All Aboard!

Travel to the end of steel as you experience a 592-mile, round trip 'Tour of the Line.' Your excursion begins at the Algoma Central Railway depot in downtown Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, where you will board our regular passenger service for a day-long rail adventure through the rugged wilderness of Northern Ontario, as you wind your way to your overnight destination of Hearst.

This excursion combines the rugged mixed forests of the Canadian Shield, experienced on the Agawa Canyon Train Tour, with the boreal forests of the Great Clay Belt region. In marked contrast to the mountainous Shield country, the Clay Belt region, home to the lordly moose, is a combination of level coniferous forests and great inland lakes teeming with northern pike and walleye.

Unlike the one-day Agawa Canyon Train Tour, which travels non-stop to the Canyon, you will be travelling on our regular passenger train, a unique service that picks up and drops off passengers at any point along the line. Sometimes called the milk run, you could stop for any number of reasons on your journey. From people heading to their private camps, a wilderness lodge getaway, fishermen, canoeists, kayakers, ATV'ers or snowmobilers, our passenger service provides an ideal way for people to access the recreational wilderness of Northern Ontario. This is the same service that members of Canada's most notable landscape artists, the Group of Seven, travelled on in the 1920's, to paint this beautiful region.

Among the many points of interest along the way are the trestles at Bellevue Valley - Mile 19, Montreal River - Mile 92, unparalleled vistas of Lake Superior, the descent into Agawa Canyon, where the train coasts down 500 feet over 12 miles to the floor of the Canyon. As you exit the Canyon at Mile 116, you will pass through the 50 foot wide gap of the awesome north portal, where the rail line hugs the overhanging west wall and the Agawa River carves its way past the foot of the sheer east wall. You will also cross the transcontinental lines of Canadian Pacific Railway at Franz - Mile 195 and Canadian National Railway at Oba - Mile 245. Between Franz and Oba, at Mile 210 and 212, you will cross over the floating bridges of Squaw and Hoodoo Bay, on gigantic Oba Lake. These bridges are supported by pilings driven deep into the bottomless northern muskeg. Due to their construction and location, the Railway must perform maintenance on these bridges in the winter, when the lake is frozen.

On your arrival in the community of Hearst, you find the town a mixture of old and new. Visitors can experience a truly enjoyable French Canadian atmosphere complemented by quality dining and accommodations.

Canyon Combo

New for this season, we are offering a "CANYON COMBO." Tour of the Line customers can now explore Agawa Canyon Park by booking the CANYON COMBO. COMBO customers check their overnight bags at the depot - which will be loaded on the regular passenger train - and then board the Agawa Canyon Tour Train, which departs at 8:00 a.m. and arrives at the Canyon at 11:30 a.m. The Canyon Tour is narrated and offers full dining car service. Once in the Canyon you will have approximately two hours to enjoy the pristine beauty of the park before boarding the regular passenger service train and completing your journey to Hearst.

Hard to leave and impossible to forget!

Discover Hearst, Ontario, the moose capital of Canada. Located in the James Bay Frontier, this French Canadian town is also known as 'Le Petit Quebec de l'Ontario,' or 'Little Quebec of Ontario,' and with 85% of its townspeople raised with French as their first language, you will soon discover why!

But you don't have to be French to enjoy the culture of the town and region. Whether you are overnighting as part of the Tour of the Line or an outdoor enthusiast looking for a longer, more adventurous experience, the hospitality of the region will make your visit a memorable one.

Hearst offers a variety of year-round things to do. A community built around the forestry industry, you can take a forest management or lumber mill tour, visit the 102 foot logging crane or tour the town and visit the Art Gallery or drop in some of the over 100 shops and services Hearst offers. There is also excellent golfing, swimming, boating, fishing, hunting and hiking in and around Hearst.

In the winter, Hearst and the surrounding region is a snowmobiler's paradise, with many snowmobile enthusiasts getting 'On Track to the Trails' by loading their sleds in the Railway's enclosed baggage cars for the trip to Hearst. There is also great cross-country skiing and the area plays host to numerous winter carnivals.

Hearst also goes out of its way to accommodate you and you can choose from modern motels and hotels to cozy B&B's. Whether your taste is for fine cuisine or family dining, there are more than 20 restaurants within walking distance of the train. After dinner possibilities are also diverse, from a sing-along country bar to a Top 40 dance club.

Adventure awaits you in the town of Hearst, located in the James Bay Frontier travel region.

For more information on Hearst and accommodations contact the Hearst Chamber of Commerce or check them out online: Toll Free: 1-800-655-5769 Website: www.hearstcoc.com