Welcome to the unofficial web site of the Algoma Eastern Railway.  The AER began life as the Manitoulin & North Shore Railway.  It was absorbed by the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1931 and is now part ghost railway, part rusting rail line and part active railway.  The story of the AER is the story of the early development of nickel mining & smelting in the Sudbury district and the opening up of Manitoulin Island.