Toronto to Winnipeg 2011

At long last, the great day arrived! Around 9 pm on Saturday night, 

Joan (with her camera at the ready) and I boarded the famous flagship 

of Viarail, The Canadian, the trans-Canada train that links east with
west. We have been looking forward to this trip for years.

 Jason, our sleeping car attendant, welcomed us,

 hefted in our bags, and led us to...

 

...our cosy bedroom with comfortable beds. We tucked in for the night, 

and as the road bed was surprisingly smooth, we slept deeply.

 

 

 We awoke to an excellent breakfast, as we watched the 

morning mist lift off the lakes we saw out our window.

 All through the day, we journeyed through heavy woods, 

alternating with views of lake after blue lake. Have you 

ever realised how much water there is in our country?

 We passed abandoned factories, ancient churches, 

every moment bringing new and unexpected views.

 Two locomotives pulled our train with its twenty-two cars, including 

two diners, three observation, one baggage, one bullet car —

 just under half a mile long! We were to journey about 3,000 miles.

 A while ago, the trains might have consisted of 36-38 cars, but that 

meant going forward and backwards in stations. Soon, this winter, 

the Canadian will reduce to about 8-car trains.

Occasionally we wait for freight trains, as the freight companies own 
the lines; some freight trains can be up to three miles long, while
most sidings are under two miles, to it must be us who wait. Did you know
that 80% of all transported goods travel at some point by rail?