What with the chaotic situation with air travel in general and with baggage in particular, I have opted for a plane-free expedition this year. I had contemplated biking from Montreal to Moncton and taking the train back, but to get to Rivière-du-Loup would have involved covering too much familiar ground. Instead, I borrowed an idea from a discarded plan, and reversed it. I will now start from Jonquière having taking the train there. The time gained will allow me to get as far as Halifax for the return trip.
Last night, I looked up the schedules and prices on Via Rail and noted with a certain surprise that many of the sleeping options on the Ocean (the train from Halifax to Montreal) were already sold out, even though the day I wanted was in October. I decided that I should book sooner than later. However, I also noticed that I had accumulated enough Via Preference points to pay for both trips. These could only be redeemed by talking to an agent, so I decided to wait until this morning.
I started by booking the return trip on the grounds of scarcity. I was offered the option of either a Renaissance cabin for two (without a shower) or a cabin for one in a stainless steel HEP car (i.e. one of the sleeping cars built by Budd for the Canadian). I opted for the latter as I have found them more comfortable and more interesting than the Renaissance sleeping cars. After booking the train to Jonquière, I asked the man to include notes in my reservations that I would be traveling with a bicycle. He chuckled at that, then said that he should have guessed it given my email address (moosebike@*******.***) to which he had been sending confirmation emails and boarding passes.
Later while I was reviewing my boarding passes, I noticed that my cabin for one was unit 7, on car X. This drew my attention. On all my trips on the Canadian, I had been sleeping in Manor sleeping cars, which have 6 cabins for two and 4 cabins for 1.
While I have never slept in one, I have been on the other type, namely the Château sleeping car which have 8 cabins for 1 and fewer large cabins. In addition, the cabins for 1 are staggered up and down, meaning you have a step or two up to get into half of them in order to save space. This is rather trivial, but also kind of cool to a train geek like myself.
The point of all this, is that if I am in unit 7 of a stainless steel sleeping car on Via Rail, said sleeping car is one of the Château car. So that will be a first for me. Also, it will be that much further from the wheels so, with luck, better sleep! I also understand that it will be a step up, judging by this vintage picture:
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