Book

Author:	Dudley Witney
Co-authors:	Brian D. Johnson
Title:	Railway Country
Subtitle:	Across Canada By Train
Publisher:	Horizon
Country:	USA
Date:	1989
Format:	Paperback
Genre:	Transport
ISBN-10:	0919493645
Rating:	Rate
Collection:	I Own It I Want It
Community:	1 Owns
Price Guide:	Valuation Page
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WPLives 29th Jul 2021		15 Things To Know Before Taking The Train Across Canada #1: Via Rail is the only company to offer cross Canada train travel. Via Rail Canada is owned by the Canadian government and is the only company to offer train travel from one end of Canada to the other. If you are looking to travel between Halifax and Vancouver, you are going to have to book through Via Rail. Worried about only having one choice? Don’t be! Via Rail Canada has been operating for decades as the trusted name in train travel across Canada! When you take the Canadian train, you will be riding with Via Rail!



WPLives 29th Jul 2021		#2: The entire cross Canada train journey will take between 5-6 days, with no stops. Depending on the time of year you decide to take the train across Canada, the whole trip will take between 5-6 days. This is because you have to be sure that the Canadian train schedules match up with your connecting train! If you are riding on “The Canadian” which runs between Toronto and Vancouver, the trip will be four straight days if you don’t get off. If you want the true transcontinental experience and start in Halifax, you will take “The Ocean” to Montreal and then take a commuter train down to Toronto. If this sounds confusing, it really isn’t and Via Rail staff are just a phone call away to help with the planning. #3: Winter is the best time to take the train across Canada. You may be thinking that Canada in winter is a frozen tundra, but you are overreacting! We saw temperatures that ranged from 30-35°F in the mountains and 38-55°F everywhere else. During the winter, you can book a transcontinental train journey for much cheaper than high season and will enjoy huge benefits including less people to compete with for views on the train. Just make sure you pack your winter coat and a warm sweater for the train, you will want to be cozy! For more detailed information on what to pack, check out our post on 10 Things To Bring On The Cross Canada Train! If you are planning to stopover at some cities like we did, the cities will be free from loads of tourists and much cheaper as well. Most importantly, traveling by train across Canada during the winter actually gives you the best views of any season! Since many trees have shed their leaves, you can see through them and out to the landscapes beyond! If you traveled during the summer, the trees would have their leaves and you would be stuck in a “tree corridor.” Don’t forget to pack your camera for great photos! We love the Sony a6000 for an affordable camera that anyone can easily learn to operate! #4: Delays in the Via Rail Cross-Canada Train schedules are a very real thing…plan accordingly. Because of our booking process [we booked over the phone and the HR representative was leaving for surgery and 5 weeks of recovery the day after we booked], we did not know that the Canadian train would experience serious delays during our journey. If we had known in advance and planned accordingly, the delays would have been no big deal. Since we had not, the delays had a big impact on a large part of our trip. To be fair to Via Rail, they do have disclaimers on their website that you should not book onward travel or activities the day your train arrives into your station. Delays are unlikely to happen every trip and our experience was extreme, but it is never bad to be prepared when taking the trans-Canada train. Our Via Rail train was from Toronto to Jasper left 5.5 hours late which resulted in us arriving in Jasper 3.5 hours late [considering time change]. The Canadian train from Jasper to Vancouver [we did a stopover] was a whopping 9 hours late which cost us an entire day of sightseeing. The moral of the story? If we had known about the possibility of delays in the Via Rail schedule, we would have simply added an extra day to our itinerary at each destination and would have expected delays at each stop. Then, if we arrived at a reasonable time, it would have been unexpected. If you are planning to travel across Canada on Via Rail, simply build one extra day into your itinerary at each stop and do not book any flights the day you arrive. You can keep abreast of on-time performance on Via Rail’s website. Don’t let delays keep you from taking the train across Canada, simply be prepared!



WPLives 29th Jul 2021		#5: Passenger trains in Canada share the track with freight and do not have priority. The main reason for all the delays on the Canada train? On Canada rail, freight trains bring in more money than passenger trains do so they get priority on the track. The freight company also owns the train tracks so Via Rail trains must often head over to a side rail to wait while freight trains pass. Each train that passes may take up to 20-40 minutes because some freight trains in Canada can be 3 miles long! Since passenger trains in Canada are a lot shorter, they must wait on a side track until freight passes. It is pretty neat to see the giant freight trains pass your train and count how many cars make up the train. That is a great way to make this part of the train ride across Canada even more enjoyable!



WPLives 29th Jul 2021		#6: Sleeping on the Trans-Canadian train is magically relaxing. We have slept in cars, on planes, and on cruise ships, but sleeping on the Canada train was something special and one of the best parts about taking the train trip across Canada. The sound of the Canada rail cars traveling over metal tracks coupled with the relaxing movement of the train rocked us to sleep in under five minutes each night. The motion of the Canada train was perfect enough to feel completely relaxed without feeling anxious about constant movement. For an even more restful night, don’t forget to bring your sleep mask and earplugs for maximum comfort! Traveling by train across Canada made for some super restful nights!



WPLives 29th Jul 2021		#7: Not stepping foot outside the Canada train for days on end is not a problem. You can get off the Canadian train at pretty much every stop if you want so not getting off for three straight days is totally on us! We are homebodies and it was winter so we didn’t mind hanging out on the train through Canada for over 72 hours. We got plenty of exercise trekking between all the Canadian train cars multiple times a day [these things can belong!] and loved being cozy inside at all the stops our train across Canada made! If you are considering taking Via Rail “The Canadian” train trip, choose your stops along the way or choose to ride the Toronto to Vancouver train the whole way! Whatever you chose, you Canada train experience will be memorable!



