The Great Canadian Tourist Train Thread

[TorontoDrew]

So many train threads on a skyscraper site, I decided to throw another one in the ring that has been left out.

This is just for tourist Trains and Trolly's that are not VIA. Canada has many unique and historic train lines that are worth exploring on here and in person.

I'll start with a tiny train in Hunstville Muskoka.


source: https://www.muskokaheritageplace.ca/

The Portage Flyer Steam Train

The Portage Flyer steam train began its proud legacy as the world's smallest commercial railroad. It operated from 1904 until 1959 between North and South Portage Ontario near the village of Dwight.

The Portage Flyer by Aaron Skillings, on Flickr

[esquire]

^ That's pretty cool. This is a good idea for a thread, a lot of these tourist trains are obscure and not well known outside their immediate locale.

Winnipeg has the Prairie Dog Central, a vintage steam train that runs from Winnipeg to Grosse Isle, MB.

The train has a few locomotives but the star of the show is this steam engine which was built in 1882 and is the oldest operating steam locomotive in Canada.

[TorontoDrew]

the Algoma Railroad near Sault St Marie.

Agawa Canyon by Ron McManus, on Flickr

Agawa Tour Train by Superior Hiking, on Flickr

Canada by Tweeling17, on Flickr

[esquire]

^ I'd love to ride that train... the scenery must be gorgeous at this time of year.

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ I'd love to ride that train... the scenery must be gorgeous at this time of year.

What would the optimal time of year for leaf peeping be? Early October?

[jamincan]

Originally Posted by roger1818

What would the optimal time of year for leaf peeping be? Early October?

Considering we're just starting to see leaves changing now in KW, I'd expect they're right at the peak or close to it.

[Chadillaccc]

One of my favourite little quirks of Edmonton, the High Level Bridge Streetcar. From the Government District to the Stratchcona Farmers Market.



https://edmontonjournal.com/life/foo...idge-streetcar

https://edmonton.skyrisecities.com/n...h-level-bridge

[ghYHZ]

Not a 'Tourist Train' per se......but the Railway Society of Newfoundland has a nice display of Canadian National's 'Caribou....a.k.a 'The Newfie Bullet'
Narrow Gauge Equipment on a short section of remaining track at Mile 404 in Corner Brook.

This was North America's last full-service narrow-gauge passenger train with Coaches, Sleepers and Diner that made it's last run in 1969. Some of the coaches were still in service for another 20 years on Mixed Trains until the railway was abandoned in 1988. (and oh how I wish they had left a longer section of the track in place to offer a narrow-gauge train ride!)

There's been a bit of a play on paint schemes here! Old #593 would never have hauled equipment painted in CN's 1960's era black-white scheme.....and the cars would have had the red 'CN' logo.....not that green-gold 'NFLD Railway' tilted logo that disappeared after 1949 when Newfoundland joined Canada and CN assumed control of the railway.























In the diesel era...the Caribou would have been hauled by GMD NF110/210s like #931 here:

[MonctonRad]

The New Brunswick Railway Museum is located in Hillsborough NB, about 20 km down the Petitcodiac River valley from Moncton.

Up until about the early 2000s, they ran a tourist train excursion on the old CN line from Hillsborough to Baltimore (NB), but as a private not for profit organization, they could not afford to keep up the maintenance on the line, which is most unfortunate.

Until the mid 1990s this tourist train was pulled by an old steam engine (which they still have on display). I remember vividly a day trip I took with my family down to Fundy Park one Sunday, and we were completely unaware that such a train excursion existed (I had only lived in Moncton 3-4 years at that point). As we neared the rail crossing just outside Hillsborough, an old fellow in railway engineers overalls pulled up to the crossing in an old pickup truck, got out, and stepped onto the road flagging down the traffic to stop. We had no idea what was going on, until suddenly we heard a steam whistle in the distance, and saw a plume of steam rising in the distance from behind a group of trees. Within a minute or two, the steam train passed by, happily blowing it's whistle, with the engineer and the conductors waving to the stopped traffic on the road.

It was magical and unforgettable, and I was very sad when I heard that the excursion train was being cancelled a few years later. Things like this are very worthy of preservation...……….

