Between Darkness & Light | Canadian Forces Station Ramore

After Edgar’s disappointment in exploring a radar station from the Cold War, it would be several years before I could check one out. It wasn’t for lack of trying; I did try and figure out a way to visit the former CFS Falconbridge location, but that never materialised. However, when planning the first MayPEX trip in 2009, one of the places on our hit list was the former CFS Ramore, an almost intact radar station that served on both the Pinetree and Mid-Canada lines during the Cold War. Located in northern Ontario in the mainly francophone town of Ramore, but unlike Edgar, it was initially constructed by the United States Air Force rather than the Royal Canadian Air Force.

In the aftermath of World War Two, an iron curtain dropped across Europe; fueled by mutual distrust and political and economic ideological differences, the Soviet Union and the Western allies squared off in a nuclear-fueled cold war. While Europe remained on the front lines, in North America, the perceived threat of nuclear-armed Soviet bombers flying over the North Pole spurred a joint effort between the United States and Canada to complete a series of radar stations between the 50th and 53rd parallels to detect and counter inbound bombers before they could drop their deadly load. The use of radar as an early warning system had proven itself in World War Two. Starting in 1950, a series of thirty-eight stations, jointly constructed by the United States Air Force (USAF) and Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), were nicknamed the Pinetree Line. One such station, designated C-10, was located east of Ramore, Ontario, fifty-six kilometres north of Kirkland Lake, Ontario. Air Station Ramore was one of the majority of stations completed by the USAF and came online in 1953 under the control of the 912th Aircraft Control & Warning Squadron (AC&W). Like other stations, Ramore was split into two sections; the operations area sat atop the ‘mountain’. The operations centre was the hub of all the activity where operators would read and interpret data from the two main radar dishes, monitoring a radius of 290 kilometres and then sending any warnings manually to RCAF Edgar for response by manned interceptors. The operations area also contained two main radar towers, one housing the FPS-3C search radar and the second housing the TPS-502 height-finding radar. A third tower housed a backup radar unit, a massive power station and a communications system rounded out the area. The domestic area at the base of the mountain contained the motor pool, maintenance buildings, barracks, quarters, a trailer park, mess halls and even a hunting-style lodge known as the Ponderosa House on Talbock Lake. Most of the time, the base monitored the air space and conducted readiness drills; the Base Defense Force would practice mock invasions and defence manoeuvres. The USAF personnel would integrate with the local communities, often hosting local clubs and social events at the base recreation facilities; being a small town, Ramore had little to offer the residents in that way. The opening of a second early warning line, the Mid-Canada Line, in 1957 added a secondary role to Air Station Ramore as a relay station from the nearby Site 070 “Kempis” on the Mid-Canada line. A tropospheric scatter transceiver that could receive signals was installed on a nearby hill. Then Ramore would relay those signals to RCAF Edgar and later RCAF North Bay. Oddly enough, at the same time the Mid-Canada line was starting to come online, a third Distant Early Warning (DEW) line in the far north began operations as modern jet technologies made both the Mid-Canada and Pinetree Lines too close to having any effect at stopping inbound bombers. One of the strangest happenings I found in the base’s history occurred in 1958; a landowner in Kirkland Lake reported a strange metal cylinder covered in sensors and a parachute falling on his property. Rather than calling the local Ontario Provincial Police or even the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the owner called Air Station Ramore. A regional report described the object as a miniature version of the Sputnik and had taken plenty of photos; these and the device were all confiscated when USAF personnel arrived and took control. It would come out later that the device was little more than a high-altitude American weather drone and that any future objects found having fallen from the sky should be reported to the RCMP.

As part of a new agreement, the RCAF took over the entire Pinetree line in 1962; they also oversaw the installation of the new computerised SAGE system to allow for some automation and interconnectivity between the different stations on all three warning lines to faster communication and appropriate response. These responses would come in the form of interceptor aircraft, the newly acquired CF-101 Voodoo or anti-aircraft missile systems in the United States and North Bay. The 35 AC&W Squadron took over from the 912th AC&W Squadron. The SAGE system came online in 1963 and resulted in a whole new section to house the massive mainframe computer required by SAGE in the operations area. The SAGE upgrade also installed new FPS-27 and FPS-26 radar dishes, and the 35 AC&W Squadron was renamed 35 Radar Squadron. Because of the new system, a separate high-powered ground-to-air transceiver station was completed nearby to move it away from the operations area and prevent interference. By 1965, the Mid-Canada Line shut down, and the relay systems were decommissioned and dismantled. Like the Americans, the RCAF personnel integrated into the communities, hosting events on the base, joining nearby clubs and even supporting the 288 Squadron “Kirkland Lake” of the Royal Canadian Air Cadets. In 1967, the amalgamation of the three branches of the Canadian Military into a singular Canadian Armed Forces saw the 35 Radar Squadron stand down in name and the base renamed Canadian Forces Station Ramore. By the 1970s, the technology that drove the Pinetree line was getting outdated, and the cost of updating all the stations or maintaining the spare parts became too much. It also did not help that, by this time, the only real source of new vacuum tubes needed for the computers was produced in the Soviet Union. The decision was made to shut down several stations and update others to fill the gap. CFS Ramore along with CFS Moosonee were on the chopping block, and CFS Lowther and CFS Senneterre took over the area once covered by Ramore and Moosonee. CFS Lowther shut down in 1987 and CFS Senneterre in 1988. The last mission by CFS Ramore came in 1973 with a search and rescue mission to locate a downed Cessna near Kirkland Lake. Official operations ceased on 1 April 1974, with crews moving in to clean up and remove sensitive equipment before the base sale. The two radar dishes were donated to Kingston, Ontario’s Military Communications & Electronics Museum. In 1975, the government sold the entire base to the Black River-Matheson Township for 100,000$ (569,175$ in 2024). In turn, the property was sold to a private owner who transformed the domestic area into a small vacation resort and drinking establishment named Lava Mountain Lodge. Several tall telecommunication towers were installed in the operations area. The lodge operated through to the late 1990s if the photographic record is interpreted correctly. If anything, it closed in 1999. Most of the larger buildings in the domestic area, including the barracks and quarters, along with the Ponderosa Lodge and the Mess Hall, were knocked down through the 2000s. The last photos I’ve seen are from 2018, showing that even the surviving buildings are starting to succumb to nature.

