Passenger Trains > Riding the CPR Canadian

VIA was nearing.  So in August 1977 I decided to ride the Canadian from Toronto to Vancouver.  I'd gone on a long photo expedition looking for all the industrial locomotives I could find.  This got to me to garden spots like Thompson, MB (INCO),  Havre St Pierre (QI&T) ....etc.   I eventually boarded the United Aircraft Turbotrain from Montreal to Toronto.  After a few days there,  on August 10 I boarded the Canadian for the run to Sudbury where my Chateau (I think) sleeper awaited.  The party was already in progress in the observation and by the time we got to Sudbury where our through cars were switched to the main consist,  I was feeling no pain as they say.   I also learned what a 'mickey' was,  among other useful things.

The main train was well over twenty cars with two diners.  This was due to the Canadian air controllers going out on strike a few days earlier,  resulting in  airline passengers flocking to the train.  I had a bedroom so was beyond conforrtable.   In the ensuing four days, I learned that the Montreal-based crews lookerd the other way when visitors came back to our part of the train.   The Winnipeg crews were a bit tougher but still no serious issue.  Both diners were open to all on a first come-first served basis.  And the food was to die for.  The crews said they loved having a full train and a bunch of merry passengers.  And the party never stopped.   I remember not caring if we ever got to Vancouver.   And a couple of people I met on that train have visited us here in Chile in recent years.

Here are a few photos of my adventure.

1.  Early morning at Schreiber, ON  on 8-11-77
2.  Somewhere north of Lake Superior  8-11-77
3.  Mid-afternoon finds a sleeping passenger in Riding Mountain Park

---

---

---

At Winnipeg,  we had a long stop.  Having shot trains around the station engine terminal before,   I led a few intrepid passengers to the crew locker room where we grabbed quick showers.  Few people were around and they laughed when they saw what we were up to.   We found out later there was a closeby hotel that offered rooms for an hour or so for showering.   Our adventure was more fun and kind of keeping in the spirit of what was a party train at that point.

Upon arrival in Vancouver,  I was met by the late Garth Tyockson,  who was the editor of X2200S.  We'd chased all over the west and planned a couple of days in the Fraser River canyon.  At Boston Bar, BC there was an aerial car tram,   basically a basket hanging from a cable,  that crossed the river to North Bend,  where the CNR line was located.  Here are a couple of photos

1.  Garth's Plymouth Duster entering the tram
2.  Yours truly on arrival at N. Bend     Glen MacGregor photo

All in all,  a great trip and I still laugh about stuff that took place on that train.....never to be repeated.

 

---

---

My first ride on the CPR Canadian was in 1969.  So good to see photos of the CPR train.  Guess that dates me!

I rode it from Lake Louise to Vancouver in I think June of 1976.  What a memory, but no photos.

I too rode the eastbound Canadian in 1977 (in late May) --- incidentally Riding Mountain Park was the Park car on my train as well. My railfanning triumph on that trip was scoring a pair of cab rides through the Fraser River Canyon and east of Lake Louise. It seemed to me the head end crews were thrilled to have a new face in the cab. It was also the era that one could ride in the vestibule all day shooting out the ditch door!

WP17

WP17 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I too rode the eastbound Canadian in 1977 (in late
> May) --- incidentally Riding Mountain Park was the
> Park car on my train as well. My railfanning
> triumph on that trip was scoring a pair of cab
> rides through the Fraser River Canyon and east of
> Lake Louise. It seemed to me the head end crews
> were thrilled to have a new face in the cab. It
> was also the era that one could ride in the
> vestibule all day shooting out the ditch door!
>
> WP17

When you returned you raved about it and told me I should ride it.  So I went and bought a ticket.

I made an eastbound trip in October 1977 from Vancouver to Toronto with a layover in Banff.
Best North American train ride ever! Not crowded at all that time of year.  It was snowing as we
passed the Lake Louise depot.
I had ridden the SUPER CONTINENTAL the week prior from Montreal to Vancouver with a stop in Jasper.

