trying to cut and paste from my travelog at
http://trainweb.org/web_lurker/swiss3
If it works, great; but usually "long" messages get chopped off so if it doesn't reach end of trip, try the URL
.........................
OK - off on the Canadian!
We roll out of the station, head north, soon reach CP Snyder, and stop. Crew (when asked) says tracks ahead have been torn out on original route, so we now go a different way. It involves backing around a connection to the west, then crossing our path now headed east. We reach CP Doncaster and swing north again on a different line. A check of my handly Atlas reveals we are now on a line that is used by "GO" (commuter) trains and comes directly from the same station we just left without the backup and detour! Any "Canadians" on here with an explanation? (I later got an axplanation) I am using a 1991 Atlas prepared by the "Railway Association of Canada" - Perry Printing Ltd. According to the Atlas, the line we are on DEAD-ENDS at Lake Simcoe! I am not familiar with the area, but we eventually end up at our first stop (Washago), so either map is wrong or they built new tracks. (map was wrong) Again, any Canucks reading this? Anyhow, as is the norm, everyone "packs" the domes in the first part of the trip. I relax, as I know it usually (and does) peter out with plenty of space after the novelty wears off.
VIA advertises "Silver & Blue" first class service, and they certainly try. The attendant in the "Park" car breaks out complimentary champagne as we leave Toronto (they do the same leaving Vancouver, and also BOTH directions out of Jasper). This is followed shortly by hot hors de'oveures. Throughtout the trip, the observation area is stocked with fruits, juices, rolls, peanuts, etc. Meal service for dinner is done differently than by Amtrak. Instead of constantly calling reservations as tables open up, they fill a full sitting, wait until everyone has finished and vacated the diner, then clean and restock, and seat another full sitting. All orders are taken at once, all are sent to the kitchen together, and all the meals come out of the kitchen in a quick flurry. How they do this with 40 plus meals at once is beyond me, but they manage it quite nicely. The food is excellent, but Amtrak's is certainly comparable in every aspect.
The country transited for the first couple of days is not particularly scenic (kinda like riding across on the Empire Builder), and we make stops in Winnipeg (just after dark), Saskatoon (middle of the night), and Edmonton (mid-day). Edmonton is interesting as it has suffered the fate of many US cities. There is a beautiful skyline of downtown on the horizon, and we pull in (actually back in) to a shack in the boonies on the outskirts (tracks have been pulled out thru the city).
We then start climbing gradually and soon see the first glimpses of the Rockies. The mountains seem much more jagged and stark here than the Colorado crossing, but there is a very long "lake" thru the valley as Jasper is approached that tends to dry up in the winter. It is basically mudflats, and party dried. There is substantial wind and this produces what at first seems to be fog, but what really just turns out to be ugly brown blowing dirt everywhere that makes me think of the smoggy air in most cities.
As we reach Jasper, we leave the lake behind, and are greeted with clear air, sunshine, and a large herd of elk wandering around the train station!
As we take a shuttle to our hotel, we stop on the road as a "bighorn" ram decides he has the right of way, then proceed onward into the evening. (snip about hotel)...
As we prepare to leave Jasper, the eastbound Canadian comes thru town with the same consist we rode west, except they have left Fraser Manor and Hearne Manor in Toronto. Train also cuts out Brock Manor and drops it in Jasper.
Our #1 soon arrives, 6449 and 6444 on the point. Consist:
8605 baggage
8123 coach
8502 sykline dome cafe
Carleton Manor sleeper
Pallisier diner
Bell Manor sleeper
Blair Manor sleeper
Douglas Manor sleeper
Strathcona Park dome-obs-sleeper
--------------------------------------------
6449 is removed and 6443 is added to the point. 6449 will be "rotated" onto the next "Skeena" to Prince Rupert (due in as we leave). Brock Manor is also added into our train as we board the same tour group that was on the train we arrived on.
Since leaving Toronto, it seems we had a "meet" at almost every siding for the 2 days of running (but I never notice us passing westbounds). CN is apparently having a VERY busy freight season. Many of the meets are "waits" (apparently no "expedited" passenger trains in Canada either) but we always run on time, so the schedule is obviously padded to include heavy freight traffic. Also, the observation car makes for great track watching - most of the line appears to be CWR with concrete ties - ride is smooth, with almost no "rocking" sometimes typical of the rear car of a train. Just before we are due out of Jasper, I am surprised to see a heavy westbound coal drag depart ahead of us. Talk about no passenger priority!
As we pull out, the inbound "Skeena" radios they have a passenger that would "desperately" like to catch our train (this is not a connection). They arrange a "meet" at a crossing and transfer the passenger aboard in a matter of seconds. "Skeena" is REALLY in the slow season (although they say it is the normal winter train). Consist:
6439,
8118 coach,
Prince Albert Park dome-obs.
Talk about your "pocket streamliner"!
Turns out to be quite a few miles of westbound double track, and at the end we roll past the waiting coal drag, so now I see why it rolled out of Jasper so close ahead of us. At a later point we are again on double track and begin to pass a westbound manifest moving just slightly slower than us. Then we slow down and the freight gradually pulls ahead and disappears! Again I wonder about "priority". We then hit a red block and wait for a brief moment and proceed, soon hit double track again and pass the moving freight and take the lead for good. Apparently it's easier to stop and start us than a long freight on these grades, but our delay was minor so it really hasn't interfered.
We roll thru the night and reach Vancouver in the rain the next morning. The station approach is another reverse move around a blind sharp bend of a "Y" into the station, and the obs car is perfect for observing. The "non-existent" condcutor (who now rides the head-end) drops off, throws the switch, and boards the obs car for the reverse move. As we come around the blind turn we encounter serveral yard tracks and a headlight approaching that is hard to tell what track it is on since it is still in the "curve". The conductor radios his hogger that there is a freight ahead and to slow down (we are moving slow anyway), then we round the curve and the freight is on OUR track and approaching about 100 ft away! Conductor tells hogger and train stops, and freight stops also. Conductor bails and hightails it down the track to the freight, and I imaging the blistering the dispatcher must be hearing! We sit for a while, then conductor walks back to us and freight reverses back thru some switches and we proceed. A query reveals this is NOT a dispatch error. This is "rule 105?" territory - "see and be seen". Freight was just as surprised as us and had dropped into emergency stop when we came around the bend in his face (we were 20 minutes early!). Anyhow, speeds were so slow that there was no real danger, but it sure was a SURPRISE!
Anyhow, we back into the station "on-time". It is raining hard, so no yard excursion is in the works, but I observe "Tremblant Park", a couple of skyline domes, and numerous other cars in the station area. There are some old canadian heavyweight car(s) on display, and a skyline dome sat out by them as well. Someone said it was to be part of the display, but I could not see if it was 8508 or 8509. 8508 was "wrecked and retired" several years ago, and presumed scrapped. If anyone wanders the Vancouver station, I would very much like to know if this car could be 8508 or if they are "retiring" 8509, or if the person was just "blowing smoke"! Thanx. (END)
