JOURNEYING ACROSS CANADA
WITH VIA RAIL
By Ella Sobel

Last month I had the opportunity to have a dream turn into reality. Thanks to the services of Via Rail, I took the train from Montreal to Vancouver and back. The adventure began on a Wednesday night at Central Station in Montreal. I boarded Enterprise - Via's overnight train to Toronto with my three travel companions.

This was my first experience on the new Renaissance trains that were introduced on the Montreal - Toronto route during the past year. The main advantage to these compartments was having the convenience of a shower and sink in your private bathroom. Taking the Enterprise allowed us to travel while we were sleeping; the departure time was 11:30 p.m. and we arrived in Toronto at 8:20 a.m. rested from a good night of sleep and ready to start the day after having had breakfast onboard.

We then boarded the second train that would take us all the way to Vancouver. It was train number one - The Canadian. The train was located across the tracks and left Toronto at 9 a.m. We had three days of travel to look forward to as we made our way west.

After getting settled in our compartments, it was time to explore. Where to start?

There was the Kootenay park car at the very end of the train; the observation car where you could enjoy the scenery; a lower deck to the observation car where you could relax and read or chat with other passengers; the activity car with board games and movies, and the dining car.

While exploring, we also got to meet some of the friendly staff that was on board with us from Toronto to Winnipeg. At that point, there was a change in staff. I have fond memories of chatting with Wendy and Dionne on that first segment of the trip; just to name a few of the staff members that made the trip as special as it was. Our activity director on the second leg of the trip from Winnipeg to Vancouver was Domenic, who went a long way to making the passengers feel important and special.

The meals were delicious ... both lunch and supper boasted three course meals. The starter was usually soup or a salad, followed by a main course of beef, fish, vegetarian, or chicken. There was also a choice of three different types of dessert at each meal. I must say that I really enjoyed the vanilla ice cream, as it was so rich and flavourful. One of my companions decided to be creative and have a bison burger with caramel sauce as his dessert.

I thought I would get cabin fever to a certain degree ... after all, what could you possibly do for three whole days on a train?

I must say, I was pleasantly surprised. I had boarded the train with 4 books, yet only managed to get through two of them on my trip. I had made new friends; people of different ages from different places. I managed to get in some games of scrabble as well as cribbage. I caught up on some movies and enjoyed the scenery as the train sped across the country.

One of the most important aspects of the trip was having the chance to really relax and decompress from my day to day hectic life. It is quite incredible how good it feels to have the opportunity to not have to think of anything more important than "When should I take my nap this afternoon?" or "What time should I eat supper tonight?". This trip was the ultimate experience in relaxation for mind and soul.

There were also several stops along the way where you could get off the train.

In Ontario the stops were at Capreol and Sioux Lookout. In Manitoba we stopped in Winnipeg. In Saskatchewan the stop was in Saskatoon. In Alberta the stops were in Edmonton and Jasper. In British Columbia there was a stop in Kamloops before finally arriving in Vancouver on the Sunday morning just before 8 a.m. My favorite stop was Jasper.

I had a wonderful time walking around the town and taking photographs to my heart's content. It was a nice outing, yet still pleasant to board the train once again and continue with the journey.

We arrived in Vancouver on schedule on Sunday morning. I found this to be very practical, as we still had the full day to explore Vancouver once we disembarked and got settled at our hotel.

To my delight, we were also presented with certificates that commemorated our journey across Canada. We also received a souvenir book that chronicled the trip across Canada complete with photographs and description.

All in all, this was a trip of a lifetime, one that I would do again without any hesitation!

(Ella Sobel is a freelance photographer and she produced many of the pictures used on this web site.)