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A popular excursion, the summer-only Polar Bear Express cuts across 300km of Arctic tundra on its way from Cochrane to Moosonee, on the Moose River as it empties into James Bay. This is as far north as anyone can easily (or reasonably) go in Ontario - but, despite the name of the train, you won't see any polar bears. The train runs from late June to August once daily except on Friday. It departs Cochrane at 8.30am and arrives in Moosonee at 12.50pm, departing Moosonee 6pm and arriving back in Cochrane at 10.05pm. The return fare is just $50 return and the service is operated by Ontario Northland, 555 Oak St E, North Bay (tel 705/472-4500 or 1-800/268-9281, fax 705/495-4745, www.ontc.on.ca ). The same company also runs the year-round Little Bear train , one of Canada's last remaining flagstop trains, taking freight and 1topping along the way to pick up trappers, fishers, hunters and local Crees. This train departs Cochrane on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 11.15am, arriving in Moosonee at 4.15pm. It departs Moosonee on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 9am and gets back to Cochrane at 2.30pm. A return fare costs $85. The Crees have been hunting and fishing James Bay and the Hudson Bay for about ten thousand years and they make up the majority of the population in MOOSONEE , which was founded in 1903 by a French fur-trading company, Revillon Freres - today's Revlon. The Revillon Freres Museum (late June to Aug daily 9am-5pm; free), in one of the original company buildings, traces the history of the settlement and its largely unsuccessful attempt to challenge the local monopoly of the Hudson's Bay Company . The latter had established the trading post of MOOSE FACTORY ISLAND , just offshore from Moosonee, in 1673, which makes it the oldest English-speaking community in Ontario. Water taxis ($6 one-way) zip travellers over from Moosonee to the island, where the Moose Factory Centennial Museum Park (late June to early Sept; free) holds the original blacksmith's shop, graveyard, powder magazine (the island's only stone building), and a tepee where the locals sell bannock (freshly baked bread). South of here, St Thomas Anglican Church , built in 1860, has an altar cloth of beaded moose hide, prayer books written in Cree, and removable floor plugs to prevent the church floating away in floods. There are other nautical possibilities from Moosonee too: the Polar Princess cruise boat sails down the Moose River to James Bay (late June to early Sept daily except Sat 9am-3pm; $45 including lunch), while large freighter canoes visit either Moose Factory Island (late June to early Sept daily 1pm; $6) or Fossil Island (late June to early Sept daily except Fri; $15.50), 10km upriver, where 350-million-year-old fossils have been found. Clearly, if you want to undertake any of the longer trips, the five hours allowed between the arrival and departure of the Polar Express is not enough - and with the Little Bear train you have to stay the night anyway. Moosonee accommodation must be reserved ahead of time and there are three choices: the Moosonee Lodge (tel 705/336-2351; $60-80), the Polar Bear Lodge (tel 705/336-2345; $60-80) and the Osprey Country Inn (tel 705/336-2226; $80-100). In addition, note that Ontario Northland offers three- to five-day packages from Cochrane ($275-579 per person, $209-438 per person for two and $184-385 for three), which include accommodation in Cochrane and Moosonee, the Polar Bear Express, most meals and some tours.
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