Chemin de Fer Cartier

Company History: Chartered in 1957 by the US Steel owned Quebec Cartier Mining Company, the Cartier was completed in 1960 between Port Cartier on the north bank of the St. Lawrence River and Lac Jeannine, Quebec, 193 miles to the north.

Traffic was iron ore from Lac Jeannine to the docks on the St. Lawrence. By 1972, the iron began to play out at Lac Jeannine so the line was extended to Mont Wright where there is a much larger iron deposit. Total mileage is now 260 (putting it between Green Bay & Western and Clinchfield in relative size.)

The Cartier (pronounced the same as the high end jeweler Cartier) has no direct connection to the rest of the North American rail network. New equipment must be delivered by ship over the St. Lawrence from Metane.

The line opened with GP9’s and RS18’s doing the honors. These were later joined by ten C630’s (originally built for Union Pacific) that had been sold to and transferred from sister road Duluth Missabe & Iron Range. By the early 90s, traffic had grown to the point that a fleet of 55 locomotives (over half were C636s and the Canadian equivalent M636,) and 1400 cars were required. Most of the 636s have recently been replaced by fewer but bigger AC4400CW’s and ES44’s. Trains are typically 150 cars long and as few as 90 cars in the winter. Southbound (loaded) trains always hold the main, forcing the empty trains into the sidings.

Successor/Parent History: ArcelorMittal is the successor to Mittal Steel, a business originally set up in 1976 by Mr Lakshmi N Mittal, chief executive officer and chairman of the board of directors. ArcelorMittal was created through the merger of Arcelor and Mittal Steel in 2006.

We operate our own fleet of ships, leased ships, time charter, contracts and spot fixtures to transport raw materials and finished products to our steel plants and our customers. Our ships range from very large dry bulk carriers with a capacity of more than 200,000 tonnes to smaller ships of 5,000 tonnes.

Brief History: Canada is a North American country stretching from the U.S. in the south to the Arctic Circle in the north. Major cities include massive Toronto, west coast film centre Vancouver, French-speaking Montréal and Québec City, and capital city Ottawa. Canada's vast swaths of wilderness include lake-filled Banff National Park in the Rocky Mountains. It's also home to Niagara Falls, a famous group of massive waterfalls.