caravanman
Engineer
This is a continuation, the first part of the trip can be found here:
Canadian part 1
Between taking photos, drinking Champaign, eating small cakes, (given that it was Canada, I am thinking they were French Fancies…) and meeting fellow passengers, the 10pm start of the trip passed in a warm glow, as did the rest of that evening! We were given a short description of the train, the dinning cars, view cars, and the entertainments laid on for the next day, which included wine tasting and bingo… Guess which one I took…
And so to bed. The single bed sort of slides out of the wall, like a drawer, and was very comfortable. There are several different types of car on the train, I believe mine was one of the older, a Chateau type vehicle. The bed arrangements might well be different in other coaches. My attendant was a young guy, and I think it might well have been his first solo trip. He was kind to an elderly woman and exchanged his room for hers, as it was on a lower level.
A great sleep, helped no doubt by the copious Champaign… funny really, I didnt think much of that drink before, now I am a convert, especially when it is gratis!
Awoke about 6am, lifted the blind, and was instantly in picture book Canada.. Masses of fir trees, lakes, fir trees, lakes, fir trees… you get the picture! Nature indeed, passing just feet from the train windows.
Took a walk to the dinning car, where breakfast was being served… nice experience, with fresh flowers, linen napkin, proper china and cutlery, and a good menu.
Most of the dinning car staff were young, although Ken, the supervisor, was an old hand. Someone said that the serving staff were management trainees doing a turn aboard train, but I have no idea if this was true.
After a few days, life aboard train blurs from individual incidents, to an overall impression, and I will not attempt a moment by moment description here…
All of the meals offered were very good, and the service was pleasant at all times. The initial crew were based at Winnipeg, and they left the train there, and the latter crew boarding at Winnipeg were from Vancouver, these second crew seemed more experienced, but both were very good.
I had one steak dinner which I felt was not quite as good as it could have been, but compared to Amtraks lukewarm microwave offerings, was still far superior.
The breakfast was first come first served, but the lunch and dinner had a choice of three sittings, having lunch early meant an early dinner, and vice versa. There seemed to be no issues of running out of menu items, and it all looked freshly cooked.
There were three viewing dome cars on the train, as well as two non dome but glass roofed viewing cars, so most folk were able to sit and watch the world go by from a good viewing position if they so desired.
I found the scenery to be a bit bland for the first few days, but the snow capped Rocky Mountains in the west of Canada were splendid.
My roomette was equipped with a fold up washbasin, which I did not use, and had an electric socket, handy for laptop recharging, etc.
The room was affected by two sources of noise, one loud inherent rattle, no amount of tape or paper wedges could silence, and a wheel flat, which gave a loud thump, thump, thump under the floor at certain speeds. I noticed that the hot water in the hand basin did not work in my room either. I reported these issues to the attendant, and was offered the chance to move rooms after Winnipeg, when others became vacant, but opted to stay where I was, having by now got used to the voices of the train in my room!
The Canadian has a long stop of several hours at Winnipeg, I took the opportunity to have a short walk near the station, a 2 hour bus tour of the whole city was one option, but I declined that offer. Flooding in both Canada and USA this spring has caused travel problems, and from Winnipeg west I was aware of some quite severe flooding near the tracks, and also heard that the army had been called in to help in some areas.
Jasper is another place where the train stops for a few hours, among the mountains, and although we arrived a bit late, we still had about one hour to have a look around, take a few pics, and buy some non train items.
Re boarding at Jasper, we were treated to another Champaign and cake soiree, and the afternoon passed in a pleasant haze of mountains and conversations, the latter eliciting info on a Canadian ferry trip visiting several isolated fishing communities, over several days, which sounds great for another trip.
We had been told to look out for wild animals, but I saw only a few small deer in the wild. At dinner that last evening, suddenly there was a shout of BEAR! BEAR! And sure enough we got a sight of a smallish bear sitting close to the tracks, looking at us, looking at him…
I got permission to climb up into the cab of the engine at one stop and got a photo… seems odd that I worked for British Rail for many years on locomotives, yet dont have one picture of myself from then… Pre digital mindset I guess!
The last morning dawned damp and misty, and I missed out on a few artistic photo opportunities… probably just as well…!
An early arrival into Vancouver, and the 4 day train trip was over… an easy ride on the metro to my hostel, and other adventures to unfold in the days to come…
I met many interesting people in the viewing cars, and when eating in the dinning car, folk from Canada, and from all over the world. The Canadian train is world famous and justifiably so, and I look forward to my next trip on it!
