Was It a Success? You Bet!!

Well, after a tiresome eight days of travelling, setting up equipment, activating a new island along with four CISA islands (three of them new), we are now home and reflecting on what we accomplished with the Polar Bear DXpedition. When I say "we", that not only means the ten Amateurs that were on the actual DXpedition but also includes Amateurs the world over. Without you, this would never have been such a success. The following are some highlights from our trip.
XM3P QSL Card

August 1, 1996 - A Trip Into the Unknown

We departed Oshawa, ON, at about 0530EST for the train maintenance yards in Toronto. We travelled in a group consisting of two mini vans and one small car, all packed to capacity with man, equipment, and food. We arrived at the yard at around 0645EST and after clearing security at the main gate, met up with Gary, VE3XN and Ernest, VE3NSZ who had arrived a short time before. We then proceeded to the parking lot where we transfered all the equipment to the vans, parked our cars, and continued to the shed where our train car was waiting. We loaded all the equipment and luggage on board and then began to set up our antennas. Since we had to go through a tunnel on the way to Toronto Union Station we could not actually attach the antennas, mainly Hamsticks, since they would only be ripped down. At approximately 1045EST the train pulled out towards Union Station, one car full of excited Amateurs. Once at Union Station, we quickly disembarked and finished setting up our antennas, tuned up the radios, and were ready to start talking to the world. We had five stations in total, a 80m, 40m, 20m, 6m, and 2m. Once we left Union Station we started DXing, and never stopped until late that night when we reached Cochrane, ON.

During our trip north we had a reporter from MCTV, a Baton Broadcasting Service television station, board the train at a small town called Swastika and travel with us to the next stop. Much footage was shot of us operating the radios and an interview with John, VE3VGI took place. Maurice Bernardi, of Ontario Northland, was kind enough to tape the segment for us when it appeared on the news and we must say that MCTV did a good job reporting what we were doing.

On the train, we also had many passengers pass through our train car (Ontario Northland gave us a car all to ourselves) and we made several announcements over the PA system in English, French, and German. The passengers that came through had a great time and many new interestes to Amateur radio were sparked.

Finally we arrived in Cochrane at around 2330EST and one tired group of Amateurs moved the stations, antennas, luggage, and equipment from the Northlander to the Polar Bear Express and then went out for a late supper/early breakfast at the Husky truck stop in Cochrane before finally sacking out on the floor of one of the Polar Bear's passenger cars.

August 2, 1996 - Relaxation

After a good nights rest and a hot shower at the rail yards we were set for a day of relaxation. We finished setting up the antennas and stations on the Polar Bear Express and since it does not run on Fridays we spent the day fishing, exploring Cochrane, and DXing from the stations on the train. Unfortunately, we had a large electrical transformer right next to our car so we were getting some noise from it, but regardless we were still able to make many contacts. The Ontario Northland crew at Cochrane is to be highly praised for their co-operation and friendliness to all of us during our stay. They made us feel right at home and many new friendships were made.
We also had a reporter from the Northland Post interview us at the rail yard. When we returned to Cochrane and received our copies of the paper we were pleasantly surprised to read an excellent article that this reporter had put together.

August 3, 1996 - All Aboard the Polar Bear Express!

After grabbing a quick breakfast at one of the local restaurants, we were set for four more hours of DXing from a moving train. The Polar Bear Express pulled out of Cochrane at about 0830 and made its trek north to Moosonee. This day the passenger traffic in the "Radio Car" was really good. We met people from all over the world, many of them suprised that we had already talked to their fellow countrymen, and in some cases fellow city residents, from a moving train. We also met up with the last member of the team, Paul Lantz. Paul quickly made himself at home and started working the radios with vigor. Fred Bengel was superb making announcements in English and German over the P.A. system and did a fine job explaining Amateur Radio to the German passengers.

