VIA Rail operates its “Scenic Adventure Route” from Sudbury to White River. This train uniquely uses two or three “Budd” cars on an 8-hour schedule through northern Ontario.
I rode this route there-and-back over a weekend in September 2022. On Saturday morning, I persuaded my hotel to allow me to leave my car for a couple of days and walked to the Sudbury train station to start my journey.
The ticket requires passengers to be ready to board 30 minutes early to provide flexibility on departure time but we left almost exactly on time. The two-car train consisted of #6219 for passengers and #6250 for baggage. On busy days, they add a second passenger car.
After about 45 minutes we stopped in Cartier. The crew loaded the baggage car with some ATVs, canoes and camping equipment for passengers disembarking at camps along the way.
Other than Sudbury, Cartier, Chapleau and White River, all the stops are flag stops and the train will only stop upon request. The train will also stop anywhere, such as dropping off canoeists along the Spanish River or hunters near their camps.
For most of the trip, the view was of small lakes and ponds as the train followed the meandering CPKC mainline.
The passengers were on their own for food and refreshments. I had packed sandwiches and snacks from Sudbury for my lunch. The car attendant had a short menu of coffee, tea, water and chips and chocolate bars.
Unfortunately, passengers cannot see out the front of the train because that area is reserved for the staff. However, the crew were very friendly and allowed us to hop off at many of the flag stops to stretch our legs and told stories of the train.
White River
In White River, we offloaded and the train motored off to its train shed. I was reminded to arrive early the following morning for the return trip. The sleepy town lay between the tracks, which obviously used to be the main focus, and the Trans-Canada Highway. Most of the activity these days was along the highway.
I had reserved a room at the White River Motel but I believe the train crew stayed across the street at the Continental Motel. In addition to having dinner, I picked up more sandwiches and snacks for the return journey since I didn’t know what might be open in the morning before 6:30am when I was expected back at the station.
The town’s claim to fame is being the origin of Winnie the Pooh (wikipedia)
Return Trip
We left White River in the dark and in heavy fog but it quickly turned into a sunny day.
We once again had stops to pick up and drop off passengers and equipment. At some stops, people had ordered goods to be dropped off unattended. The crew unloaded to the side of the tracks and presumably the person who had ordered it would pick it up later in the day.
One point of interest was the former crossing of the Algoma Central Railway at Franz. As seen below, the rails had been pulled on the level crossing and trains on the ACR could no longer cross the CPKC.
More views of the lakes, cottages and trees:
The Sudbury downtown train station was next to the CPKC rail yard:
The Canadian
The transcontinental train, The Canadian, passes through “Sudbury Junction” about 10km from the train station where the White River train departs.
On the Friday night before catching the train, I was able to watch The Canadian roll south many hours late on its trip from Vancouver.
I was also able to catch the same train heading back to Vancouver on Sunday afternoon as I drove back to Toronto. This is just south of Sudbury.
