Cross-Canada Trip 2017 - DAY 9

DAY 9: The Last Day - or - All good things come to an end: the return to Halifax

April 22, 2017. VIA Train #14. Good morning!

Here we are: the final day of the adventure. My alarm went off at 8, but I snoozed until 8:30 and then went to shower. There was no wait for the shower, and no hot water issues in Macdonald Manor this time. It was a dull morning, but it seemed like there may be some promise of sun somewhere along the line. There was lots of snow on the ground in New Brunswick, and we were running about 10 minutes behind schedule.

After putting myself together, I headed down to have breakfast in the diner. Well, that definitely made up for supper! Just like on the trip up the previous week, breakfast was the one item actually being cooked on board. I went for the French toast (eggs any style or continental were also available), and it was exceptional. Steve was cooking on this trip, and while I always miss Gary when he’s not on, Steve definitely knows his way around the kitchen.

Breakfast on #14 - French toast with bacon and potatoes.

On time at Bathurst, with lots of snow on the ground. I took a walk up through the train to record the consist, and observed that the third coach was quite full, the second was maybe a third filled, and the first was deadheading and blocked off with the end gate.

I headed back to the Park for a bit as we slowly rocked along through the forests of New Brunswick. There was a pretty full crowd in the dome, and a few in the bullet lounge. Maybe it was the return to familiarity, but I wasn’t quite feeling the allure of the dome on this morning. I felt more like relaxing and reading in the lounge, so that’s exactly what I did. That stretch between Bathurst and Miramichi can be pretty boring, especially with the current slow orders…

We reached Miramichi just past 11, close to 20 minutes early. There was a slight delay there because one passenger getting off couldn’t find his bag. We were back on the go at 11:24am.

Some roomettes on this trip were occupied by crew, but there were no occupied sections (despite the pillows that I had noted), and otherwise only bedrooms were occupied. As was the case on the trip up, this train had been sold as Renaissance and only switched to HEP at the last minute, which explains why most people just got bumped to bedrooms and nobody really had the opportunity to book the cheaper berths or roomettes.

The first call for lunch came at 11:57am. As usual, I would be going for the second sitting at around 1:30, just after Moncton.

We were still running about 10 minutes early at Moncton, and arrived at 1:17pm. Ted Bartlett, the current president of Transport Action Atlantic, had come to meet me on the platform for a quick chat. He was kind enough to snap a picture of me as well, as seen below.

Next to Macdonald Manor, my trusty ride for both directions on the Ocean, in Moncton NB. Thanks to Ted Bartlett for the photo! 

A shot I can't resist: when there's been plenty of snow melt in the spring, there always seems to be this nice big puddle at just the right place by the platform to get these reflecting shots. 

Despite having arrived early, there was a push to get away from the station as soon as possible. CN 407 (Dartmouth-Moncton) was on its way, and if we left right away we could make it to a siding to meet them. Otherwise we would have to wait in the station track until they arrived, which could be a while.

We backed out of the station at 1:34pm. This is normal for Moncton these days – the west switch is CTC controlled, while the east switch is a manual one. By using the CTC switch they don’t have to get a separate authorization to use the switch, and they don’t need to leave someone on the ground to close the switch after they pass. So back out through that switch onto the mainline, and proceed forward. The westbound train still comes in at the east switch because it can be thrown in advance, and closed while the train is waiting in the station anyway.

In a testament to the volume I’ve written, my second pen died! So it was on to a third – conveniently a different colour from either of the first two (keeping the journal colourful).

I wandered up to the diner at 1:40pm, and discovered the call had been made during the stop in Moncton. As I settled in with the menu, we met 407 at Evans – 4 locomotives and a good sized train. The meet was exceptionally well executed. We never actually stopped, just slowly rolled through the siding as 407, which had been waiting for us, cleared out of the way.

Lunch was good enough. The tomato vegetable soup to start was okay, but nothing special. My first choice (the ham and brie) was unavailable, so I went for the salmon croquettes. The croquettes themselves were pretty good, but the rice was bland and the vegetables suffered from being reheated. Dessert, a “rocky road” brownie, was the one excellent part of the meal. I was seated alone once again, as I had been at breakfast that morning and supper the night before. I was at Table 7 for all three meals, for what it matters. The diner was roughly half full or less for each meal.

