Reviewing the Casey Emergency Airstrip 1964 air photo

I already went over the Casey Emergency Airstrip domestic site in a previous blog post, but wanted to do a similar blog post regarding the other air photo I purchased from the National Air Photo Library.

I've been to Casey on two occasions, so this post is built on what I saw on the ground, as well as what I've put together from air photos, satellite photos, the site plan for RCAF Station Casey that Dave St-Laurent acquired from the National Archives, and some common sense derived from how other bases and stations of the time have been laid out.

From the best of my understanding, the airstrip was requested by National Defence to be built by Transport Canada, in support of the Pinetree Line project, like many other emergency airfields across Canada.  I have a document that proves that much.  Then, it seems from air photos at the National Air Photo Library, that the initial construction of the airstrip didn't have the alert apron, but by 1964 it did.  Does this indicate a 2nd phase or upgrade? Or was the first air photo I saw just mid-construction?  I'm unsure, but I believe the airstrip was upgraded in the late 1950s to accommodate emergencies with larger planes, like the B-52, rather than just air-defence interceptors like the CF-100, as I believe they had originally intended.

Dave St-Laurent retrieved from the National Archives a site plan showing a further planned expansion, but I'm unsure of the date it was drafted up.  One of the other documents I found shows that further expansion of the Casey air strip (to be called RCAF Station Casey) couldn't proceed because they couldn't find sufficient solid ground to put the buildings.  If you've been there, or look at a topographic map, you'll see the area is very swampy.  Luckily the site plan for the expansion shows the names and types of buildings that were already there, as well as showing what they planned to add.  This really helps decipher the air photo from 1964.

The full resolution TIFF image can be downloaded here (over 100Mb) so you can draw your own conclusions.

"U/S Explosives Storage"  per Site Plan

I originally thought the label of "U/S Explosives Storage" on the site plan meant United States Explosives (aka Ammo) Storage... but I now think this was for "UnStable" explosives, maybe dynamite or other such explosives that would have been used to construct the airstrip.  The location is over 500 meters from the runway, which I presume isn't a coincidence.  The same temporary structure on a cement pad with high berms around it could have been used for ammunition if a plane made an emergency landing and needed to offload munitions.

Control Tower and Bridge

It isn't clear to me what the other buildings are in this photo, but the control tower is clearly visible.

"Gravel Pit" per Site Plan

In the proposed site plan the above was shown as a "Gravel Pit", right near where the future PMQs would be, as well as a drill hall and churches.

"Old Borrow Pit" per Site Plan

I was not familiar with the term "Borrow Pit" but after looking it up, it makes sense.  I walked along the trail (shown) that goes from the runway to the NW of the picture in 2012; while quite overgrown it is passable.  Walking back, through the bush rather than the same trail, I didn't notice anything unusual, the area was relatively flat, had lots of trees, shrubs and moss, and no hint of what it had previously been used for.

"New Borrow Pit" per Site Plan

This "New borrow pit" I didn't actually get to when visiting the Casey air strip, the woods are pretty dense around there.  I guess this would have just been where clean fill would have been taken from to fill in where other uneven areas were, probably to do with the construction of the alert apron, I would guess, based on proximity.

Bridge , which isn't there anymore

Centered in the middle is where a bridge used to be, but has been washed away over the years.  The lake comes to a pinch at that spot and the crossing doesn't look to me to be possible in an ATV.  Either side is too steep, and the water looks deep.  The picture makes it look like the bridge may have been a dam; I'm not sure, since it has all been washed away.

Water well and supporting buildings

The site plan explained what this cluster of buildings above are; it's where the fresh water well that the domestic site drew water is located.  I'm unclear how many buildings were there, and how it was powered, but I see at least 3-4 buildings - perhaps they had their own generator to power the pumps?  Due to the aforementioned bridge being gone I didn't make it there.

Remote RX Site for VHF and UHF

The site plan clarified that this site is the remote VHF/UHF receiver site for the air strip.

Remote TX Site for VHF and UHF

The site plan clarified that this site is the remote VHF/UHF transmitter site for the air strip.

Alert Apron with space cleared for Alert Hangers

This space looks like it was made for upcoming development, it was where on the site plan alert hangers were supposed to be built, and makes sense since the alert apron was constructed there.  Perhaps the plan had been underway to upgrade the Casey site when the plug was pulled because of a lack of solid ground.  I dont have a date for when the Casey Air Strip was officially decommissioned, or the buildings which were there were razed, but it would have clearly been after this picture was taken in 1964.

On the RCAF Station Casey site plan (never completed) the buildings were described in the following manner.  Their labels on the map sometimes were slightly different.

