On the fast track: First Nation rolls into transportation sector.

• Author: Ross, Ian
• Position: DESIGN-BUILD

Serpent River First Nation is laying the groundwork to become a northeastern Ontario transportation hub.

The First Nation community partnered with Sudbury's Mansour Group to land a railway ballast contract last summer to supply 125,000 tonnes of rock for the Huron Central Railway's $33-million track reconstruction project.

Under the banner of M'Anishnabek Industries, Serpent River and Mansour quickly built a 1,000-foot long railroad siding in an amazing six weeks, extending from the Huron Central line into a once-abandoned quarry where rail cars are loaded with crushed rock to be used as track bedding for the short-line railroad.

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"This thing has moved at lightning speed," said Serpent River Chief Isadore Day.

The first ballast train rolled up to the quarry in late September as track repairs began this fall on the Sault Ste. Marie-to-Sudbury line. Mansour supplied the locomotive and rolling stock.

The siding can accommodate 17, 70-foot long ballast cars, each capable of carrying 100 tonnes.

The quarry, which belongs to the First Nation, was once used to supply aggregate for the Highway 17 rehabilitation in 2004. It's located only a few hundred metres between the highway and the railway, and is accessible by a side road.

Serpent River has been vocal for years in wanting to be consulted and allowed to participate in area resource and infrastructure development within its traditional territory.

But both Day and project manager Brian Rogers said the Huron Central contract wasn't just handed to them.

The First Nation and its industry partner grabbed the lion's share of the larger 160,000-tonne contract because Rogers came up with the idea of a ballast train.

There were a number of locations along the line where the rail carrier wanted to stockpile material. But in Serpent River's proposal, they indicated rail cars could be hauled into the quarry for loading and delivered to a section of track rather than using dump trucks.

The First Nation and BM Metals Services, a Mansour subsidiary, built the $500,000 siding with some assistance on the rail material pro vided by the Huron Central.

The biggest chore was months of planning to blast out a rock cut for the siding.

Day said the proposal was an "essential piece" in being successful in the tendering process.

The operation has created between 14-16 jobs, but Serpent River would like to keep the momentum going beyond the life of the...