Lunch menu on #14.

Salmon croquettes. Decent, but accompanied by bland rice and uninspiring vegetables.

There's that tea I keep raving about...had to get in a bit more before leaving the train!

Dessert on #14. The best part of lunch by a mile.

There was no stop at Sackville, and then we rolled across the border back into Nova Scotia and made a brief stop at Amherst. Nice to be back in the province!

I decided to just sit in my room and read until Truro. I wasn’t really feeling like being social on this leg of the trip, and this demonstrated something I commented on before – the train can really be as social as you want it to be. Today, I was feeling a bit more reserved and low key, so I kept mostly to myself, and just relaxed and read. Perhaps after all the excitement of the cross-Canada trip, I was just happy to keep it low-key on this more familiar train. It’s always a shame not to meet any interesting new people, but it’s also good sometimes to have a bit of time to yourself.

Also playing into that low key feeling was some news that I received during the last bit of the trip – two of my uncles, both on my mom’s side, passed away over the course of the last week. Both had been ill, but I don’t think anyone was expecting to lose either of them just yet, and certainly not so close together. That's never easy news to hear, and it was impossible not to think about and feel heartbroken for my mom and my aunts, as well as the rest of the family.

We departed Truro at 4:16pm, 6 minutes early. I suppose they must have accounted for everyone that had a ticket! We continued to make great time on the final run to Halifax. We stopped briefly next to Grand Lake by the Oakfield Bridge, and I’m not clear why. The stop was only for about a minute, and then we were back on the go.

Snaking around one of the many lakes as we get nearer to Halifax.

Whatever bits of sun had come out were short lived, and the day had returned to overcast gloom with a bit of rain. At least it wasn’t snowing! The Park car crowd had thinned out, and I took to the dome for the last part of the trip. I love that stretch in from Truro to Halifax, especially as we near the city and start to see the assortment of lakes and the slowly emerging civilization, followed by the snaking run along the shores of the Bedford Basin.

We passed through Windsor Jct. at 5:10pm, Bedford at 5:16pm, and Fairview Jct. at 5:24pm.

Yep, we're back in Halifax alright...HMCS Fredericton in the Bedford Basin.

The Halifax Harbour Bridges - the MacKay in the foreground, and the Macdonald behind it - as well as the trio of striped stacks at Tuft's Cove make this an unmistakable location. Less prominent in the photo (and harder to see on such a gloomy day) is the Bedford Institute of Oceanography just to the left of the MacKay bridge. On a normal workday I'm looking out from that side of the basin... 

An unusual switcher: CN 5439, an ex-Oakway SD60, does switching duties at Rockingham. While a pair of GP40-2Ls or similar is more common, these SD60s have popped up here more regularly of late. 

One final forward shot from the Park car dome, as our train curves around the yard in Rockingham, about 20 minutes from arrival in Halifax station.

Finally, we covered the last few miles through the familiar rock cut, as the 10 minute call came for Halifax and the station soon appeared. We arrived at 5:41pm, a full 10 minutes early – pretty darn good for the eastbound train, which tends to struggle more with its on time performance than its westbound counterpart.

I packed my things, bid farewell to the crew, and made the long walk down the platform to the station. Then it was off to catch a bus, and back home once again.

Heading down the platform as the journey comes to an end. 

The ex-CP baggage car that replaced the previous ex-UP car that had been in this consist.

VIA 14, being refuelled as the baggage is unloaded and passengers disembark. A short while later it would back out and turn around on the Halterm container terminal loop, before backing in to prepare for the next day's departure as #15.

I’ll finish this Cross-Country report off with the final excerpt from my journal:

“It’s crazy how fast that all went, and every minute of it was such an incredible experience. Happy Birthday Canada! There’s a way to celebrate 150 J

I’m still in some disbelief that I’ve actually done it – coast to coast on VIA Rail. I can speak from experience about The Canadian, at last!

There are still more trains to ride, and you know I’ll definitely want to get on The Canadian again, but wow…I have lived my #1 railway dream. How crazy is that?

The journey ends, save for a familiar city bus ride home with Halifax Transit. For now, I’ll sign off.

Farewell,

Tim”   

The train that completed the journey, and brought me full circle back to where I began - VIA 14, Halifax NS.

