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Central & Western Labrador
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Virtual Tour
Quebec Hwy 389 - Baie Comeau to Labrador City
(Page 4 of 8)
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Km 340: Picture of one the
mountains. There
was snow on the northern side of some of these mountains, near
their tops.
(Sorry, no picture of the snow - it was
so far away that I could only tell that it was snow through my
binoculars.)
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Km 345: Another view of the
scenery, this time looking south. |
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Km 350: Another view of the road
and the scenery. |
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Km 360: Another view of the
scenery, looking south again. |
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Km 365: Picture of the bridge
crossing the Beaupin River. As you can see, this small wood bridge only
handles one-way traffic. Be careful when crossing it. |
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Km 375: Picture of the bridge
crossing the Hart Jaune River. Another small wood one-way bridge.
It's
hard to see, but there is a car coming in the opposite direction in this
picture. So if you see one, stop before the bridge and let it pass. |
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Km 393: At km 391, you make a left
turn and enter the ghost town of Gagnon, dismantled in 1985 after the
mining company who owned it closed its door. For 2 kilometers before you
actually reach the town site, you will see nothing but trees and wonder
if you will see remnants of the town. And then you hit... a paved road!
...a
modern boulevard! In this picture, you can see small indents on the right
border of the road, indicating private entrances of where once stood
houses.
Good news: the road is paved for the next 90 kilometers! You can
drive as fast as you want (no joke)! Well, not legally, so if you speed
please do so safely and with care for others. The speed limit is still
70 km/h. Please note: There are
no services whatsoever here!
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The sidewalk is still there, but nobody
walks it now. The main bulk of the town once stood behind Mathieu in
this picture. Now nature is slowly taking back her lands.
I suggest that you get out of your car: this is truly a unique
experience to be in a ghost town! There is nothing apart from the
silence. There was not even a bird chirp when I was there! Take a deep
breath and enjoy the moment.
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The sewers are still functioning after 20
years! You can listen at water flowing at the bottom! |
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Here is a view of Barbel Lake right by the
road. You can camp here if you want, or anywhere else in the ghost town
if you want. Just be respectful of this old site. You can also wander
off the road with your car, but be very careful of where you drive,
there is a lot of loose sand as you can see on the picture. If you sank,
you will have a hard time finding a towing car!
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The pier of Barbel Lake is still there,
but in very poor shape. |
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History of Gagnon The town of Gagnon was officially incorporated on January
28th, 1960, but was actually founded in 1957 when the exploitation of the mine
at Jeannine Lake started. The railway connecting Gagnon to Port-Cartier, on the
North Shore, opened in December 1960. The town was named in honour of Mr.
Onezime Gagnon, who was minister and lieutenant governor at the time. In the
summer of 1972, drilling began at Fire Lake, 90 kilometers north of Gagnon, and
at the end of 1975, mining operations began at Fire Lake. Unfortunately, in
December 1984, both mines were closed and in June 1985 the town and the mines
were dismantled and moved away. Yes, every house and mining installation was
removed. The
highway 389 connecting Gagnon to Manic-5 and to Fermont opened in 1986. So
people living in Gagnon never were able to drive out of town!
If you want to see more pictures of Gagnon and learn more about this ghost
town, visit these websites (in French only):
http://www.villegagnon.com &
http://www.chez.com/gagnonville/ There are also photos of Gagnon when it was
a real town on the "A
Scoff an' Scuff" website, from Gary & Debbie. |
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Photos and narrative on this page by Mathieu
Gagnon & Walter Muma |
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