Abandoned Manitoba 2: Port Nelson, Manitoba's Forgotten Seaport on Hudson Bay
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- čas přidán 2. 06. 2024
- The Abandoned Manitoba 2 video series by Graham Street, Shaun Cameron, and Gordon Goldsborough visits ghost towns, vacant buildings, and other historic sites from Manitoba's past. Join us as we explore back roads to places that tell great stories about how things used to be, and how we have ended up where we are today.
In this video, we tour an abandoned seaport at the mouth of the Nelson River on Hudson Bay. Construction started in 1912 and stopped before the work was completed. It never resumed. Instead, all attention moved to Churchill where, in 1929, a deep water seaport opened. We explore the crumbling remains at Port Nelson, including an artificial island a half mile offshore, a rotting 17-span railway bridge, and a broken dredge.
For more Port Nelson content, check out one of the small ships that was used to ferry supplies, equipment, and personnel to the site from ocean-going vessels. The "lighter" now sits on the south shore of the Nelson River. See our visit to it here: • Manitoba Heritage Minu...
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I enjoyed your video. I led a small military (3 Canadian Ranger of the Churchill Patrol and 4 regular CAF) expedition there in 1978, overland from Churchill. I am amazed at how badly deteriorated the buildings, boats and bridge have become in 45 years. All the buildings were still erect and habitable, we stayed in one of the houses (RCMP residence?) and visited each building. One warehouse was full of stuff. The log jails were still there. The stream locomotive was still there and there hotel. Sad to see this but time moves on.
Any chance that you have photos from that visit to Port Nelson in 1978? I would love to see them. Contact me at gordon@mhs.mb.ca
I spent a year near Great Bear Lake in NWT and was struck by the number of abandoned sites. Certainly none of them were on the scale of Port Nelson but it saddened me. An excellent historical essay. Thank you.
I love learning about my province. Thank you for doing what you do. Very informative and fun to watch.
Has anyone seen Seaport of the prairie's? It's from a 1929 rail expedition to Port Nelson. The film was taken from the manitoba archives. Its posted on the Winnipeg free press CZcams page. It's a great black and white film.
Thanks! I’ll be looking into that.
@@lsj1 This is the old movie; last a bit over an hour, actually begins at 2:00 czcams.com/video/mkOiovv1sBs/video.html
@@g.boudreau3957 Cheers! Much appreciated.
@@g.boudreau3957Cheers! Much appreciated.
That's an awesome video watch it once a year
So much more to Manitoba than Highways 1 & 16, thanks.
He has all those titles, and he is a senior professor at the University of Manitoba. His knowledge is out of this world, no joke.
Well done Gordon! Very informative and well presented. I was a regular traveller of the Nelson and Hayes 50 years ago. John Hatley, Jimmy Settee and myself were at that time the only people that would travel those rivers on a regular basis.It's been 40 years since I've been there. Port Nelson is a very impressive sight. Magical river to travel. Used to do it in a 21' Chestnut canoe powered by a 9.8 hp Merc.May have been a wee bit underpowered. So much fun and a constsnt adrenaline release. This was before Nelson River Adventures started. Nice to see so many being introduced to that trip and Port Nelson/York Factory.Had some very cool experiences in our trips. Looks like the weather hasn't changed. Amazing country that is not very forgiving.Is that a cottage on the island? Available? I'm 70 and would love to do that trip again. Nice choice in camera gear. Have a D750.
It's not a cottage, but a safe haven for the MB Hydro staff that routinely service the weather station on the island (in case they have helicopter issues or get weathered in). It also houses some of the instruments. It's not really intended for public use, but it has helped the odd traveler in the region. Please note, it should not be relied upon, and might not be left unlocked.
With Manitoba Hydro's permission, we spent the night in the emergency shelter on the artificial island at Port Nelson.
Well done Gordon and crew! Very interesting part of Manitoba history. I really get David Suzuki vibes from this one 😀
I'm in Nelson BC.. We had steam river boats on Kootenay lake here.. fueled by mining and lack of roads.. 😊 this is cool..
