Brief Bonus Report: Autumn arrives on the Ocean

 Brief Bonus Report: Autumn arrives on the Ocean

Bright flashes of red and orange amidst the green, somewhere around the Wentworth valley.

 

Only a few short weeks after the travel of the last report, I found myself back on the Ocean for a quick round trip to Montreal. This trip had actually been planned well before the other one came together, so it ended up being a short gap between trips, but I wasn’t complaining.

 

Because this is so soon after the other and there wasn’t much that was wildly different, this is going to be quite brief. This report is going to include the consists, a couple quick notes of interest, and a brief series of captioned photos in each direction. You’ll notice there are no dining car menus or meals shown – since the menus had not changed, instead of covering these here I have gone back to my previous report to add in some extra photos highlighting menu items that we tried on this trip.

 

I wasn’t initially sure if I’d post something about this trip at all, but it ended up being notable because the fall colours arrived early this year. Atlantic Canada has had one of the driest summers (and now falls) on record, with drought conditions across the region. As a result, some trees started changing colours and dropping their leaves way back in August, and by late September, it already looked like fall was getting into full swing across much of the Ocean’s route and even into Montreal. I normally wouldn’t expect colours this vibrant for at least another two weeks, so this was quite the treat!

 

To Montreal

We begin this trip on Sunday, September 21. Here’s the consist for our departing trip:

 

VIA 15 – September 21, 2025

6404 F40 (forward)

6405 F40 (backward)

7003 Renaissance baggage

70230 Ren accessible coach (“Car zero”)

7519 Ren sleeper (39)

7522 Ren sleeper (38)

7520 Ren sleeper (37)

79515 Ren accessible sleeper (30)

7312 Ren service car (Easterly)

7402 Ren dining car

7314 Ren service car (Economy)

7208 Ren coach (07?) (*not used during trip)

7602 Ren transition

8100 HEP1 coach (in use)

8131 HEP1 coach (in use)

8129 HEP1 coach (no passengers until a few in the morning)

8219 Chateau Montcalm (40)

8212 Chateau Latour (41) *Upper/Lower 2

8228 Chateau Verchères (crew)

8622 HEP1 baggage

 

The trip was fairly light in the coaches, with only two of the HEP1s used for most of the trip. The one nearest the Chateaus was left as extra space for sleeper passengers during most of the trip, with a sign blocking it off through the first day. Sleeper traffic was very busy, but much of the volume was people going to Ste-Foy for Quebec City, so it was very quiet on board in the morning.

 

There was briefly a little drama around Amherst, as one of the locomotives was having issues with its dynamic brakes. By Sackville, it seems troubleshooting had dealt with the issue, and it never cropped up again.

 

Lunch settings were at 12pm and 1:30, with the later one much busier. Supper had settings at 5:30, 7, and 8:30pm.

 

The activities through the trip were well patronized. The afternoon wine tasting had 38 people – basically filling the whole car zero Ren coach! Apparently a record, and quite the challenge for learning coordinator (LC) Noah to manage (though he did a great job).

 

Overall the trip was smooth, the meals were excellent, and the scenery was beautiful with the beginnings of fall colours popping up. We arrived in Montreal the next morning at 10:29am, about half an hour late, but we had nowhere urgent to be.

Here's a series of photos from along the trip, with more info in the captions.

After boarding 15 - two cruise ships in port today (including the Virgin Brilliant Lady, now in regular service). September is peak cruise season in Halifax.

 

Wayfinding on the current Ocean hybrid consists can be a challenge, so I thought this nifty diagram at the end of Chateau Latour was neat! This was from the previous trip on 14, but the general layout is still applicable. 

Activity schedule in the Easterly service car. Nice artwork from Noah!

The Economy class menu recently changed across the system, so here's a look at the updated one for the Ocean. This is the selection available from the Economy canteen.

For the first part of the trip (until some time overnight), the coach nearest the Chateaus was closed off and only available to sleeper passengers as extra space to stretch out, charge devices, and enjoy the views.

Inside coach 8129

Heading on to the Tantramar marshes, about to enter New Brunswick.

Sign at the end of the economy service car before the dining car, restricting economy passengers from that end of the train.

In our section of the train, looking across to the other berths in Chateau Latour.

Chateau Verchères is the crew sleeper on this train, and is blocked off with the end gate as well as a sign noting that only crew can access the car.

Fall colours in New Brunswick. We saw lots and lots of flashes of red and orange amidst the forests, though many were fleeting and hard to capture (but easy to enjoy).

Heading out on the Miramichi, one of two crossings of this river.

Evening message from our learning coordinator - helpful info about the overnight time change.

Morning views of Quebec farmland.

Some colours definitely showing here in Quebec.

Morning weather forecast.

Mont St-Hilaire.

Crossing the St-Lawrence approaching Montreal, we took the diversion route this morning due to a ship traversing the locks. The Victoria bridge is really a marvel of engineering, with the split train routes (both double-tracked) that allow for two separate swing bridges over the locks, and no need to ever stop train traffic due to ships.

Re-joining the main bridge - the car lane on this side rides up and over the tracks.

The fall colours arrived early in Montreal too. Check out those vibrant maples on the waterfront!

To Halifax

We returned from Montreal on Wednesday, September 24th. With it being the next eastbound trip after our arrival, we had the same crew going back as they worked their return to Halifax. The consist was also mostly the same, but one HEP1 coach had been removed as the train begins its transition to off-peak length. The extra sleepers would stay on until early November, at which time another coach is slated to come off as well.

