15 replies to this topic

[jamesbrownontheroad]

Following on from last week's little brain teasers, once again it gives me pleasure to hi-jack a thread and pull it kicking and screaming across the border. We'll start with a pretty easy five. A harder 'pro' quiz may well follow next week

You identify the city, and province, and you'll get bonus points for telling me a ) if any of them is in a provincial capital and b ) what links all five of them (hint: it's not a train)

Good luck,

*j*

# 1



#2



#3



#4



#5

Edited by jamesbrownontheroad, 01 August 2006 - 01:39 PM.

[MrFSS]

#1 is Halifax, NS

[jamesbrownontheroad]

#1 is Halifax, NS

Correct... this seems to be harder (or much less widely read) than I imagined...

*j*

[Trogdor]

Well, I'd give it a shot if I had a list of VIA Rail stations and addresses handy so I could verify my guesses.

[MrFSS]

Well, I'd give it a shot if I had a list of VIA Rail stations and addresses handy so I could verify my guesses.

OK Robert - HERE is the list! See if you can find some.

[jamesbrownontheroad]

Well, I'd give it a shot if I had a list of VIA Rail stations and addresses handy so I could verify my guesses.

Have a stab... the odds are in your favour anyway, since VIA doesn't have quite as many stations as Amtrak...

*j*

[Trogdor]

#2 is Quebec, QC
#3 is Ottawa, ON
#4 is Niagara Falls, ON

Edited by rmadisonwi, 02 August 2006 - 08:41 PM.

[MrFSS]

And, #5 is Edmonton. Where the Canadian backs into the station right next to the airport runway.

[Trogdor]

As for the questions:

Halifax, Quebec, and Edmonton are provincial capitals. Ottawa is the national capital. I don't know what links them all.

I had a hunch, but Edmonton didn't fit the pattern.

[MrFSS]

Halifax, Quebec, and Edmonton are provincial capitals. Ottawa is the national capital. I don't know what links them all.

Via Rail links them all.

[jamesbrownontheroad]

Congratulations to our geography majors - all five stations correctly identified and the four provincial capitals spotted.

# 1 Halifax, NS
# 2 Québec, QC
# 3 Ottawa, ON
# 4 Niagara Falls, ON (with the 'Maple Leaf' pointing towards the border, just out of shot to the right?)
# 5 Edmonton, AB

Ottawa is of course the national capital (although with a population of 800,000 you could have fooled me) so the sixties planners went a bit overboard with a rather elegant modern station that seems to be almost as big as Ottawa airport. Shame there are no trans-continental services from this magnificent work of modernism.

Oh, and that was a bit a trick question about what links all of them...

(hint: it's not a train)

...because of course you cannot take a direct train between any of these stations

Until next time folks...

*j*

[AlanB]

Ottawa is of course the national capital (although with a population of 800,000 you could have fooled me) so the sixties planners went a bit overboard with a rather elegant modern station that seems to be almost as big as Ottawa airport. Shame there are no trans-continental services from this magnificent work of modernism.

Actually Ottawa has a much grander station than the one you show in your photo above. Sadly that stub end station right downtown, and almost across the street from Parliment, no longer sees trains. The building built in the glorious tradition of many older RR stations still stands and is still used today, but again not for its original intended purpose.

[Trogdor]

Oh, and that was a bit a trick question about what links all of them...

(hint: it's not a train)

...because of course you cannot take a direct train between any of these stations

Until next time folks...

*j*

So, is the answer then that nothing links them all, or that VIA links them all (but just not the same train)? Perhaps you've been to all of the stations?

[jamesbrownontheroad]

(hint: it's not a train)

...because of course you cannot take a direct train between any of these stations

What links them is that none of them are linked

Although actually, yes, now that you mention it, I have been to all of them. I chose them for their aerial appearance, however.

*j*

Edited by jamesbrownontheroad, 03 August 2006 - 08:17 AM.

[AlanB]

Ottawa is of course the national capital (although with a population of 800,000 you could have fooled me) so the sixties planners went a bit overboard with a rather elegant modern station that seems to be almost as big as Ottawa airport. Shame there are no trans-continental services from this magnificent work of modernism.

Actually Ottawa has a much grander station than the one you show in your photo above. Sadly that stub end station right downtown, and almost across the street from Parliment, no longer sees trains. The building built in the glorious tradition of many older RR stations still stands and is still used today, but again not for its original intended purpose.

Here's a picture of the old station.



The station now serves as the Government Conference Center. For anyone who's curious, more info can be found here.

[jamesbrownontheroad]

The old station is directly opposite the Fairmount Chateau Laurier Hotel, which was opened in 1912 as one of a string of railroad hotels across the country. It's also less than 5 minutes walk from Parliament Hill. Perhaps Canada's finest downtown station, sadly converted to a much more mundane duty...

*j*