[?]

Trains In Eastern Canada 8/6-9/8/2000 Part 2

I awoke to a rainy morning and today's train was SD40-2 308, built by General Motors Division and AMF Transprot in 1994, pulling four RDCs, a former Wabash dome car reserved for a private group going to Labrador City and two freight cars. We departed on time into the rain with so little light that it made photography impossible. I had some company at my seat today in the form of Sam from Minnesota and Bill from Wisconsin with both of them driving up from their states and were riding the QNSL to go caribou hunting. Sam used to work for the Duluth Missabe and Iron Range Railroad as a clerk and had a lot of interesting tales to tell. Both gentlemen later went on to become principals of elementary schools and have been long-time friends. It was good to have some company on what looks like a long rainy day.

As we exited Tunnel 1 and crossed the Moisie River, the clouds began to lower and mixed with the scenery which brought a new-found beauty to this low light environment.

Tonkas Falls. By the time we reached the canyon walls, the light had improved and I was once more taking photographs. I rode RDC-1 6115, ex. VIA Rail 6115, exx. Canadian National 6115, nee Boston and Maine 6116, buit by Budd Company in 19555, almost all the way to Ross Bay Junction, except for a short ride in the dome car with the crew's permission. I only stayed a few minutes and what was really odd was that the rain stopped at the exact same spot where it started yesterday. At Ross Bay Junction, a short train from Labrador City met the train and we swapped the rear RDC and dome car for QNSL coach 13509, nee Southern Railway 834 built by American Car and Foundry in 1950, which was empty. I therefore chose to ride in it the rest of the way to Schefferville, bidding adieu to Sam and Bill and wishing them both well on the rest of their journey. This move allowed for peace and quiet with a chance to stretch out since there were only two other people who chose to ride in this car.

Leaving Ross Bay Juncation, I entered a new stretch of trackage to Schefferville as we were now on the Tshiuetin Rail Menihek Subidivision. The first noticeable change was around Milepost 238, where some of the poles had large falcon nests on top. Also, this line had signals whose heads were turned and deactivated for the first few miles of the line before their removal. To the left of the tracks for most of the rest of the journey was Lake Menihek and the usual trees of the Tiaga along with the trackside poles with their wires. Areas of muskeg are passed along with the ever-present cariboo moss. The sidings we ran by had names such as Emeril, Shabo, Talzie and Sawbill. At Milepost 266, the sky grew dark up so I suspected more rain was due then at Milepost 270, it did just that. Out to the west, a ridge of mountains appeared then a few miles further to the east, another ridge appeared.

From Milepost 276, the railway parallels the east shore of Lake Menihek with an esker, a long, narrow, winding ridge composed of stratified sand and gravel deposited by a subglacial or englacial meltwater stream to the east and at the former siding of Eskers, some passengers detrained. There was also an abandoned warehouse and a few set-out tracks along with cabins and residents, but you have to look hard for them. Lake Menihek was almost always in sight, sometimes some distance away, other times at bays that come next to the tracks and even along the shore.

Sidings and place names we passed were Cavanaugh, Faden, Menihek and Astray and the rain rain stopped again at Faden. I wanted to put a "McF" in front of it and add a "d" which would spell the name of the school where I, McFadden! At Milepost 320, I could make out another lake way off in the distance to the east then nine miles later, the train travelled on top of the dam that was releasing incredible amounts of water from Lake Menihek and the water shot out like a cannon fifty feet into the river below, which was most impressive. We were met by a pickup truck just to the north of the dam where a passenger detrained then crossed the first dirt road since Ross Bay Junction just before Milepost 331. There was another lake off to the east at Milepost 340 and after that, the terrain then became hilly as we re-entered Quebec after travelling north all the way across Labrador. The tracks circled into the north of Schefferville and stopped at the QNSL depot about a mile from town at 8:15 PM. I was first off into a taxi cab which cost all of ten cents to the Hotel Mount Royal and a room for a good night's sleep.

It rained hard during the night and was still raining in the morning as I had French toast in the hotel's restaurant as I prepared for my return to Sept Îles. Today was a day of rest with only a few pictures necessary. Taxiing back to the station, I read a notice that new passenger equipment would be arriving in December and it would be interesting to see what kind of equipment they purchase for their unique passenger operations. The lesson that I learned about this railway is be here an hour before the train departs.