No.	Builidng Type	Building Reference
1	Headquarters	S14-1016
2	8 Bed Hospital	S15-1013
3	Control Tower	S42-1002
4	Central Heating Plant	S23-1019
5	Ration Depot	S17-1002
6	Supply Depot	S17-1003
7	12 Bay M.T.Garage	S32-1011
8	Bulk Fuel Storage	C57-21-1000
9	Electric Power Plant	C57-22-1001
10	Combined Mess (300)	S31-1030
11	Officer's Quarters	S30-1030
12	O.R.Quarters	S30-1030
13	O.R.Quarters	S30-1030
14	O.R.Quarters	S30-1030
15	O.R.Quarters (Future)
16	O.R.Quarters	S30-1030
17	(not allocated)
18	Sewage Disposal Plant	C57-24-1001
19	Main Supply Pump House	C57-25-1000
20	Explosives Store	S20-1015
21	Water Reservoir	C57-25-1001
22	Well Pumphouse
23
24
25	VHF/UHF/ADF	S13-1000
26
27	VHF/TX Remote	S13-1037
28	VHF/RX Remote	S13-1037

Reviewing the Casey Emergency Airstrip domestic site 1964 air photo

Originally I posted this blog entry armed only with an air photo, what I saw with my own eyes while I was there, and some common sense based on what I've seen at other Canadian Forces bases and stations.  Just recently I met the acquaintance of Dave St-Laurent, who had made the trek to the National Archives and checked out the Casey file.  Based on the Site Plan for the proposed expansion for the Casey Emergency Airstrip, which would have made it a full fledged "Station", I can now definitively state what the uses were of the buildings in the 1964 air photo from the National Air Photo Library below.

The full resolution TIFF image can be downloaded here (over 100Mb) so you can draw your own conclusions.

Casey Domestic Site - Garage, Boiler, Generator, other

In the above image you can see (bottom right) the 12 bay garage which is visible from the East-West road (the road still exists today).  The SW/NE road at the left of the picture is overgrown and is not realistically passable. You'll notice the top left square building has a smoke stack, and a big pipe, suspended in the air and held up with telephone-poles.  That is the steam/heating plant fueled with diesel from the tanks off the right side of the picture.  That pipe network is the same as you'd see at any Pinetree Line site with a central heating plant.  You'll notice the top right building has at least 3 smoke stacks along the peak of the roof, and no heat/hot-water going to it - it is the diesel powered generator building, and makes its own heat!  The bottom leftmost building was Ration stores, and the middle building between it and the garage was just general storage.

Casey Emergency Airstrip - Mess Hall and other unknown buildings

The cross-shaped building is the mess hall, built to hold 300 people.  The leftmost long building was the headquarters of the base.  The top left building was an 8 bed hospital.  There are transformers on telephone polls at the bottom right of the picture, and in all of the pictures you can see telephone poles which are actually carrying power.

Casey Emergency Airstrip - Barracks

These are typical 1950s era barracks.  Each is connected to the heat pipes, as they wouldn't have their own furnaces. The top right barracks would have been for officers.  The middle section of all of them would have housed common facilities (showers, bathrooms), and each barracks is speculated to have a capacity of ~160 men.

Casey Emergency Airstrip - Diesel storage, and unknown bldg

The berms from these Diesel storage tanks are still there, but the tanks are long gone. I believe I walked over or right past where that little white building was, but I didn't see it at all.  On the site plan it is labelled "pumphouse".  I assume that's to pump the Diesel?  It doesn't seem to have any heat going to it, which is interesting; as a machinery-filled building I guess that makes sense.

Main supply pumphouse

This is labelled the "main supply pumphouse" on the site plan; the main water supply to be precise.  It is heated, clearly so the water wouldn't freeze.  It is built on a reservoir and pumps uphill to another fresh water holding tank.  The water is drawn from a well across the river on the south shore.  I didn't know what that well building was (not pictured), but so far haven't been able to get to it due to the bridge leading to it being out.

CE Building

This is labelled as the CE Building.  Unfortunately I don't know what that is, but maybe it's the Communications and Electronics building?  You'll notice it doesn't have steam pipes leading to it, so it must be making it's own heat.

Intersection to Radio Bldg

Above is the mystery intersection.  I've stood in the middle of this road, and tried to find the North (up) facing road.  I cannot.  Others with GPSes in hand have tried to find that road.  They failed too. How the N/S road up the hill to the radio site has vanished so thoroughly I have no idea.  Along the West side of that road there were telephone polls, which might help in the road's identification.  I can see on the Google and Bing satellite imagery that the road does have different vegetation on it, eventually, but it seems difficult to find the entrance to!

Casey Emergency Airstrip - VHF/UHF/ADF Bldg

This is the "gold" at the top of the hill.  Nobody has seen this building in decades.  Locals can't even find it.  It is the VHF/UHF/ADF building. This is still a major priority of mine for the next trip. 
As best as I can figure the building is at (47.94184, -74.10999).  there were also separate RX and TX buildings for UHF and VHF Northeast of the domestic site.