A reporter from the Cochrane Times was also on board and did interviews with various team members and had fun working the radios. After we disembarked the train in Moosonee, she took several photos of us by the train station and some of just the Akimiski crew.

Originally the crew going to Akimiski were to depart immediately for the island but upon arriving in Moosonee we discovered that the plane that was to take them had some technical problems so they had to wait until the next day to get there. We all felt bad for them and you could see the dissapointment in their faces. In retrospect, it may have been for the better since they were able to get some rest for their gruelling adventure, but that was an unknown at that point.

After a light lunch at a local restaurant we began to set up the radios and antennas at the train station in the 95F temperature. We figured that heading this far north that we would have cooler temperatures but were we surprised. We strung a DXCC antenna from a light post to the roof of the train station and also set up an R7 multiband vertical. We used the R7 for 20m and the DXCC for 40m. We also set up a 80m Hamstick and attached it to a baggage cart out front. We were now on the air and DXing from the train station.

Karen, the Ontario Northland representative in Moosonee, did everything she could to make us comfortable in our new home, including making coffee for us and offering to do laundry.
VE8A QSL Card

August 4, 1996 - VE8A QRZ!

Early in the morning, at around 0630, the Akimiski IOTA team departed. I will not go into details here as to what they encountered as John has promised an article for an upcoming issue, but it will suffice to say that they had a heck of a time getting set up. Back at Moosonee we had our 20m station set to 14.260 waiting for them to come on. Unfortunately, we were in their skip zone and so we could not hear them on 20m but we knew they were there when the frequency came alive with wave after wave of callsigns all trying to make contact with VE8A. A collective sigh of relief went up from the crew at the train station and then cheers knowing that they had arrived safely and that a vital part of the DXpedition was now up and operating. VE8A made about 800 contacts while they were on their shortened adventure to Akimiski.

We took down the DXCC today because it just would not get out - we suspect a short somewhere. Instead, we put another Hamstick up on the baggage cart out front and worked 40m from that. Considering the Hamsticks were only about twelve feet off the ground they worked fantastic...a shortage of calls was only experienced when the band died. By this time, world wide interest in our DXpediton was gaining rapid momentum as we had many operators everywhere asking when we would be on the train again (because they had missed us coming up) and when and what freshwater islands we would be activating.

Charles Island, Canadian island ON197, was activated by Garry Hammond, Fred Bengel, and Doug Ibbotson. Equipped with a battery, 20m Hamstick, and an Alinco DX70 they made many contacts.

August 5, 1996 - 6m comes alive and Lyle rececies a Golden Mic

After a disappointing few days on 6m, we were pleasantly surprised when the band opened at arount 1600. Garry and myself worked a mini pile-up and ended up with over 110 contacts that evening. Most of the contacts were made on the eastern seaboard since our beam was pointing that way but we made a few contacts into Nebraska, Iowa, North and South Dakota, and even California off the side of the beam. 6m sure is great when it is open.

In the afternoon, Lyle was interviewed on CHMO, the voice of the Arctic. After the interview Lyle was given a tour of the transmitter. Upon closer inspection it was discovered that the coax connector was loose and had almost fallen off. After Lyle tightened it the interference from a local CBC transmitter disappeared. Not only did Lyle fix the interference problem, but he noticed that they were only transmitting at 15 watts but had a licence to transmit at 50. The station manager was overjoyed when the transmitter was set back to 50 watts and hopes that complaints from locals about poor reception will be cleared up. Later, the manager returned to the train station and presented Lyle with a Golden Mic for being interviewed and helping fix up the transmitter.

