Hollinger Ungava Transport

"Hollinger Ungava Transport was a unique company airline service established for a special purpose. It existed to support the construction of the 580-kilometre Quebec North Shore & Labrador railroad to transport iron ore by rail from a mine to the shipping port. The airline operated from 1948 to 1954, carrying supplies and personnel until its task was completed."

Hollinger Ungava Transport Ltd. (HUT) was established as an air transport service to fulfill a unique function. HUT is the story of how an airline used mainly Douglas DC-3 aircraft that were veterans of the Second World War to build another transportation system, a special purpose railroad.

The airline was formed in 1948 as a subsidiary of the Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOC) to transport personnel and freight during the construction of the Quebec North Shore & Labrador railroad, the QNS&L. IOC itself was formed by Hollinger Mines and M.A. Hanna Company, an American mining operation, and included five major U.S. steel companies.

Hollinger/North Shore Exploration planned construction of a railroad from Knob Lake, Labrador, to the port at Seven Islands (Sept-Îles), Quebec, on the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The railroad would run about 360 miles (580 km) from Sept-Îles north to the open pit mine at Burnt Creek, just inside the Quebec border near Knob Lake (later known as Schefferville) in the Ungava district. The railroad would transport iron ore to Sept-ties, then to be carried by ship to steel mills in the United States and Canada. The slogan for the project was "Ore by '54."

HUT operations were run by Charlie Hoyt. During the Second World War he had served with the RCAF as a Wing Commander heading RCAF Transport Squadron l64, which had the responsibility of supporting construction of airports at Goose Bay and Gander. Mont-Joli, Quebec, 350 miles (560 km) east of Montreal, served as HUT'S main operating base. Mont-Joli had a well-equipped airport used by the RCAF from 1941-45 for training and maritime patrol during the war, as home to No. 9 Bombing and Gunnery School of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. The barracks were converted to apartments for HUT staff.

Starting in 1948 with two Douglas DC-3 aircraft reconditioned by Canadair Limited, HUT eventually operated a fleet of ten, as well as several other types of aircraft. At its peak, HUT averaged 70 flights per day, using 80 pilots with crews that flew an average of 1000-1200 hours per year. Over lOO mechanics, radio operators, and other technicians were among the support staff.

The DC-3s flew around the clock with only three non-flying days per year - New Year's Day, Easter Sunday and Christmas Day. The aircraft underwent daily inspection, flying up to 17 hours a day, and were serviced every 75 hours at Mont-Joli. There an engine change could be done in six to seven hours, but in the field, depending on weather and facilities, the job could take up to four days. Blowing snow, poor visibility, poor runway lighting and a cold winter for seven to eight months were among the conditions that made flying a challenge.

In 1952, demand on HUT increased when winter roads failed to support the loads that travelled on them, so the Iron Ore Company of Canada moved to build the railroad from the air. Eventually a dozen airstrips were built, additional DC-3 aircraft were acquired and several Curtiss-Wright C-46 Commando aircraft were chartered to increase airlift capacity. HUT was soon supporting 7,000 men on the railroad project and the DC-3s were carrying cement to build a dam 30 miles from Knob Lake. When completed, the dam would also serve as a bridge for ore trains.

As the railroad neared completion, HUT in 1953 flew over 18,000 hours and carried 68 million pounds of cargo, more than the combined cargo carried by all other Canadian airlines that year. From 1948 to 1954, HUT flew over 55,000 hours in 24,077 flights, carried more than 169,000 passengers and 163 million pounds of cargo. In 1953 over 1,000 people were working at the Burnt Creek mine where open pits were producing and storing ore for completion of the railroad and transport to the seaway.

HUT met its objective with an enviable safety record aided by a unique invention. When landing, the DC-3 was limited to a crosswind not exceeding 25 miles per hour. HUT airstrips, due to terrain, were on a north-south axis, with prevailing wind from the west. Goodyear Cross-Wind Landing Gear was installed on all of HUT'S DC-3s, permitting landing and takeoff with a 50-mile per hour 90-degree crosswind.

"Ask any old-timers who worked on the Labrador Iron project between 1948 and 1953 what part of the "whole undertaking contributed most toward getting completed on time and the one answer you will invariably receive is HUT. Hollinger Ungava Transport is remembered for the pilots and co-pilots, the hard-nosed boss Charlie Hoyt, and the shiny Douglas DC-3 aircraft, but without the radio technicians, expediters, skilled aero-mechanics, freight handlers, dispatchers, communications personnel, and many others in the less glamorous jobs, success would not have been achieved.” (From Cain's Legacy, 1990, by Richard Geren and Blake McCullogh, members of IOC senior site management during construction of the railroad.)

On February 17, 1954 at Burnt Creek in -52F weather, the last spike was driven, symbolizing the completion of the Quebec North Shore &. Labrador railroad. By July 1954, the railroad would run nine 100-car ore trains each day, operating fully automatically and without crew between the mine and the port at Sept-lies. At that point, ore cars were emptied into ships to transport ore to steel furnaces in Canada and the United States.

The first shipment of iron ore was loaded onto an ore carrier at Sept-lies on July 31, 1954. The arrival of ore from the mine was celebrated at Sept-lies with Joey Smallwood, premier of Newfoundland; Maurice Duplessis, premier of Quebec; and George M. Humphreys, chairman of M.A. Hanna Coal and Ore, who was also Secretary of the Treasury of the United States. Hollinger Ungava Transport had completed its task on time, and "Ore by '54" had become a reality.

Hollinger Ungava Transport was recognized with a Belt of Orion Award for Excellence from Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame at a ceremony held in 2011 at Hamilton, Ontario.

John Timmins, one of the first pilots hired by HUT has written that, "In 1953 we delivered 190,000 bags of cement and 2,000 tons of steel to build the dam and spillway across Guy's River which was 3,000 feet wide with a 34-foot head. By early 1954 the dam was providing electrical power to the mine and was ready to carry the first ore train across the river."