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The above is what the site looks like now; overgrown.  Thankfully, the soil isn't very fertile, is mainly sand, and not a lot of serious vegetation has grown up in the area.  It could probably be cleared up and the foundations exposed with a few days of clearing operations and a team of people who are willing to get dirty.

Visit to RCAF Station Senneterre / CFS Senneterre

Mid-morning on October 20th 2012 myself and CE rolled up to the top of one of the peaks at Mont Bell, following Montee de la Tour, where the operations site of CFS Senneterre once scanned the horizon for Soviet bombers.  The site has been re-purposed by telcos and other companies that need the high ground for antenna equipment, and most of the buildings have fallen into disrepair.  The station was operational from 1953-1988, and the majority of the domestic site at the bottom of the hill is still very much in use today by the local population, the PMQs are in a very good stare of repair, and most sport new vinyl siding and new roofs.  The larger buildings (hospitals, schools, etc) are still intact, though it is unclear what some are being used for.  There seems to be a department of transportation and other provincial government usage of the buildings.  Following Chemin de Penetration we found one of the TX or RX buildings that I'm becoming familiar with, as the exact same design was at Foymount and Parent.  Surprisingly, it has been re-purposed by the local gun club as an indoor firing range - after all, it's a concrete building!  They have put a new roof on it, and walled up the windows.  In hindsight there was a 2nd building down Chemin de la Normick, which also looks to be a comms building, but we didn't head over there.  Down Rue Arthur Facteau there were garages and maintenance-looking buildings, that looked like they were occupied as well.  Unfortunately, it was foggy and raining, otherwise the view from the top would have been fantastic!  For other would-be explorers; there were no obstacles that a car couldn't drive over; no offroading needed to get to the top and tour around, it is paved all the way to the top!

Road to Senneterre GATR Site

After visiting the operations site and taking a spin through the rest of the station, we tried to get to the Ground to Air Transmit Receive site (GATR for short!), but had to turn around after a few Km walking through the wet grass and weeds because the road became too wet and muddy, we didn't even get to the mountain itself (but we could see it!)


Lessons Learned:

• Do not drink to excess the night before exploring a Canadian Forces Station. *groan*
• Bring offline satellite imagery on an iPad, Playbook, whatever to get a bird's eye view.
• Bring Air Photos from the period when the station was active to get a better idea of where things are.
• Do not expect cell coverage; while there may be, it may not be Rogers (my cell provider)
  (Telebec serves the Senneterre area, FYI)
• Bring tall rubber boots

Upon returning from Senneterre I went back to digging through the archives of pinetreeline.org, which I've mentioned before has become defunct since the original webmaster passed away.  Luckily, through some new found friends, I have a copy of the site - which is available via the Way Back Machine or other services, but extremely difficult to trawl through. (THANKS GUYS!)

Here are some pictures, with some of their original captions, and some of my own comments.

Below is the Senneterre GATR site, we did not make it up there, but I'm fairly certain there is little left of the original radio towers and am not sure if there is even a building up there anymore   Local reports say there isn't anything, I'm hoping to find something hidden in the bushes!

GATR Site - 12 miles away from station, 1963
Courtesy CFS Senneterre 25th Anniversary Album. 

Notice the poles and antennas in the below picture?  I believe that's the RX site, which CE and I didn't see

PMC accident by the Receiver site, December 6th, 1960
LAC Mike Bitten runs into LAC David Dunbar on the way to the Receiver site
Courtesy Mike Bitten

I wish I'd seen this map beforehand as it would have proved most useful.  Thankfully I'll have it for the next trip.

Composition of Roadways (drawing of roads and buildings), June 1st 1953
Courtesy National Archives of Canada

To the best of my understanding, this is the original configuration of the station.
Notice the large operations site in the middle, and two flanking buildings with Radomes.
This was 1956.

The radar towers and the radomes at the operations site, April 1956
Courtesy Bunny Gammon

You'll notice a new building has been added with a walkway between the buildings.  The rightmost radar is likely the same FPS-6 that is now on display in Senneterre as a monument to those who served.

This was 1959.

Combined Mess with Operations site on the hill
Note that the new FPS-6 Height finder does not yet have a radome, June 1959
Courtesy Sherman Esliger

You'll see that the height finder radar on the right has been covered by a radome, and the other radomes and their radars have been removed.

This was 1960

Operations site, April 1960
Courtesy Jeannine Lizotte

This was 1965

Barracks in Domestic site, March 1965
Courtesy Phil Frankland.

