into the 1960s. *By the mid 1980s it was gone.

Blairhttp://forums.ghosttowns.com/showthread.php?5976-Little-Long-Rapids

malcolm wrote:
Completely OT but I have been looking, purely as interest at some of
the communities in this part of Ontario, and I cannot believe how
cheap Real Estate is! Presumably not many people want to live there !

Radio Canada is the French language radio service for the CBC -
their website has (had?) some stories in English for use in learning the
language. Here's a story about Northern Ontario that may explain the
above ... (I've appended the story rather than the web address, which
looks to be obsolete, missing most of the graphics, etc.)
Similarities to Frank Zappa and "Billy The Mountain" noted.

-----

People may talk about the big and scary grizzly bears in British
Columbia or polar bears in the Arctic, but the scariest creature in all
of Canada is the black fly of Northern Ontario.

Nowhere else on the planet are the black flies as big as in Northern
Ontario. They will take the screen right off your tent if they can smell
you inside! So you don’t feel like going outdoors. But I was up
surveying land so I had to go .. out to work.

Well all day long you’re swatting and squashing, squashing and swatting
those black flies, trying to clear the air. You’re itchy and scratching,
scratching millions of itchy bites right from your head to your little
toes. And all you want to do is get your surveying work done!

One day I said to my friend, “Oh dear the black flies are bad this
year!” “Well they were WORSE last year!” she said.

“They must have been scary if they were worse last year.” I replied.
“Were there more?” “More!” my friend roared, “ the clouds of black flies
were so thick you couldn’t breathe! You were scratching your itchy black
fly bites morning, noon and night. I’m sure I lost 20 kilos from all the
blood the black flies took out of me! And one day I see this loud black
cloud coming towards me. I don’t know what to do. Luckily I find a rain
barrel. I get inside the rain barrel, hoping to hide from the black flies.

Just when I think I’m safe, I hear a sound like bullets hitting the rain
barrel. In the dark in my rain barrel I can just about see – the black
flies’ little jaws coming right through the rain barrel! I find a rock
and I hammer down those little jaws like nails. I work fast!

Then I feel this strange sensation. And whoosh! I am flying up, up, up
into the bright Northern Ontario sky. The black flies are carrying the
rain barrel - with me inside!

Ryan

On Jan 21, 6:23*am, malcolm wrote:
Blair

Thanks for that. I had looked at that thread and had gathered that as
a town/village it no longer existed. However I postulate that in close
proximity to such a major structure/development there must be SOME
sort of human habitation in order to deal with minor repairs,
maintenance and general supervision of the plant - even if only a
cabin, office, gatehouse, security facility etc. The nearest "proper"
settlement would appear to be some considerable distance away - and I
can't believe that someone would commute daily over a huge distance
particularly in winter.

What I was trying to find was the community/municipality/rural
district/post office jurisdiction or whatever which "owns" the site of
the present dam. Surely all land in Canada has an administrative area
within whose boundary it falls? This can in the UK normally be traced
through local government records. I have found a number of local
government areas in the local( by Canadian standards) area, but no way
can I find out which one contains the land mentioned.

As I said I am not looking for a definitive postcode for the place as
there is probably no mail *delivery as such - but I am just looking
for a convenient ( and accurate ) peg on which to "hang the hat". as
it were.

In the UK we do not have much in the way of Hydro Electric Power, but
we do have reservoirs for drinking water in (relatively) remote areas
where "temporary" towns were set up during construction in the same
way - and in almost every case after the township has gone there is
some residual occupation by small numbers of people in isolated
dwellings.

In the case mentioned there was only rail access and the railway has
gone, but there must be vehicle access now of some sort, as how do
they get in pylons,generators and other heavy equipment - surely not
by air - there does not seem to be an airstrip - and helicopters or
float planes cannot carry the weight?

Completely OT but I have been looking, *purely as interest at some of
the communities in this part of Ontario, and I cannot believe how
cheap Real Estate is! Presumably not many people want to live there !