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So the Cross-Canada trip report has pretty well come to an end, but there’s still one more piece left to go. I’ll be doing a train tour post to give people a look at exactly what it’s like on board The Canadian. Keep an eye out for that soon!

Cross-Canada Trip 2017 - DAY 8

DAY 8: Back through the Corridor and on to The Ocean

April 21, 2017 – time to get back on a train, and make the rest of the trip home! The day began with breakfast at the Cavern, the bar/restaurant in the basement of HI Toronto. It was quite good – eggs, bacon, beans, potatoes, toast and fruit.

 

HI-Toronto hostel, with outlandish mural.

I packed up my things, and made the short walk back down to Union station. It was a cool and gloomy day, but no rain.

A very cool bit of art on a building on Front St. before Church St.

Did you see the photo of the dog fountain in my recent "Mini Report"? Well here's the context: when I was there in April, I spotted this fountain under construction. There were several more dogs wrapped up and ready to be installed around the edges. It was neat to see it in operation a few months later!

So here I was, back in the Business Lounge at Union Station, where the Canadian adventure began 6 days earlier. Six days…where did the time go? There was the seat I took that evening, where I first talked to Ted, all full of excitement. Now I sat in that lounge again as someone who had ridden coast-to-coast by train, with a full journal and a whole host of photos, memories, and stories to share.

The boarding call came for #64 at 11am. I headed out through the perpetually-under-construction concourse, and up to the platform. #64 had a typical consist for that train right now – a P42 with baggage and a mix of HEP2 and HEP1 cars.

GO Train at Union station. The new glass roof makes photos so much easier.

VIA 64 at Union Station.

VIA 64 – April 21, 2017

910 P42 (Canada 150 wrap)

8618 HEP1 Baggage, ex-UP

4008 HEP2 Club (Business) (01) – Seat 13D

4005 HEP2 Club (in Economy service) (03)

4118 HEP2 Coach (04)

8112 HEP1 Coach, ex-CP (05)

4121 HEP2 Coach (06)

8101 HEP1 Coach, ex-CP (07)

I was seated in Seat 13D in Business Class in 4008. It was nice to be in a HEP2 Club for a change, since I had only been in LRCs recently. The HEP2 Clubs still have the old Club style seats, which are much comfier than the new ones in the LRCs, even if the LRC layout is quite a bit nicer.  Business Class on the train was much more spacious than the previous day’s flight, even in Premium Economy.  

Inside HEP2 Club 4008.

I recognized one of the attendants on board (Alex), as he had been on one of my Christmas trips from Montreal to Ottawa last year. He was really nice, and very thorough with his job. He seemed to remember me, but then he suggested he had recently had another “Tim Hayman” on board – a tall guy with sunglasses, who got on at Guildwood or maybe Belleville. Is there another train riding Tim Hayman out there? Who knows…

The car was pretty full leaving Toronto, but not packed. I had an empty seat next to me, and it would remain that way for the rest of the trip.

We departed at 11:30am, on time to the second. Drink service began right away. A friend of mine was out to watch our train at both Eglington and Guildwood, though I didn’t manage to spot him.

Trackmobile, ballast cars, and some other maintenance stuff outside Union Station.

Guildwood at 11:48 am, plenty of people boarding.

As I was still a Premier member, I got my priority meal choice. There were pork or pasta hot options, and a cold plate salmon again. I went for the cold plate, as it sounded quite a bit like what I had last time and really enjoyed. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t quite live up to that…

Hot towel service at 12:03pm. Oshawa at 12:09, more people board. Lunch service at 12:35. Cobourg at 12:45.

Crossing one of the dual rail bridges over Port Hope, shortly before Cobourg.  

Lunch was good, but not as good as the way up. The salmon was shredded with a lemon pepper sort of thing going on. The cranberry and carrot salad/slaw was quite good, but the little side salad was really strange (Edit - it took me months, but I think I've figured out what it was - daikon!), and the cookie was okay but a bit dry.

Lunch on 64. If anyone can tell me what that salad on the right was, I'll be impressed. I ate the thing and never figured out what it was actually made of... (Edit: Daikon! Took me a while to figure it out, but I stumbled across that in a review of a local Korean restaurant, and by George I think that's it)

There were several others on this train heading for Halifax, including a rather boisterous sounding quartet. They were mostly new to the train, and it sounded like none of them had been on the Ocean before. It could be an interesting trip…

Belleville at 1:23pm. A few more board.

