# Victoria to Courtney a day trip



## NorthCoastHiawatha (Sep 13, 2010)

So I headed up to Victoria for a little weekend getaway before my college classes start again. So I decided that since I had not ridden the "Malahat"...... excuse me now just the Victoria-Courtney train. I boarded the Friday afternoon Victoria Clipper in Seattle for the roughly 2 hour voyage between Seattle and Victoria. I arrived in Victoria shortly after 6:00 pm and proceeded to my accommodations for the weekend. I then caught a bite to eat at a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown (pretty good I might add). I returned to my hotel and went to sleep in preparation for my early morning.

I awoke about at about 6 on Saturday morning and left my room at around 6:45 or so. I headed out hoping to find a coffee shop that was open, however Victoria seemed to be still mostly asleep at 7. So I strolled along the waterfront and found a place that was just opening and popped in for cup of coffee and a danish. I then proceeded to the small station located just across the Johnson Street Bridge. I checked in at the station and received my tickets. There was a good number of people waiting to board many using it as basic transportation and some like myself just a Saturday excursion. Shortly the single RDC slowly crossed over the drawbridge pulled into the depot. I boarded and found myself a window seat. I settled in and watched the backyards of Victoria go by as we trundled along the grass covered jointed rail. The "conductor" came by and collected tickets. He wore no uniform and was dressed in jeans and polo and took his time to chat with the passengers. We soon left civilization and proceeded into the forest and through a mountainous area, with some the highest trestles Ive seen in my travels. We arrived in Courtney at about 1:00, about 15 minutes late. However unlike my travels on Amtrak, no one complained, and no one seemed to be in a hurry. We stayed in Courtney for only 20 or 25 minutes while the conductor reversed the seats. I reboarded and took out "Waiting on a Train" which I had been meaning to read. For the next four hours I read quietly and dozed off a few times. We slowly pulled into Victoria and I detrained feeling refreshed. As I walked back to my hotel, I reflected on my little journey. I surmised that this must be the train time forgot (even after my trip on the Canadian), the train that didn't survive back in the states.... the local making stops in the middle of nowhere to let that single person off.....that local flavor......the simple unrushed nature of people who don't have to be there yesterday. Sure there were a fair share of tourists on board but it just felt different and I liked that. Perhaps the only thing that would have improved the atmosphere would have been a voyage on a Canadian Pacific steamship to Seattle instead of the clipper, but only in dreams I guess.


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## NS VIA Fan (Sep 13, 2010)

NorthCoastHiawatha said:


> So I headed up to Victoria for a little weekend getaway before my college classes start again. So I decided that since I had not ridden the "Malahat"...... excuse me now just the Victoria-Courtney train.


Thanks for the report......brought back memories of a trip on the Malahat in 2002. Before we left Victoria I was taking pictures and had been spotted by the conductor. (yes, this is one of the few VIA trains that still have a conductor) As he was collecting tickets he asked me if I was a railfan and north of Nanaimo, I was even offered a cab ride!

A great little train and well used by tourists and locals too. The day I rode we had two RDC units and mostly full. This is a train that’s had more than nine-lives......CP first applied to abandon the route in the 1970s. Today they are even talking about expanding the service to provide a commuter route into Victoria.


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## Heading North (Sep 13, 2010)

This reminded me of my trip from Victoria to Nanaimo last year. It is a great little train--there was a small schoolgroup boarding in Duncan to head to the beach, and a dog that apparently chases the train on every trip. So glad you enjoyed it!


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## DirkVanElsingen (Sep 14, 2010)

I also rode with the Malahat in Oct.2008 from Victoria to Nanaimo and back.

It turned out to be the biggest adventure of my vacation!

I started at 8.00 AM on a Monday,and arrived in Nanaimo at 10.35 AM.

The Nanaimo Train-Station was burned out several months before so the container used as a station was *um* disapointing in a funny way......






But a friend awaited me and we took the ferry to Gabriola Island,were he lives.

It was so relaxing and amazing there that I forgot the time!

"Suddenly" it was 3 PM!

The ferry went at 3.10 PM and we´ve reached that ferry at the last second!

BUT (!) The ferry arrived at scheduled 3.30 in Nanaimo harbour while the scheduled leave of the Malahat was 3.25 at the station,about 10 minutes from the harbour!

So at this point you can see how impossible it was,to get my train back to Victoria!

I was surprised about my friend how relaxed he was.......okay he tendered me to drive me back to Vic,but I was very jittery in that moment (In Germany it´s usual to have punctual connections.....so if you missed....you loose)!

As we arrived at the train station,there was nothing to see,except one woman who waited for the train!

I felt relieved,because the train was delayed!

But the time went by and still no train..........

After a time the woman called VIA-Rail and it turned out that no train will come that day because there was an accident with a car northbound of Nanaimo!

But there´s a bus coming........

I think it was 4.30 PM as the bus arrived at the station.

After all everything went well and I got back to Vic at evening!

You say:"Victoria to Courtney a day trip -or the train time forgot-"

It was my luck so..........Agreed!


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## MikefromCrete (Sep 14, 2010)

It's pretty interesting how this train has survived all of VIA's various battles, while there is no service at all between Edmonton and Calgary, two of the largest cities in Western Canada and the Canadian and the Prince Rupert train exist as basically tourist-only services.


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## Jean (Sep 15, 2010)

I would love to take this trip, I have driven up/down Vancouver Island several times, but never even seen the train. However, I disagree that the Skeena (the "Prince Rupert train") is tourist-only. I took it during the fall and was amazed how few tourists there were (about 25 out of a possible 70+ seats). There were many more people in the economy section, presumably most of them locals. No doubt there would be an outcry from them at any curtailment of this service, as it stopped at many and varied little spots in the middle of nowhere (not stations), at least one place where there was not even a road, just a house in the middle of the forest. It picked up and dropped off people and mail. It took me a while to figure out how the engineer would appear from the rear of the train at these stops, say hello and continue to walk forward. It seemed that the train crept forward at a snail's pace, he stepped off, helped passengers on/off then stepped back on-board at the end of the train. This is another fantastic Via-Rail trip.

Jean


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## bretton88 (Sep 18, 2010)

A lot of these services are locally funded as local transportation. Generally that's due to poor or nonexistent roads in the area. That's how these small trains have survived.


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## NS VIA Fan (Sep 18, 2010)

bretton88 said:


> ........................Generally that's due to poor or nonexistent roads in the area. That's how these small trains have survived.


Not the Malahat between Victoria and Courtney........it’s paralleled by a four lane divided highway along its entire route. It offers a scenic ride vs. a drive on a highway that can be very busy at times.


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