As we departed, I learned that Schefferville used to have a population of 3,000 when the mine was open but the quality of ore was a lower grade than found at the Labrador City area mines, so when the mines shut down and the workers moved out, the natives moved in. Today, Schefferville has a population of 750 people. QNSL on-board food service is from vending machines, only one of which was set up to take the Canadian two dollar coin, or twoonie, as it is commonly known. It was a good system when it worked but a bad one when it did not, such as when the coffee machine is out and I could not get a cup of tea.

The rain had stopped for now as the train returned to Labrador and I photographed the water being released from the Menihek Dam then relaxed and listened to music down to Ross Bay Junction. At Eskers, a group of five adult falcons were holding a meeting in a large nest atop a trackside pole and Lake Menihek appeared to be about 110 miles long, stretching from the dam at Menihek to almost Ross Bay Junction.

The train from Labrador City was already waiting as we arrived and the dome car was on its train. I went to the vestibule and when I returned to my seat, found that the natives and friends who had been playing cards across from me had taken over the seat in front of me and now other locals came to the game to watch. Instead of asking me to move, these rude passengers put their posteriors into my face and when the crew came by and saw what had happened, I asked if anyone could go into the dome car. With a "Yes!", he helped me with my bag and took a much happier Chris back to the dome car and I chose the front right seat, making for a grand finale for my final ride on the QNSL. This was QNSL dome-coach 13510 1979, ex. Norfolk and Western 1613, nee Wabash 203, built by Pullman-Standard in 1958.

We stopped at Ashuanipi to pick up passengers from a camp along the lake with the same name then travelled south as far as Oreway where we were held the main for a welded rail train. The view from the dome is the only way to truly see this railroad with its 360 degree view. The rain returned at Pitaga but only to the forward windows of the dome and soon stopped all and the glass cleared. I really liked this car as a beautiful rainbow came into view just to the south of Dolliver before we picked up another passenger then ran through the siding at Seahorse, where we met a northbound ore train. We had a red signal at Little which cleared just as the rain began again and stopped at Eric, where another passenger entrained.

We proceeded to Dufresne Lake where we went into the siding for an Arnaud Railway train pulled by QNSL power to the Wabush Railroad outside of Labrador City. The Arnaud and Wabush are owned by same company and the QNSL just plays the middleman in transporting the cars between the two railways, which makes more sense than built another railway. We were now back at the wreck scene before Waco and QNSL used their equipment to clean it up and they do it in such a way so as not to disrupt the rail traffic. To me, that shows just what a good company QNSL's parent, the Iron Ore Company of Canada, is. We moved south to Canatiche, Milepost 90.3, to meet another northbound empty train before reversing up the main and into the siding to pass another ore train. Amazing!

From the height of the dome car, the rapids of the Nipisso River were better seen as was Tonkas Falls further on. The canyon was where the whole 360 degree dome view came in best and one has a better understanding and appreciation for how much rough terrain the QNSL was built through. We paused at Tika, Milepost 56.6, to pick up a track foreman and were now in the home stretch to Sept Îles in the last shadows of the day. It had been an incredible series of rides on the Quebec North Shore and Labrador, a railway that I will never forget and was a special treat to have ridden the dome car all the way from Ross Bay Junction to Sept Î, an experience I would share with others.

There was a brief stop at Saumon for another northbound Arnaud Railway train and to pick up a few more passengers then we crossed the Moisie River and went through tunnel one. Some of the natives came up and blocked everyone else's forward view, after which we went into the siding one last time at Arnaud Junction for a northbound QNSL freight before we made our way into the yard, wyed the train and reversed the rest of the way to the station. I thanked the crew for a most wonderful four days of riding on their railroad and was first off and returned to the car then stopped at PFK to pick up dinner, filled the car with petrol and went to Motel Seven for my last night's stay in most wonderful Sept Îles.

I awoke at 4:00 AM, was on Quebec Highway 138 within five minutes and had a beautiful sunrise over the St. Lawrence then stopped for doughnuts at Tim Horton's in Baie Comeau and drove to the ferry for an enjoyable crossing of the Saguenay Fjord.