Kingston at 2:02pm.

After-lunch coffee. I'll bet you can't guess how I was travelling...

I spotted a couple of swans in a pond north of the tracks during that stretch parallel to the 401 past Kingston. There were also a few wild turkeys shortly thereafter. There, a bit more wildlife for the trip…

We overtook a stopped VIA train (P42 and LRCs, multiple Canada 150 wraps) just before Gananoque.

Brockville at 2:50pm. No boardings in Business Class, and still no seat mate. The seat next to me remained occupied solely by my copy of Good Omens, which by now was about 30% read. The flight and subsequent Corridor trip lent themselves better to reading, as I got back to familiar and less exciting territory.

We passed Invista/Brochem, and there was no sign of the plant switcher. I’m thinking of trying to build a model of the SW900 they have there, so I was hoping to get a glimpse for reference. No luck.

Meet with the CN local westbound at Prescott, right at the Boundary St. crossing, as it made its way back to Brockville.

It was nice to see Johnstown, my old hometown, again. There was a lot of clearing happening down near the tracks on Sophia St., and it looks like that area may be getting more developed. I do miss that little hamlet…

There were several tanks at the CASCO interchange, but no switcher in sight as we passed.

Cornwall at 3:43pm. About 10 min late by this time, due to a brief slow order around Prescott. The skies remained cloudy, with sporadic breaks of sun.

45min to Dorval, 1h10min to Montreal.

Coteau at 4:10pm. At Coteau, I spotted CN 4139 waiting with a cut of cars on the lead to the Alexandria Sub.

We pass a WB AMT train, 1324 with MLVs, at Baie D’Urfé. Somehow we were still about 10 min late approaching Dorval. There really isn’t a lot of tolerance in the timetable on these Corridor runs. You can make up over 3 hours on #1, but lose 10 minutes on a Corridor train? You're staying 10 minutes late...

Dorval at 4:36pm. I noticed that the large “Montreal” sign on the main airport building had been re-done in Habs colours (with their logo in the “o”) for the Canadiens playoff run. There was lots of excitement about their playoff run, as well as the Leafs’ – unfortunately, both would be cut short before long.

We were on the move at 4:40, with next stop Montreal. Another AMT train – MLVs with 1356 leading. It was getting a bit sunnier here, but still lots of dark clouds.

Montreal was already starting to look a little greener than it did the week before, as we rolled into the station. There was a VIA consist (F40 and Ren set) backing out of the station, and an AMT train heading out to the St-Hilaire line as we approached the station. On the way in, local railfan photographer Michael Berry caught my train from the outside. Now there’s a shot you don’t usually manage to get while you’re riding the train!

Photo of my train approaching Montreal, by Michael Berry. See link to his Flickr page, below.

Link to Michael's Flickr Page.

The consist for the Ocean was waiting in the station as we arrived at 5:04pm. As I got off the train, I almost forgot one of my two bags – yikes! That would have been unfortunate.

6427 waits with the consist for the Ocean, currently being prepped prior to boarding.

A friend of mine dropped by to hang out for a while before my train, and then before long it was time to check in. I was happy to see that Zach, one of the crew members I’ve gotten to know fairly well, would be the service manager on #14. He gave me a warm welcome as I checked in, and made a reservation for the late (8:30pm) dinner sitting.

Additions to the VIA sign inside Montreal's Central station celebrate Canada's 150th and Montreal's 375th. I didn't even notice as I took this photo, but there's appropriately an add for The Canadian on the screen below. 

As I headed down the stairs to board #14, the train that awaited me looked an awful lot like the one I had left in Vancouver. The Ocean was once again running with stainless steel HEP equipment, and had a very similar consist to what I had ridden on the way up over a week ago. Despite looking a lot like the Canadian, with mostly identical equipment and a similar length consist, the Ocean still felt like a fundamentally different beast.

Boarding the final leg of the trip - back on The Ocean, and back in Macdonald Manor. Thanks to Tara, another VIA attendant who happens to be an able photographer in a pinch.

My attendant, Tara, was another familiar face – I’ve been on a few trips with her before. She’s originally from Antigonish, where I lived for four years while attending St. FX.

