Canadian Railroads > Trip report - Train #1 Canadian - Part 2

So the first day was a trip across Ontario, basically all day snow,
tree lined right-of-way and meets with freights. By about 4 pm we stopped
at what I think was a crew change town, with some Indian name like
Comanche or Chief or something (I don't remember) I got out and shot
the rear of our car as a freight pulled up beside.

I begged my bride to come join in the fun and coaxed another foamer to take our picture
with my camera. As we were walking back to the car I asked a maintenance guy what he
thought the temp might be and he said -25. I thought that was crazy but then remembered
he was referring to deg C, but then I did the conversion and that is -13 deg F. We have
never experienced that cold a temp in our 58 years on this rock.

A nice dinner we spent with a pair of funny foamers. These guys are friends that travel
a couple times a year by train together, and have been doing so for 38 years straight.
A sort of Beebe-Clegg pairing, except they aren't quite like THAT (not that there is anything wrong with THAT).

---

---

Day 2 we made a scheduled 3 hour stop in Winnipeg except we were running 2 hours late so
this stop was shortened to 2 hours - twenty minutes. See station info here :

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,3641098


Behind the depot there used to be a large warehouse district and rail yard, now a museum
and shopping center. There is also a skating rink and skating trails on top of the
nearby Assiniboine River. There is a bunch of shopping stuff in the warehouses but the
only thing I found interesting was this truck. I used the shopping plaza to dart in and get warm,
otherwise I spent most of the time outside. Across the street from the depot front is an old
hotel Fort Garry who's roof can be seen from the back side of the depot in this second pic of a CN
freight passing by the depot. Not sure what the observation tower is to the left of the hotel.

Also outside is this interurban car used as a candy shop along with a CN coach.

---

---

---

Also outside is this CN caboose nicely refurbished, and a pair of old boxcars.

Having just emerged from the shopping complex where the skating rental and rink are,
a pair of girls rolled up to me in a pick-up and asked me if I knew where the skating
center was. I amazed myself by telling them I had been in Winnipeg only about 20 minutes
but was able to send them exactly where they needed to go.

Back on the train and into the dome we rolled on westward into the great white unknown

---

---

---

Looking forward to part 3. FYI, the town you stopped in if you were on time was probably Hornpayne. It's the crew change between Capriol and Sioux Lookout. Minor correction. You checked in with the Service Manager...not the car attendant. Something Amtrak no longer has (they were called Train Chiefs back in the day). I'd be interested to know if Revelstoke Park has had the re-build to Prestige Class? Your outside shots only show the left side of the car so it's impossible to tell. You are lucky it was only -25. I've been to Winnipeg when it's -50. At that point the two scales come together.

Here's what Hornpayne looks like on the Fourth of July. The train is slightly longer.

Stephanie Ann



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/24/15 15:37 by steph62850.

---

Rode #2 Vancouver to Toronto in May of 2012 and flew back to Seattle.

Flew to Toronto then train to Montreal and back then #1 to Vancouver and Amtrak back to Seattle in May of 2013.

Westbound I walked over to the warehouse district for lunch then found a bakery an bought the best cinnamon rolls that I have every eaten. Bought four of them and nibbled on them for the next couple of days. HUM HUM GOOD.

Am making a round trip Vancouver to Toronto in May of this year. Count down the days.

DHF

CNR Hornpayen once sported a square engine house with a covered turntable.

Thanks for the entertaining postings on your trip(s) and also noting the assistance you gave a future rider in previous posts. Looks like you had a great time.

YankeeDog Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> CNR Hornpayen once sported a square engine house
> with a covered turntable.


