By train across Canada 2025

 On Saturday June 28th 2025 we were driven to Montreal by granddaughter Isabelle. It was a two hour journey. The Nadeau family were having their annual Lobster Party. There were about 30 people there. It was most enjoyable to catch up with many of them whom we had met before. When daughter Sarah and Martin got married 23 years ago (in August) several of them came out to Victoria for the occasion. Here are a few pictures from yesterday.   

 

 

 Our motivation for the trip was to attend Madeleine’s graduation. She was at St Mathew’s Catholic High School in Orleans, Ontario.  It is part of the Catholic School Board of Ontario. This school has about 2000 students. There were nearly 200 graduating from grade 12 this year. Here are some pictures.

 There were many areas to sit. We hoped to find (without success) a couple to play bridge but we did manage to play cribbage. This was Hell’s gate  This was at Jasper station which had been spared from the fire in 2024 The food was good on board. Eggs Benedict for breakfast. This is inside the caboose where the Prestige class passengers were accommodated.

 Here are a few photos. Just to record the start on the bus from Victoria to Vancouver that went on the ferry. Friend Hugh met us at the Vancouver train station and we were able to have lunch at their house in Vancouver before catching the train to Toronto.  This was the caboose on the train where the Prestige class passengers were located. We visited and were able to watch out of the back of the train.  Approaching Hell’s Gate Looking up to the observation car where we spent a lot of time. Very comfortable seats. The dining car. 

 We were passing through the Canadian Shield. Multiple lakes. Many waits for freight trains.  There were many interesting people on the train. Early on we met a woman from Portland who had been a social worker. She was very well read and was keeping up to date with all the Trump news. She was clearly a Democrat. I found her views similar to mine. Later we met a couple from Lake Tahoe, Nevada. She was a “travel advisor”. She had taken some sort of certification. It however helped her get big discounts on travel. They had booked in Prestige nineteen months previously and managed get a 22% discount. He had trained as an electrical engineer. His part time job was as a manager of a Casino. He explained how all the slot machines are programmed to pay out  the Nevada tax and the profit to the owners. He said that a computer chip in each machine is changed about every six months with new software and no doubt changed guaranteed profits and payment of taxes. The chips are changed ...

 One is very concious of the economy of every part of Canada as we train accross the county. In Alberta you see oil rigs and cattle. We went through Edmonton in the night. The train seemed to wait a long time there.  The number of trains travelling in each direction is amazing. It is almost non-stop. There are trains with lumbar, trains with oil, trains with Potash, trains with cereals and then trains with just containers which will have all sorts of consumer products in them. The VIA rain trail has to wait frequently on a siding while these trains pass in either direction.   The VIA rail crew changed in the night while we were asleep.. The train had 24 carriages, 32 staff and about 150 passengers. It was build in 1956 and there are parts of it which seem antique. One evening we visited the Premium or Prestige section at the back of the train. It had a caboose with a view of the rails astern as the train was travelling. It had been ungraded inside since 1956.  We lat...

 We had a very talkative bus driver from Victoria to Vancouver. I needed to put on my sound deadening headphones and listen to choral music. We were half an hour late but Hugh was there to meet us and take us to lunch at their home with Caroline. We were very happy to catch up with old friends who we have known for about 50 years. The VIA train was built in 1956. It has been renovated but the basic structure of Aluminium and Stainless steel is original. We have a very small cabin where there is only room for one person to move around.  The VIA staff (who were on board from Vancouver to Winnipeg) were excellent. In Vancouver I mistakenly left my backpack in the waiting room. I realized when we got to our cabin that I had left it behind. One for the staff had found it and with two witnesses, he told me, he looked inside and found my name in a notebook. They then were able to locate our cabin and brought it to me. I was impressed.  We travelled through the Fraser valley and ...

 Travelling is fun and can be a challenge. There are three phases - planning, doing it and then telling about it afterwards. It seems the more one travels the longer the lists of things to do before setting off. It is more complicated when there are two of you. When I did some single handed sailing I used to say I liked it because "you do not have to worry about anyone else" and "you do not have to worry about other peoples worries". This applies to solo travelling. On the other had there are benefits of having a companion, someone who reminds you of what you might have forgotten to take. This seems particularly true as one gets older. The lists help and get longer with things like medication needs, electronic needs, climate adjusting clothing etc. Penny and I leave to-morrow morning - taxi to the Victoria bus station, bus and ferry to Vancouver bus station where we are scheduled to arrive three hours before the train departs. We are delighted that our friends the R...

Canada is a vast country. It is about 4500 KM from Vancouver to Halifax by train. We decided to go by train to our second granddaughter's graduation in Orleans, near Ottawa and then carry on the Halifax. Madeleine (in the red dress) had her high school prom before the end of term and before the final exams. She has been buddies with these two girls since kindergarten. Here is a picture of them in their prom dresses. We leave on Friday 20th by bus and ferry to Vancouver where we board the VIA rail train.  There is a lot of smoke from forest fires which we hope will not impair the views from the train or our time in Ottawa. In addition we have heard that VIA staff may go on strike after June 26th.