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Italiano (Italian)
Accomplishing the coast-to-coast of Canada by train was one of the things I was most excited about when I left, and I was not disappointed at all.
I chose the cheapest option, so no bunk, but I still slept well because the seats were wide and comfortable. Also, since it was uncrowded, I had a space for four always all to myself, and I must say that the other passengers were very polite. Nothing like the rudeness one suffers in Italian trains.
I really wanted to make the very long crossing. The whole leg would be 4 days and starts in Vancouver. But I started it on the second day by going up to Jasper, after visiting the Rocky Mountains (highlight Lake Louise). When one thinks of coast-to-coast, everyone thinks of the United States, but the same can be done in Canada, and I liked the idea of retracing what was an epic crossing, albeit backwards.
The most salient aspect of Canada, which one appreciates very well as I travel through it, is the sheer vastness. For hours on end you meet no one, everything and only nature. Given the distances, people in the country use airplanes much more easily.
The Canadian, 4400 km long, departs twice a week. Some of the cities it connects, are important, although the stations, given the low traffic are not large. Every 8 to 9 hours it makes a stop, even in the middle of nowhere.
3 days and 3 nights by train
I was quite worn out from two days in the dining car where the best was soup warmed in the microwave. They announced a stop and I went to ask the conductor if there would be a chance to get off, perhaps for a trip to the bar. He replied in dismay that unfortunately where we would be stopping was neither station nor bar. In fact it was a simple dirt parking lot, and in 16 hours of travel the most man-made spot.
During the trip I read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Of Mark Twain ‘s famous novel, two aspects that have a certain importance in Canada made me think a lot. One, the contact with nature is by necessity still very strong and quite different from what we have in Europe. The other is the relationship with minorities and particularly with black people. It was only 150 years ago that Tom Sawyer was serenely and convincingly a white supremacist, and Twain told it like it was normal to be one.
A train ride like the one I took also allows you to see a roundup of characters getting on and off; in the West more Asian, in the East more black; always the whites, often wearing baseball caps and plaid shirts.
For part of the journey I had Amish people as neighbors, in their characteristic attire. The children seemed bewildered and looked at all of us dressed in modern fashion with wide eyes, as if they were for the first time out of their isolation. Two little boys, certainly brother and sister, spent hours flipping through a big book with lots of pictures, like holy cards, of Amish people.
Coast to coast of Canada means great landscapes
True, the predominant feature of this route was noting the almost total absence of human activity, but there was also a nice alternation of landscapes. Coming out of Jasper, then into the Rocky Mountains, I unfortunately passed through burned-out forests, which I will discuss in the next article.
Then we crossed endless forests, finally green. In the middle section, we entered the prairie. Before we reached the most inhabited area, a continuous succession of lakes and ponds. To break the monotony of the journey, every now and then, I would go to the wagon with the roof consisting of a glass window. It was a chance to see the view from an elevated vantage point, since it was above the hypothetical dining car.Occasionally, I happened to find the bartender , and I enjoyed nice big glasses of Nescafé while admiring that wilderness view.
More of Canada by train
If nothing else, the food and drinks were cheap, though bad. I guess those who do not opt for the cheap service get a different treatment. You can tell this from the stations, with wooden interiors and almost like museums. At the station you have to arrive an hour earlier, and even if you already have a ticket you have to queue at the ticket counter, then queue to deliver your luggage, and finally queue to board the train.
It happened to cross the endless freight trains, in those cases our train got long stops. I say endless because on a whimone time I counted the number of cars: 170, some of which had 2 containers on top of each other.
I was one of those who stayed on the train the longest. Most of the passengers were on shorter routes, the staff changing often. During the last leg before arriving in Toronto, the prankster train conductor enjoyed announcing messages by starting with a line that went something like: tatutu.
To go from Ottawa to Quebec city I took another train. Leaving at 6:00 you can imagine that the view of the scenery was overwhelmed by drowsiness. Too bad the conductors woke me up no less than 2 times to ask if everything was OK. Very kind, the Canadians.
Home travel Travel in Canada from one ocean to another
Home video of Canada trip More videos of Canada, the forest fire
Next stop The new junkies in Canada’s cities as well.
Trips taken, travel stories divided by continent
Countries visited in my travel stories
Anecdotes, divided by type in travel narratives
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