Canadian Railroads > Trip report - Train #1 Canadian - Part 3

Lets review the train in this segment.

Lokies, 2 on this trip, are F40's overhauled for use on the Canadian.

Story and details here : http://www.viarail.ca/en/about-via-rail/capital-investment/media-gallery/f40-overhaul

Our baggage car was once used by Coors for some type of promo and left in that condition (pic 1)

There was one coach on our train, and it appears that it was not very populated, though I guess not many
use the train for a short haul trip. (pic 2)

Next car, the dome car had a nice lounge compartment (pic 3). I can picture mods in bell bottoms drinking martinis here in the 60's.

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Kitchen in the dome - doesn't look like it was used on this trip. (pic 4)
The kitchen in the dining car, however, was a beehive of activity. I didn't
take a shot of that kitchen as the workers werre busy and I didn't want to interrupt,
but visually it was incredibly chaotic, yet organized for the chaos. I also
didn't take a photo of the seating area in the diner as it was just tables and chairs, with
white tablecloths and flowers on each table.

Lorne Manor car, room D, 2 beds with beds folded up for seating. In the 4 days on the train,
we might have spent 5 minutes in these chairs. (pic 5)

Lorne Manor car, room D, 2 beds with beds folded down for sleeping, or whatever. (pic 6)
It is really difficult to store cases and get dressed with the beds down. Fortunately
Mrs Murphy is quite petite, so shimmying up and down the ladder was ok for her.

There is a potty room left of the entry door, a wash sink in the room, and shower down the hall.
The shower was actually very well thought out and worked well. It was added when the cars were
remodeled in the 90's I think, and took up the space of one berth.

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End Obs dome car was where the action was, though not in this pic early one morning. pic 7.
There were plenty of conversations here later in the day and evening.

Up in the dome was the best set in the house, and headquarters for Foam Central (more on that later) pic 8

The graceful stairway leading to the dome had low headroom and short stair tread. No big deal for
Mrs Murphy but I am 6'3" and wear a size 13 boot. pic 9

The tea/coffee bar was a popular spot. Later in the day, fresh fruit, cookies and crackers appeared.

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The two coaches we had on our Dec. 30 No. 1 were very well populated for much of the trip. The kitchen in the Skyline Dome is only used during peak season such as Christmas week and Summer. Other times, coach passengers are welcome to use the diner and pay for their meals. From my experience, not many do. Next time book Bedroom F. Back in CP days, it was sold as a premium as a compartment. VIA doesn't distinguish between it and the other rooms. The extra two feet of width makes a big difference in overall size.

Here are the clocks to the right of the stairs, showing all the Canadian time zones. pic 10

That is about the only thing goofy in the whole train consist.

Typical view out the rear door. pic 11


At Winnipeg the complete crew got off, and a whole new Vancouver based crew boarded.
I don't remember the Revelstoke Park car host Toronto-Winnipeg, but our new host
was Jeremy and quite the host he was. It was pretty obvious he was one of us, that is,
a railfan.

This is probably a good time to explain something else that I never knew about Canada.

Like Texans are proud of their state and heritage, Canadians are just as proud of Canada
and take every opportunity to express it, though not in such as boastful, in your face way
we Texans are sometimes. They will happily tell you fun facts about their country that
they work in to the conversation. They may have a gripe or two of the
silly things their government does, but overall they truly love living in Canada and
are proud of the people before them that made Canada what it is today.

I spoke with Canadians on and off the train, and every danged one of them was friendly,
happy, and smiling. It was very enlightening to see such a pleasant group spread out
over thousands of miles. This was not faked for the American tourist either. These were
people genuinely satisfied with their lot in life. I love you guys.

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I worked for the CP Hotels 1958 to 1960... took CP #7 Ottawa ON to Banff AB were I worked as the Hotel printer... I had a railroad pass in the economy section so did not get past the dining car.. the coffee shop dome was the place to hang out.. always some army or navy guys, somebody always had a quitar and the beer seemed to never stop flowing.. of course that was on the real Canadian ..CPR all the way...

bob in Smiths Falls ON

Nice pic of the interior of the baggage car..an ex-UP RPO. Most of us probably don't go forward of the Skyline.

BSB

Excellent images.

I hope the next time I go back I get the classic Budd designed equipment! Not the rebuilds.

BigSkyBlue Wrote:
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> Nice pic of the interior of the baggage car..an
> ex-UP RPO. Most of us probably don't go forward
> of the Skyline.
>
> BSB

From one of the photos in Part 4, it would appear the baggage car is an ex-CPR one. The small windows on the right-hand side seen in the interior shot were the windows in the former dormitory section.