15 November 2006
First day on the train
Thursday 2 October
This morning we got our wake up call at 6 and set about re-packing for our marathon journey - two days on The Canadian from Toronto to Jasper. Everything went smoothly; we checked our baggage in and bought breakfast bagels and supplies for the train, then got on.
The car wasn’t as quite as nice as the Renaissance car between Amherst and Montreal (we're becoming experts in VIArail carriage types), but the seats reclined lots and were roomy and comfortable. Things took a turn for the worse when, after only about 30 minutes, the train stopped. The brakes on our carriage had seized. We waited for about three hours for the maintenance crew to arrive and decide that the car had to be removed. We were all herded into the lounge car, and moved to the seats in the Dome (an observation bubble). These were small, less padded, had no headrests or footrests, and didn’t recline. There was also no luggage space. It took an hour just to take the defective coach off and it turns out that we can’t get a new carriage until Winnipeg (tomorrow late afternoon) so we will all have to sleep here tonight. As compensation we get free tea and travel vouchers to the value of 50% of this leg of the journey, which isn’t very impressive. Still, it has been snowing heavily, so we have a fine view of some beautiful snowy scenery to console ourselves with. The birch and fir trees all have a thick dusting of snow, and there are lots of black pools in hollows in the woods, as the water hasn’t frozen yet. It’s like an alien world.
Earlier on a man from the dining car came round taking reservations for dinner (expensive). We asked what else there was, and he said, “oh, in the snack bar they have hot meals – pasta and things like that” so we didn’t reserve a dining car seat. When we went to get dinner, “pasta” was actually chicken pot noodles and a choice of turkey and cheese, beef and cheese or ham and cheese rolls. Yum. One roll (and a noodle) starred in a film though (we have been experimenting with the animation setting on the camera).
This morning we got our wake up call at 6 and set about re-packing for our marathon journey - two days on The Canadian from Toronto to Jasper. Everything went smoothly; we checked our baggage in and bought breakfast bagels and supplies for the train, then got on.
The car wasn’t as quite as nice as the Renaissance car between Amherst and Montreal (we're becoming experts in VIArail carriage types), but the seats reclined lots and were roomy and comfortable. Things took a turn for the worse when, after only about 30 minutes, the train stopped. The brakes on our carriage had seized. We waited for about three hours for the maintenance crew to arrive and decide that the car had to be removed. We were all herded into the lounge car, and moved to the seats in the Dome (an observation bubble). These were small, less padded, had no headrests or footrests, and didn’t recline. There was also no luggage space. It took an hour just to take the defective coach off and it turns out that we can’t get a new carriage until Winnipeg (tomorrow late afternoon) so we will all have to sleep here tonight. As compensation we get free tea and travel vouchers to the value of 50% of this leg of the journey, which isn’t very impressive. Still, it has been snowing heavily, so we have a fine view of some beautiful snowy scenery to console ourselves with. The birch and fir trees all have a thick dusting of snow, and there are lots of black pools in hollows in the woods, as the water hasn’t frozen yet. It’s like an alien world.
Earlier on a man from the dining car came round taking reservations for dinner (expensive). We asked what else there was, and he said, “oh, in the snack bar they have hot meals – pasta and things like that” so we didn’t reserve a dining car seat. When we went to get dinner, “pasta” was actually chicken pot noodles and a choice of turkey and cheese, beef and cheese or ham and cheese rolls. Yum. One roll (and a noodle) starred in a film though (we have been experimenting with the animation setting on the camera).
