Sudbury, ON

Hello,
I'm planning a trip to the Sault Ste Marie-Sudbury, ON areas this June. Know any good Railfan Photo Spots? Also, how far apart are the 2 Sudbury Station, I'd like to get some pics of the Canadian as well as the budd cars while I'm in town.
Thanks again,
PRRGuy

I am not too familiar with either Sudbury or Sault Ste-Marie however I did visit Sudbury a couple of years ago. The CPR station is right downtown and from there you can see all the CPR action and some Huron Central. The CN/VIA station, where the Canadian stops, is about 10 km (6 miles) east.

You might find some useful information here: mile77.vianet.ca. You should also consider a visit to North Bay, home of the Ontario Northland Railway.

Interesting site and thanks for the help, I know if I end up going out to Sudbury, its about a 4 1/2 hr drive from SSM, I just wanna get some shots of the budd cars and the "Canadian" cuz we don't have anything with equipment that vintage in Indiana! kinda wish there was more direct rail service to SSM perhaps Via or Amtrak but oh well.

There is a way of getting to SSM from Sudbury by rail. However it involves overnighting in a small northern town of Franz.

If you are going to be Sudbury region along with North Bay I would also suggest Parry Sound. It's a beautifull town with both CN and CP main lines running through it. Via visits this town six times a week. Three trains headed west and three headed east for Toronto. There is also some really great railfaning spots that are easy to find.

As for Sudbury as a city. I must say that there are nicer towns to visit in the region. North Bay would be my choice to stay in.

As well there is a town called Lively that has a great places to railfan. Don't forget to get pictures of the Huron C Railway ( I hope that's the proper name).

Hope this helps.

Mike.

About how far are North Bay, Parry Sound and Lively from Sudbury, are any of them closer to SSM? Also, do you know of any operating alco's in the area? Any Interesting stuff I should know about?
Thanks,
PrrGuy

PRRGuy wrote:About how far are North Bay, Parry Sound and Lively from Sudbury, are any of them closer to SSM? Also, do you know of any operating alco's in the area? Any Interesting stuff I should know about?
Thanks,
PrrGuy

Sudbury, North Bay, and Parry Sound form an upside-down triangle of cities that are fairly close to each other by northern Ontario standards. They are within about a 1½-2 hour drive from each other (Sudbury and North Bay being the closest) and would make a pleasant day trip. Parry Sound is a nice place to visit with an impressive bridge on the CPR line. Lively, however, is the only location that is between the Soo and Sudbury being just west of Sudbury.

I don't know of any operating ALCOs in the area. The shortline/regionals there (Ontario Northland, Huron Central, Ottawa Valley) are all GM and INCO (in Sudbury) recently converted from GE Electrics to EMD GPs but also have some old GE diesel switchers. Algoma Steel (Sault Ste-Marie) is mostly GE with some EMD. Falconbridge Nickel (north of Sudbury) may have one or two ALCOs.

While I agree with Mike that North Bay is a much nicer place to stay I have no complaint with Sudbury. If you do spend some time in Sudbury I would recommend the Quality Inn (formerly Howard Johnson's) on Elgin St. as, from a northern facing room, you can get a good view of both the CPR and Huron Central yards.

Hey,
Thanks for the hotel tip, ill be sure to look into that as im planning to definatly spend some time near the yards, i'd rather be there then out on the main any day. Too bad about no alco's though...Oh, well can't win em all.