The Canadian, travelogue part one

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flitcraft

Conductor
Joined
Jan 10, 2018
Messages
1,567
My husband and I booked the Canadian on the Toronto to Vancouver run, which, as it turned out, was the very last run on the old schedule. Our booking was in Prestige class, so I will say a few things about that aspect of it. First off, I know that it is not “worth” the money, objectively speaking. But lots of things aren’t objectively “worth the money”—buying any car but a several-year-old used one instead of a new one, for example, and “wasting” money due to the heavy depreciation in a car’s first couple of years. Yet people do. It’s all a matter of individual preferences and wants. So, since this trip was intended as a celebration of my husband making his five year cancer anniversary cancer-free (when the initial prognosis was 20% survival), we decided that we wanted the trip to be as special as it could be. In that sense, it was definitely worth it, to us. But I suspect strongly that travel in the sleeper plus or sections would also be terrific experiences, so if you can’t or don’t want to spend for Prestige, I would still recommend taking the Canadian.

We aren’t newbies to LD trains, having ridden the EB, CZ, CS, and SL, so we sort of knew what to expect. And, keeping up with VIA’s current scheduling travails, I fully expected the train to be late leaving from Toronto, and true to form, it was. We checked out of our hotel, knowing from the train map that our Toronto inbound train was hours late, so we figured we’d get a hotel voucher at Union Station for what would almost certainly be the next morning’s departure. Unfortunately, no vouchers were available till mid-afternoon, so we ended up having to leave our bags at Union Station and coming back after a late lunch to get our vouchers. As Prestige class travelers, we were given a room at the Royal York just across the street from the station—with a nice view of the station, as it happens. It’s a classy old railroad hotel, with all the usual amenities. (Other classes of sleeper passengers are put up elsewhere, with a taxi voucher to get to their hotel; I understand coach passengers are given advice about places to stay, but no vouchers.) We opted to spend our 40 dollar food vouchers at the Library Bar, which serves meals as well as cocktails. Piece of advice—do not go to the Library Bar on a weekday early evening if you want a quiet ambiance—it seems that workers from the financial district like to drop by for a few after work and unwind—but by eight, it had quieted down a lot. The food was very good—I had a Nova Scotia lobster casserole—and the wine by-the-glass list reasonably priced for a hotel bar. Needless to say, though, we blew through our vouchers and then some. (Our server was attentive and knowledgeable, apologizing for a loud table of celebrants nearby, and comping us dessert for it.) It was a great last-night-in-Toronto, but we were itching to get on the train and get moving.

Next morning we arrived at the station early to pick up a boxed breakfast (indifferent pastries and yogurt—pro tip: if you don’t care of that kind of breakfast, they do bring out some nice cheeses before boarding, which made a much better breakfast for me!). We waited to board in the ‘special’ waiting area for Prestige passengers. As our fellow passengers filtered in, one thing was clear—you don’t necessarily have to be over 65 to go Prestige class, but the overwhelming majority will be. We heard lots of US accents, some British ones, and a couple of Aussies. Only one couple that we met on the trip was actually Canadian! Finally we got the go-ahead to board and were assembled to follow our concierge, Mackenzie, to our car. Here I will digress to say that, with one exception, all of the VIA staff were superb—they make it seem as though it is a pleasure to be serving you on this flagship train. They work extremely hard—they are supposed to be entitled to six hours of sleep a night, but one laughingly said if she got four hours she counted it a good trip! I have had good Amtrak staff, too, but the overall level of staff service on the Canadian, at least in our class, was outstanding.

First impressions of the train itself—it is a classic from the glory days of railroading—gleaming stainless steel and the windows sparkling clean. (And, the interior side of the windows was cleaned daily—a nice touch.) Our Prestige room was immaculately clean and well-thought-out. During the day, you have an L-shaped leather couch and a coffee table with under-table storage. The ‘long side’ of the couch is long enough for a nap. The short end is directly adjacent to the window, handy for photography. The ensuite bathroom is spacious, with a nice deep sink, high quality amenities (including a hair dryer!) and a very good shower. However, our shower was scalding hot unless you turned the temperature way, way down—so word to the wise, adjust the temperature before settling below the showerhead! The Murphy bed was very comfortable, with a nice duvet and generous pillows. After the first night, we asked Mackenzie to leave the pillows out during the day, for a little extra back support on the couch. The VIA website warns that there is little space for luggage, but we found storage more than adequate. There’s a deep shelf adjacent to where the bed will be—perfect for storing eyeglasses, books, electronica, handbag, tomorrow’s socks and undies, etc. (Pro tip: do not leave anything lying around on the couch or coffee table when you go to dinner—when you come back, it’ll be neatly tucked in the coffee table storage area under your made-up bed. Just stick things you know you may want that evening in the shelf!)

As we pulled out of Toronto, Mackenzie came to give us a quick tour of the room and safety instructions on how to use the glass hammer to hammer our way out of the car in an emergency, and then invited us to come to the Park Car for a bon voyage glass of champagne (or a mimosa, for those of us a bit squeamish about drinking in the morning.) The Park Car is all that was advertised—with a generous downstairs lounge and bar area that was well-stocked with juice, coffee, cookies, and muffins all day long as well as a full bar service. The seating in that downstairs lounge is very comfortable, with an electric outlet at each seat for re-charging the phones that had no service most of the trip! Also, the rear door window was perfect for photography, especially as the train went over bridges. We got some of our best shots out those back windows, which stayed clean all trip. (In contract, the front windows in the dome part of the car quickly got fly-specked by suicidal Canadian insects. Nobody else seemed to want to take pictures out the back, so I largely had them all to myself on the trip.) The dome part of the car gives close to a full 180 degree view, though the glass used in the curved windows does distort a bit, good to be aware of for photographic purposes. For just viewing, though, it’s a superb place to sit. In the high season, it’s limited to Prestige passengers till 4 pm—but even after 4 pm, very few Sleeper Plus riders came to take advantage of it, which is too bad, really, since there was plenty of room there.
 
Wonderful report. The Dome cars are great. Maybe we will try the Prestige next time!
 
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