Scenes From On Board "The Canadian"

Taking a trip across Canada on our country's premier passenger train is a lot of fun! It is like being in a cottage on wheels! Check out some of these scenes from inside the train.

Our dining car and the dining experience that goes with it over the three day journey is "first class" all the way! Imagine dining at the Chateau Laurier in Ottawa or the Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City or the Banff Springs Hotel in Alberta...well, that is what our dining experience was like aboard "The Canadian"!

We meet many interesting people and strike up friendships aboard "The Canadian". This couple is from England and the gentleman behind is Pierre Ozorak, a well-known railroad photographer. We're in the dome car here.

That's me in the foreground and the gentleman in the white T-shirt has come all the way from France to tour Canada.

This little tyke is enjoying his journey across Canada. I timed the shot as we passed through a freight yard in order to get the UP symbol framed nicely in the background!

This is Ivan, one of our VIA employees stationed in the "park car"...which is the first class lounge and tailend car.

The park car is a great place to unwind...as if you need unwinding! The entire trip is a pleasant experience! Check out the old ashtrays now used as cup and glass holders!

A "Meet"ing of "Similar Kinds"

Well, we're back aboard the train and the only two locations on board to get decent shots of passing trains is from the dome cars or the tail end park car. Keep in mind that these shots are taken through curved glass with much reflection. You can certainly grab some great interior shots though!

We've entered a siding in a long rock cut so I climb up into the rooftop dome section of the first dome car behind the locomotive set. There happen to be four dome cars on our train this trip.

And...here's who we've been waiting for...an eastbound CN freight train and he's travelling along very slowly.

The front door below the cab opens and a crewman steps out onto the front of his diesel to conduct a runby inspection of our train. It's certainly nice to know that we're well looked after!

We await our clearance before we head back out on the main in our westward direction. Hmmm...I wonder who we'll visit on our next "meet" in another siding.

I don't have to wait too long as we tuck into another siding. What a pleasant surprise to see our counterpart, train #2, the eastbound "Canadian" passing by! Could there possibly be any other surprises in store?

Why, yes there is! Now looky there would'ya! It's Spiderman pulling our eastbound friend...and because I managed to snag this shot from the rear car through the cleaner window...I'm able to get an okay shot!

I wave goodbye to the tailend car on train #2 and I wonder if someone in that car is taking a picture of me!

Refuelling at Sioux Lookout

Sioux Lookout is located north of Superior. It is known as the blueberry capital of Ontario. To railfans on "The Canadian" Sioux Lookout is one of the few places the train stops on its cross-country journey. This offers travellers the opportunity to get out to look at the old station and it offers railfoans the opportunity to grab a few shots of the refuelling operations.

The station is now abandoned and boarded up. This is most unfortunate as it surely must have been a beautiful structure in its heyday. A few years back a private individual purchased the station to renovate and re-open, but when the government learned that internal renovations were taking place, a stop-work order was issued based on the ground that this is a "heritage" building. Apparently this man threw his arms in the air and abandoned any dreams of making the necessary improvements in order to someday reopen the building.

I walk past the station to check on the refuelling job being done. All three locomotives are given a good, long drink before departing the station.

As I walk towards the engines I chose to snap this "artsy" close-up shot of the multiple unit hoses connecting two of our locomotives!

Before crossing the tracks, I seek permission. It is granted and I'm able to snap this photograph of the three workhorses that are pulling us across this vast land of ours! Not long after, we hear the "All Aboard" and we are soon on our way heading to the Ontario/Manitoba border.

Around Ontario on "The Canadian"

My previous post provided an account of the beginning of my trip on board "The Canadian". I would like to continue with more railroad photographs taken in Ontario above the Great Lakes.

This photograph was taken out the rear window of the park car "Waterton Park". The park car is the dome car on the end of the train and is a special car equipped with a full lounge and large windows sweeping around to the rear of the car.

You can clearly see that we've just "met" a CN container train heading in an eastward direction to Toronto. I cannot begin to count the number of meets that were held along the vast distance of our route from Toronto to Vancouver. One thing's for sure...we certainly saw a lot of "passing trains" over the course of the journey!

We've stopped in Capreol to refuel and pick up some passengers. The workers are very friendly and will pose for pictures while conducting their tasks. Those fuel tanks certainly look big when contrasted beside a grown railroad employee.

Hey, you don't have to be a man to work on the railroad as this happy lady can attest. Looks like a job I wouldn't mind having trackside! She's busy loading and unloading some baggage to and from the train during our stop in Capreol.

The 6458 is the second unit hauling our train and is seen here busy getting a little drink of fuel. The yellow, blue and grey stand out beautifully against the blue Capreol sky!

Travelling aboard Train #1 "The Canadian"

I have recently returned from a fabulous trip aboard our country's premier passenger train, "The Canadian". Our family travelled by train in a westward direction and flew home via the airline industry. I hope you will enjoy some of the train related pictures I will be sharing with you. As the schedule board in Toronto's Union Station clearly states, "The Canadian" from Toronto to Vancouver is Train#1.

Some of the images I like taking are those "artsy" types that demonstrate that "other side" of railroading. This next image of the VIA stepstool is but one example of this type of photography. Indeed, the bright yellow stool seems to be inviting us along on the trip...so, I guess that it's an "All Aboard" for a trip across this vast nation!

Before we get to far along on our trip, let's take a closer look at just the diesel brutes that will be hauling the 22 car set across the nation. Yes, this trio of F40Ph's is more than enough power to handle our train given their rating of 3000 HP a piece! This shot was taken in Capreol, Ontario.

As we travel through the Canadian Shield, I found myself enjoying the luxury of the Park Car on the tail end of the train. The park car is one of four dome cars on this train with the only difference being its location at the rear and the inclusion of a fabulous lounge for first class passengers. The park car offers you the opportunity of shooting images from the tail of the train through straight glass (unlike the curved plexiglass located up in the domes) and the glass is naturally "bug-free"! This scene shows a bridge we have just crossed looking back down the tracks somewhere in Northern Ontario.

Here is an image of the park car taken "Waterton Park" at Capreol just outside of Sudbury. Note the stainless steel shell. These cars are over fifty years old and continue to offer rail enthusiasts a comfortable and unique rail experience.

I will continue to post excerpts from my travels in up-coming editions, so log on frequently so as not to miss the updates!