 

 

VIA 14 – September 24, 2025

6405 F40 (forward)

6401 F40 (backward)

8620 HEP1 baggage

8228 Chateau Verchères (crew)

8212 Chateau Latour (41) *Room C

8219 Chateau Montcalm (40)

8129 HEP1 coach (03) (Moncton and intermediates, empty after Moncton)

8131 HEP1 coach (04) (intermediate passengers)

7602 Renaissance transition

7208 Ren coach (07) (most passengers to Halifax, few to Bathurst)

7314 Ren service car (Economy)

7402 Ren dining car

7312 Ren service car (Easterly)

79515 Ren accessible sleeper (30)

7520 Ren sleeper (37)

7522 Ren sleeper (38)

7519 Ren sleeper (39)

70230 Ren accessible coach (car 0)

7003 Ren baggage

 

 

Sleeper check-in began in Montreal at 5:40, with boarding starting at 5:50pm. So most passengers were able to head to the train as soon as they’d checked in and made their meal reservations. Supper options were at 7 or 8:45pm. We were surprised to see a very small crowd for both settings, with only 19 at the first and 6 of us at the second. This was surprising on what was a sold-out sleeper train, but it would soon become clear that the overwhelming bulk of our sleeper passengers were boarding at Ste-Foy.  Walking through the Ren sleepers, I noticed that two full cars had all rooms made up with all of their beds made (lower and uppers), ready for the crowd to join at Ste-Foy. Most of these passengers were part of tour groups, at least some with the British “Great Railway Journeys” company. Apparently the Halifax-Quebec segment has been very popular in both directions this fall, seemingly part of tours that include time in each of those cities.

 

The evening was uneventful. The most interesting observation was that after a freight meet before Drummondville, we were held on a siding to let VIA 29 overtake us. That would help them make up time, and also avoid them getting stuck behind us for our very long stop at Ste-Foy.

 

The morning was very different on board. I went for breakfast around 9:15am, and discovered there was a wait list to get in! There had been more than 70 sleeper passengers boarding at Ste-Foy, and we had gone from about 25 passengers for dinner to more than 100 for breakfast. It ended up being about a 15 minute wait, and then the last call came around 10am.

 

Lunch would end up having settings at noon, 1:30, and 3pm, with 1:30 fully reserved by the time I was at breakfast, and only a little space left at noon being held for those disembarking at Moncton.

 

The afternoon was relaxing and enjoyable, though the very late lunch was a bit unusual. The major excitement of the afternoon came at Moncton, where they discovered two bags were missing and had to re-open the baggage car to find them. Aside from that, it was all very smooth.

 

Despite running close to an hour late earlier in the day, we made up quite a bit of time. We then also benefited from the recently added padding in the schedule after Truro, which put us right back on schedule. We stopped at the station in Halifax at 6:36:59pm – one second short of a minute late. Incredible! Though the schedule is still so much slower than it should be, it’s been a rare thing to arrive on time at the Halifax end. With all that said, here are some photos from the return direction. 

Room C in Chateau Latour. Noted the partial refurbishment, with new chair upholstery. Some Chateaus have received this in the bedrooms, but nothing as comprehensive as the Manors.

Room supplies - route guide, guest directory, ear plugs, chocolates, and bottled water. The water from the tap is also potable, though I noticed in our room that the little spigot had been removed (perhaps it was problematic).

Leaving Montreal - the 6:30pm departure at this time of year has us leaving town right in the sunset.

Evening activity schedule.

Stop at Ste-Foy. Our train would get a lot busier from this point onward.

Morning views along the Baie des Chaleurs

More morning views, looking across to Gaspé. Hopefully we'll eventually have a train to ride over there again in the not too distant future.

Morning activity schedule.

Approaching Jacquet River, crossing the namesake waterway.

More views along one of the prettiest sections of the route.

More fall colours.

Lots of colour! There definitely seemed to be more trees changed than even a few days earlier.

New Brunswick as the fall comes in, across some of the boggy areas on the Newcastle Sub.

More reds and oranges, getting close to Moncton.

Moncton stop.

I continue to enjoy the symmetry offered by the occasional back-to-back (or front-to-front) cars on the train in this bidirectional setup. Would be nicer if the flags weren't so faded...

Enjoying more colours from our room through the afternoon.

Bonus activities! 

Nearing Halifax, one of the many lakes on the easterly leg of this trip.

Clever graffiti alterations - "Destroy egos" takes on a different meaning with the addition of that "L"

Halifax arrival, and it's still daylight! A rare on time arrival for #14. 6405 is one of the units with a modified and much tinier version of the extra high intensity headlight.

As always, kudos to the on-board crew for the excellent service. A special shout-out to Noah, who had stepped up into the Learning Coordinator role on this trip, and did a great job! I can’t remember if I’ve ever given him a plug on here before, but Noah is also a travel YouTuber (something he had started before working for VIA), and he’s made some interesting trips recently. You can check out his channel over on YouTube here.

 

With that, I’ll wrap it up for this report. As I finish writing this, I’m preparing to head away to Burlington Ontario for the “RealRails” convention, being held jointly between the Canadian Pacific, Canadian National, and VIA historical associations. It promises to be a great weekend, and I have something interesting on the rail front planned for a future installment. So stay tuned!