Canadian Railroads > A few pix from my trip on the Canadian

We left Toronto at 9 a.m. Sunday Nov 12 due to our train arriving from Vancouver late the night before. The first picture shows the consist: baggage, coach, skyline for the coach passengers, four in service manor sleepers (110, 111, 112, 113), an unmanned (no bar service) skyline for sleeper passengers, diner, a fifth manor sleeper used as a crew dorm, prestige sleeper, and the picture is taken from the park car on the end. The second picture shows the "magpie" etched glass in the diner. And third is a picture from the Park dome while we made a nice daylight run along the Thompson and Fraser rivers. All in all a very nice trip.

JBWX



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 11/21/17 09:15 by jbwest.

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Just like the old schedule, like when I rode it from Toronto in the summer of 2006.

Michael

Interesting there was no bar service in the Skyline for sleepers. I assume that means there was no restriction as to when you could occupy the Park Car? For my June trip. We had full bar service in the
Skyline but couldn't occupy the Park Car until after noon (I think it was) each day. So what time did you finally get to Vancouver? From your reports, it looks like you pretty much held to the allotted time after the late Toronto departure.

I believe the current drill is that during the high season when Sleeper Plus passengers do not have full access to the Park car the Skylines are manned and offer bar service. During off season Sleeper Plus has full access to the Park car and the Skyline is not manned. This was specifically made clear when we boarded, the only place we could buy likker was in the Park car (except for wine in the diner during meals). If I remember correctly the only off season restriction in access to the Park car is upon leaving Toronto, Winnipeg and Vancouver when VIA hosts a brief "reception" for the Prestige passengers in the Park car, and at those times I believe that the usual departure sparkling wine and snacks are served to the Sleeper Passengers in the Skyline by staff from the dining car. One of the things I like about the new arrangement, as an off season Sleeper Plus traveler, is the Prestige "concierges" in the Park car are much more into bar service than the old Park car "attendants". Booze is included in the Prestige fare, so a lot more of it flows, so the concierges are ready for it, even for those of us who have to pay. And the Park car becomes much more convivial in the evenings. In the old days the Park car attendant always seemed to be busy making beds or eating when I wanted a drink, it was almost as if VIA was discouraging alcohol consumption instead of treating it as a profit center. This last trip was one of my best on VIA because of the very interesting people we met and got to know in the Park car, nobody drank excessively but we had a good time. We got into Vancouver about 6:30, which was perfect for a Skytrain trip to the Hotel Vancouver, good dinner, and good nights sleep before catching my plane the next morning.

JBWX



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 11/21/17 09:17 by jbwest.

Great report and pics. On my recent trip, Skyline was staffed westbound from WPG to Vancouver but I think that was the end of staffing there for the season. Rest of trip back to Toronto it was not staffed but used to hold pax when diner full at breakfast. Tip: after who knows how many Train 1 - 2 trips, I now noticed a small sink near coffee in Skyline which I now use for hand washing prior to entering diner. Never noticed that before!
By the date of my travel leaving WPG 10/30 I found no restrictions on Park car dome use even though the one Prestige car was sold out. Space there seemed always available.

viatrainrider Wrote:
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> Tip: after who knows how many Train 1
> - 2 trips, I now noticed a small sink near coffee
> in Skyline which I now use for hand washing prior
> to entering diner. Never noticed that before!

In the same vein, after many trips I just "discovered" a public restroom in the Skyline!

JBWX

And today, the Canadian is 8 hours 20 minutes late. Pretty normal.

While I would rather VIA 1 and 2 ran more or less on time, assuming you plan on a hotel at the end of the line and once you are on board, the lateness is not really a big deal, the train is the destination. Certainly not a reason to avoid riding the train. You simply get to see different scenery. On our last trip that left 11 hours late from Toronto, we got to see the big viaduct at Fabyan (that trains have a bad habit of getting blown off in high winds) and we got a magnificent daylight ride down the Thompson and Fraser rivers, all of which is usually in the dark during the winter if the train is one time. If the train had been slightly less late, we could have also gotten a nice sunset ride into Jasper. I was a bit surprised that nobody on board, at least that I spoke with, was terribly unhappy with the late running. VIA handled it very well. We got emails or phone calls the day before scheduled departure. At Toronto VIA put us all up at the very nice Royal York right across from the station with a food credit. One couple did miss the last bus/ferry to Victoria, another was late to a medical appointment, and my traveling companion missed his train to Seattle, but all had plenty of time to make alternative arrangements. Indeed the mood was quite upbeat. I have been riding the Canadian since 1974 and am already looking forward to my next trip.

JBWX

Love that Magpie detail! I never noticed that when I rode last year.

Oh well, if ticket prices come down enough, I may get a ride this winter.

march_hare Wrote:
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> Oh well, if ticket prices come down enough, I may
> get a ride this winter.

Big 'Black Friday' Sale starting today:

Check it out at:

http://www.viarail.ca/en/fares-and-packages/our-lowest-fares#



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/22/17 08:15 by ghCBNS.

The Black Friday sales does not seem to have much in the way of Sleeper deals, it simply refers you to the Express deals, and at this point there are not a lot of Express deals.

JBWX

jbwest Wrote:
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> The Black Friday sales does not seem to have much
> in the way of Sleeper deals, it simply refers you
> to the Express deals, and at this point there are
> not a lot of Express deals.
>
> JBWX

Lovely photos, thank you for sharing them.

As for the sleeper deals, VIA has adjusted the fare of "discounted" fares to show the sale fare, so no discount code or other prompting is needed. The discounted fare for Toronto - Vancouver or v.v. is $1077 plus tax in a cabin for 1 (rommette) or for each in a cabin for 2. The earliest discounted roomette from Toronto to Vancouver I can find on Reservia is 10th Feb. It can be difficult getting a cabin for 1 at a discounted rate at any time.

The sleeper class Skyline car is not normally operated in the winter season. No-one at VIA can confirm this, but when there are fewer sleepers the Skyline may disappear from the consists as it usually does.