Sudbury Division Train Number of the 1970s

Trains of the Sudbury Division in the 1970s

 

Passenger

Symbol Origin Destination Notes
1 Montreal, QC Vancouver, BC “The Canadian”
2 Vancouver, BC Montreal, QC “The Canadian”
11 Toronto, ON Sudbury, ON “The Canadian” – Toronto Section
12 Sudbury, ON Toronto, ON “The Canadian” – Toronto Section
417 Sudbury, ON White River, ON White River Budd RDC run
418 White River, ON Sudbury, ON White River Budd RDC run
427 Sudbury, ON Sault Ste Marie, ON S.S.Marie Budd RDC run
428 Sault Ste Marie, ON Sudbury, ON S.S.Marie Budd RDC run
 

Inter-Division Freights

Symbol Origin Destination Notes
901 Toronto, ON (Parkdale) Vancouver, BC (Coquitlam) Intermodal, express & Autorack train
902 Vancouver, BC (Coquitlam) Toronto, ON (Parkdale) Intermodal, express & Autorack train
911 Montreal, QC (St Luc) Sault Ste Marie, ON Manifest – Connects with SOO #911 to Schiller Park,IL (Chicago)
912 Sault Ste Marie, ON North Bay, ON Manifest – Traffic east of North Bay lifted by # 952
921 Toronto, ON (Agincourt) Winnipeg, MB Pool (l.c.l.), Intermodal & Manifest traffic
925 Montreal, QC (St Luc) Thunder Bay, ON Manifest. Replaced 951 in 1975.
946 Winnipeg, MB Toronto, ON (Agincourt) Stock (in season) & Manifest (paper loads and eastern empties). Replaced in 1975 by 956.
949 St.John, NB (Bayshore) Calgary, AB (Alyth) Intermodal/Pool/Perishables – via Chalk River line from Montreal
951 Montreal, QC (St Luc) Vancouver, BC (Coquitlam) Pool/Intermodal/Manifest – lifts west of Winnipeg traffic off 921 & 953. Replaced by 925 in 1975.
952 Calgary, AB (Alyth) St.John, NB (Lancaster) Intermodal/Perishables/Autorack train – via Chalk River line to Montreal
953 Toronto, ON (Agincourt) Winnipeg, MB Pool (l.c.l.), Autorack & Manifest. Runs as required with overflow from 921 and 965. Extended to Calgary in 1975.
954 Calgary, AB (Alyth) Toronto, ON (Agincourt) Pool (l.c.l.), Stock & Manifest. Handles overflow from 902 and 952; sets off Montreal/East and Sudbury traffic at Cartier for #974
955 Toronto, ON (Agincourt) Sudbury, ON Manifest (local cars for Sudbury & North Bay area)
956 Winnipeg, MB Toronto, ON (Agincourt) Pool (l.c.l.) & Manifest. Replaced 946 in 1975.
965 Toronto, ON (Agincourt) Vancouver, BC (Coquitlam) Intermodal, Autorack & Pool (l.c.l.) traffic
967 / P.A.T. Toronto, ON (Agincourt) Vancouver, BC (Coquitlam) “Pacific Auto Train” semi-daily unit autorack train
974 Cartier, ON Montreal, QC (St.Luc) Manifest (Montreal set-off from # 954)
 

