My husband John and I took a few days off last week to take one of the
Top Ten Train Rides
in the world: across Canada on VIA Rail‘s “Canadian”.
This train goes back and forth between Vancouver and Toronto through some of the most
beautiful mountains and countryside in the world.
We started off on Friday, 29 July with a complete disaster: a frustrating and pointless round trip flight to Phoenix, AZ. It turned out that our connecting carrier, Air Canada (flying for United Airlines), decided to hold an end-of-month strike. That is, they left their flights on the computers but did not send any airplanes to move passengers. It is not clear why the San Francisco United staff did not tell us this instead of confirming the connecting flight at the Premier desk. Grump!
The United Premier desk in Phoenix helped us to reschedule everything since we could not get to Toronto. Instead of flying to Toronto to take the train to Vancouver, we reversed direction to take the train from Vancouver to Toronto. We ended up staying over night at the Vancouver airport Fairmont (actually inside the airport building) and spending a few hours in Vancouver before boarding the train. We checked our bags at Vancouver’s Union Station then walked a short way to board the
Downtown Historic Railway to Granville Island. From Granville Island, we took the False Creek ferry to see the ship St. Roch at the Vancouver Maritime Museum. The St. Roch crossed the icy Northwest Passage twice during World War II and now lives in its own building on the waterfront. It is one of my favorite spots in Vancouver.
John and I had our own sleeping compartment for three nights and four days aboard the Canadian’s Thompson Manor car. It came with 3 meals a day (everything was wonderful and was made from scratch on the train except the baked goods), plus access to the four dome cars and the lounge car. The staff were helpful and supportive; each car has its porter plus the dining car and lounge car staff. We sat with a number of different charming couples at meals. Most of them were retired (from South Africa, Australia, and America) but there were a few families with young children.
We were able to get out and walk a bit at some stops. The longest stop was for over an hour at Jasper high up in the mountains but we got a good walk in at Winnipeg too. Jasper looks like any ski and tourist town but the surrounding peaks are barren and spectacular. We were blown out of town by a rain and dust storm. Winnipeg was hot but had a lovely garden walkway from the station to a cantilever bridge over their muddy river.
John and I read lots of books and magazines, took many pictures and naps, and had a delightful time all around. After we got in (only 3 hours late), we stayed at Toronto’s Royal York Fairmont across the street from the station. Next morning, we flew home to San Francisco much relaxed.
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