Fantastic memories, I'm sure. The 20th century no doubt might be the greatest century in human history. To be alive and to experience things like this was unprecedented and will not be repeated. The ability to experience the natural world in an environment where lawyers didn't restrict people from the things that you described here is a special thing. I'm a bit younger but still got to have some level of these types of experiences for which I'm grateful. My kids are growing up in a different time where everything is regulated. It must be stressful.
Thanks for the post

Posted from Android

masterphots Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>   At Boston
> Bar, BC there was an aerial car tram, 
>  basically a basket hanging from a cable,  that
> crossed the river to North Bend,  where the CNR
> line was located.  Here are a couple of photos
>
> 1.  Garth's Plymouth Duster entering the tram
> 2.  Yours truly on arrival at N. Bend     Glen
> MacGregor photo

Never seen or even heard of a car tram. Thanks for sharing. I guess that was an exciting trip across the river.

My first ride on the Canadian was in the summer of 1984.  I rode in a day-nighter coach, and enjoyed access to the entire train.  It was a 10-car trek to get to the park car, but once there I could ride all day.  I spent time in the vestibules too.  

Never rode the Super Continental.  How did that compare to the Canadian?  We always chose the Canadian with its traditional built for the train Budd built equipment and perhaps better scenery.

CANADIAN vs SUPER CONTINENTAL in 1977:

SUPER CONTINENTAL:

• Via RAIL branding was apparent in literature but equipment was still 100% CNR (even with a modernized heavyweight car or two)
• Daynighter seats were a plus.
• ex-Milwaukee Road dome was switched in at Winnipeg.  I thought the seats too low compared to the windows.
• patronage was high, even for October.  Many pass riders aboard.
• ​crews were outstanding!  They even held the train for me at Jasper while I returned a rental car.
• scenery was unforgettable throughout the trip:  forests, lakes, prairies, mountains
• Added plus: I saw my first Northern Lights on the trip
• tickets were available in Houston TX where I was living at the time

CANADIAN:

• no evidence of Via RAIL branding
• equipment was all BUDD equipment built for CPR
• car interiors were starting to lack a bit of luster but not shabby
• train was never more than 60% full
• crews were fine but low key
• I preferred the CP domes over the single CN one.
• scenery was again first rate, even more spectacular than the CN's route through the Rockies.  Added plus: the scenic route along Lake Superior
• tickets had to be mailed to me from Canada.  They arrived the day before I left.  Close call!

I made this trip the year after I circled the US on an Amtrak Rail Pass.
Oddly enough, what prompted me to ride these trains was an article in Texas Monthly magazine about someone's winter trip on the CANADIAN.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/27/23 09:21 by PVSfan.

• I presume the Super Continental was cheaper than the Canadian at that point?
• What do you think was the reason for the Super to be more popular/ridden than the Canadian at that point? Couple of things come to my mind, but just curious on your perspective as a live witness to the twilight of great overnight trains........

Responding to jp1822:

• I recall that CN still offered the red-white-blue fare structure.
• Between the Rockies and Ontario, it seems that CNR passed through cities of greater population in the prairie provinces though both served Winnipeg.
• As I mentioned before, there seemed to be more passengers riding on a pass on the SUPER CONTINENTAL.
• I met more Americans on the CNR route and more convivial passengers overall for whatever reason.
• Daynighter seats were a plus on CNR.  [This was at a time I could not afford sleeping car fares for long trips. I did book a roomette on the CAVALIER earlier in that trip.]

I'm amazed now that I made those two transcon trips and a sidetrip up to Quebec City without a credit card!  Even the car rental agencies in Jasper and Banff required no credit card.
Clean hotels were available at Toronto, St. Foy, Jasper, and Banff at very reasonable rates.  It was the travel off-season too.  [I stayed with a cousin in the Vancouver area.]

 



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 01/27/23 13:40 by PVSfan.

Other than equipment and route differences, I found the en route switching at Capreol (CNR) and Sudbury (CPR) for the
Montreal and Toronto sections to be most fascinating from a railfan point of view.

A reminder to watch the Canadian NFB documentary "The Railroaders" from 1958.
There are some great scenes of the CANADIAN.  Most of the film is devoted to the
railroaders in the town of Revelstoke and their various jobs.  Excellent!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGMVj7TPqyE

[This film has been posted on TO in years past under the Nostalgia and Canadian sections.]