Local Freights & Turn Jobs

Symbol Origin Destination Notes
50 Sudbury, ON Toronto, ON (Agincourt) Counterpart to # 955, mainly hauled empties, listed within CP freight procedures book as ’50’ but was operated under any timetable schedule
73 Sudbury, ON Little Current, ON Recovered INCO iron ore in coal hoppers to Turner docks
74 Little Current, ON Sudbury, ON Coal from Turner docks, trains 73/74 were also called the ‘Little Current Turn’ or ‘The Coal Train’ by crews
 96 Webbwood, ON Sudbury, ON Extension of Thessalon Sub locals # 88/89 – a SOO/Sudbury swing job serving local industries
Espanola Turn Sudbury, ON Espanola, ON (E.B.Eddy) Turn job exclusively for E.B.Eddy paper mill in Espanola
North Bay Turn Sudbury, ON North Bay, ON A Cartier Sub east-end turn job, traffic was mainly for Abitibi-Price paper mill in Sturgeon Falls and ONR interchange at North Bay
Phelans Turn Sudbury, ON Phelans, ON As required turn job for aggregate pit at Phelans, crews also called it ‘The Stone Train’
INCO Job#1 Sudbury, ON Creighton Mine (INCO) INCO Clarabelle-Creighton nickel/copper ore shuttle
INCO Job#2 Sudbury, ON Crean Hill Mine (INCO) INCO Clarabelle-Crean Hill nickel/copper ore shuttle
INCO Job#3 Sudbury, ON Levack Mine (INCO) INCO Levack-Sprecher nickel/copper ore shuttle
The “Falcon” Sudbury, ON Falconbridge, ON Turn job exclusively for Falconbridge Ltd, mainly handled matte hoppers and dolomite (a flux used in the smelter)
Strathcona Turn Sudbury, ON Strathcona Mine – Falconbridge Falconbridge nickel concentrate hoppers, crews and railfans often called it ‘The Slurry Train’
 

Unit Trains *

Train Origin Destination Notes
Pulp Train Cartier (Ramsey), ON Nairn, ON (E.B.Eddy) Turn job – tree length pulpwood for Eddy plant at Nairn Centre
Kidd Creek Acid North Bay, ON Various Unit sulphuric acid off ONR to various destinations
Copper Cliff Acid Sudbury, ON Various Unit sulphuric acid from INCO to various destinations
Grain Extras Thunder Bay, ON Quebec,QC (or) St.John, NB Winter Only – during St.Lawrence Seaway shutdown
Potash Extras Various (Western Canada) Various (Southern Ontario) Seasonal movements from various mines to farm co-ops in Ontario
* Note: Symbols were given to these trains, but they were often unused by crews or dispatchers

 

Recent Posts

Layout Update and 2026 Doubleheaders Tour

It’s that time of year again, our layout will be open to the public this coming Saturday, 28 March 2026, in participation with the annual Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge-Guelph and area layout tour, organized by the Doubleheaders Model Railway Club. This is a self-guided tour of a large number of club and private home layouts in the area.

If you are new to the Doubleheaders tour there are approximately 20 different layouts you can visit, varying from modular displays, large club setups to small N-scale pikes. You can see everything from tinplate trains to scratch-built prototype models. However the layouts are spread over a large area, and that makes it difficult to see them all in a day. So you should prepare for a full day of layout touring, and also maybe consider making this an annual, or at least semi-annual event to frequent over the years.

Please note; some layout are open until 9PM, however the CP Sudbury Division closes early at 5PM. If you are taking this year’s tour, please plan accordingly.

As usual we’ve been working on an number of layout projects over the winter in anticipation of the tour, at least as best as this year’s weather would permit. To start, we’ve completed the base scenery at our INCO – Crean Hill mine scene (photo above). If anything says ‘CP Rail in Sudbury’, it’s nickel ore trains; and not only do we have a large fleet of appropriate ore gons in service, but we now have a nicely sceniced mine for them to operate in. Well, as nice as an industrialized hole in the ground can look.

We also have a lot more carpentry happening upstairs as our layout expands to the second floor. The above photo shows what we’ve named the Verner helix, though like many of our helices it is actually connecting many different sections of the layout together. If you want the details, you’ll need to visit us and ask one of our friendly club members to find out. You will also see the new rails being laid at Levack, the benchwork at Sturgeon Falls along with the associated trackage at the Abitibi Paper mill located there, and much more.

Of course the feature attraction is seeing the fully operational portions of our CP Sudbury Division layout in action, with long sound-equipped freights running smoothly under DCC control. This is your chance to interact with us; to swap stories, exchange ideas, share techniques, and to celebrate the art of railway modelling, because that is always the best part of the world’s greatest hobby.

Hope to see you on the tour.

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