# Eastbound across Canada



## greatcats (Oct 19, 2011)

Some of you know that I have been a tour bus driver in Ketchikan, Alaska for the past three summers. ( Visited recently by Rob and Mike from this forum. ) I will not be returning there next year, although I have many good things to say about my experiences of servicing the cruise ship passengers. Right now I tell people I am on my way to my next work assignment, which will be as a volunteer starting December 1 for three months for the National Park Service at Hawaii Volcanoes, which should not be too boring. In the meantime, this little rail and driving trip is taking place. It started in Portland, Oregon, where my car has been left at the home of a friend, and has included Amtrak to Vancouver, and then ViaRail to Jasper, and then to Toronto, and this is being written from the Royal York Hotel in Toronto. Tomorrow, it will be Amtrak to Rochester, New York to pick up a rental car and will be visiting between Maine and Florida. Next month will include Amtrak Tampa to Washington, to Chicago, to Portland.

The Amtrak Cascades trip was fairly routine. It was a nice start to begin this journey from such a beautiful old station like Portland that is being used for its intended purpose. While there had been mudslide problems canceling service during the previous week, this trip went smoothly and I had purchased this ticket in Business Class using AGR points - good deal. North of Everett the train encountered some signal problems, which caused the arrival to be 11:20 pm in Vancouver, 30 minutes late. Business class passengers were discharged first to walk down the fenced in platform and contrary to what I had read here, Canadian Customs was not Amateur Hour. ( Although this has not been the case every time I have entered Canada, such as when I drove into Alberta in 2009. ) Three days were spent in Vancouver, having been there two nights the previous week, but my arrival had been by car, having traveled via the Alaska Ferry to Prince Rupert, and then the 900+ miles by road to Vancouver, which was OK.

Now to the serious part of this journey - the " Canadian. " I am not too enthralled with Pacific Central Station, but thought it clever that as part of the waiting lounge for sleeper passengers, patio seating is provided out on the platform. The agent checking me in informed me that my large backpack would have to be checked to the baggage car. Since I have a roller bag with my CPAP and laptop, he was quite correct that the backpack would not work in the " cabin for one. " ( On Amtrak I usually put my bags in the unused upper bunk, but that did not exist in this room. ) He provided a VIA tote bag for my overnight supplies. The consist is so long on this train - up to 21 cars, that it is boarded from two platforms. After boarding the front section is pulled forward and coupled to the rear section prior to departure. All of this is smoothly accomplished. Hors d'oeuvre and champagne were served in the rear Park car as we departed on time at 8:30 pm.

Thick mattresses and pillows and a duvet ( comforter ) are provided, far superior to Amtrak, although I was actually a little too warm at night. The biggest negative I have about this trip was that the power went off on the entire train 5 or 6 times during the night. This caused the pressure to suddenly drop on my CPAP, severely disrupting my sleep. There must have been a bad jumper cable, and it seemed the train was even stopped on some of these power disruptions to attempt to fix the matter. It did not recur after Kamloops, but it was not a good night for me. The next day breakfast and lunch were just fine, and the territory traversed was wonderful. It was a cloudy day with a little rain, but the route through eastern British Columbia is a sight to behold, with the brilliant yellows of aspens artistically decorating the mountainsides. Arrival in Jasper was 25 minutes early and the baggage was promptly delivered.

I spent three days in Jasper, mostly taking hikes in the town area to Jasper Park Lodge and on the hill above the town. This is where I encountered a harem of female elk, with a big bull with a rack of antlers sitting calmly in the middle of the trail. I backed up and departed this scene and returned to town. This was rutting season, and the males can be aggressive and extremely dangerous. Later the locals told me I did exactly the right thing - leaving the scene. I decided to fore go big resort hotel prices and elected to stay at the Austrian Haven Bed and Breakfast, a few blocks walk from the rail station. This turned out to be one of the most memorable items of my travels in recent times. It is run by a charming, creative lady, Anneliese Laggner. She was truly delightful and has created a place of beauty and distinction. For those of you visiting Jasper, you will not be sorry if you stay here, but she is very booked up during peak season.

On Saturday afternoon I returned to the attractive Jasper Station, built by CNR in 1925. My accommodation was identical to the first train and off we went. Pork Tenderloin for dinner with red wine, Prime Rib the second night, and Pickerel the third. With the exception of one breakfast that was a little undercooked, the food is excellent. White tablecloths, real plates. My only problem these dining cars is the conversational noise level can be annoying, making it difficult to converse at times with table mates. At Edmonton I had gone to bed at 10pm and the power went off at 11, once only. I learned later this was dues to switching out of cars. I got up and read for awhile, and I can understand this situation, but the first night out of Vancouver had not been so good. I spent a good portion of time in the dome cars, but also napped, read, and listened to CDs on my small laptop. Email reception on the cell phone was erratic, and I had to remind myself that these modern communication devices used to be unknown and we got along fine without them.

Other items that I really enjoyed in the diner were the soups and the Asian chicken dumplings. Supposedly much of this food is actually prepared elsewhere, but whatever the system is, the result and presentation to the customer is something very good. On and on we went, though Winnipeg. One must accept the fact that on a single track railroad with busy freight there will be numerous times of waiting. Fine. Let us all slow down and appreciate crossing this continent through three major zones: the Mountains, Prairies, and North Woods. The most remarkable portion of this journey for me is the trip across northern Ontario. Miles and miles of uninhabited and untouched wilderness along the railroad, while this train out of the 50's, which apparently is a going concern that will be around for a long time, passes by in comfort. The last evening out I took in a movie in the lounge car, which was forgettable. Arrival was 50 minutes late in Toronto, which did not really matter at all. It was a memorable journey - pricey, yes, but money well spent.