Amazingly, my new room assignment was in Car 36, Room B. This would put me back in the exact same sleeper that I started my trip on over a week ago, just in a different room! This time I would be in a forward facing bedroom, which was nice for the variety. It felt pretty similar, just with everything swapped around. I had neighbours in the adjacent room this time, and really noticed how poor the soundproofing is between rooms, thanks to the folding walls that allow the rooms to be combined into suites.

The consist for this trip was almost unchanged from the way up, just with different locomotives and a new baggage car.

VIA 14 – April 21, 2017

6427

6406

8612 Baggage (ex-CP)

8139 Coach (Deadhead, blocked with end gate)

8140 Coach

8138 Coach

8505 Skyline

8407 Emerald – Diner*

8211 Chateau Lasalle (34)

8202 Chateau Bienville (35)

8334 Macdonald Manor* (36) - Room B

8303 Amherst Manor* (37)

8312 Butler Manor* (38)

8208 Chateau Dollier (39)

Tremblant Park* (40)

*Indicates refurbished cars. Line numbers in brackets.

Lots of bedrooms were occupied, and cars 36, 37, 38 and 39 all clearly had passengers in them. 34 and 35 did have line numbers, but it didn’t look like there was anyone in them. There were pillows out on some of the berths as well, though it wasn’t clear if they would be occupied.

We departed at 6:59pm, one minute early, exactly as the welcome aboard announcement ended. I snagged the front left seat in the Park car dome as we began to roll. After 4 days of having those front seats off limits, it felt like a treat! Unfortunately the lack of dome-window-washing on the Ocean became painfully obvious in contrast to the spotless domes on The Canadian. As we snaked out of Montreal, it was strange to see a different train ahead, after getting so used to that same one for several days!

Snaking out of Montreal towards the Victoria Bridge, under the old catenary supports. With only a single Skyline and all of the sleepers marshalled behind the diner, the Ocean looked markedly different from the Canadian that I spent 4 days behind, even with the same equipment.

The Montreal skyline - and Costco. 

We met the Amtrak Adirondack as it came off the Victoria Bridge. That’s the first time I had seen that, but given the current schedule, it should be a reasonably frequent occurrence.

The Amtrak Adirondack approaches, as we sway through the crossovers.

Amtrak's Adirondack heads in to its final destination of Montreal.

The dome lights were switched off as we came across the bridge. In addition to the noticeably dirtier windows, it was striking to see just how different these refurbished original-layout Park cars are from the Prestige rebuilds. There were little things that I didn’t previously notice, like the more subdued lighting in the lounge, that just make those cars feel more refined and more relaxing. The classic Parks are great, but suddenly the lights in the lounge felt overly bright and harsh as the evening wore on.

We met a freight at St-Lambert. We made two station stops, and were away by about 7:20pm.

Freight meet at St-Lambert. The dirty dome windows were really noticeable after the spotless ones on #1.

I got chatting briefly with a couple from River John, NS, who had flown up to visit family in Ontario. They had decided to cancel their plans to fly back and take the train instead, because the husband had horrible ear pain on the flight up (boy, do I know that feeling…). This was their first time on the train, and they seemed excited about it.

I enjoyed yet another cup of Sloane Rouge Provence tea as I watched the light fade from the sky. I must have drank my weight in this stuff over the past week!

Signal lights on the roof, as we approach Mt. St-Hilaire.

An empty dome. While it was quiet in the evening, it wasn't generally this empty. I took this shot strategically as some people left for supper, and before another couple arrived.

St-Hyacinthe at 7:55, Dep. at 7:58. It was getting dark by then, and the foreboding skies killed any hope of a sunset. We went into a siding for a meet not long after that, and waited for a freight and then a VIA train before we would get moving again at 8:28pm, just as the second supper call was made.

Supper was…interesting. The dining car crew were lovely, as always – Breagh and Ocean-Leigh were among that group, and it was nice to see more familiar faces. I was seated at a table on my own, which was quite the contrast from the days on The Canadian. Despite the equipment being exactly the same, the atmosphere was different. It was quieter and less bustling, the table cloths and place settings were different – just a much more low key kind of environment in every way. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it felt strange.