Fantastic video, glad someone is showcasing Manitoba’s history
Finally! I’ve been so curious about Port Nelson for so many years!
Great video. First time visitor here. Enjoyed this bit of MB “hubris of man” history…thank u 🇨🇦 ❤
Fascinating! I hope I can see it one day before it disappears.
Wow I had to do a double take on the name. Took some of your biology classes back in oh... 2004/5 ish. I flew over this place while doing work on the Amundsen in 2008 and was actually just looking at the pictures, weird how this randomly popped into my feed. Happy to see you're still out there having adventures. Cheers!
I had seen this site some time ago while looking at the nearby York Factory on google maps. Thank you making this video - fascinating look at, as you say, mankind’s hubris.
My girlfriend used to live in Gillam when I was working in Thompson and we wanted to visit but it didnt happen due to poor weather... instead we visited Churchill. Fascinating video. Pretty cool to see how with money, motivation and meaning humans can build stuff in remote location.. too bad it didnt work out but i heard in the news recently.of a project to revive port Nelson... it would be cool.to do an long video of churchill history... i know there would be LOTS to cover from the port, dene village, the old fort, the military base, rocket range, miss piggy, the abandoned ship... anyways thanks for the video.
You have outdone yourself with this one DR G!
Absolutely amazing, I often look at port Nelson on Google earth while day dreaming about exploring more of Manitoba
Hi from Brandon mb, can't wait to check some of your videos out!
Superb job Gordon, thanks for taking us there vicariously. Flown over it many times but never landed. Cheers
Glad you enjoyed it
I loved this documentary...always been fascinated by the bridge and island. I'm actually amazed that it is in such good condition.
Fascinating presentation
I flew over Port Nelson in 1979 (in a WW2 vintage DC3) as part of a university trip to Churchill. Fascinating to see the sudden sharp turn in the railway after it was belatedly realized that Port Nelson would not work.
Awesome video. I'm from Winnipeg but live in Florida now since 2011. I seen this site browsing Google earth and wanted to know what it looked like on the ground. Awesome learning the history and seeing the ruins hearing some history from my home province.
Interesting. Never knew this would even be possible in Manitoba.
Wow this is incredible i never heard of this
incredible indeed. Thank you.
Very interesting.
I knew nothing of this.
Thank you.
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Really interesting, I've always liked port nelson
Another great video, Gordon. Thanks
this is awesome!im glad this popped up in my feed!
Thanks!
love learning canadian history, good work keep it up
Very enjoyable. Great host, great footage. Wish my dad (history buff from Manitoba) was still here to watch this with me. I’m going to check out the other episodes!
Always interesting.
Fantastic video! Thanks for the great look into lesser known parts of the province.
Never knew about this one thanks
very cool
Great footage
Took a load of scaffold to Limestone 2 (Keyask) few years back ,that triple digit road to get there and back from Thompson took all day . Rougher than a Winnipeg street in the summer.
Interesting to see huge construction projects in the wild.
Wanna get up to Churchill by train to see the sights
Interesting video thanks 👍
Great video Gordon! Since reading about the port in your earlier book, I've wanted to learn more about it. The decay seems to be advancing faster each year. I suppose it won't be long before the entire island is erased. Thanks for preserving this.
Enjoyed your video very much! 7:17 I wonder if they could have put jacks on both sides of the ship, dismantle the seawall and lover the ship. If it is too shallow then perhaps lover it on to a sled and use tractors to move it were the tide could pick it up.
For more Port Nelson content, check out one of the small ships that was used to ferry supplies, equipment, and personnel to the site from ocean-going vessels. The "lighter" now sits on the south shore of the Nelson River. See our visit to it here: czcams.com/video/_w_YehCOo74/video.html
very intersting
Thank you for this updated look at Port Nelson, Gordon. Had wondered what the status of the island and structures were. Amazing those bridge trusses are all still relatively horizontal and none have fallen into the water below. Only a matter of time, though.
