The Quebec North Shore, (The St Lawrence River) in the winter can be very treacherous, at the best of times. The steep road grades mixed with snow and ice are extremely hazardous.

Normally when traveling to Sept-iles, or on up to Labrador, (a new road has been recently cut through). You would go northeast from Quebec City, and within 30 miles you climbed the first hills, of any size.

Most of the hills were bad enough in the dry season, let alone the winter time. A lot of the drivers were terrified of that road, and refused to travel it, in the winter. The other options, to miss not all, but most of the worst sections, were to travel on the South Shore till you came to Matane, Quebec. There, you found a ferry service, with ships large enough to carry loaded tractor trailers inside. You would have to reserve space before you even left home. It was a busy service, and the waiting list was long.

It was during a heavy snow storm that 3 trucks were loaded for the North shore. Reservations were made before we left, and confirmed. If in the event, that you could not get on the ship for any reason, break down, no reservation, or whatever, and then you had to drive around, it would be well over 500 miles and 16 hours driving time, at the very best of conditions.

The ship's hull was re-enforced with ice shields. The winter would send heavy pack ice to obstruct the ships progress. At times, it would be bad enough to add many hours to the crossing time. Even stop the crossing altogether.

I made the crossing twice. The first trip was with a tri-axle trailer. The trip was ok and uneventful. The second trip was a different story. The second time around, I was pulling the set of "A" trains. That was an experience, I would not forget for some time. With the doubles, you had to use foresight at all times. You had to plan every move and turn you wanted to make, well before implementation. When you came into a one way parking lot, you had to scan within a half second where you were going to go. With an "A" train, there is no chance to back up and change your mind to where you want to go. Backing up was good for a few feet only, and if you were in a turn already, forget it, you were screwed.

There is no comparison between an "A" configuration and a "B" configuration. To compare them, it is like night and day.

The second trip was with the set of doubles. The first trip was actually a godsend. It gave me the ship and docks layout. I knew what to expect and where to go.

It was near the end of January on this trip, exceptionally cold with heavy ice on the river. I found the parking area that I had planned for. The other two trucks were beside and ahead of me. We had to wait till morning for the loading. It was time to hit the bunk, and grab a few hours sleep.

The time came and the loading started, Spud was ahead of me and went aboard, I followed and drove in and was positioned on a curve. Cyril came in and parked behind me. Then we were surrounded with cars, campers and what have you.

The crossing was slow and rough. The ice was exceptionally heavy. After many hours over the schedule we finally tied up to the dock and started the unloading procedure. The steel deck and ramp were slippery as hell, with Spud spinning and burning his way out. There was a problem that we did not count on, THE TIDE WAS OUT, and the ramp looked like it was vertical. The ship sat too low to be normally unloaded.

 Spud finally cleared the ramp, and I was next. I had to get into a turning position to line up with the ramp, meaning a one way shot. I wound her up and got halfway off the ship, when the converter dolly leg (landing leg) jammed into the deck plate, like an anchor. The low tide made the angle of clearance to extreme for the "A" trains. I was really stuck between a rock and a hard place, so to speak.

 The ships crew really got shook up over this. While all their excitement, and screaming was in French, all of our comments and answers were in English. It was a sight to behold. With the blending of languages, even if you could not understand the other language, you still knew each others swear words.

 The ship was rocking up and down, while the tide was still going out, and not helping the situation at all. Finally we decide to split up the train. I cranked the dollies down on the tanker pup trailer, and pulled the pin. It was a no go. I just sat there spinning on the steel deck plate.

 I then got out and opened the coupler to the converter, disconnected all the hoses and light cord. Still, I spun on the deck plate, which by this time had glazed over with ice. Spud backed down to me and we threw a chain to my front tow hooks and anchored to the rear of his trailer. With that He helped me to get out from everything. I pulled out and onto the pier. Spud then backed down and chained up to the converter, dragging it out from under the pup trailer.

 In the meantime, I had dropped my lead trailer and backed down into the ship hooking up to the pup and dragging it out onto the pier. I dropped it and then proceeded to reconnect the doubles.

 After that episode, I figured the hills, in a snow storm had to be better for me than this damned ferry. I never sailed on it again. Cyril Williams, from the Montreal terminal, and I, were the only drivers to run the North shore all winter. We usually loaded and timed it to run together.

 I have left with 2 or 3 trucks from Toronto, headed out on the same run. I would split away at Quebec City, cross the bridge, and head out on the north run while the others went along the south route to Matane, and take the ship across. There were trips that I would get to Sept Iles, unload, reload empties and be on my way back. I could see from a high point on the road, the ship breaking ice out in the river still coming in. I made it home in at least 1 and 1/2 to 2 days ahead of the others. I did not blame or ridicule them in anyway. If you are not geared mentally or experience wise, stick to the route that you are most comfortable with.

               -------------- William (Diesel Gypsy) Weatherstone            RETURN TO STORY MENU