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Page 47 of 65
THE MID CANADA LINE
Between the DEW Line and the Pinetree Line was the Mid Canada
Line, consisting of 8 Sector Control Stations and approximately 90
unmanned Doppler radar sites. The line operated for a very brief time
from 1958 until 1965, when improvements in technology made the line
unnecessary. All the stations are now closed there is no military
presence at any of the former stations today.
The Mid Canada Line sites were:
RCAF Station Dawson Creek (British Columbia):
Opened on 1 October 1956, as part of the Mid-Canada Line, the second of three Early Warning Lines under command of NORAD, which stretched along the 55th parallel. Like all MCL stations, Dawson Creek was responsible for the maintenance of ten Doppler Detection Stations, small unmanned stations consisting of radar and communications equipment.
As there was no airfield at RCAF Station Dawson Creek (only a helicopter pad), the local municipal airport, a former WWII RCAF station used as part of the North-West Staging Route, was utilized for aircraft.
With advances in technology, the MCL eventually became redundant and associated stations were closed. RCAF Station Dawson Creek closed on 31 March 1964.
The British Columbia government purchased the former station and in September 1966, the property became the Dawson Creek Campus of Northern Lights College.
Most of the buildings remain, including the helicopter hangar, which now houses the Aircraft Maintenance Engineering faculty, the communications building, which is now the college administration building, the messes, which house the Professional Cook faculty. The former barracks now serve as student residences. The 22 PMQs were turned over to the RCMPfor use by their members posted the the area.
Source Material: information supplied by Northern Lights
College (2004).
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Royal Canadian Air Force Station Cranberry Portage (Manitoba):
Opened in April 1957 as one of eight Sector Control Stations (SCS 700) on the Mid-Canada Line system of early warning radar stations.
RCAF Station Cranberry Portage closed in March 1964 and the Mid-Canada Line ceased operations the following year. The former station was turned over to the Government of Manitoba for civilian use.
In the late 1960s, the Frontier Collegiate Institute was established at the site, using one of the barracks as the Frontier Collegiate Residence, as well as the Area Four Administrative Office.
Today, the former mess hall serves as the cafeteria to high school students who reside on campus. The former Officers Mess is utilized primarily as a meeting room and location for large group presentations. The helicopter hangar is now by Area Four school buses and the Officer PMQs are now homes provided to teachers at subsidized rents, while the three barracks are used only for storage.
Source Material: Frontier Collegiate web site -
http://home.merlin.mb.ca/~froncoll/fcihistory.htm
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Royal Canadian Air Force Station Winisk (Ontario):
Opened near the mouth of the Winisk River in January 1957, RCAF Winisk was one of eight Sector Control Stations on the-Mid Canada Line system of radar stations. Each SCS received signals from a series of
unmanned detection sites located approximately 50 km apart. In Winisk,
radio wave signals were transmitted along the chain of stations to the
SCS, then to RCAF Station Ramore via tropospheric scatter system and finally to RCAF Station North Bay by land line. As there is no road or rail access to Winisk, an airstrip was also built to serve the base.
The eastern portion of the Mid-Canada Line was shut down in 1965
and the Winisk base was closed.
Today, many buildings remain, rapidly deteriorating. Environmental issues also remain at the abandoned base. In 2006, Angus stated that there are over 50,000
barrels of toxic material and that PCB levels in the soil are 16,000
times acceptable levels.
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RCAF Station Knob Lake (Quebec):
- the airfield is now the Schefferville Airport.
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RCAF Station Stoney Mountain (Alberta)
RCAF Station Bird (Manitoba)
RCAF Station Great Whale River (Quebec)
Source Material (for all): Larry Wilson Web site -
http://www.lswilson.ca.
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