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| Bright Sunshine and Grain Elevators in Melville, SK |
This June, my wife and I embarked on our honeymoon on Via
Rail Canada’s
The Canadian. For the
uninitiated, this is an epic journey of four nights and three days that
traverses Canada from East to West (or West to East) between Toronto and
Vancouver (or Vancouver and Toronto.) We departed from Toronto’s Union Station
on May 31
st and made the incredible journey through Muskoka and the
Canadian Shield, into the deep boreal forest of Northern Ontario and Manitoba;
through Winnipeg, and the gorgeous Qu’Appelle river valley (who said the
prairies were flat?) to Melville, SK, Saskatoon and big sky country. From there
it was on to Edmonton and into the Rockies at the astoundingly beautiful
“gateway to the Rockies” at Hinton, AB. Charming Jasper follows and, shortly
thereafter, we trundled past, what we thought would be the climax of our
journey at Mount Robson 3954m, the highest Canadian Rocky Mountain of them all.
The immense beauty of the Rockies and their towering glacial peaks was not lost
on us, but as we departed Kamloops at dusk and started to wind our way through
the Thompson and Fraser river canyons, I was riveted to my seat/bed (I couldn’t
bring myself to lie down. My wife was fast asleep.) It was a good thing too
because, even as nighttime fell, the groaning of the three locomotives and the
screeching of steel alluded to the sheer cliffs and raging rivers through which
our train was navigating. The shimmer of the full-moon and the bright lights of
our train created a surreal, if not downright spooky mood as tunnels, bridges
and snake-like bends led us through a spell-binding stretch of track. Although
I slept well the first three nights on the train, I spent most of this night by
the window. By the time we pulled into Pacific Central Station in the morning,
I was cheerfully worn out from what felt like a magical night on the Polar
Express. As I looked around at the other passengers, with whom we had become
close over the previous few days, I saw many sad faces; not because they didn’t
enjoy their trip, but because it was time to say goodbye. We all knew something
special had just happened and weren’t quite ready for it to end.
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| Rack of Lamb: Enough Said |
The Polar Express is a fitting comparison for this train,
which rightly holds the name
The
Canadian. While Santa Claus wasn’t waiting for us at Pacific Central
station, this train turned us back into children. We learned incredible amounts
about the forming of Canada as a nation along the way. In fact, we both agreed
that we learned more about Canada during this trip than either of us did in history
class (sorry Mr. Smith.) Did you know that
Winnipeg has one of the largest French communities in Canada outside of Québec?
(Saint-Boniface is the neighbourhood.) How about the fact that fossils have
been found in the Rocky Mountains showing that their peaks were once at the
bottom of vast oceans? It wasn’t all history and geology though. We met other couples that were
celebrating honeymoons and 50th anniversaries. We met families, solo travellers and train
connoisseurs from all around the country
and the world. We witnessed late night scrabble games in the dome car and
participated in tastings of
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Dave and Margaret from Scotland celebrating 50 years
of marriage and us on our honeymoon! |
local wines and beers from the different regions
through which we passed. We counted the cars on the mile-long freight trains as
they went by and three times a day we savoured the outstanding creations of the
chef-on-board (the rack-of-lamb was the best either of us has ever tasted.) When
the train stopped in small towns along the way we went for romantic walks and
took sappy selfies with everything from grain elevators to the station
name-boards. It was a step outside of a complicated world and into a new
reality full of spellbinding scenery, friendly faces and simplicity.
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| Nighttime setup for the new Prestige Class |
There is a wide-range of accommodation options aboard the
Canadian, and while we opted for the well-equipped bedroom for 2, there is an
affordable economy class, section sleepers (which are like a restaurant booth
that transforms into bunk-beds at night), roomettes (which have just enough
room for one, with a toilet) and the all-new, ultra-luxurious
prestige class. We received a tour of
the new
prestige class and VIA has
got everything right with this new product which has huge rooms with
double-beds, large-screen tvs, minibars, private showers and a very modern,
elegant design. If you have the money, take the plunge.
If you don’t have the big bucks for the prestige class however, the other sleeping class options are more
than acceptable and come with access to a hot-shower, which was far beyond my
expectations. The water was steamy, the pressure was strong and I didn’t fall
down once as we cruised along at 80mph! (note: trains still operate in miles
per hour)
Generally when you write about something you save the best
for last, so I will conclude this article by mentioning personally the absolutely
amazing staff at VIA. Linda who took our reservation and gave us many helpful
tips, such as booking us into a cabin “F” which is larger than the other Cabins
for 2, and suggesting the
Canadian Rail
Travel Guide by Daryl Adair which was invaluable to following along the
various points of interest and significance along the way.
Lucy at Union station who went out of her way to make a
personal connection with each passenger and make sure everyone had everything
they needed.
Tim and Meghan, our hosts in the dome car who were
knowledgeable, funny, motivated, and extremely acute in “reading the crowd” and
striking the balance between interesting anecdotes, activities and giving us
time to simply enjoy the scenery.
Denis and Sylvie the Service Managers were incredible as
well, making sure we were happy, communicating clearly with passengers,
arranging a tour for us of the
prestige
class and even arranging for a complimentary bottle of wine for our honeymoon.
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In the Dome car with our complimentary wine
Thank you VIA Rail! |
Last but certainly not least, to Luco, Leah and Colleen, the
sleeping car attendants who prepared our cabins, told us jokes, and helped us
with any questions we had (in both official languages), we are truly thankful.
All of the staff was professional, incredibly informative and was a sterling
example of how customer service should be.
As an addendum, there have been concerns of late that the Canadian might be targeted for
privatization and that the Rocky
Mountaineer would love to take over this storied and historic train. After
travelling from Toronto to Vancouver across this country, which never would
have confederated without the railway, we can see that this train should continue
to be owned by the public. This is our train. In many ways, it is a rolling
National Park that takes us through our past, shows us our present, which in
turn will help us build our future. In the National Parks Act it is written: “The national parks of Canada are hereby
dedicated to the people of Canada for their benefit, education and enjoyment,
subject to this Act and the regulations, and the parks shall be maintained and
made use of so as to leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future
generations.” This train is Canada. It is the Canadian. It is ours. If you have already made the journey, let the
powers at be know how much it meant to you. If you haven’t, take the trip, and
you will fall in love with your country all over again.
