Thurs.
20 September: Arnprior
to Renfrew: the CN Trail option
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The CN Trail between Arnprior and Renfrew.
See also the more northerly CP (OVRT) route |
Note: click on pictures for full size view.
There’s been a lot of talk recently about the Ottawa
Valley Recreation Trail (OVRT). It
follows the route of the old CP rail line from Smiths Falls to distant
Mattawa. Rail services closed in 2009,
and the route is being converted into an all-user recreation trail.
Over the past few weeks, I have travelled the OVRT from
Smiths Falls northwards to Arnprior, about 65 km. It was great biking the whole way. The only minor detour was in Almonte, where
they’re working on the river bridge. The
riding surface is smooth, and the bridges in Carleton Place, Almonte, Pakenham
and Arnprior are all spectacular. It’s a
perfect route for someone who also wants to enjoy exploring these lovely small
towns en-route.
Northwest from Arnprior, towards Renfrew, the track surface
has not yet been improved for bicycles.
But there is an option – one less universally known. It’s the CN rail route.
At one time, it was an easy job to travel between Arnprior
and Renfrew, a distance of less than thirty kilometres. Both CP and CN ran passenger trains. CP took a more northerly route, along the
southern shore of the Ottawa River, while the CN line was a more direct
route. In 1961, the last passenger train
ran on the CN line, which was eventually abandoned in 1989. Passenger services on the CP route lasted
until 1990, and the line finally closed in 2009. Luckily for us today, both routes are now
recreation trails.
For a fascinating read, see this link to “Tracing the Lines. Eastern Ontario Railway History in Maps”,
by Brian Gilhuly, dated 2015. On the
front cover is a wonderful photo of a girl standing on the platform at Arnprior
station.
The old CN trail seems to live in the shadow of its
more well-known competitor. And since
ATVs are not allowed on it, the route may be less travelled. The towns of Arnprior and (especially)
Renfrew have done a very nice job of turning these routes into local community trails. But between the two towns, I had no way of
knowing what to expect. I was in for a
pleasant surprise.
The roughly twenty eight kilometre route, from the
corner of William and Ida streets in Arnprior to Renfrew Junction, is a delight
the whole way. There’s a high point
roughly half-way between the two towns, at 159m. From Arnprior it’s a gentle climb of 63m to
this high point, then a drop of 32m to Renfrew Junction.
It’s a rural route, beside fields and farms, with some
woodland and an occasional small swamp or pond.
Just over twelve kilometres from Arnprior is a wide, flat, grassy area,
the site of Glasgow Station. It didn’t
take much imagination to picture a busy scene of two trains meeting at this
rural halt, and passengers and supplies being loaded and unloaded. The last steam trains ran in early 1960, so
for almost the entire life of this line as a passenger route, it would have
been operated by steam trains.
At Renfrew Junction the route of the CN line further
west is lost. Fields have been ploughed
and all signs of the route are lost for long stretches. It is at Renfrew Junction that the CN and the
K&P railway crossed paths.
The K&P makes a great ride. I have travelled the route all the way to
Renfrew from Kingston, a journey of about 167 kilometres (including the flooded
section north of Tichborne – see separate blog entry!).
Today, I turned north on the newly gravelled surface
of the K&P, as far as the old CP route (now the OVRT). Safety rails have been erected on the
Bonnechere bridge since my last visit a couple of years ago. I followed the OVRT (known as the Algonquin
Trail) into Renfrew, where the route looks to be in danger of being lost in the
extensive town centre construction activity.
But perhaps a resurfaced OVRT is part of the overall town plan?
Let’s hope that, some day soon, the OVRT is completed
between Arnprior and Renfrew, with a surface suitable for bikes, making
possible an exciting ‘circular’ bike trip.
In the meantime, the reader should come and discover the hidden magic of
the CN Trail.
Note: This
article is intended to be a guide for interested travellers, so I have added
more photos than usual.
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| Starting point in Arnprior.... |
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...here the CN and CP lines crossed diagonally. View west along CP line.
CN route crossed here and ran between trees on left and houses at centre |
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| A pleasant walking/biking trail |
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| Heading west at Duncan Drive |
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| Bridge west of Campbell Drive |
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A welcome sign for hikers and cyclists.
ATVers will enjoy the new OVRT route |
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| Rare remnant: a buried rail tie just visible |
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| Glasgow Station: imagine a passing-line and a small station building? |
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| Swamp west of Glasgow Station |
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| Bridge west of Laventure Road |
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| Snowmobiler warming shack west of Miller Road |
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| Cook Lake, east of McCallum Drive |
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| Here the surface improves, as you enter Horton Township |
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| Rural scene |
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| Passing beneath the main Highway 17 |
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| West of Lime Kiln Road |
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| Eastern edge of Renfrew |
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| A chorus line |
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Renfrew has turned the CN railway into a beautiful community trail.
This sign, and a handy shelter, can be found on Carswell Street at Ross Street. |
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| The route crosses a small creek |
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| Renfrew Junction. Here the K&P runs to the left (south) to Kingston |
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| Here I turned north on the short final leg of the K&P |
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| On the OVRT (CP) at the Bonnechere River bridge |
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| In Renfrew County the OVRT is called the Algonquin Trail. |
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| The CN Trail contour |
