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Later this summer I hope to be taking a combo of trains and buses to get to northern Michigan, a trip I unfortunately had to cancel a few years ago. As there is no longer a train from Cochrane to Toronto, I am going and coming the same way and just taking the Agawa Canyon train, not going to Hearst. I wondered if you guys had any tips on that train--which side it's best to sit on or how to handle food (buy it? bring it?) for example.
Also, any tips on what to see and do in Sault Ste Marie ON without a car? Nice places to walk? Any restaurant tips? Etc.
And how about Sault Ste Marie MI? I plan on staying a night there too and taking the lock tour--any other tips?
PLEASE, Mr Norman, if you have a tangent, post a separate strand because I really want tips from folks who've been there. Thanks for being understanding!
notelvis Member # 3071
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Out of curiosity, HOW are you getting to/from Sault Ste. Marie? Who runs the bus (and how frequently) and where is the bus coming from?
Try to sit on the right side of the Agawa Canyon train...... that will give you the broader view as you enter the canyon itself.
Some hotels in Sault Ste. Marie used to offer travel packages which included the ticket(s) for the Canyon train when my wife and I were there in...... oh my goodness, I cannot believe that it was in 1999...... almost 15 years ago. You might want to investigate and possibly save a few dollars this way.
As a sidebar - my favorite sweatshirt for wearing on fall railroad excursions is still the one I purchased at the Algoma Central station in 1999!
Look for a hotel close to downtown..... it's been too long since we were there for me to recommend anything specific. It is not a very big city at all so downtown should be walkable in July or August...... not so much in January!
The 'new' Sault Ste. Marie station sits in the corner of a shopping mall parking lot. You won't go hungry or lack for entertainment (if the movie theatre is still open) though I doubt one would go all the way to Canada just to see an ordinary, non-descript shopping mall.
notelvis Member # 3071
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Looking at Google Earth, there appears to be a Quality Inn and Suites at 180 Bay Street in Sault Ste. Marie, right across the street from the Canyon Train station. Hot Breakfast included.
In the interest of full disclosure - Choice Hotels has a Sleep Inn in Sault Ste. Marie about 6-7 blocks further down Bay Street. The Sleep Inn appears to be $40-$50 (Canadian) less expensive than the Quality Inn.
You can buy a decent box lunch on the train, or ask your hotel to provide it. I've stayed twice at the Quality Inn right across the street from the station. It's quite good for that brand of hotel, nothing like Motel 6 ambience. Has a decent restaurant as well.
Yes, most Soo hotels and motels offer an Agawa Canyon train package, and the savings are substantial.
You'll have fun. I did.
smitty195 Member # 5102
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Nice trip report, Henry. I didn't know this operation even existed! I learned a few new words as well. Gimcracks? Now I know!
RRRICH Member # 1418
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Ms. Sojourner -- I live in northern lower Michigan now, but am still a couple hours away from Sault Ste Marie -- I have never been there, so all I can recommened is to take the locks tour. If you are into casinos, Bay Mills Casino in Brimley is only about 10 miles away from the Soo, but you would have to take a bus to get there or something. (the casino is run by Native Americans, as all of them up this way are). The only other comment is that the Sault Ste Marie area is usually pretty cold, even in summer! So be sure and take some warm clothes with you!!
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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Ms. Sojourner, you need not fear any interference on this inquiry. I have never been North of Grand Rapids in LM and have never set foot on the UP - even though the MILW did have a line to Ontonagon. This is contrast to South Florida where I seem to go "in season" almost every year (thought this year was going to be a "miss", but I ended doing a "one night stand" in Miami).
Of historical interest, dig out your Feb 1952, TRAINS and read how ACK traveled NY to Chicago over what could only be called a "diverse" routing. Included was the Algoma Central Hearst to Sault Ste Marie. It is a safe assumption that the New Haven's Interline Settlements (passenger; the originating road always made the division; freight the opposite) had "sport" dividing that ticket which, since the New Haven used coupons until "the end", I'm sure was more than a "foot long".
Henry Kisor Member # 4776
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There is also an OLG Casino (OLG=Ontario Lottery & Gaming) about a quarter mile west of the Algoma Central station in downtown Sault Ste. Marie. I am not a gambler so never visited it.
Henry Kisor Member # 4776
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GBN, the old Milwaukee Road line to Ontonagon was torn up in 2011 by the most recent successor road, the Escanaba & Lake Superior. The Ontonagon paper mill, the E&LS's last surviving customer on the Sidnaw-Ontonagon portion of the line, had closed.
The CP (or is it CN?) spur from Marengo, Wisconsin, to nearby White Pine, Michigan, is closed, but a Chinese-owned chopstick and wood utensil factory has just opened on the old White Pine Mine site, and there is a good chance that the White Pine copper refinery will reopen soon using more environment-friendly technology than the previous, so perhaps the old SW1 switcher that served the line will be put back into use soon.
