The days of the five serviceable Budd RDCs (Rail Diesel Cars) remaining on VIA Rail Canada’s roster may be numbered. As Siemens Venture equipment displaces the stainless and LRC coaches (and F40s and P42 locomotives) on the Windsor-Quebec City corridor, the aging RDC fleet assigned to train Nos. 185 and 186 between Sudbury and White River, Ontario, will likely become surplus.
If you want to experience the last of VIA’s Budd cars, now is the time to act.
RDC-equipped train Nos. 185 and 186 are lifelines for people living year-round in Ontario’s Algoma District and are supply lines for remote private camps, cottages, and fishing lodges. In the summer months, Nos. 185 and 186 transport as many as 80 to 100 passengers destined for northern adventures with up to 18 canoes loaded aboard the RDC4 along with packs and provisions. The Sudbury RDC fleet is composed of RDC2s Nos. 6217 and 6219, RDC1 No. 6105, and RDC4 No. 6250.
VIA trains Nos. 185 and 186 traverse the Canadian Shield, a geological formation of rock exposed during the last ice age. Riding the train you will witness the solemn beauty of remote lakes, muskeg, rocky outcroppings, and boreal forest. Chasing the train is all but impossible due to extremely limited road access. This is truly a train ride through “God’s country.”
Riding the train is more about the journey rather than the destination. The 300-mile one-way trip traverses two and a half CPKC subdivisions, taking 8 hours. Only snacks are available on board, so it’s best to pack a cooler with food and beverages. With only two motels in White River (population 600), you should book your accommodations before purchasing train tickets.
Expect to meet any number of CPKC freights on the trip as it’s CPKC’s main line between Toronto (and points east) and Western Canada. Numerous sidings, most of which were laid down when the CPR was built, remain and you will pass through division points at Cartier and Chapleau before arriving at White River. On-time performance is attempted, but given the number of freight trains, rare. Expect to travel through deep cuts and atop long fills skirting countless ponds and lakes en route.
Three crew members are aboard. The two enginemen also act as baggage men, loading and unloading packs, canoes, and ATVs. There is no conductor, but the attentive Service Manager checks tickets (hardcopy or phone), assists with boarding, and provides snacks and beverages from a limited menu.
Operation is directed by a CPKC Rail Traffic Controller (dispatcher) from CPKC’s Control Centre in Calgary, Alberta, who controls all three Centralized Traffic Control equipped subdivisions: the Cartier, Nemegos, and White River subs.
The train operates from Sudbury (Downtown, Elgin Street) to White River on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays departing at 9 a.m. and returning from White River at 7 a.m. on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. There is no Monday train. Tickets may be purchased through VIA at www.viarail.ca.
The following basic radio frequencies (Train Standby Channels) will keep you ‘in tune’.
- Cartier Sub: 161.535
- Nemegos Sub: 160.815
- White River Sub: 161.115
