End of season for Agawa Tour Train a complete wash, officials say

The Agawa Canyon Tour Train had to cancel its final four days of the season last week due to flooding and washouts along the Algoma Central Railway, derailing plans for approximately 3,400 passengers.

The Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corporation (SSMEDC) was made aware of the washouts early Thursday morning.

“It was a very unfortunate situation of course, but mother nature didn’t cooperate,” said SSMEDC communications coordinator Marc Capancioni.

The EDC says that it had staff working around the clock trying to reach customers who had purchased tour packages from SSMEDC, which account for nearly one-third of all Agawa Canyon Tour Train traffic.  

“If they were coming in from out of town, we certainly tried to get a hold of them before they left just to let them know that it was canceled,” Capancioni told SooToday. “For people who were here in Sault Ste. Marie visiting prior to knowing it was canceled, we offered some other options of how they could see the fall colours, whether that’s Hiawatha or Chippewa Falls.”

The SSMEDC says the cancellations had a “significant impact” upon the local tourism industry.

“One metric used (as standard) in the tourism sector for economic impact is $150 per visitor, per day,” Capancioni said. “It’s not an insignificant number.”

CN spokesperson Jonathan Abecassis confirmed with SooToday that the Algoma Central Railway had to be shut down Oct. 11-14 due to flooding and washouts along the track. 

Customers who had pre-booked a train tour and were affected by the cancellations over the last four days of the Agawa Canyon Tour Train season will be reimbursed.

“We understand this is high season, and it’s incredibly unfortunate, but the reality of the weather made it such that we had to cancel it,” he said. “Obviously we apologize to our customers, but this was out of our control.”

The EDC and CN confirm that the final four days for the tour train season were all sellouts.