Malcolm

On Jan 20, 9:55*pm, "Blair (TC)" wrote:



On Jan 20, 3:43*pm, malcolm wrote:

I have a postmark for this place on a pair of QE2 Cameo stamps
( 1954).

After extensive searches on the internet I have found out that this is
a Hydro Electric Power Station in the middle of nowhere. The Power
Supply company website records that there was a temporary township for
construction workers at the time that the station and associated civil
engineering works were built ( presumably with apost office)but that
it was later dismantled and moved elsewhere for a new project. However
a "place names" site shows that the place still exists.

Does anyone actually still live there ? What about maintenance staff
for the plant ? If so what are the postal arrangements if any ? There
appears to be no town or permanent settlement locally. Would any mail
have to go via the Power Company, or would it have to be collected at
the nearest town on a "poste restante" arrangement ? If so which town
( so I can id a possible postcode *- purely for location purposes to
hang some sort of a locality for mounting it.). Fallingrain and the
Canada postcode sites make no mention. Is there a "Rural Box"
arrangement for these very remote areas. There does not seem to be
even a road, although presumably there is a track so that machinery
and personnel can access the place. This seems to be the sort of area
where providing postal services could be somewhat challenging not to
mention expensive.

I would imagine that the "temporary town" with a totally itinerant
population would have had a high postal usage in its time so the
postmark will be fairly common?

Do any of our Canadian friends have any personal knowledge of this
type of "town" ?

Malcolm

Little Long Rapids, Ont (now a ghost town.)

Latitude: *50.01667
Longitude: *-82.16667

Latitude (DMS): *50° 1' 0 N
Longitude (DMS) *82° 10' 0 W

The only way to get there was by rail from Kapuskasing Ontario,
it was secluded and was a complete temporary town as three
dams were built for hydro electric power. It had a bank, theatre,
bowling alley, theatre, pool room, 2 schools, train station,
hospital,
men and women's residences and the church (which did burn down)
etc.

It was active into the 1960s. *By the mid 1980s it was gone.

Blairhttp://forums.ghosttowns.com/showthread.php?5976-Little-Long-Rapids- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Malcolm:

The nearest main town / post office would be Kapuskasing, Ontario.
(General Delivery or PO Box if you have one)
MAIN (Postal) Station
KAPUSKASING ON
P5N 2X9

The whole area only has a population of 14,000.

The hamlet of Fraserdale (no post office or postal code)
is slightly closer to Little Long Rapids and is on the railway.

This web page on Fraserdale may interest you. (with video)
http://www.highway11.ca/JamesBay/09b...dale/index.php

Here is a government road map. (PDF)
http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/tra...eets/Map14.pdf

Access is by private road (public access).

At 50.016 North , 82.389 West , you can see
the two branches of the road meeting and a road
going North.

Anyone going in there, would truck in their own
supplies, food etc.

In Northern Ontario, travelling long distances
for a weekly commute is common.
I had brothers in law who did this very thing.
Hundreds of miles is routine up there.


Cheers
Blair

On Jan 21, 11:54*am, "Blair (TC)" wrote:
On Jan 21, 6:23*am, malcolm wrote:



Blair

Thanks for that. I had looked at that thread and had gathered that as
a town/village it no longer existed. However I postulate that in close
proximity to such a major structure/development there must be SOME
sort of human habitation in order to deal with minor repairs,
maintenance and general supervision of the plant - even if only a
cabin, office, gatehouse, security facility etc. The nearest "proper"
settlement would appear to be some considerable distance away - and I
can't believe that someone would commute daily over a huge distance
particularly in winter.

What I was trying to find was the community/municipality/rural
district/post office jurisdiction or whatever which "owns" the site of
the present dam. Surely all land in Canada has an administrative area
within whose boundary it falls? This can in the UK normally be traced
through local government records. I have found a number of local
government areas in the local( by Canadian standards) area, but no way
can I find out which one contains the land mentioned.

As I said I am not looking for a definitive postcode for the place as
there is probably no mail *delivery as such - but I am just looking
for a convenient ( and accurate ) peg on which to "hang the hat". as
it were.