[PhilippeMtl]

Charlevoix train, they are using old Deutsche Bahn diesel 1981 DB-Baureihe 628 rolling stock. ( 3 sets of train)
They plan to run during the winter to link the under construction Charlevoix Club Med and Le Massif de Charlevoix ski resort with Quebec City.






source:https://www.bonjourquebec.com/fr/fic...voix-345135624

[ghYHZ]

Originally Posted by PhilippeMtl

They plan to run during the winter to link the under construction Charlevoix Club Med and Le Massif de Charlevoix ski resort with Quebec City]

Would love to ride a Ski Train to Le Massif. A favorite spot to ski!

But let's get this thing under control so the hills do open this winter

[Denscity]

The Rocky Mountaneer train in BC:

Rocky Mountaineer SB ex-BC Rail Squamish Sub by Christian Vazzaz, on Flickr

[Denscity]

White Pass and Yukon train Yukon/Alaska:

White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad Journey by Kev Cook, on Flickr

[Coldrsx]

Fort Edmonton Park



http://www.ftedmontonpark.com/index.html

[esquire]

^ Fort Edmonton is a very underrated attraction in general. There is so much to see there, and it's so well done.

[TorontoDrew]

I had no idea we had so many different tourist trains. I think we can include as well or anything that runs on tracks like funiculars.

[Innsertnamehere]

York Durham Heritage Railway operates out of Uxbridge and runs south to Stouffville.

The stretch between Lincolnville and Stouffville GO overlaps with the Stouffville GO line. Occasionally, the trains run as far south as Unionville (the former station, not the current GO station slightly further south), though that practice will likely end with weekend GO service being extended further north in the near future.

My understanding is that GO Transit owns the corridor to Uxbridge, to protect for a future GO extension at some undisclosed time in the future, however YDHR maintains it. As a kid my house backed onto the rail corridor, and I would walk along the tracks on my way home from school. The trains only run on summer weekends.

The line is the extension of the Stouffville GO Corridor, which originally ran north to Coboconk and Lindsay. Today the tracks only exist south of Uxbridge, with the stretch from Lincolnville to Uxbridge in quite poor condition. The train rarely operates faster than 20mph from my understanding. The remainder of the corridor is now a rail trail, like so many other former rail lines across the province.

The station in Uxbridge doubles as GO's primary bus station in the town, with maybe 20-30 parking spaces and a bus shelter maintained by Metrolinx. (Google maps link)


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/York%E...543731365).jpg

https://www.todocanada.ca/city/toron...itage-railway/

[Airboy]

I've been on the Hull–Chelsea–Wakefield Railwaya couple of times. Nice dinner run.

The White pass train is fun but to many cruise ship people the day we were on it. It only went to the summit do to snow and the rail line further into Canada was being repaired. It would be nice to see it restored all the way into White horse.

As for the Ft Edmonton train Hopefully it is running again next summer. The rebuilding of the Park is taking a long time. I was there today and the streetcar lines and train tracks were still not put back together. Juts a quick not on the Train. If you ever see the Brad Pitt , Billy the kid movie. the train robbery scenes were filmed along the south part of the park. (Bottom of the photo).

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Airboy

I've been on the Hull–Chelsea–Wakefield Railwaya couple of times. Nice dinner run.
.

Yes, it was great but unfortunately it's no longer running and will never run again.

A few years ago there was a major rainstorm that washed out part of the tracks and the various levels of government from municipal all the way on up couldn't agree on a plan to restore it.

They dicked around with what to do with it for years while the historic rail cars remained parked in an industrial area.

Somewhat scandalously the whole thing just died a painfully slow death. Though there was some talk at one point of running it east-west along the Ottawa River to Montebello. But that didn't work out either.

The rail cars were left abandoned there and were eventually looted for scrap and vandalized. I actually scouted them out a couple of years ago on a bike ride and almost cried when I saw what state those once-beautiful cars were in.

About a year or so ago the scrap was sold for a thousand bucks to a guy who will use the cars to house a chip stand.

Thankfully the old and rare Swedish steam locomotive did not suffer the same fate. I believe it was sold to someone not too long after all hope to revive the service had been exhausted.

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by roger1818

What would the optimal time of year for leaf peeping be? Early October?

Usually early October, maybe around the 8th-10th. It’s well worth it, one of the most beautiful train trips in Canada.