Cheers,
Ed.
Canadian part 1
Between taking photos, drinking Champaign, eating small cakes, (given that it was Canada, I am thinking they were French Fancies…) and meeting fellow passengers, the 10pm start of the trip passed in a warm glow, as did the rest of that evening! We were given a short description of the train, the dinning cars, view cars, and the entertainments laid on for the next day, which included wine tasting and bingo… Guess which one I took…
And so to bed. The single bed sort of slides out of the wall, like a drawer, and was very comfortable. There are several different types of car on the train, I believe mine was one of the older, a Chateau type vehicle. The bed arrangements might well be different in other coaches. My attendant was a young guy, and I think it might well have been his first solo trip. He was kind to an elderly woman and exchanged his room for hers, as it was on a lower level.
A great sleep, helped no doubt by the copious Champaign… funny really, I didnt think much of that drink before, now I am a convert, especially when it is gratis!
Awoke about 6am, lifted the blind, and was instantly in picture book Canada.. Masses of fir trees, lakes, fir trees, lakes, fir trees… you get the picture! Nature indeed, passing just feet from the train windows.
Took a walk to the dinning car, where breakfast was being served… nice experience, with fresh flowers, linen napkin, proper china and cutlery, and a good menu.
Most of the dinning car staff were young, although Ken, the supervisor, was an old hand. Someone said that the serving staff were management trainees doing a turn aboard train, but I have no idea if this was true.
After a few days, life aboard train blurs from individual incidents, to an overall impression, and I will not attempt a moment by moment description here…
All of the meals offered were very good, and the service was pleasant at all times. The initial crew were based at Winnipeg, and they left the train there, and the latter crew boarding at Winnipeg were from Vancouver, these second crew seemed more experienced, but both were very good.
I had one steak dinner which I felt was not quite as good as it could have been, but compared to Amtraks lukewarm microwave offerings, was still far superior.
The breakfast was first come first served, but the lunch and dinner had a choice of three sittings, having lunch early meant an early dinner, and vice versa. There seemed to be no issues of running out of menu items, and it all looked freshly cooked.
There were three viewing dome cars on the train, as well as two non dome but glass roofed viewing cars, so most folk were able to sit and watch the world go by from a good viewing position if they so desired.
I found the scenery to be a bit bland for the first few days, but the snow capped Rocky Mountains in the west of Canada were splendid.
My roomette was equipped with a fold up washbasin, which I did not use, and had an electric socket, handy for laptop recharging, etc.
The room was affected by two sources of noise, one loud inherent rattle, no amount of tape or paper wedges could silence, and a wheel flat, which gave a loud thump, thump, thump under the floor at certain speeds. I noticed that the hot water in the hand basin did not work in my room either. I reported these issues to the attendant, and was offered the chance to move rooms after Winnipeg, when others became vacant, but opted to stay where I was, having by now got used to the voices of the train in my room!
The Canadian has a long stop of several hours at Winnipeg, I took the opportunity to have a short walk near the station, a 2 hour bus tour of the whole city was one option, but I declined that offer. Flooding in both Canada and USA this spring has caused travel problems, and from Winnipeg west I was aware of some quite severe flooding near the tracks, and also heard that the army had been called in to help in some areas.
Jasper is another place where the train stops for a few hours, among the mountains, and although we arrived a bit late, we still had about one hour to have a look around, take a few pics, and buy some non train items.
Re boarding at Jasper, we were treated to another Champaign and cake soiree, and the afternoon passed in a pleasant haze of mountains and conversations, the latter eliciting info on a Canadian ferry trip visiting several isolated fishing communities, over several days, which sounds great for another trip.
We had been told to look out for wild animals, but I saw only a few small deer in the wild. At dinner that last evening, suddenly there was a shout of BEAR! BEAR! And sure enough we got a sight of a smallish bear sitting close to the tracks, looking at us, looking at him…
I got permission to climb up into the cab of the engine at one stop and got a photo… seems odd that I worked for British Rail for many years on locomotives, yet dont have one picture of myself from then… Pre digital mindset I guess!
The last morning dawned damp and misty, and I missed out on a few artistic photo opportunities… probably just as well…!
An early arrival into Vancouver, and the 4 day train trip was over… an easy ride on the metro to my hostel, and other adventures to unfold in the days to come…
I met many interesting people in the viewing cars, and when eating in the dinning car, folk from Canada, and from all over the world. The Canadian train is world famous and justifiably so, and I look forward to my next trip on it!
Cheers,
Ed.
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