via rail

Hopefully some will find this of interest. First part of a report from a 7 week long trip which I did a couple of months ago. It was written for a UK based group (World Rail Gen) over on groups.io Bits will refer to a term we call "loco haulage" which is popular amongst some railfans in my...

As a somewhat regular rider (annually) of the Canadian, I take issue with "questionable service standards". The onboard service on the Canadian is both much better and much more consistent than Amtrak. I have never run into a surly OBS crew member on the Canadian, and have run into many on...

I am booked in Car 1539 Unit 6 going from Halifax to Ottawa and Car 1439 Unit 6 on my return. I assume it is the same car and room both ways as the train numbers are 15 westward bound and 14 going east. Since they no longer turn the train around in Halifax does this mean that I will be forward...

How is winter reliability (track maintenance, snow storms, big delays/cancellations) on (VIA Rail) Montreal-Ottawa or Montreal-Toronto vs. Amtrak Adirondack (NYC->Montreal) in January, please? If there is a cancellation, which one works harder (like adding extra carriages to the later trains -...

My foodie brother in-law suggested I do a video of some meals onboard the Canadian during my trip last month. I though the food was catered and warmed up like on the Ocean Train I took between Halifax and Montreal in February. I was not expecting the food to be cooked on board and so...

It looks like VIA is finally starting the process of replacing its long distance (eg Ocean, Canadian, etc) routes. This is exciting news and the time frame seems to line up with Amtrak so maybe we could see them work together on a joint order? Mostly the requirements would be the same, with VIA...

I'm not sure where to put this, but I'm sure that some isolated readers will be interested. As widely discussed elsewhere, Amtrak has been hot and cold through the years on promoting travel tied to specific events. Regular cutbacks in regional sales staff may be part of the reason. Lack of...

Eastbound on CP Air and Air Canada to a Transport 2000 conference in Ottawa. Then a Rapido to Montreal, and the Super Continental back to Edmonton in a Bedroom. Our son was two years old.

Unfortunately, the end of transcontinental Greyhound Lines of Canada service has pushed some problem passengers onto the infrequent and late VIA Rail "Canadian." While Greyhound sometimes has problem passengers, they are likelier to be close to scheduled times and their driver may be able to...