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## greatcats (Oct 19, 2011)

Another item of interest to train people, pointing out some old fashioned aspects of this trip: I noticed on my walks that the track on the station platform at Jasper is accessed by a hand thrown switch. There are no conductors on VIA trains to do something like this. ( There is a " Service Manager " but that person is part of the onboard crew, who are all based in Winnipeg, and they go to Vancouver, Tortonto, and Hudson Bay. ) I saw for myself how this works from the rear dome car departing Jasper. One of the two engineers, in a bright safety vest, closed the switch after we departed the station. He was then driven by a member of the station staff in an electric cart the length of the train up to the locomotive. Later in the trip I purchased a DVD called the " Big Train Ride. " It is a presentation mostly about a westbound trip on the " Canadian " from Toronto to Vancouver, but narrated by children, and well done, I will add. The boy made reference to the engineer throwing the switch at Jasper.


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## Rail Freak (Oct 19, 2011)

Thanx for the report, as I leave in a few weeks West Bound! I'm also staying at the Royal York (How did you like it?). Good luck on the Islands!!!

Have Fun


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## railiner (Oct 19, 2011)

greatcats said:


> Another item of interest to train people, pointing out some old fashioned aspects of this trip: I noticed on my walks that the track on the station platform at Jasper is accessed by a hand thrown switch. There are no conductors on VIA trains to do something like this. ( There is a " Service Manager " but that person is part of the onboard crew, who are all based in Winnipeg, and they go to Vancouver, Tortonto, and Hudson Bay. ) I saw for myself how this works from the rear dome car departing Jasper. One of the two engineers, in a bright safety vest, closed the switch after we departed the station. He was then driven by a member of the station staff in an electric cart the length of the train up to the locomotive. Later in the trip I purchased a DVD called the " Big Train Ride. " It is a presentation mostly about a westbound trip on the " Canadian " from Toronto to Vancouver, but narrated by children, and well done, I will add. The boy made reference to the engineer throwing the switch at Jasper.


Thanks for the trip report....an enjoyable read.

Curious about not having conductors/trainmen aboard. Does the 'service manager' collect tickets and fares? I suppose this system saves on not having to change trainmen enroute, as service crews are not subject to hours of service rules that operating crews are.


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## greatcats (Oct 19, 2011)

The tickets are collected by station personnel inside the station. One might say that the second engineer when not running the locomotive may act in the capacity of a conductor. As you say, a considerable amount must vbe saved by not changing train crews.


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## NS VIA Fan (Oct 19, 2011)

greatcats said:


> The tickets are collected by station personnel inside the station..........


Only for sleeper passengers boarding at larger stations such as Vancouver, Jasper, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, Halifax etc where there is a sleeper check-in counter. 

Coach tickets and Business Class tickets in the corridor are collected by the Service Manager or Attendant the same as an Amtrak Conductor would.......and unless you knew the difference......you would just assume it was the conductor.


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## railiner (Oct 19, 2011)

So the service manager and attendants are for the most part acting like conductors/asst. condrs. Except they have no operational responsibilites?

Who gives the 'highball' to the engineer on these long trains at stations?

And does Via always have two qualified engineers on all of their trains, even short ones?

Suppose they had to back up a train, like Amtrak often does. I suppose one of the engineers goes to the rear end to man the 'tailpipe hose'?


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## manderson (Oct 20, 2011)

greatcats said:


> The agent checking me in informed me that my large backpack would have to be checked to the baggage car. Since I have a roller bag with my CPAP and laptop, he was quite correct that the backpack would not work in the " cabin for one. " ( On Amtrak I usually put my bags in the unused upper bunk, but that did not exist in this room. ) He provided a VIA tote bag for my overnight supplies.


Thanks for taking the time to do a report. I'm hoping to take this trip westbound in a few months. Sounds like you were able to a fit a roller bag into the cabin for one. How big a bag?


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## J-1 3235 (Oct 20, 2011)

Thanks for the trip report, Eric. Sounds like you're having a great journey (except the first night  ).

Also, it was good to meet up with you in Ketchikan. I'm happy our itineraries allowed for a quick mini-Gathering. Enjoy the rest of your trip!

Mike


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## greatcats (Oct 20, 2011)

manderson said:


> greatcats said:
> 
> 
> > The agent checking me in informed me that my large backpack would have to be checked to the baggage car. Since I have a roller bag with my CPAP and laptop, he was quite correct that the backpack would not work in the " cabin for one. " ( On Amtrak I usually put my bags in the unused upper bunk, but that did not exist in this room. ) He provided a VIA tote bag for my overnight supplies.
> ...


My current roller bag was purchased in Chicago several months ago and is approx. 18 by 14 inches and 8 inches deep. it is a tad small for my purpose - it carries the case of the CPAP machine, mask, extension cord, and small laptop and various cables, speakers and external CD drive, electrical adapters, etc. I have succeeded in splitting one of the interior linings. It fit on the overhead shelf in the cabin for one and the tote bag went on the floor. Addition of the backpack would have made a cramped mess.


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