Was that a guard shack we passed? On the first trip to Ramore, I had no idea where the outside world had ended and the base had begun. We had started our day in Alban, a small village north of the French River and stayed the night at a family cottage (not my family). Ramore was our first significant stop other than a brief rest to watch trains at Englehart; the distance was close to four hours of driving. We had a rough idea of where the base was located, but we had yet to learn when the base started, mainly because there was no gate, fence, or guard. We thundered right in and parked on the parade square. It was one of the weirdest entrances onto a site I have ever made, and it was a little disconcerting. There was little left in the way of the support buildings, some concrete block buildings, a supply building, and plenty of foundational remains. We only spent a little time, wanting to head up the mountain, having no desire to walk the whole way, and risking something happening to the car if someone came by, so we drove the entire way up. Another little oddity from the trip, and I’m glad we did drive. The operations area was much more intact, with the main radar tower dominating the skyline and the operations centre and the power station’s skeletal remains presenting plenty of photography options. The downside is that the buildings were stripped clean, the operations centre was an empty, flooded concert shell with no light, the power station at least presented some interesting photographic chances, and the tower was sealed up with no way up on the exterior. But if you look closely, there was an attempt to get into the tower. Sadly, with the weather starting to turn a bit, we headed down the mountain and out to Holtyre to check out the Ross Mine. The second trip was under much better conditions after a much shorter drive, having stayed in Kirkland Lake the night before. Nothing much had changed this time around the domestic site, and I drove a little slower to avoid missing the guard post. Most of the buildings were still standing, although many had been emptied. We were about to head up to the operation site but got stopped not even halfway up the mountain by a tree that had fallen across the road. Unlike a tree we handled a few days prior, this was not one we could handle. So we were forced to turn around and head to our next stop at the Ross Mine.

You can clearly tell where my priorities lay when photographing Ramore, which was exteriors. There are a couple of reasons for this; the first is that many buildings were gone or empty. The second is that the buildings were still sealed up, and we may be trespassing, but we don’t try and force our way into the buildings. The first trip was under less-than-ideal weather conditions. I took a far heavier hand in editing and post-processing my work. We also only spent a little bit of time in the domestic area, wanting to head up the mountain to the good stuff, the operations site. There is a certain sadness, probably the general decay of the area combined with the weather, to these images. I played into that with my choices in post-processing. We were forced to stay for the second trip in the domestic area, and the weather was far better this time. You can also see a change in how I composed my images; there was a lot more focus on straight and flat compositions compared to the first trip and a much lighter touch regarding post-processing and editing, opting for a cleaner look. And, of course, the introduction of B&W medium format film, something I needed more room for on that first trip due to the compact nature of the car and the number of people inside and all the gear.

The one thing I do regret is not going to Ramore during the second MAYPEX event, I’m not sure why we skipped this spot. But there’s a chance that we spent too much time at the Adam’s Mine and wanted to get up to the Ross Mine before it got too dark. Because at least my car headed back south to Cobalt after the Ross Mine on the Saturday. I am glad I got up there for the NOPEX trip with my friend James although bummed that we didn’t get to see the operations area in better conditions. Sadly the time to check out any of the surviving Pinetree stations is coming to a close, most are long gone. Thankfully there is a tonne of Canada’s cold war history that has been preserved, the C&E Museum in Kingston, Canadian War Museum, and The Diefenbunker in Carp, Ontario are all worth visiting. If you’re looking for a collection of historical photos from Ramore, check out the C&E Museum Page. You can view all my photos from CFS Ramore over on Flickr!

Glossary of Terms
Pinetree Line: The Pinetree Line was a series of radar stations located across southern Canada at about the 50th parallel north, along with a number of other stations located on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Run by North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). The line was the first coordinated system for early detection of a Soviet bomber attack on North America, but before the early 1950s radar technology quickly became outdated and the line was in full operation only for a short time.

Mid-Canada Line: The Mid-Canada Line (MCL), also known as the McGill Fence, was a line of radar stations running east–west across the middle of Canada, used to provide early warning of a Soviet bomber attack on North America. It was built to supplement the Pinetree Line, which was located farther south. The majority of Mid-Canada Line stations were used from 1956 to 1965, as the attack threat changed from bombers to ICBMs. As the MCL was closed down, the early warning role passed almost entirely to the newer and more capable DEW Line farther north.

Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line: The Distant Early Warning Line, also known as the DEW Line or Early Warning Line, was a system of radar stations in the northern Arctic region of Canada, with additional stations along the north coast and Aleutian Islands of Alaska, in addition to the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Iceland. It was set up to detect incoming bombers of the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and provide early warning of any sea-and-land invasion. The DEW line operated from 1957 to 1993.

NORAD: North American Aerospace Defense Command, known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and protection for Canada and the continental United States.

Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE): The Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) was a system of large computers and associated networking equipment that coordinated data from many radar sites and processed it to produce a single unified image of the airspace over a wide area. SAGE directed and controlled the NORAD response to a possible Soviet air attack, operating in this role from the late 1950s into the 1980s.