October 21, 2009
By
Lindsey D Bond @ 5:34 p.m. (GMT-7)
Churchill: The Last Train
Well, its been a while since the last blog entry and so much has happened. Churchill is at the same time desolate and friendly. Yes, even the Polar Bears and wolfs get along. When we were filming the train and station we heard word that there might be a rail strike. The two saddest words in my vocabulary. Aware of the rumor, we were relentless and decided keep on filming and photographing Churchill. With mixed certainty we actually filmed the last train that left Churchill during our time there.
We finally left Churchill during the rail strike. Via Rail chose to fly us back to Winnipeg, MB because no trains were coming or going from the Churchill train station that whole week. As it takes two days of traveling, by the train, to get too or from Churchill we were definitely not going anywhere soon. If I think back to an old train comrade ... what would Mike say... "No need, to worry the train will get there when it gets there". That's for sure! So despite our greatest efforts we had to take one plane during this trip. If anything, I learned that traveling by plane is very different then by train. The warmth of community was lost to elevation, the richness of scenery was flattened and grayed, "but we got to Winnipeg in 3 hours!" said fellow travelers... I started to feel my stomach cringe. Upon arriving in Winnipeg I begin to regain my senses and despite the plane ride we met up with a few travelers from the first train journey up to Churchill! They understood we did not have a ride into Winnipeg and offered us a ride! Now, I can't say if it was the camaraderie of travelers, or maybe because they are from Winnipeg (Winnipegers are the heart in Canada) but they got us to our door, with raspberries to eat, safe and sound.