Well it now features a dilapidated brick station, that seems to have been somewhat impressive at one time. The second day of the Canadian's westbound journey always features a stop at some dilapidated station. It used to be Sioux Lookout, but now Hornepayne. At one point the town and VIA were looking to renovate the Sioux Lookout stations. But that was not to be, although I did hear some rumor (not sure if I believe it) that town efforts were somewhat underway to revive the Sioux Lookout station............it's now a midnight stop westbound and early morning stop eastbound......

andersonb109 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Looking forward to part 3. FYI, the town you
> stopped in if you were on time was probably
> Hornpayne. It's the crew change between Capriol
> and Sioux Lookout. Minor correction. You checked
> in with the Service Manager...not the car
> attendant. Something Amtrak no longer has (they
> were called Train Chiefs back in the day). I'd be
> interested to know if Revelstoke Park has had the
> re-build to Prestige Class? Your outside shots
> only show the left side of the car so it's
> impossible to tell. You are lucky it was only
> -25. I've been to Winnipeg when it's -50. At that
> point the two scales come together.

No, we talked about that at length ( former talk) and that Revelstoke Park has not yet been rebuilt.
Three of the other Park cars have, but this one is not one of them.

WrongWayMurphy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> andersonb109 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> > I'd
> be
> > interested to know if Revelstoke Park has had
> the
> > re-build to Prestige Class? Your outside shots
> > only show the left side of the car so it's
> > impossible to tell. You are lucky it was only
> > -25. I've been to Winnipeg when it's -50. At
> that
> > point the two scales come together.
>
> No, we talked about that at length ( former talk)
> and that Revelstoke Park has not yet been rebuilt.
>
> Three of the other Park cars have, but this one is
> not one of them.

The four Park cars that have gotten or will get the Prestige treatment are Laurentide and Prince Albert (already done) and Glacier and Kootenay.

jp1822 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
...
>
> Well it now features a dilapidated brick station,
> that seems to have been somewhat impressive at one
> time. The second day of the Canadian's westbound
> journey always features a stop at some dilapidated
> station. It used to be Sioux Lookout, but now
> Hornepayne. At one point the town and VIA were
> looking to renovate the Sioux Lookout stations.
> But that was not to be, although I did hear some
> rumor (not sure if I believe it) that town efforts
> were somewhat underway to revive the Sioux Lookout
> station............it's now a midnight stop
> westbound and early morning stop eastbound......

It is no longer a rumour. Sioux Lookout station has been lovingly restored. Because #2 is usually many hours late, there is a good chance passengers can have a quick look. Although there is no VIA agent (there hasn't been for decades) there is a comfortable waiting room with toilets available. I'm not sure if the offices on the upper level were in use when I saw it last winter, but an elevator has been installed.

I know the quality of the photos is not up to the usual standard seen on Trainorders, but I attach them just to give an idea of what Sioux Lookout station now looks like. They were taken on 18 March 2013.

---

---

Superior, Mile 132.5, six miles east of Sioux Lookout ON. was once Superior Junction. Here the Grand Trunk Pacific connected with the National Transcontinental Railway.

The GTP was built by the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada, and the NTR was built by the Canadian Government. Together they formed a transcontinental railway. NTR (Pacific Junction, near Moncton NB to Superior Junction ON) GTP , Superior Jct. to Prince Rupert BC.

The GTP built large Division Point stations, of which Sioux Lookout is one of the few survivors.

Sioux Lookout for many years had a large Railroad YMCA. The Y built several RR Y's across Canada at locations where large numbers of crewmen layed over between tours of duty. For historical reasons, Sioux Lookout was the "junior terminal" for trainmen working in Western Canada for the CN. Most train crew members could expect to be "forced" to the Lookout for part of their careers, and the "Y" provided cheap and clean accomodations during their "penance".



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/25/15 13:05 by eminence_grise.

andersonb109 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You are lucky it was only
> -25. I've been to Winnipeg when it's -50. At that
> point the two scales come together.


Actually -50 in Fahrenheit is colder than -50 Celcius. The scales overlap at -40.

Rick

DrawingroomA Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I know the quality of the photos is not up to the
> usual standard seen on Trainorders, but I attach
> them just to give an idea of what Sioux Lookout
> station now looks like. They were taken on 18
> March 2013.


Wish I could have seen this in daylight!!! Last time I saw this station, it was in really bad shape. Glad it got restored, in some form!!!