The Bloom Lake Railway (formerly BLRC) is a privately owned

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

short line railway In the United States, railroad carriers are designated as Class I, II, or III, according to annual revenue criteria originally set by the Surface Transportation Board in 1992. With annual adjustments for inflation, the 2019 thresholds were US ...

operating in the province of

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

and

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

. The project was commissioned for

Consolidated Thompson Iron Mines Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., formerly Cliffs Natural Resources, is a Cleveland, Ohio-based company that specializes in the mining, beneficiation, and pelletizing of iron ore, as well as steelmaking, including stamping and tooling. It is the largest ...

to connect their new Bloom Lake mine (opened in 2010) near

Fermont, Quebec Fermont () is a town in northeastern Quebec, Canada, near the Quebec-Labrador border about from Labrador City on Route 389, which connects to the Trans-Labrador Highway (Newfoundland and Labrador Route 500). It is the seat of the Regional Cou ...

with the existing

Wabush Lake Railway The Wabush Lake Railway (formerly WABL and NLCL) is a short line railway operating in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The railway was built in 1960 from the Quebec North Shore and Labrador Railway to Wabush, initially called t ...

Wabush, Newfoundland and Labrador Wabush is a small town in the western tip of Labrador, bordering Quebec, known for transportation and iron ore operations. Economy Wabush is the twin community of Labrador City. At its peak population in the late 1970s, the region had a population ...

. The Bloom Lake Railway was constructed between 2006 and 2010. All of the railway, except the first , are located in Labrador.

Iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the ...

concentrate is transported by Bloom Lake Railway to Wabush, then on the

Labrador City, Newfoundland and Labrador Labrador City is a town in western Labrador (part of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador), near the Quebec border. With a population of 7,412 as of 2021, it is the second-largest population centre in Labrador, behind Happy Valley-Go ...

. At Labrador City, the

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the ...

concentrate is interchanged to the Quebec, North Shore and Labrador Railway for the journey south to the shipping port in

Sept-Îles, Quebec Sept-Îles ( Quebec French pronunciation : , French for "Seven Islands") is a city in the Côte-Nord region of eastern Quebec. It is among the northernmost locales with a paved connection to the rest of Quebec's road network. The population was ...

. A total of 740 rail cars were purchased for the line. Consolidated Thompson has been subsequently purchased by

Cliffs Natural Resources Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., formerly Cliffs Natural Resources, is a Cleveland, Ohio-based company that specializes in the mining, beneficiation, and pelletizing of iron ore, as well as steelmaking, including stamping and tooling. It is the largest ...

. In 2011,

Genesee & Wyoming Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (G&W) is an American short line railroad holding company, that owns or maintains an interest in 122 railroads in the United States, Canada, Belgium, Netherlands, Poland, United Kingdom and formerly Australia. It operates ...

began control of operations on behalf of the owners under the name Western Labrador Rail Services. The new operation encompasses the ARND, Bloom Lake Railway, and WABL.

References

Railway Proposal to the Newfoundland Government

Article on Opening of the Line
Newfoundland and Labrador railways Quebec railways {{Quebec-transport-stub