19 hours on The Train

Thompson river from the train.

This was the experience that drew us to this tour.  We have always wanted to travel across Canada on the train.  Now that we have done a small portion of our "dream trip", I'm not so sure I want to spend 6-7 days on the train without getting off.

Back to our 19 hours.  I've mentioned before that it seems that the sun never goes down, so when we got settled in our compartment, we headed to the observation car to get a good view---- and all we saw was the city as we were leaving.  There were free snacks (fruit, cookies, juice) with champagne.  We tired of that after awhile--- we've been told that the good views aren't going to be seen until morning-- and went back to check out our "room".

Picture a 6 ft X8 to10ft cubicle with two upright padded chairs bolted to the floor.  We can see out the window and we face a tiny sink and camp style bathroom.  This is the day set-up.  We have a lady named Mona whose job on our car is to set up the beds at a certain time.  We were told to bring our carry-ons cuz our large checked luggage was staying on our bus and it was driving to meet us.   Most carry-ons are small, but there was nowhere to put them in our compartment.

No room to walk

We were constantly tripping over them or putting them in front of the bathroom door.  We finally figured this out, we left for awhile and "as if by magic" when we returned there were beds instead of chairs.  An upper bed with a ladder and a lower.  Now there really was almost no walking space.

We had to get ready for bed one at a time. (brush teeth, etc)  I was on the top bunk and kept asking N-- hand me this and hand me that.  I thought the rocking of the train might be soothing and I was right-- I slept soundly.  N on the other hand woke every time the train slowed or stopped on a siding for another train to pass.  And this happens frequently because a train loaded with coal or equipment is heavier and takes much longer to slow, so they have the "right of way".  Needless to say, N's night wasn't as restful as mine.

The meals on the train for our compartment are of two schedules.  Breakfast was "first come -first served"  Just go sit and order and eat.  Rather fancy, but as I was listening to the maitre 'd not nearly as elegant as it used to be (budget cuts).   There were 5 choices for breakfast meals and the food was brought quickly.  My food was very good and satisfying.  (I am kinda trying to keep track of Weight Watcher points, so I'll know, but it's not very accurate---- not expecting to lose, but hoping not to gain too much)

Lunch was another matter.  When we first got our tickets for the train we also received a lunch ticket for "2nd seating".  The first group ate at 11, we ate at 12:30.  The was the same set up with a meat choice, a chicken choice, a seafood choice and a vegan choice.  We had a dessert choice of brownie or cherry ice cream.     Good food, interesting experience.  The rest of the afternoon we watched in the observation car or other places on the train.

--- Oh I forgot to mention, we put a card on our outside door when we went to breakfast and voila our beds were gone.  If we hadn't put the card out, the lady would have left the beds for afternoon naps.  Again, some folks were going to be on the train for days.

That pretty much finishes the train story.  I'm glad we did it, I'm glad we didn't stay on the train for days.  But I think our tour company misrepresented the train ride in the title of the tour.  "Western Canada Via Rail" doesn't sound like 19 hours out of 9 days does it?  Enjoyable, but I'm glad to get onto the next part of the tour.  We're in Jasper, and it is a smallish town for skiers and mountain climbers.

We walked down to the tourist area and thought we might find something we "need" We had a hot dog and some ice cream and walked back maybe 10-12 blocks each way.  N bought a shirt, I found a gift for someone.