Fossil Island, Canadian island ON198, also known as Sawpit Island was activated today by Garry, Winston Seeney, and Paul Lantz. This has wetted Pauls appetite for activating Canadian islands and since he has easy access to many more there in the Moose River I am sure we will hear more from him.
CI3O QSL Card

August 6, 1996 - Science Camp Demo

Today Lyle, Garry, and myself went to Moose Factory Island to give a demo of Amateur Radio to two groups of children at a Science Camp. We had a blast telling them all about our hobby and lit their faces up when we started talking to other hams all over Canada and the US. We had no idea when we started the trip that we would get involved in a Science Camp but Laird saw it advertised on the local cable info channel and Doug had talked to Gerry Winger who is a reporter for the Moosonee Freighter and was also in charge of the Science Camp. Gerry welcomed us with open arms and we appreciate the hams who talked to these kids. Moose Factory Island is also Canadian Island ON069, an already activated island, but a still sought after contact none the less.

The threesome from Akimiski arrived back this morning. They were pretty exhausted after their ordeal and were happy to get a hot shower. Latter that evening we went to a local restaurant and had a feast, swapped stories, and generally had a good time.

August 7 - Homeward bound

Well, if drinking swamp water for two days and operating in bad conditions was not enough, Ernest and John headed out to Flats Island, Canadian island ON199, and activated it in the morning. The rest of us remained at the train station packing equipment, dismantling antennas, and picking up some last minute souvenirs. The Polar Bear Express arrived at about 1230 and after all the passengers got off we loaded our stuff and set up one station. This trip we were limited to only one station because the air conditioning had quit on the car that was meant for us and so we had to set up in one of the regular passenger cars that was mostly full. None the less, we had a great time and the passengers enjoyed listening and operating the radios. Bob, John, Ernest, Garry, and myself made our way to the Piano car for part of the trip and sang songs with Jose, the entertainer. One of us, I won't mention who, even wrote up some words to the John Denver tune "Country Roads", dedicated it to the Akimiski team, and sang in front of a car load of people. We sure had a great time in the Piano car. The words just about summed up their trip -

Far from Heaven, Akimiski
Green swamp water horseflies and mosquitos
Life is bad there
You sink with every step
And every tent you sleep in
Is a water bed
Take me back, pontoon plane
To the place that I long
Akimiski, green swamp water
Take me back, pontoon plane ©

We arrived in Cochrane at about 2200 and by the time we were pulled back to the rail yard and the Northlander had been cleaned so we could move to it, it was 0200. After quickly switching trains we crashed for the night.

August 8, 1996 - The end of a GREAT DXpedition

At about 0830 the Northlander pulled out of Cochrane headed toward Toronto. We were suprised to meet up with George Burns, VE3INB and his wife who had rode the rails the day before to Cochrane and were now returning. George is a member of the North Shore ARC and him and his wife were welcomed with open arms. George immediately went to work on one of the stations and made many contacts that day for us. It is a good thing George was on board because fatigue was starting to set in and we were more than glad to let him make the contacts as most of us sat back, chatted, and generally relaxed. Just north of North Bay we were stopped because a rail had come loose further down the line and it had to be repaired. Fearing that we were going to be bused around the problem like the regular passengers were, we quickly disassembled the stations and prepared for the worst. A little while later a call came from Maurice Bernardi saying that we could stay on the train if we wanted. We decided to stay and wait out the repair. In a few hours we were moving again, this time with only the 2m station going. As we passed throught the different repeater areas were were surprised that so many locals were still following us and sometimes we had to work mini pile-ups to quench their thirst for a contact with us. We finally arrived at Union Station at about 0130 on August 9 and were back at the rail yards at 0200. The final transfer of equipment from the rail car to our vehicles was completed at about 0300. We said our farewells to those going separate ways and them made our way back home. Exhausted? YES! Satisfied? YES! Would we do it again? YOU BET! ... Lyle, get talking to Maurice!!!

Summary of trip:

TV interviews:

Newspaper interviews:

Radio interviews:

73 from the members of the 1996 Polar Bear Express DXpedition!

Miscellaneous Info

  • Some Info on Moose Factory

  • Laird's Personal Reviews on Equipment Used

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  • Official Polar Bear Express DXpedition Homepage

  • Ontario Northland Homepage

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    This site was last updated November 18, 1996 by Laird