One of the most common themes I overheard amongst my fellow travelers was that a trip on The Canadian had long been a “bucket list” item. This was especially true amongst our Canadian brethren who were rightfully proud of their famous train. I mean, Canada is the second-biggest country in the world. What better way to experience just how big and diverse your home country is than to enjoy watching it go by at “see-level” while crossing five provinces, 670 bridges and dozens of tunnels and mountain passes along the way? As for the rest of us heathen, we were equally enchanted.

It was about 5:00pm when Amanda brought out a tray of hors d'oeuvre that included smoked oysters, cheese and mushroom rolls in flaky pastry. If I were a halfway decent trip reporter I would have remembered to photograph the offerings. Alas, I’m slipping in my old age. Please accept my apologies. Many of us refreshed our drinks and conversation continued to flow as the woodlands of western Ontario rolled past our windows in the diminishing late autumn light. I spent a good amount of time chatting with Chuck and Judy, a couple from eastern Tennessee who’d booked an eight day vacation around their ride on The Canadian. Neither of them were rail fans in the classic sense of the genre, but Chuck in particular remembered a train trip he’d taken from Atlanta to New Orleans as a kid while Judy was just excited to enjoy the scenery and highly regarded service along the way – not to mention their time to be spent after the ride on Vancouver Island. She also mentioned having fond memories of an old Gordon Lightfoot song about Canadian railroads. I remember that song, too. I just can’t remember the title.

I can’t state enough how nice it is to be “unplugged” on this journey. With no Wi-Fi other than the occasional phone signals that would come through at major stops along the way such as Winnipeg or Edmonton, there were few artificial distractions. (There was a movie played in the Skyline Lounge each afternoon) Unlike airplanes where most people lower their shades and sit in the dark while glued to their video screens surfing the internet, checking out the IFE or whatever, now we had no choice but to entertain ourselves the old fashioned way by enjoying the passing scenery or engaging in direct social interaction with our fellow passengers. I met a lot of interesting people and heard some great travel stories. Few if any people sat in their rooms or berths over the entire journey. I mean, we’re talking four days here, not a four hour flight. If only out of boredom, it’s only natural to pay a visit to the lounge now and then and definitely make two or three daily visits to the dining car, especially since meals were included in the fare and the food was of such good quality and preparation.

Speaking of meals, as we rolled across the now dark landscape of western Ontario, an announcement was issued over the train’s PA system requesting all of those with 8:45pm dinner reservation to make their way to the dining car. Right! Chuck, Judy and I were all on the 8:45 seating along with about half the rest of the lounge patrons. As such, we three ended up sharing a table together with a pleasant gal from Nelson, BC named Willow.

Each table was nicely set with crisp white linens providing a palette atop which were placed not three but six pieces of silverware, a bread plate, a cup and saucer and a menu housed in a black leather binder. Water was delivered along with butter and a bread basket.



ViaRail Place Setting


Unfortunately, both my pictures of the menu came out a bit blurrier than I consider acceptable for inclusion in this trip report, so I will have to go from memory. All dinners started with a choice of soup or salad – or both if you like. Tonight’s choices were a bowl of New England Clam Chowder or a Mixed Green Salad accented with feta cheese. I requested both, along with an ice cold Fort Garry Pale Ale.



Clam Chowder


Dinner Salad with Feta Cheese


Entrée choices included prime rib, chicken champignon, poached lake trout or a stuffed Portobello mushroom cap. Oooo… tough choices. Finally I opted for the chicken, as did Chuck. Judy chose the prime rib while Willow, a vegetarian, requested the stuffed Portobello mushroom cap.

Now then, what kind of weirdo would bring his camera to dinner in order to photograph each course? I do! I do! (That’s me back there vigorously raising my hand and knocking over my water glass) While some might snicker in derision at such crass behavior, I’ve got a trip report to deliver here. If I’m going to effectively convey a sense of ViaRail’s meals in both the quality of the food served and its presentation, I believe visual evidence through photographs is the most effective means of doing so. And, let’s be honest here – it’s only a quick couple of photos of each course. As dinner table actions go, it’s about as non-intrusive as you can get.

Additionally, it’s not necessary for me to photograph every meal on this trip. Nor is it necessary – per my standards at least – to get multiple close ups of each course from different angles. A simple overview of a couple different meal types is all that’s required. So - to anyone feeling squeamish or dismissive over such behavior, you’ll get neither support nor commiseration from me. Besides, as you eagerly look over the pictures I’ve submitted here, you’ve got to admit one thing: You know you love it!

Now then, let’s check out that chicken!



Chicken aux Champignons


Oh yeah! Check out that presentation! Look at that delicious sauce! You can practically taste those buttery mushrooms and moist chicken. G’wan! Have another bite. Rail borne meals could hardly be any finer.

Across from me, Judy was equally impressed with her prime rib but knew immediately that given the extreme size of her portion (almost 1” thick!), she’d only be able to eat about half of it. Chuck and I each relieved her of a couple ounces worth each.

Throughout our meal, the service was friendly and efficient. One thing I noticed was that no single server was responsible for any given table. It was a team effort shared equally amongst the four servers. As a result, each course was cleared off efficiently and new courses were delivered in a timely manner.

Dessert was a choice between a lemon raspberry cream cake or a chocolate torte. I’ll have the lemon raspberry cake please.



Lemon Raspberry Cream Cake


By the time the last of our plates had been cleared off, the time was approaching 9:45pm. Never again would the third dinner seating ever be so late. This morning, while arranging meal time preferences in the ViaRail lounge, I’d been informed that since all that was left was the last seating at 8:45, tomorrow night I’d get first choice. As such, I opted for the middle seating at 6:30pm. Indeed, I stayed with the middle seating throughout the remainder of the trip.

