VIA Rail provides passenger service between Sudbury and White River, Ontario using two or three self-propelled rail diesel cars (“RDCs”). This is classified as “remote service” and is intended to serve communities in this remote area with passenger service, since road access is sparse to non-existent.
This section of rail line is part of Canadian Pacific Railway’s transcontinental main line and has been in operation for more than a century. Today the RDCs travel over three Canadian Pacific subdivisions: Cartier, Nemegos and White River.
This is the only passenger rail service on the route. Various CPR passenger trains like the Imperial Limited and the Dominion, and later the “Canadian“, ran over CP’s tracks through northern Ontario. In 1990 the VIA Rail Canadian was switched to the current CN route and only the RDCs remained.
The Rail Diesel Cars
There are three rail diesel cars assigned to the Sudbury-White River service. These are the only remaining VIA Rail services that use the RDC equipment.
There are three types of RDCs in use by VIA:
- RDC-1: Coach seating only
- RDC-2: Coach seating and a baggage compartment
- RDC-4: No passenger seating, only a baggage compartment
The RDCs owned by VIA are the following. Not all of these are in operation on this route – usually 6217, 6219 and 6250.
- VIA 6105, RDC-1, originally CN D105
- VIA 6208, RDC-2, originally CP 9195
- VIA 6217, RDC-2, originally CP 9115
- VIA 6219, RDC-2, originally CP 9111
- VIA 6250, RDC-4, originally CN D151
- VIA 6251, RDC-4, originally CP 9251
You can read more about RDCs at the VIA Historical Association web site.
Historic Passenger Service
1907
For the first few years of the CPR’s transcontinental railway’s life, the Sudbury-White River section of track was served by two trains per day – the westbound Western Express and the eastbound Pacific Express. Soon it was supplemented by the seasonal daily Imperial Limited, starting in mid 1899.
1911
By 1911, there were three daily scheduled passenger trains in each direction on the CP transcontinental line through northern Ontario: the Imperial Limited, the Vancouver Express and the Western Express.
1929
In 1929, the CPR introduced the luxurious all-sleeping-car Trans-Canada Limited, which ran from May 12 to September 28 between Vancouver and Montreal and Toronto. Unfortunately this train was introduced at exactly the wrong time, with a world-wide depression forcing its cancellation within a few years.
In 1929 there were four passenger trains running through northern Ontario:
- Trans-Canada Limited, seasonal (train #7, 8, 9, 10, it’s complicated)
- The Imperial, daily between Montreal and Vancouver (train #1/2)
- Vancouver Express, daily Toronto to Vancouver (train #3)
- Toronto Express, daily Vancouver to Toronto (train #4)
Oddly, there was also a North Bay-Cartier train #857/858 which ran daily except Sunday.
1944
In 1944, in the midst of World War 2, there were still three CPR passenger trains daily through northern Ontario: two Dominions (#3/#4 and #7/#8 following) and trains #1/2.
1955
The introduction of the all-stainless-steel Canadian in early 1955 changed the intercontinental passenger landscape forever. Train #1/2 was renumbered to #17/#18, while the Dominion was relegated to a lesser role.
1956
In the April 29, 1956 timetable, #17/#18 was truncated to only run between Sudbury and Fort William. The Canadian, Dominion, and an unnamed pair of trains completed the passenger trains through the Sudbury-White River section of track.
The RDCs Arrive
The September 30, 1956 Canadian Pacific passenger timetable is the first one to show the Sudbury-White River train using RDCs.
From then on, the use of rail diesel cars rather than conventional locomotive-hauled trains is indicated with a heart symbol in the Canadian Pacific / CP Rail timetables.
1975
At the end of the CP Rail era of passenger service in Northern Ontario, the Sudbury-White River area was served by CP Rail RDCs on trains 417/418 three times per week. The daily Canadian (#1/#2) had scheduled stops at Sudbury, Cartier, Chapleau, and White River, with flag stops at Biscotasing, Sultan, Missanabie, and Franz.
VIA Rail
The early VIA Rail continued with the Canadian (VIA 1/2) stopping at major stations and VIA 185/186 with scheduled stops at many stations and flag stops at the rest.
January 15, 1990
The January 15, 1990 VIA Rail “massacre” forever changed rail passenger service in Canada, and the Sudbury-White River area was not spared from the bloodbath. The Canadian was rerouted to run on CN rails – as it does today – and VIA 185/186 remained to provide local service between Sudbury and White River.
VIA Rail’s service between Sudbury and White River has remained essentially unchanged since 1990.
Further Reading
- Tripping Train 185 – TVO documentary on board and from the air – highly recommended
- A Visit to White River
A slight correction: 6105 is often in the rotation along with 6217, 6219 and 6250 on the Sud-WR run, so 4 RDCs assigned to this route in total.