There seems to have been an annex added between the operations building and the next one over.  I'm unsure of it's purpose.
This was 1979

The Combined Mess (foreground) with the Operations site perched on the hill, December 9th 1979
Courtesy Jim Compton

This was what the inside of the operations room in the central building looked like

Interior photo of the Operations room, November 1958
Upper level (L-R) Sammy Fehr (later married Sid Bennett), Pat Bourke (Ops B), F/L Bourassa (Senior Director).
Middle level - Jim Cabell (Forward Teller).
Lower Dias - Bill Stewart (Ident), Doug Joy, Cpl Betty Doucette (later married Ray Zuback), Cpl Gil Pettigrew.
Courtesy Fred Hoskins via Bill Stewart

Unfortunately, the operations building burned ~1990, and only the foundation remains

Remains of Operations building, 1991 Courtesy Paul Ozorak

RCAF Station Senneterre / CFS Senneterre

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Investigating CFS Val D'Or

On the (extended) weekend of October 19th to 22nd 2012, CE and I went for a trip in my new 1999 GMC Suburban 2500 6.5L Diesel to do some Cold War sight-seeing.  Here is how things went.

Setting the stage; CFS Val D'Or was operational from 1954 to 1976, and essentially a forward operations base for ten years where AIR-2 nuclear air-to-air missiles were kept and at the ready for Canadian CF-101 fighter interceptors to use against Soviet bombers coming over the pole. 

It was October 19th, and by the time we had everything together we on the highway at ~0945-1000hrs, and had missed most of rush hour.  We took turns driving and made it to Val D'Or in ~5hrs.  We still had lots of light, so we set out to find where I thought the USAF stored the AIR-2 1.8KT nuclear air-to-air rocket between 1964-1974 for use by the RCAF in a time of immanent war to shoot down Soviet nuclear armed bombers.

We parked in the parking lot of what looked to be a shipping/receiving company at the NE end of the runway, near the Northern alert apron and went to the eastern end of a fence that at one time may have surrounded some warehouse-looking buildings in that corner of the property.  The fence now stops, and allows easy access to the outside of the airport perimeter fence.  If that sounded odd, you read it right - there were two fences, the "inner" barbed wire fence surrounding the current municipal airport of Val D'Or is still very much intact, but the outside fence reaches East and "ends".  Going east from where we parked, we found a manhole and stack coming out of the ground, in the direction the fence was pointing.  It looked like it might be for water, drainage or septic.  There was no smell, so if it was an underground septic, it wasn't active.  By referring to the satellite pictures and topo maps we could see a cut in the trees heading South which looked like a road.  Perhaps at one time there was a road beside and along the hydro poles which stretched South, but the terrain is now moist, full of weeds and weed-trees, and very difficult to pass through.  We discovered that following the barbed wire Airport perimeter fence, on the grass, was much easier, and reached the East-West road that went to where I believed the bunker was, since it was in a remote location on the base far from prying eyes, as I'd read that was how the USAF positioned such installations.  Much to my surprise we didn't discover a nuclear bunker, and as it turns out, the building I saw on the satellite pictures may be a partially above ground/partially below ground septic flush tank made by the Pacific Flush Tank Company.  The jury is still out on what it was and what it was used for, but if I recall correctly, they are used to flush sewer lines or perhaps it was a septic digester.  I'm really not sure.  I hope someone can identify what the unit was from the pictures.  Nearby (to the North) there was what looked like a cement septic tank with a manhole cover on the top, partially filled with what I assume was rain water.  Nearby to the North and East of that there is a derelict fence that has at least partially fallen over.  For future explorers it is absolutely best to park at the NE end of the air strip where we parked, and walk southward along the barbed wire fence along the Eastern side of the airport to reach the "flush tank" or whatever it is.

After finishing off exploring on the East side of the runway around the flush tank, we walked back to the GMC Suburban (which we have nick-named Angry) and headed around the North end of the runway by road, and went South on the West side of the runway.  We passed several buildings on the West and East side of the road which were clearly 1950s vintage; hangers, a garage, some residential buildings, etc.  At the SW end of the runway there is another Alert apron, which is now filled with parked float planes (and some regular planes).  There is a large steel hanger located at the end of the alert apron, exactly where I would have expected a military hanger would be to house fueled and armed CF-101 Voodoos.  25B and 25C were the two hangers' designations, I'm unsure if they were always called by those designations.  We discovered that we could go no further south than those two hangers due to a perimeter fence.  On our way back, we took the road heading west towards the current gun range, and found quite a bit of asphalt dug up and dumped in the woods, a wooden guard post discarded in the woods, and some unexplained clearings.  Could the current gun range have been where the nuclear weapons were stored?  The road is relatively direct, to go from there to the hangers to the gun ramge, so it could make sense.  I'd rather something more than a wild guess, as my track record for those isn't very good!


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