We really couldn't see, due to the vegetation, but I'm curious to know if there still is a rail line extending from Port Nelson back to where it originally connected to the Hudson Bay line that goes to Churchill.
If you zoom in using Google Earth, the original right-of-way for the railway to Port Nelson is still visible right back to Gillam
There's also plans on the table to revive this concept. While the port may not be ideal compared to Churchill it's still workable with modern technology... And I approve!
@@ManitobaHistoricalSociety Ah, yes, I see that. Wonder if they rails themselves are still in place along that stretch, and how it looks where the line veers north to Churchill.
@@stickynorth Yeah, I just saw that proposal from last year. Maybe Port Nelson will get a second chance at life, after all.
I would love to have some of that steel to use in projects (as is)
Funny enough, they will be surveying to put a railway line there in the not to distant future. It'll be revamed into a port over the next decade
Absolutely love the video and this very interesting history!! Do we know if Canadian Northern Railway was associated with Hudson Bay Railway? Who funded this operation?
Where there any builders plates on the bridges? Dominion Bridge?
I don't recall seeing any builder plates on the steel truss portions of the bridge but I can confirm, based on research I've done, that they were constructed at Montreal by the Dominion Bridge Company.
Darn i miss home
Curiously, I checked Google Map and the partially built railroad track is visible from Port Nelson all the way to Amery.
11:15 Left of frame, straight an arrow
I personally hope the recent proposal to revive Port Nelson as a seaport and alternative to Churchill actually gets built. Both like Prince Rupert have bright futures as European oriented shipping routes... Especially with BC and Alberta booming in population to this day, any ports closer to Edmonton/Calgary are a bonus!
And how do you solve the fact is is simply NOT a deep water port and ships are much larger today than 100 years ago, drafting a lot more water?
The structure at about 15:40 appears to be an enclosed water tower.
Have you tried checking out the rest of the railway right of way back to where it would have met up with the line to Churchill? Might be worth a look.
You can use Google Earth to zoom into the right-of-way where it turns north toward Churchill. The original right-of-way went to Port Nelson and it is still easily visible.
Interesting1 It's too bad you couldn't view the buildings on foot! -btw what is the small modern white building on the island? thx
@ 11:10 you can see the railway on the left.
One day, that island itself will be gone, lost to high tides and ocean storms.
To build a similar dredge today would cost 23 millions.... and it would only last 30 years...
Can you reveal the caves?
So how did they get the barge to the site ? Did I miss something?
I got the impression it was around Quebec, i.e. up through the Hudson Straight, sailing the barge there.
I wonder how much longer that place is gonna last in similar condition. If it's degraded so much in the last 5yrs and it's in such a harsh area.
There’s no way to clean up that huge mess?! God bless the railway!!
Q;what make is your drone?
In the case of Churchill the primary reason for the foundation of the city is gone with the end of grain exportation for Europe. But now the city and the Manitoba government are failing to understand that they could become an important logistical hub for the Nunavut. But as far as u know the railroad that connect Churchiil with the rest of Manitoba is not even properly maintain. Too bad for Manitoba.
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theres tours that go up there?
Check out Nelson River Adventures: www.nelsonriveradventures.com/
@@ManitobaHistoricalSociety im over in lynn lake so just curious bit more then my budget atm looking at there site be neat to go visit that place though
from Thompson
Curious why the bridge would have detoriated a lot in the last 5 years when it has been around for over 100 years?
I suspect the wood of the railway bridge has been rotting throughout the 100+ years it has been there but the damage is reaching the "tipping point" now where its structural stability is becoming compromised. The same applies to the wooden seawall that surrounds the artificial island. It is breaking apart and pieces of it have been found recently on the south shore of the Nelson River and even in the harbour at Churchill!
Was hoping you mentioned at least who was building this, company name, names of mangers where they were from… where was the 1M from to purchase dredger.
