On a few days on the Train

August 3
The ride up from Union Station to my cousin’s house was a bit confused by a map that tested my (poor) eyesight and the effects of a Pride parade. I am not sure if was officially “Gay Pride” or whether it was “LGBTQ (and whatever letters have been added) Pride”. It was also hot and humid.

I made my way up to my cousin’s house and let myself in, carefully following her instructions and mentally rehearsing my explanation to the police or security agents if I got it wrong. My cousin and her husband were in Halifax for the weekend but were kind enough to offer me a bed for the night in their absence.

August 4
This morning was cooler. It was an easy downhill ride to Union Station. I had been expecting to have to partially disassemble the bike as that was what Via Rail’s website said. However, the person manning the checked baggage counter said wasn’t necessary as the baggage car on my train had racks for bikes! Had I known this, I wouldn’t have brought a bike bag with me. I then took a step away to take off my bike shoes and organize my luggage into checked and carry-on categories. After checking in the bike and a duffle bag, I went to the Business Lounge to get my meal reservation ticket. There was a fair number of people already there, even though I had arrived with plenty of time to deal with the bike. I was mildly surprised that Via Rail currently serves “Continental breakfast” 6:30-8:30 (no reservations), Brunch 9:30-1:30 (first come, first serve) and Supper (reservations for 5, 7, 9).

My dining car had a special livery about Churchill, Manitoba. Not sure why.

The Canadian left on time. I was interested to note that even an hour out of Union Station, we were still in suburbia. The Greater Toronto Area is fairly large. Then again, the Train leaves Union Station heading Westwards, before turning North before then going East for some distance. It then heads North on the Bala subdivision.

At brunch, I was seated with a pair of grandparents from Uruguay with whom I spoke mostly in French and a man from Moose Jaw. When the waiter asked if I would like a mimosa, I answered with an emphatic “Yes, please!” The Uruguayans were traveling with one of their offspring, the spouse and two grandchildren who were seated at the next table.

The man in the roomette across from me would be described on Amtrak as a “foamer”. On Via, the term employed is “DRF”, for Dedicated (or possibly Demented) Rail Fan. He has an engineer’s cap loaded with Via Rail pins, a Via Rail sweatshirt and a radio scanner to listen into what the train crew is saying. He installed himself in his roomette by putting an Ontario license plate number “VIA RAIL” in the window.. Curiously enough, his roomette was the one I had been assigned, until about a month after booking when I phoned Via Rail to ask if I could have a cabin on the North side of the train. I was intrigued by him at first. This wore off when I heard him pontificate in a dome car. His statements had a Munchausian quality to them, containing grains of truth in lake of chaff. I had the misfortune to sit with him at supper where he proved to be a tiresome dinner companion. His exaggerations were both obvious and boring. Thankfully, there was a nice couple from Michigan as well who were much more interesting.

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous. At Capreol, I got out with many of my fellow passengers to stretch my legs and walk the length of the 21 cars outside. I know there are 21 cars as I counted them. The second locomotive (of two) is no 5459 which became that number after it appeared on the $10 bill with its original number 5403.

After supper, I moseyed back to the Park car where I chatted with the artist on board in the bullet lounge. He was from Hamilton. The DRF came by. A young couple from Washington, DC, asked about what to do in Vancouver. The DRF suggested Wreck Beach. I let the cat out of the bag and enlightened the couple as to the fact that it is a nudist beach.

At some point, a man of East Asian descent wearing shorts and flip-flops came in and asked, a shade disoriented sounding, if this was the end of the train? I said: “Yes, unless you jump out the back. But I believe that’s against Via Rail policy!” glancing at a crew member meaningfully. The East Asian left prompting speculation that he had got turned around.

There are signs on doors towards the back of the train saying the Park car is reserved for Prestige passengers only between 6 AM and 4 PM. The signs are in English, French, German and what is probably Chinese. As well, all but the last two rows of the Park car’s dome are reserved for Prestige passengers. Tonight, I boldly sat in one of the forbidden chairs. Unsurprisingly, no one complained as there was only one other passenger up there and he wasn’t Prestige class.

August 5th
The night went by with the usual wakings expected of the first night. These later became a series of disturbing dreams in which I “awoke” from a dream into another dream, sometimes verging into nightmare. I came to in the early morning light of Hornepayne. This meant the train was well behind schedule.

After a continental breakfast, or at least what Via Rail calls a “continental breakfast”, I went a Skyline car dome. As I did so, we left Longlac where upon I spotted a pair of American white pelicans perched on a rock in the “lac” in question. Pelicans are fun birds to watch. They are also easy to identify.

The Canadian has the policy of dealing with time changes by having train time change after supper. This, by the train we are currently 8:48 Central Daylight Savings time. However, the true local time is 9:48 Eastern Daylight Time and will be for another 4 hours or so. The classic sleeping cars have a pair of washrooms at the front end of them. The one of the left (looking forward) is usually marked for men, and the other for women. I have always respected the signage. However, on the car following mine (“Lorne Manor”), the washrooms are marked for both sexes. So I happened to use the right hand one. I was surprised to see it was configured differently, with the washbasin to the side and a large mirror with a shelf and a stool beneath it. My conclusion (which I hope doesn’t sound sexist) was that it was intended (back in the day) to allow ladies to apply makeup in relative comfort.

The kilometres long container trains continue to amaze me. While they are very long, they are relatively light compared to mineral hauling trains. Typically they only have a pair of locomotives hauling them. (I have seen pictures, circa 1970, of freights being hauled through the Rockies by six or more locomotives.) Mind you, this means they are slow to accelerate to the speed limit hence why CN is reluctant to stop them, unless necessary.