In the UK we do not have much in the way of Hydro Electric Power, but
we do have reservoirs for drinking water in (relatively) remote areas
where "temporary" towns were set up during construction in the same
way - and in almost every case after the township has gone there is
some residual occupation by small numbers of people in isolated
dwellings.

In the case mentioned there was only rail access and the railway has
gone, but there must be vehicle access now of some sort, as how do
they get in pylons,generators and other heavy equipment - surely not
by air - there does not seem to be an airstrip - and helicopters or
float planes cannot carry the weight?

Completely OT but I have been looking, *purely as interest at some of
the communities in this part of Ontario, and I cannot believe how
cheap Real Estate is! Presumably not many people want to live there !

Malcolm

On Jan 20, 9:55*pm, "Blair (TC)" wrote:

On Jan 20, 3:43*pm, malcolm wrote:

I have a postmark for this place on a pair of QE2 Cameo stamps
( 1954).

After extensive searches on the internet I have found out that this is
a Hydro Electric Power Station in the middle of nowhere. The Power
Supply company website records that there was a temporary township for
construction workers at the time that the station and associated civil
engineering works were built ( presumably with apost office)but that
it was later dismantled and moved elsewhere for a new project. However
a "place names" site shows that the place still exists.

Does anyone actually still live there ? What about maintenance staff
for the plant ? If so what are the postal arrangements if any ? There
appears to be no town or permanent settlement locally. Would any mail
have to go via the Power Company, or would it have to be collected at
the nearest town on a "poste restante" arrangement ? If so which town
( so I can id a possible postcode *- purely for location purposes to
hang some sort of a locality for mounting it.). Fallingrain and the
Canada postcode sites make no mention. Is there a "Rural Box"
arrangement for these very remote areas. There does not seem to be
even a road, although presumably there is a track so that machinery
and personnel can access the place. This seems to be the sort of area
where providing postal services could be somewhat challenging not to
mention expensive.

I would imagine that the "temporary town" with a totally itinerant
population would have had a high postal usage in its time so the
postmark will be fairly common?

Do any of our Canadian friends have any personal knowledge of this
type of "town" ?

Malcolm

Little Long Rapids, Ont (now a ghost town.)

Latitude: *50.01667
Longitude: *-82.16667

Latitude (DMS): *50° 1' 0 N
Longitude (DMS) *82° 10' 0 W

The only way to get there was by rail from Kapuskasing Ontario,
it was secluded and was a complete temporary town as three
dams were built for hydro electric power. It had a bank, theatre,
bowling alley, theatre, pool room, 2 schools, train station,
hospital,
men and women's residences and the church (which did burn down)
etc.

It was active into the 1960s. *By the mid 1980s it was gone.

Blairhttp://forums.ghosttowns.com/showthread.php?5976-Little-Long-Rapids-Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Malcolm:

The nearest main town / post office would be Kapuskasing, Ontario.
(General Delivery or PO Box if you have one)
MAIN (Postal) Station
KAPUSKASING ON
P5N 2X9

The whole area only has a population of 14,000.

The hamlet of Fraserdale (no post office or postal code)
is slightly closer to Little Long Rapids and is on the railway.

This web page on Fraserdale may interest you. (with video)http://www.highway11.ca/JamesBay/09b...dale/index.php

Here is a government road map. *(PDF)http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/tra...df/northont/sh...

Access is by private road (public access).

At 50.016 North , 82.389 West , you can see
the two branches of the road meeting and a road
going North.

Anyone going in there, would truck in their own
supplies, food etc.

In Northern Ontario, travelling long distances
for a weekly commute is common.
I had brothers in law who did this very thing.
Hundreds of miles is routine up there.

Cheers
Blair



ADDENDUM

Go to Google Maps.

Search on : Little+Long+Rapids+ontario

Zoom in to your hearts content.

By the way I passed through Fraserdale,
on the Polar Bear Express, back in the late 1970s.
Little Long Rapids would still have been there.

We were going from Cochrane to Moosonee, on James Bay.
http://www.ontarionorthland.ca/media...TCfreight2.pdf

Blair




Blair