Across Canada by Train - its all about the journey

I love train travel.  I always have.  On my journeys I always get more excited than most if I here there is potential to take a train journey.  Particularly the ones where overnight travel is required.  There's something special about going to sleep to the noise of the train whirling along the tracks and then waking up to the same soothing noise.  That's not to say all my journeys have been great, but you're always sure of an adventure and to see some things that most people don't see when you step through the door into the carriage.  The journey across Canada was no different.  I had been to Canada before and this time persuaded my travelling companions that in order to see as much as possible whilst we were here, there was no alternative but to take the train. 

Train station - a place of exciting possibilities 

Our journey started in Winnipeg, a strange kind of place.  A friendly enough city, but flat, very flat and located in the middle of Canada, just 20km from the longitudinal centre.  After a few days here we were going west all the way to Prince Rupert on the Pacific coast.  It was to be a journey in stages.  We were going to hop on and off the train stopping at various points from Jasper to Prince George.  We had chosen to go with VIA Rail, rejecting the trains meant for tourists and instead taking the everyday train.  This meant we could go on whichever sections of the journey we wanted and save a considerable amount of money. 

Viewing the never ending prairies

The first journey was long we got on the train midday-ish in Winnipeg and settled into our reclining seats.  Large and comfy and facing each other, this would do nicely.  A far cry from the long distance trains I had been used to.  As the train moved along, we couldn't help be surprised by the view out of the window.  I had expected more, instead we were confronted with mile after mile of flat prairie country.  As we passed through Saskatchewan it continued the plains only dotted with farms and grain elevators.  As we settled down to get some sleep the endless prairies continued.  We woke at 6ish.  Outside the windows more of the same. 

 

The trains we travelled on all had a viewing carriage available to all and the glass domed roof was an opportunity to be surrounded by sky and as we approached, mountains.  As we travelled further west the view became more interesting.  The train moved through landscapes of lakes, bridges crossing clear blue rivers, lakes by the side of the track and even glaciers high in the Rockies.  Snow capped peaks brought people into the viewing carriage and the talk of bear sightings more still.  The  bears were proving elusive, a tiny glimpse of one as the train passed quickly by meant everyone now knew what they were missing.  But bears aside interesting villages and small settlements, totem poles and farms had us wondering who lived in these isolated settlement and just what there was to do here.

 

At one point the train stopped, it was going to be a while.  A goods train was coming the other way, there was no choice but to wait for it to pass.  We spent the time buying ice creams from the local stores and laying coins on the track ready to be flatten by the goods train.  We counted the carriages until the train had passed, losing track half way as it went on and on.  Trucks piled high with raw materials and commodities going back east.  Picking up the suitably flattened coins we were back on the train and the journey continued west.  As we approached Prince Rupert we were both a little sad that it was the end of the train trip but also excited for the inside passage trip that was to come.  It was the end of the country, as the Pacific came to meet us and mountains rose up around the town, it seemed a suitable destination to stop, the town both having the feel of not much to do but also a place that exists here because of the train.

 

As we boarded the ferry the next day and turned south, it was a little disappointing that Alaska only 40 miles away was to remain out of reach for now.  But with more trains on offer, a return trip is definitely not out of the question.