Almost everyone in Hastings County is familiar with the Marmora iron ore pit, but not everyone is aware of the route that ore took to get to Bethlehem Steel in Pennsylvania. An important element of the logistics was the very deep port of Picton, and the docks built there by Bethlehem Steel and the Canadian Government. Traveling by train from the Marmora pit on what is now the Hastings Heritage Trail, and onto what is now Prince Edward County’s Millenium Trail, the ore was loaded onto ships headed to the US.

We were recently in contact with Sandy Berg of the Picton Terminals, once again a flourishing industry now owned by Doornekamp Construction. Their interest in the dock’s history resulted in their interview of Marmoraton Mine employee, Syd Bartle, and the following article in their newsletter:

PICTON — The industrial history of Marmora and Picton from the 1950’s to 2023 was brought into light recently when The Doornekamp Team at Picton Terminals had the privilege of meeting Syd Bartle of Brighton.

Bartle shared his memories and engineering expertise from his work at Bethlehem Steel Corporation’s Marmoraton Mine and Picton port (now Picton Terminals) during the late 1960’s.

Bartle was born in Brantford, the only son of eight children. He worked hard so he could begin his mining training at the Haileybury School of Mines. Located in Temiskaming, the Haileybury School of Mines has been training the world’s best miners and technicians for more than a century to pursue careers in mining-related fields across North America and around the world. (https://www.northerncollege.ca/mining/)

In 1966, Bartle began his tenure with Bethlehem Steel Corporation as a summer student at the Marmora mine. Already, his training and expertise was respected as he was put in charge of the drilling and blasting program. Bartle graduated from Queen’s University Engineering in 1967 and was hired full-time by Bethlehem Steel where he continued to train and learn about all aspects of iron ore mining.

At the Marmora mine, Bartle managed drainage and stormwater and acted as a ‘Looper’ – a training program which required Bartle to conduct a daily loop of the Marmora mine to familiarize himself with all aspect of the operations. Bartle worked for Bethlehem Steel until 1971, having attained the role of Mine Engineer.

“I was lucky. Circumstances worked out for me. It was a good place to work and I liked it there,” said Bartle. The Marmora mine pelletization facility was the first operating plant in North America. “In the early 50’s, the steel plants were facing lower and lower grade iron ores but there was lots of iron around. You can only call it ore, if you can mine it and make a profit. The Marmora plant was designed to be a pellet plant and to produce approximately 500,000 MT per year,” said Bartle. Marmora ore was in the 40% range but after the pelletization process, the pellets contained 66% iron.

Trains of 30 to 35 cars, left daily from the Marmora mine to the Bethlehem Steel Picton port (today, Picton Terminals), annually filling 75-100 ships en route to Lackawanna (via the Welland Canal). The dock required deep water to accommodate the largest lake vessels of the day. The dock also had to be strong enough to hold the filled ore-storage bins.

Marmora mine (and others) closed in 1978 when the price of iron dropped. Bartle went on to work at Dofasco and never really retired. He’s worked across Canada (Ontario, Saskatchewan, NWT/Nunavut (Rankin Inlet), Labrador) and is still very engaged in mining processes.

The Doornekamp Team is grateful to Syd Bartle for providing a glimpse at the early history of the Picton Terminals port and how it has supported the economic vibrance of the regional economy for almost 75 years.

an up-to-date photo of The Picton docks, with the new kingston ferries in port

CLICK HERE for more about the history and modernization of the Picton port

Picton Terminals by Doornekamp provides logistics solutions and diverse port services which provide better, more efficient shipping throughout the St. Lawrence Seaway & Great Lakes region. Picton Terminals offers stevedoring and unique storage options, innovative solutions and proximity to large markets.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE ON THE MARMORATON MINE

Comment: Tim Wellman “The train went past my grandparents house on Front st in Trenton the ore pellets that fell off were awesome for slingshots”