The food itself was a pretty big disappointment. The chowder and dessert (a raspberry cake) were good as always, but the main course (a stuffed chicken breast) was exceptionally lackluster. The asparagus was overcooked, the potato was bland and dry, and the chicken was just sort of okay. This was largely thanks to the fact that the meals on here were once again the Renaissance catered meals re-heated, rather than food cooked on board (despite the presence of a real diner). Those meals can be great, but the quality out of Montreal is often really lacking.

Menu on #14. Standard Renaissance options, despite the full HEP diner.

Seafood chowder - the one highlight of this meal. 

"Lackluster stuffed chicken breast, with bland, dry potato, overcooked asparagus, and vaguely palatable gravy." - Somehow, I don't think that description would have sold it, even though it's more accurate. At least the wine was good.

Raspberry Cake - perfectly nice, though not as good as desserts on The Canadian.

Zach came by and asked how it was, and I said the same as I wrote above. He ended up sitting down and we chatted for a good 45 minutes. He started his VIA career on the Canadian, and worked there for several years before he moved to Halifax to work on the Ocean. He knew Karine when he worked out there, and was happy to hear she was still sticking with it. I told him quite a bit about my trip, and we chatted about all sorts of things before he had to go prepare for the stop at Ste-Foy. I headed back to my room briefly, before planning to hope off for some fresh air.  

During supper, I had also overheard conversation from a group of 3 at an adjacent table. They were all former VIA on-board employees who worked in the Corridor, northern Quebec, and Winnipeg starting in the ‘70s and ‘80s. It sounded like they had quite the careers, and I overheard some really interesting stories.

It was wet and rainy at Ste-Foy, so I stayed on board. As we got back underway, I decided it was time for bed.

So for the last time on this 9-day adventure, I headed off to go to bed on board a train; my 6^th night on the move, albeit not consecutively at this point. I hoped that after two nights on solid ground I’d be able to re-adjust to sleeping while rocking and rolling about!

Goodnight from VIA 14!

My bed in Room B of Macdonald Manor, all ready for my last night on the train for this trip.

In the next part, we will move on to the final segment of this adventure, as we finish the trek back to Halifax.

Cross-Canada Trip 2017 - DAY 7

DAY 7 – Trains, planes, and autom…ated trains

Morning in Vancouver, April 20, 2017. After 5 nights of sleeping on a moving train, there was something kind of strange about sleeping on a solid, motionless bed. Thanks to the busy day before, I slept well – but had decided to wake up much earlier than I really needed to so I could pack in some extra things while in the city.

I really wanted to do two more things while in Vancouver: ride the new Evergreen extension of the Skytrain, and ride the West Coast Express (WCE). The WCE is Vancouver’s commuter rail system, and it’s not the easiest thing to just ride for fun. The WCE is truly a commuter system, running several trains in to downtown in the morning to bring people in from the surrounding areas, and then it runs the same number of trains back out from downtown at the end of the day.  So unlike something like the GO train or AMT lines, you can’t ride the line out and back in again, unless you’re starting from one of the suburban areas and coming in to Vancouver for the day.

It’s almost impossible to actually ride it the entire length, unless you’re starting in Mission City and coming in for the day, or are willing to make a several hour convoluted bus trip one way (assuming you don’t have someone who can drive you one way). But I wasn’t really concerned with covering the entire trip: I just wanted to ride some part of it to get a feel for what it was like. Thanks to the recently opened Evergreen extension of the Skytrain’s Millenium Line, it was now actually possible to go as far as Coquitlam on the Skytrain, and then ride the WCE back in to Waterfront station, assuming you went in the morning (the opposite could be done in the evening).

The ride to Coquitlam Central on the Skytrain took about an hour from downtown. I started at Granville Station (~10min walk) and rode the Expo Line to Commercial-Broadway (~7min), and then transferred to the Millenium Line (~32min). Add in a bit of a wait between trains and the short walk from the Coquital Skytrain station to the WCE station, and you’re just shy of an hour.

Granville station. A somewhat blurry photo, which is much like how I was viewing the world at 6:30 that morning...

So I headed off at around 6:30am, with my goal being to catch the 7:40am train. I figured that if I aimed for that one, I still had the 8:10am option as a backup in case I missed it.

