Moving experiences

Traveling across country by train offers various opportunities

Discoveries are daily aboard Via Rail’s Canadian on a 2,775-mile rail journey across Canada.

It’s a huge country — second largest on Earth after Russia — and traveling through it by train not only showcases its vastness but its variety.

In many places, cell phones could find no signal, and most of the way no Wi-Fi was available, the exception being some stations. To my surprise, the disconnectedness bothered me only briefly, and soon I embraced it.

On my Vancouver-to-Toronto journey, I took advantage of an option that allows one free stop along the way and, along with quite a few other passengers, I chose a three-day stop in Jasper, Alberta, in the middle of the rugged Rocky Mountains. Its stunning scenery and wildlife are great attractions. Plus, there’s its proximity to world-famous Lake Louise, a three-hour drive down a scenic parkway with a midway stop for glacier views and experiences. If you missed them, you can read my stories on that area at bit.ly/2mCL0wr and bit.

ly/2j80svV.

Passengers might choose instead to stop a few days at Saskatoon or Winnipeg. That can be arranged at the time the trip is booked.

My trip from Vancouver to Toronto was in autumn

as the leaves were turning. Entering the second day onboard, Oct. 4, it was apparent the Rocky Mountains were topped with snow. I was really eager to be in the Dome Car when Mount Robson came into view so I

could photograph it. That’s when I learned that, despite a timetable, the Canadian is rarely on time. Because the freight companies own the rail lines, passenger trains must pull over to a siding and wait when a freight

train comes through.

At 12,972 feet, Mount Robson is the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies. Train staffers assured me that even though we were running late, an announce-

ment would be made on the PA system. When the overhead announcement came I made beeline up a set of spiral stairs into the Dome Car with my camera and got the last available seat — facing backward.

But I quickly discovered that wasn’t the biggest obstacle to my photographic efforts. There is a 360-degree view, but the tinted and rounded glass of the Dome Car tends to distort the camera lens.

But it was a clear day, and everyone was snapping away. Mount Robson is distinguishable by its flat, white crown and layers of rock that give the appearance of a path spiralling upwards. It was a beautiful, even though my photos

didn’t do it justice.

I soon learned the Dome Car also was the location of occasional talks about the area through which train was passing.

It was in the Dome Car I learned the Continental Divide — near Jasper — determines which direction water will flow. Rivers west of the divide flow into the Pacific, while those flowing east go into the Arctic or Atlantic oceans.

Yellowhead Pass, which forms a natural route between the Rockies, also marks the division between the British Columbia and Alberta border, the Mount Robson Provincial Park, the Jasper National Park and the division between Pacific and Mountain time zones.

The train’s public-address system announced those time-zone transitions during waking hours, and when we passed into a different

time zone at night, that announcement was made in the morning.

One afternoon I spent a pleasant hour or two at a concert by singer Noreen Brown with Alice Fraser on keyboards. Bound for performances in Ottawa, Quebec City, Montreal and Halifax, they took advantage of free train passage offered by Via Rail for those who perform for passengers.

Via Rail also offers reduced fares for those who become Canadian citizens, extending the offer to their families. Jason Yee, 19, of Toronto became a citizen last year along with his family. So this year he and his mother invited her parents to come to Vancouver from China and join them on their cross-country rail journey. Jason, who came to Canada as a baby, was the only fluent English speaker among them. He spent several

hours introducing me to his family and telling me about their lives.

Another afternoon I joined two women assembling a puzzle. There’s a full schedule of activities from wine and beer tastings to card games while aboard the Canadian, and schedules are posted so passengers can make choices.

Meals were always a highlight, and I was usually seated with a different group at every one of them. I quickly discovered the food is as good as the company. See that story at bit.ly/2zclCSE.

It’s four hours earlier in Vancouver than at home in Northeast Ohio, which can be especially disorienting at mealtime. But being able to choose dining times aboard the train made it easier to adjust.

Those traveling in Sleeper Plus class share a

shower at the end of each car. Those in Prestige Class have private showers in their rooms. A plastic bag in the stateroom has towels and other amenities for showers. I was at first intimidated at the prospect of showering on a moving train, so I quickly learned to welcome and take advantage of the times the Canadian was stopped on a siding or in a station for my ablutions.

My Sleeper Plus stateroom had its own sink and a separate small room with a toilet. I had heard that flushing was to be done only when the train was in motion, so one day I buttonholed the train’s service manager to learn if that was true. Service managers are responsible for passenger safety and train security, so they are busy folks. But knowing I was a journalist with questions, service

manager Mario Laurencelle sat down and gave me some time.

“You can flush anywhere in modern trains,” he said, noting the sewage goes into a holding tank. “At one time it spewed out onto the tracks so passengers were asked not flush in the stations. But that hasn’t been true for many years.

Every trip is different, he told me. On this trip there were 169 passengers and 31 staff members.

Recovering from a knee injury and using a cane, I had my own challenges traveling across Canada. Walking the narrow aisles from my sleeping quarters to the dining car was one of them. I quickly learned the vestibule between cars had the most difficult footing and that I needed to time my steps — and my cane — to pass from one car to another.

JANET PODOLAK — THE NEWS-HERALD. The Canadian’s dome car affords endless views of the vast prairies of Saskatchewan.

JANET PODOLAK — THE NEWS-HERALD A pair of musicians entertains passengers as the Canadian rolls across the prairies. Via Rail provides free transport for those who perform en route.