Can’t find part #1
Diamond plate is what the sheet metal is called.
We call it checker plate.
Fascinating. Watching from Ontario.
Apparently, the Hudson's Bay land is rising at 1 meter per century, so it will all be dry land eventually.
come to churchill. your video would need to be over 2 hours long.
I saw a rather large polar bear there last fall
so they brought that rail at the very beginning a year after it was built?
makes sense...
the drone told those hosers to take off
It might be re opened and larger…
__ So sad _ this port could have been used to export oil (except the deep freeze season) from an Alberta pipeline built along the road and railroad going to this port. _ could be used also by the defence dept. instead of building a new port in the arctic.
Port Nelson should be redeveloped instead of the Churchill Port.
Why don't they rehab it to ship oil/lng to Europe?
To ship *anything* from Port Nelson would require a shipping facility far offshore because the mouth of the Nelson is relatively shallow.
@@ManitobaHistoricalSociety Can't we fix that? Canadians do have some engineering skills after all. Maybe Manitoba and Alberta should have a serious conversation about this. A direct Intra-provincial pipeline to Europe without dealing with central Canada's insane bureaucracy would be a huge boon to the environment and Canada's pocket book!
It can only be operational a few months in the summer due to sea ice.
@@paulthiessen6444 I'm not sure sea ice will be much of an issue in the coming years, and Canada is building a small fleet of new ice breakers, so the Northwest passage could become a reality very soon. It's up to Canada to make sure we retain control of our territorial waters, this is a way forward for business and government! Dredge a channel or run a causeway out to deeper water. Canada has become far too timid in developing any new resource revenue unless it is in Ontario or Quebec. The west has been shut out by Ottawa.
There's a proposal to do just that. I fully approve of it. To those who doubt it can't or shouldn't be done? Too late... You might as well use what you've got...
Men's folly on display. Probably nurtured and designed in Bay St. Toronto. I wonder who took the brunt of the investor's wrath?
Oh good lord. Even this page isn't free from bitter right wing haggery? Really?
Canadian taxpayers paid the bill.. apparently the federal government back then was just as clueless & incompetent as the corrupt federal government we have now
In your intro you said you were exploring the back roads to places.
There aren't any roads to Port Nelson, and AFAIK, there never have been.
🥰✌️🏕🍁
Leave it to Manitoba to have a port that is easily accessible and totally neglected
If Manitoba would focus on business, this port would be current not history.
Trying to explain how much money a million was in 1913 without admitting to the hyper inflation situation were facing. lol
Irresponsible not to clean up the site.
Abandoned Manitoba includes the hosts’s face, which has been abandoned by shaving.
all completely wasted. it's the canadian way tho.
And we wonder why everyone is struggling
Just maybe another example of an overly optimistic hubristic promoter trying to pound a square peg in a round hole. It helps to calmly sit down and carefully consider all the facts and then sleep on it for a few days.
Shorter winters and rising sea levels will begin to deteriorate the site faster in the future is my guess
Global warming anyone?
As a Canadian, we barely even notice manitoba, they really are a nothing province. I had actually forgotten about Manitoba until I saw this video LOL
@11:09 IS the evidence of the railway tracks sir! that straight line of trees with a line splitting off to the left and going off into the distance is what remains of the grade work.
Weather the tracks are there still is the real question indeed.
Unless removed, the track is still there!
The right-of-way was constructed and is still readily visible in Google Earth but rails were never laid on the portion that runs to Port Nelson.
@@ManitobaHistoricalSociety I see,
Would’ve made a shorter trip from Gillam!
@@ManitobaHistoricalSociety thats what i thought! thank you for confirming!
i have the line traced out on G. Earth from Amery to the end of the bridge with the path maker tool. Measures at 68.7 miles from junction to just past the bridge..
just did that today actually lol!
@@ManitobaHistoricalSociety whats the story behind the name Back? North of O Day and south of M Clintock.