It was a gloomy and misty morning as I made my way out. When I made the transfer to the Millenium Line train, I headed straight for the front seat by the windshield. I hadn’t had one of these seats yet (they are popular), and I was thinking that it should be easy, given how few people were on board in that direction at that time of the morning. When I boarded at Commercial-Broadway, there was one guy who got on ahead of me – and he went straight to that seat. Ok, I thought, he can enjoy the view. Nope – he immediately put his head down and went to sleep! Bah! But at least he only stayed on for a few stations, and then I snagged the seat.

One of the other things I had contemplated doing while in town was going out to photograph the Amtrak Cascades when it left in the morning. Caught up in my Skytrain/WCE plans, I almost forgot – and then I spotted it on the way out, as we paralleled the railway line. Had we got ahead of it I would have jumped off to get a better shot, but alas, the best I got was a lousy view through the wet windshield (they don’t put the wipers on, unfortunately). In any case, it was still neat to see it. This now meant that over the course of this trip I had seen all 3 Amtrak trains that run into Canada: the Adirondack in Montreal, the Maple Leaf in Toronto, and the Cascades in Vancouver.

Amtrak Cascades through the rainy windshield. Come on now, can't I turn on the windshield wiper?

The Cascades gets ahead of us, and now we prepare to diverge from following the line.

The Skytrain ride was fun, and it was neat to see a section of the brand new line. There is a really impressive tunnel along the way, that just seems to go on for ever and ever…

 

Behind another Skytrain. The automated system does keep things a safe distance apart, and makes for a very efficient operation. 

Splitting off on the Evergreen extension.

Head-on! Have faith in the automated system...

A WCE train on its way towards downtown.

Skytrains at Coquitlam.

My train heads off towards Lafarge Lake - Douglas, on the final stretch of the Evergreen extension.

At Coquitlam I made the short walk over to the WCE station, bought my ticket, and headed to the platform to wait. There weren’t too many people when I arrived, but the crowd swelled rapidly as the train got nearer.

The Skytrain station at Coquitlam.

The WCE station at Coquitlam Central. You walk under the tracks to come up on the other side.

A CP freight was slowly rolling by on the adjacent track, and then stopped. 

My train approaches. I really love this shot - there's a very particular mood to Vancouver in the morning, and I think this captures it really well. 

The crowd awaits as the train rolls into the station.

On board I made my way to the upper level and snagged a seat by a window. The other 3 seats around me were empty, but filled before we left the station. I had originally contemplated wandering the train and trying to find the “cappuccino car” (which has a coffee bar on board), but once the others settled in I decided to stay put. I wasn’t feeling stellar at this point (too much travelling before breakfast/coffee?), and I didn’t want to push by people.

The ride in to Waterfront Station is absolutely gorgeous. There’s a lot of industry and freight activity, which is neat, and the views along the water are stunning. With the mists hanging over the water, it was a lot like the previous morning along the Fraser Valley.

Views from the WCE. This would be a pretty amazing daily commute.

More views from the WCE. Beautiful, but also a LOT of rail-served industry along the way. A fantastic commute for a railfan.

Arriving at Waterfront, I was confused to see many people staying seated and not really going anywhere. Why the hold up? There’s no further stop, is there? Once I got off I realized what was going on: everyone was funnelling into the escalator to head up into the station, and it was like a traffic jam of people. Obviously many people know that this is the case, so they don’t bother to fight the crowd, and just hang around reading or relaxing until it clears out. If you’ve got the time before you need to be at work, why not? Unlike many other commuter systems, the train itself doesn’t go anywhere right away, and they just leave the doors open and clearly don’t mind people hanging out on board for a while.

Two of the previous WCE arrivals, on the storage tracks waiting for the evening return trip.

The other end of my WCE train. A hardworking F59PHI provided the push.

Once in the station I hopped on another Skytrain to get me most of the way back to the hostel, and then walked the last bit. Breakfast was provided at the hostel, so I had something to eat and got my stuff packed up in preparation to head for the airport.

I can’t say enough just how much I like Vancouver’s transit system, most notably the Skytrain. The ride to the airport is a breeze – a 10 minute walk to get to the Canada Line, and then about half an hour on the train to the airport. It drops you right in at the terminal, and is a pretty smooth ride. I snagged a windshield seat, and enjoyed the cab-view from the automated train. The sky brightened as we neared the airport, and it became a lovely day.

