VIA TO THE WORLD'S

The next leg of our journey takes us from Jasper, Alberta to Toronto, Ontario on Via's "Canadian" line.  This train starts in Vancouver but we are joining it at Jasper.  The "Canadian" is the longest of Via's lines at 3600 kilometers.

April 6, 2009

We have spent the previous two days in Jasper looking at the sights.  The skiing is reported to still be very good but there isn't the crowds that you see here in the summer.  We board the "Canadian" at 5:30 pm and just have time to settle in when it is time for dinner.  We meet Bob who is looking after us from Jasper through to Winnipeg.  He explains how everything works and sets up a routine for us.  This is Bob's last trip and when he reaches Winnipeg he will be a retired man having worked an entire career with Via.

Spring is starting in the Rockies and there are Canada geese and ducks galore in the waterways throughout the park.  Some of the water is still frozen and when the geese land they skid along for great distances but seem to know that this "hard" water will soon soften.  While the elk seem to have wandered off we saw many small reminders left on the lawns to indicate that this area is still their home.

We arrive in Edmonton a little after dark and after a short layover continue on into the prairie night.

April 7, 2009

Just prior to 9:00 am we arrive in Saskatoon and get a chance to stretch our legs after having a satisfying breakfast.  There is a lot of double tracking on the prairies so our slowdowns for oncoming freight trains are minimal and the train speed is greatly increased because of this and the long stretches of straight track.  Small prairie towns like Unity and Biggar abound.  Soon we enter Manitoba and head for Winnipeg.  As we cross this part of the prairies it is clear that potash is an important part of the economy in this region as there are several large potash mines that can be seen from the rail line.  The "Canadian" arrives almost an hour early.  We are told it is because the prairie winds blew us along!  We spend almost 4 hours in Winnipeg.  Via has a large and stately station here that has all the architecture of the days when rail travel was king.  Winnipeg is the crew changeover point for Via as well.  Bob leaves the train for the last time as a Via employee and heads off into the city's darkness.  We depart Winnipeg at 11:30 pm and as we head off into the darkness ourselves our train makes a dash for the Ontario wilderness.

April 8, 2009

We wake just before daylight and see that we are in the forest and lakes of northwest Ontario.  After a brief stop at Sioux Lookout it is breakfast time as we keep rolling along towards Toronto.  Meals on this train are something to talk about.  We meet an elderly couple from the United States.  Their hobby is train travel and they say that the full course meals served on Via are far superior to those served by any other train in North America that they have been on.  We continue on through northern Ontario with clear blue skies and a bitter cold wind as we found out at our stop at Hornepayne.  The train keeps rolling along through the day and into the night.

April 9, 2009

As morning breaks we come out of the northern woods and slowly enter a land of many small lakes and more civilization.  At Parry Sound we are reminded that this rail line is used heavily for the transportation of freight as a freight train delays us by over an hour due to mechanical problems.  There is slowly more and more indications that we are entering a vast urban area.  We arrive in downtown Toronto just before 11:00 am and leave our relative quiet for the hustle and bustle of the Toronto train station.  There is a quick changeover from one train to another.  This new train though has been done up quite differently than the "Canadian" line and is set up for inter-city transportation.  In this case from Toronto to Montreal, Quebec.  We are now on Via rail's "Corridor" line.  As we leave Toronto at 11:35 a.m. for the 6 hour ride to Montreal we enter a world of cellphones and laptops as many passengers on this trip continue their business day between the two cities.

The spring migration of the Canada goose has begun and many of them are seen resting in farmer's fields along the way.  We also spotted a turkey along the tree line in one field.  The "Corridor" trains move along at break-neck speeds.  When we arrive in Montreal we again see urban sprawl and also get a view of the St. Lawrence River when we take a short detour out on one of the bridges and then back into the train station.  We collect our luggage and board the "Ocean" that will take us on the final leg of the first half of our journey.  Via's "Ocean" line is similar to the "Canadian"but is a bigger train as there are more people using this mode of transportation for localized travel than tourism, especially at this time of year.  We settle in as darkness descends and continue eastward.

 April 10,2009

Daylight comes as we wind our way along the St. Lawrence River and then head east again out of Quebec and into New Brunswick.  The view along the Matapedia River is just what one would expect in eastern Canada.  Spring has just begun in these parts and the river is starting to break from the grips of winter.  There is localized flooding here and fairly extensive ice build-up from what we can see.

At breakfast we meet a young man who attends McGill University in Montreal and is on his way home to St. John, New Brunswick for Easter.  As we move further east we encounter areas of rougher track that is being replaced and we also stop twice, once in the middle of a long bridge, with electrical problems so arrive in Moncton an hour and a half late but safely.  Once off the train we start walking towards our hotel.  A local man stops as we walk up the hill and offers us a ride which we are glad to accept.  This is our first example of eastern hospitality.  It's off to the World's from here.