WPLives 29th Jul 2021		#8: Only some Cross-Canada trains have Wifi. “The Atlantic” and the corridor train in Canada that connects Montreal to Toronto both come equipped with Wifi in certain cars, but “The Canadian” [the longest Canada train you will be on] does not. The connection on our trains from Halifax and Montreal was great and it was nice to have access to the outside world. It would have been nice to have the option for Wifi on “The Canadian” but you won’t die without it and it’s a great way to detox digitally. If you plan to take the train ride across Canada, pack or download some books in case you want to read them.



WPLives 29th Jul 2021		#9: You will find plenty to do and will rarely be bored on the train trip across Canada. In our entire 6 days of traveling by train across Canada, we can safely say that we were not bored one single time. The whole beauty of the train ride across Canada is getting to stare out the window and watch the world go by. We are an introvert/extrovert couple and the experience was delightful to both of us. Via Rail Canada has activities on board such as wine and beer tasting, live music, discussions about what is going on outside and more. There are also magazines and books and a constant supply of coffee, tea, and snacks. We also downloaded movies and watched them at night while relaxing on our bed. A Canadian train trip is truly an enjoyable and relaxing experience that you won’t soon forget!



WPLives 29th Jul 2021		#10: Trans-Canada train food is actually very delicious. If you book a “sleeper plus” class ticket on “The Canadian” and “The Atlantic”, you will have access to three very yummy meals a day in the dining car when riding the Canadian train. For each meal, you are offered a soup or salad starter, a choice between a variety of entrees, and a choice of dessert. We were thrilled that there was a vegetarian entree offered with each and every meal for Victoria. The food you will eat during your time on the train through Canada is high quality and home-cooked by Via Rail chefs in the kitchen. They have the ability to make minor substitutions since everything is cooked right in the dining car. During one of our delays, the only vegetarian food left on the Canadian train was a salad, so the chef cooked Victoria a delicious grilled cheese with soup and salad. We were really impressed by the flexibility and range of food offered on a train across Canada!



WPLives 29th Jul 2021		#11: You can choose your accommodations for the train across Canada based on your budget. With a little saving, everyone should take the opportunity to take the train across Canada. Fortunately, Via Rail offers a bunch of options for each price point. If you are on an extreme budget, you can travel in economy class, but you will not receive meals and you have to sleep in your [comfy] seat. Looking for more room? You can book a “roomette” on the “Canadian” which is a cute semi-private bunk bed that lines the hallway in the sleeper car. The beds are huge and you have a curtain for privacy. Alternatively, you can book a private cabin for one, two, or three, depending on your needs. Finally, if you are looking to go all-out, you can book the pricey Prestige Class which offers a full bed, unlimited liquor, a TV and more. Although it is expensive, prestige is already fully booked for the summer so it is quite a popular way to travel by train across Canada. We stayed in a cabin for two it was super roomy and comfortable for the journey! You can keep track of the lowest possible fares on this page! #12: The “Dome Car” offers the best view of Canada by train. The “Dome Car” was our favorite part of the Canada train and one of the best parts about traveling by train across Canada. It is equipped with very comfortable seating that elevates you above all the other train cars, giving you a 360° view of your journey. This car is by far the most popular so we suggest getting there early if you want to a good space [but don’t leave items to “save” your seat]. This car is perfect for photographers [or smartphone photographers] because you can see the entire train, what is ahead, what is above, and what is behind. These days, you can buy really affordable GoPros that make taking great videos and wide-angle photos easy for anyone! It is certainly one of the best parts of seeing Canada by train! #13: You will meet a ton of new people on the train trip across Canada. Even if you are very introverted like Terrence, you are most likely going to meet a bunch of new people when riding the train across Canada. We met people from different parts of Canada, America, Australia, England, and Korea. Simply by virtue of sitting together and admiring the scenery, you will start to connect with or chat with others. People were intrigued by our camera which opened us to a lot of conversations making the train trip across Canada even more fulfilling! In addition, you may not always get to sit at a private table for meals. Since the cars are so small and there are a lot of people, you may be put with other groups to dine. Other diners can tell if you are open to talking or not but some will befriend you anyway. Out of all the meals we ate with others, there were only two where we didn’t chat with our meal partners very much. By the end of our train ride across Canada, we had given away every business card to save one to all our new friends! #14: You will travel through 5 time zones and getting used to a new one is super easy on the Trans-Canada Train. If you choose the entire transcontinental train trip, you will pass through five time zones [Atlantic, Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific] from Halifax all the way to Vancouver. Some people online seem to think that traveling losing time while your train is going forward will mess with your mind. It actually won’t and this is truly the best way to cross time-zones that we have experienced. When traveling out west, we usually have a difficult time adjusting to the time zone. During our time on the Canadian train, we didn’t have a problem at all and our sleep was right on target the entire time! If this is something you are worried about or considering, don’t fret! There is something about taking the train across Canada that makes time zones a lot easier to adjust to! If you think you may still have a hard time adjusting, we suggest taking some melatonin just in case. #15: You won’t want to say goodbye to your train trip across Canada. You just rode a train across Canada which is something not many people get to do! When it comes time to pack up your belongings and say goodbye to the train and your journey, it is going to be really hard! The experience is so unique that you will instantly begin to miss the motion, the meals, the views, your accommodations, and more. We genuinely felt a little sad every time we had to step off the Canadian train, but especially when we arrived in Vancouver and had to leave for good. Make sure to make the most of your travel so you can remember every detail about your time on the Canadian train!

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