 

Skytrains on the Canada Line, headed for the airport.

Vancouver airport is nice – large, but it doesn’t feel as big or chaotic as Pearson or Dorval. It’s nicely set up, but they could perhaps use some additional departure screens. Security was slow, but not the worst I’ve seen.

While waiting for my flight I popped into a café to grab a sandwich and a drink, made a phone call, and then wandered to the gate.

I would be on Air Canada Flight 148. When booking the flight, I realized that Air Canada flies a couple of YVR-YYZ flights with the new Boeing 787 Dreamliners. I really wanted to try one of these out, so I picked a flight that used one. Fortunately I was able to get a ridiculously good deal on the flight itself, so I decided to pay the extra to upgrade to a Premium Economy seat. They don’t offer that class on YVR-YYZ flights, but you can book the seat for about an extra $100. For the rate I got on the flight, plus the fact that I paid a whopping total of $0 for my entire train trip, I figured that was worth it.

I spotted a couple of 787s while I was waiting, but didn’t spot any Air Canada planes in the new livery. I thought I saw one, but it turned out to be a Delta plane – I guess that kind of proves one of the main critiques of the new AC scheme (even though I do like it…).

We boarded with only a minor amount of chaos (there was a lot of confusion about the different lines they made for different sections of the plane), and headed away on time. I was really glad to have gone for the Premium Economy seat. Instead of the 3+3+3 layout of the Economy section, the Premium Economy section is set up 2+3+2, and spaced accordingly. The seats are roomier, with more legroom and a solid division between the seats. I was in Seat 13A, and found it quite nice. It actually felt comparable, space-wise, to riding in Economy in an LRC coach (I say that as a compliment!)

 

Premium Economy seats on an AC 787. Note the "dimmable" windows - they were cool, but didn't work that well.

The flight itself was smooth, and I was really impressed with the 787. It was a quiet and smooth ride, and I found the lower cabin altitude made for a relatively painless landing (as someone with inner ear issues, that’s a rarity…). The interior design of the plane is quite nice, and the new touch screens for the in-flight entertainment system are a huge improvement – they feel more like a tablet, rather than an old-school touch screen. The fancy tinting window shades were sort of cool, but they didn’t seem to work very well, and I have to agree with people that think they’re kind of a gimmick.

The view from seat 13A. It was a beautiful day and at times a stunning view, but nowhere near the same as the view from the train. You miss so much from the air...

We landed in Toronto through dense clouds and rain, but despite warnings from the crew, there was almost no turbulence. We only had to wait a few minutes to get to the gate, and then we were off in rather good time.

It was really surreal to be back in Toronto so quickly. After making that journey on the train over 4 days, making the return flight in just over 4 hours felt…well, it felt almost like cheating. I can totally see the advantages of the flight, and the ability to travel vast distances so quickly has fundamentally changed the way we see the world, and even our own country. But if you only ever fly over these distances, you never really get any appreciation for the vast expanses, the scenic and cultural diversity, and the multitude of communities that make up this amazing country we live in. I don’t begrudge people for flying – not having to spend a week travelling to the west coast is great, and were it not for the flight back I couldn’t have managed this trip – but I feel like everyone needs to do that trip by land (either by rail or by car) at some point just to really appreciate it. You don’t really see your country from the air.

Back on solid ground and suddenly into the evening (the rapid reversal of the 3-hour time change took some getting used to) it was time to get back on the rails, as I caught the UP Express back down to Union station. I love that train; it’s fast, convenient, comfortable, and since they dropped the fares, very well priced.

From Union Station I walked over to Church St. and found the HI Toronto hostel. I was in a dorm that night, so less private, but all I really needed was a bed to sleep in. At $35 for the night and a 10 minute walk from Union Station, you can’t do much better than that!

It was pouring rain as I wandered out to find something quick to eat. Back at the hostel I took in a band that was playing in the bar downstairs: a UK band called Where Fires Are, who were in town for Canada Music Week. I enjoyed them quite a lot, and it was kind of neat to see them among a crowd of maybe 10 people. As they wrapped up, I headed upstairs to settle in for the night. I was out like a light in no time at all, and next thing you know it was morning…

In the next installment, we'll get on the rails again as we head back through the Corridor to Montreal, and board The Ocean again for the final leg of the journey.