(With apologies to the immortal Stompin' Tom Conners)

Sudbury is a town in transition. Sudbury is a town with a past.

I spent the night at a hotel in the suburb of New Sudbury, close to the Ontario Northland bus terminal I'll be leaving from this afternoon. It's bordered by stroads and chain stores and restaurants and would be utterly faceless were it not for the topology. Rugged stones jut out everywhere. Some stores are atop hills staring down at least three storeys down on the roads below. Walking here will certainly give you your cardio. But buses operate every fifteen minutes, and are reasonably crowded. I catch a ride downtown, arriving before eight, just as things are waking up.

You can tell that Sudbury is coming back from tough times. Carved out of the Canadian Shield by miners and melters, the mines have dried up and many of the old industries have moved away. The downtown is eeriely quiet at points. I look for an establishment called the Wallflower Cafe, hoping for breakfast, and find it stashed away at the back of a medical building containing a LifeLabs clinic that's just opening up. I'm the first person to sit and order. The waitress, who is also clearly the proprietor, or the wife of the proprietor, is friendly. The decor is pleasant, the food is just what one needs for a breakfast (including baked beans that are seasoned in an unusual but still tasty way). I do notice a cross among the decor, and the Inspirational Quote of the Day handwritten on the blackboard is simply "John 3:16". I'm wished "a blessed day" as I tip and depart, and I wish it back to her. An interesting place staffed by interesting people.

I spend time at Sudbury's downtown VIA station, which is different from the Sudbury Junction station I arrived at on the Canadian yesterday, clear out at the far edge of the city. The Canadian used to stop downtown, however, back before the 1991 cutbacks by VIA when the train was daily and used CP tracks to get from Toronto to Vancouver. Now, a small but very dedicated train ferries passengers through the wilderness northwest of here to the sleepy town of White River. I took this train back in 2021, so I watch as it takes on a handful of passengers and departs.

Sudbury is still a major junction between our two national railroads, however, and freight trains whip through here from Eastern and Western Canada. It is also strikingly beautiful. From the rugged terrain to the trees showing off the fall colours, the city is a great place to just sit and take it all in. I'm currently sitting in the Books and Beans coffee shop, watching a CPKC switcher in the downtown rail yard across the street putting together a train. If ever there was a perfect place for me, this would be it. The fact that I hear French spoken between customers and the proprietor is an added bonus.

I feel that Sudbury is coming back. It has a lot to offer, especially from its natural vistas now that its polluting industries have faded. But I hope, if it does come back, it doesn't lose that rugged nature; that rowdy edge. There's a reason Stompin' Tom Connors wrote "Sudbury Saturday Night." Like the land it sits upon, that nature should always remain within its spirit.