After dinner Chuck and Judy retired to their cabin while Willow and I headed back one car to the Skyline Lounge. Willow worked as a home care nurse in Nelson and was on her way home after visiting her sister in Hamilton, Ontario. Like most of her fellow Canadians, this was her first time riding the train across the country.

I get the sense that the biggest factor inhibiting most people from riding The Canadian regularly is that traditionally a Sleeper Plus ticket on The Canadian has been very expensive. It still is. However, thanks to ViaRail’s ongoing sale of Sleeper Plus accommodations - apparently initiated over the past year or so - it’s become a lot more affordable. Mind you, the sale fares we paid for travel on this date in late October were significantly lower than usual because we’d just entered the off season when travel drops off considerably. Had we been traveling during the more popular spring and summer months, even the sale fares would have been substantially higher, enough so that in the interests of personal fiscal responsibility some of us might have chosen not to ride on this train.

It was about 11:00pm when I called it a night and made my way three cars forward to my berth in Fraser Manor. Car attendant Cal had not only made up my berth but even turned the sheets and duvet back. For my part, I found the duvet a bit large and unwieldy and so used my personal wool blanket which suited my needs much better. The rhythm of the rails and the gentle rocking of the train allowed sleep to come easily. I slept well until about 7 the next morning.



Lower Berth made up for bedtime


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I awoke to the sun breaking over wetlands rolling past my window. OMG! Where’s my camera! Ah, there it was sitting in the depths of my daypack perched on a shelf at the end of my bed. I quickly retrieved it, raised the window shade all the way up and positioned myself at the end of the bed so I could focus on the view looking backwards toward the rising sun over the eastern horizon.



Sunrise on Ontario’s western frontier


The shower was occupied with one guy already waiting in line for it, so I slid back under my blanket and read for a while until it became available later on. The shower in my car had pretty decent pressure – as railroad car showers go. I understood that wasn’t the case with showers in a couple of other sleepers. That said, just because your accommodations were in one car didn’t mean you couldn’t go shower in another. I found this out on the third morning of the trip when the pipes to our shower froze up.

I should mention here that our second and third days – while crossing Saskatchewan, Manitoba and eastern Alberta – were bitterly cold. We’re talking still air temperatures in the single digits on the Fahrenheit scale, with wind chills who knows how much colder. With the exception of Winnipeg and Jasper, I never got off the train at any of the many “fresh air” breaks – essentially stops that were just long enough for the smokers amongst us to hop off and attend to their addictions. Announcements were always made well in advance of these stops and I got a kick out of how quickly the smokers got themselves prepared to go, primed and ready in the vestibules like runner in the blocks prior to a sprint.

In any event, they bore the full brunt of the arctic chill as they huddled just outside the railroad cars puffing away while exhaling large clouds of smoke and hot moist air. I felt bad for them – but only a bit. Mostly, I’m glad I quit back when a pack of cigarettes cost only a couple of dollars. Back then, you could still smoke onboard trains, too.

Although a Continental breakfast (yogurt, granola, breakfast pastries & fruit) was available in the diner from 700 to 830, coffee and breakfast pastries along with a limited assortment of fruit was also available in the Skyline Lounge throughout most of the morning. Had there been a proper breakfast offered in the morning followed by lunch at the usual hours, I would have taken advantage of both; but since there were essentially only two full meals served each day (Brunch from 930 to 130 and Dinner in three evening sittings starting at 530) I decided to do coffee and pastries in the Skyline Lounge for breakfast, then head back to the diner for Brunch at about 1:00pm. I always opted for the second dinner sitting, which usually happened at around 6:30pm.

Because the Skyline Lounge also had electrical outlets, I found it a great place to plug in and put in a bit of work on this trip report.



My makeshift office


Hard at work on this trip report


Now it’s hardly surprising that the flat, golden plains of Saskatchewan and Manitoba do not elicit much in the way of positive commentary amongst most rail riders. Trees, crop fields, huge grain elevators and various small farm towns flew by along the way. According to the schedule, every so often we’d roll through towns with names like McKee’s Camp, Gogama, Foleyet, and Mud River but as often as not you’d never know it. Some of these “towns” were not much more than what looked to be a nearby farm and some out buildings. I found it very relaxing to enjoy the variety of passing countryside, and quite conducive to trip reporting or just kicking back with a good book.

Regardless of the scenery, the lounges were always busy with people socializing, playing some of the board games available or working at solving one of the three 500 piece jigsaw puzzles.

Alright, enough trip reporting for now. Let’s pack it up and head back to the diner for lunch, shall we?



Lunchtime across the plains of Saskatchewan


Dining car ambiance across the plains of Saskatchewan


Brunch menu on Day 2


So far my brunches had all consisted of omelets mainly because the single luncheon style option available each day hadn’t really appealed to me. Today’s selection – a quinoa salad – wasn’t really doing it either. I want a hot lunch! Imagine then my surprise and delight when my server Rachel informed me that although it wasn’t on the menu, a hamburger was also available. Oh yeah! Sign me up!



A pretty good hamburger, too


Dessert is also not listed on the luncheon menu, which was no big deal because I usually don’t eat dessert anyway. Still, when I saw a delectable looking combination of fruit, pastry and ice cream being delivered to the couple across from me, a dessert described as a raspberry apple crumble, I couldn’t resist - especially with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.



Raspberry Apple Crumble with Ice Cream


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