Charles' Cooper's Railway Pages has put up a great post about the famous little Portage Flyer railway -- a lovely nugget from the history of the Lake of Bays.
Hopping off the train in Huntsville, passengers bound for the Lake of Bays would climb on board the S.S. Algonquin for the trip down the river, through Fairy Lake, through the Canal, and into Pen Lake (Peninsula Lake)
Here, the steamer would bring them to the dock at the Pen Lake Post Office, the northern terminal of the Portage Flyer train. This brave little narrow track train ran for one mile -- North Portage to South Portage... then back. It wasn't as easy as it sounds -- a 7% grade up from the lake at North Portage meant that if the train was heavily loaded the gentlemen had to disembark and walk up the hill.
At South Portage, the S. S. Iroquois, and the S. S. Mohawk Belle (once called the Mary Jean) would be waiting to take passengers to the various destinations around the lake.
Charles has done an excellent article on this unique railway, and we're happy to add some photos to the collection!
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