Apologies to Sojourner for hijacking the thread, but the preceding DOES deal with railroading in the North Woods.
notelvis Member # 3071
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Nice trip report Henry -
Of interest, when my wife and I rode the Agawa Canyon train in 1999, the train was hauled by an attractive pair of FP-7's (or perhaps 9's) and featured a dome car.
Ticket sales for the dome car were done in a most democratic fashion. They sold 48 dome tickets with half the passengers seated upstairs and the other half seated downstairs. For the return trip the passengers in that car traded places so that everyone got to spend half the trip upstairs. I'm surprised that this model hasn't caught on with other excursion operators running dome cars.
Wonder what became of the Algoma Central dome car?
sojourner Member # 3134
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Thanks for all your tips. Sorry I was offline and couldn't respond before!
ghCBNS Member # 3093
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quote:Originally posted by Henry Kisor: Yes, most Soo hotels and motels offer an Agawa Canyon train package, and the savings are substantial.
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Sorry I never posted back--so busy! But I wanted to report that my trip went very well. My Lakeshore LTd to Toledo and the Amtrak Thruway bus into Michigan, which I'd done once before, were both fine; Thruway bus quite nice and newer than before I think too. East Lansing might be a bit dull for a layover without a car but I saw a friend there, which was lovely. The Indian Trails bus north from E Lansing worked out fine--I took the slower more scenic one, though the scenery doesn't start till a ways up, it was pretty.
St Ignace was an excellent place to stay because the bus gets up north quite late but there is a real station in StI and a motel or two right next door. St Ignace proved simple and pleasant and walking around by the lighthouse etc quite nice; staying there was a bargain too. The Kepler Ferry service to Mackinac Island was excellent; they have a few morning runs that detour under the bridge, which is cool. They also had a nice reliable shuttle service (in both St Ignace and Mackinaw City) not only for those like me without a car but for anyone leaving a car at his or her motel, since of course no cars are allowed on Mackinac Island. I just loved loved loved Mackinac Island. And I also could take the ferry (I think I got a 3-day pass) back to Mackinaw City, which has very interesting archaeological doings at the site of the original Fort (under the bridge); there's a cool lighthouse there too.
Because of the too-late-night bus schedule, I splurged on a taxi up to Sault Ste Marie. The Agawa Canyon Train was no big deal in my opinion, and Sault Ste Marie ON is rather industrial; but Sault Ste Marie Michigan was great--I loved loved loved watching the boats go through the Soo Locks and taking the boat ride through the locks (excellent well-informed guide on that, a zillion times better than the Agawa Canyon canned guidance), and there were several other restored buildings and little museums in SSM MI too. Between SSM MI and ON there is a very inexpensive public bus BTW, $2/$1 for seniors! (does not run as much Sat and not on Sun at all).
I took an Indian Trails bus back south from Sault Ste Marie MI (not much of a bus stop there, btw, but taxi service perfectly fine to it), this time a west Michigan route, very lovely scenery through Petoskey, Charlevoix, Traverse City. Eventually arrived in Holland, MI, where I stayed in an extremely overpriced awful modern hotel. Holland seemed a pretty boring Stepford-Wives-wealthy-suburb-type place (maybe much nicer with a car--could go over to the lake) but the train station is pleasant, and I was able to catch the Pere Marquette next morning, my first time on that train (and it was quite busy!), and I had a nice Chicago-area layover before catching the Cap Ltd back east and the NE trains.
The trains were all great, the weather was great, northern Michigan was great . . . all in all a lovely trip.
palmland Member # 4344
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Thanks for the post Sojourner. Interesting as always. I've never spent any time in northern Michigan and the UP but it's definitely on the agenda including a ride on the Badger.
Looks like it's definitely an auto trip as I can do without bus rides. Now if the Northern Arrow was still running, that would be a trip worth taking.
sojourner Member # 3134
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If you go by car you can also visit Sleeping Bear Dunes area and Interlochen (sp?), both I believe quite nice, plus you could take a ferry over to Wisconsin at some point too.
RRRICH Member # 1418
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You won't be able to visit Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore for a while, since the park is now closed due to the Republican shutdown of the Federal Gov't!! Local TV has had a lot of coverage of the Sleeping Bear closures lately.
irish1 Member # 222
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henry are the tracks actually tore out or just mothballed from sidnaw to ontonogan. thanks
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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quote:Originally posted by sojourner: East Lansing might be a bit dull for a layover without a car.... They also had a nice reliable shuttle service (in both St Ignace and Mackinaw City) not only for those like me without a car... Holland seemed a pretty boring Stepford-Wives-wealthy-suburb-type place (maybe much nicer with a car--could go over to the lake)
quote:Originally posted by sojourner: If you go by car you can also visit Sleeping Bear Dunes area and Interlochen (sp?)
Ms. Sojourner, are we getting close to that point when rental autos will become part of your 'sojourns'?
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