The next stop was for petrols at San Simon before I found Chemin De Fer Charlevoix Railway in Clermont where I found SW1200 1303, nee Canadian National 1303, built by General Motors Division in 1958. I then drove and toured Canyon Sainte Anne, carved by the Sainte-Anne-du-Nord River where the river drops over a 243 foot waterfall within the canyon. It was fantastic.

I also stopped at Montmorency Falls at the boundary between the borough of Beauport and Boischatel, about 7.5 miles from the heart of old Quebec City. The area surrounding the falls is protected within the Montmorency Falls Park and the falls are at the mouth of the Montmorency River where it drops over the cliff shore into the Saint Lawrence River, opposite the western end of the Île d'Orleans. The waterfalls are 272 feet tall, 99 feet higher than Niagara Falls. There was a charge for everything including the cable car to the canyon rim. I liked Canyon Sainte Anne so much better, although Montmorency Falls was featured in the Sunday River video "CN 6060 Steel In The Sky", so it was worth a visit. I drove the rest of the way to Quebec City where I checked back in at the Quality Hotel and filled the car before returning it.

I walked over to the Walled City and entered through one of the gates and worked my way down to the base of the hill, stopping at a doll store as I was always on the lookout for dolls for my mother, since she collected them. I exited and came out across the street from the VIA station then visited a hobby shop for some reading materials before walking through the mall for supplies and a late lunch/early dinner at an A&W. I returned to the hotel, called a few people back home, repacked and enjoyed the rest of my stay in Quebec City.

It was raining again as I woke up and went out to get some Dunkin' Donuts before I checked out then walked down a narrow street to the Gare du Palais to wait for my train back to Montreal and a baseball game for a change of pace. After watching Expo Week last night and the owner giving up a downtown piece of property on which a new ballpark was going to be built, there was rampant speculation that the Montreal Expos may not be in Montreal after this season. So I was glad to be seeing them them in Montreal.

As we departed Quebec City in the pouring rain, our LRC-2 locomotive was smoking as it it were a steam engine. The timing of my walk from the hotel had been perfect as not a drop landed on me. We proceeded to Sainte Foy, crossed the St. Lawrence River and made an unscheduled stop at Charny for a pair of passengers then made our way down the main line to Laurier, where we met an eastbound Canadian National container train bound for tomorrow's destination of mine, Halifax. The rain stopped as sped down the tracks as far as St. Leonard, where we were sidetracked for VIA 620, the same train that I was on last Sunday. With all the adventures on the QNSL, that seemed to be a lifetime ago. Back on the main and up to speed, the train travelled to St. Edouard, where we met another eastbound Canadian National freight, the sixth such train I had seen this morning so business must be booming. Drummondville would make a good future location to photograph Canadian National and VIA trains.

We were out on the main again and ran fine until we were delayed by another double stack train and our LRC-2 was still smoking as we passed the new commuter train stops for the service from Montreal then we paused in St. Lambert before crossing the St. Lawrence River and arrived in Montreal twenty-two minutes late.

After paying VIA to store my bags in their baggage room for the day, I was off downstairs and on the escalator to the Bonaventure subway station. With the Montreal Metro subway map acquire at the VIA Information Center, getting to Olympic Stadium was very simple. However, Metro is unique in that it is a rubber-tired underground rapid transit system, not a train. I followed the stops and at Berri-UQAM, I transferred downstairs to a train towards Honoré- Beaugrand with my stop being PIE-IX. Always find the line's end point on the line that you are going to be riding to make sure that you are on the correct train. The station at PIE-IX was right at the home plate gate where my seat was.

I always wanted to go to Olympic Stadium after watching the 1977 Summer Olympics and a tape of Emerson, Lake and Palmer's 1977 tour with the orchestra which I saw in Long Beach, although that was minus the orchestra due to the high costs. I walked down to the field fence and heard all the French baseball fans trying to get the players' attention in French. I said "Hey, Vladimir" and he asked "Who said that?" "I did and would you sign my book?" He responded "What's your name" and I said "Chris". He took my book, signed it then said, "Hey teammates come and sign Chris' book." I managed to get almost the entire team. Vladimir Guerrero than asked me where I was from and I replied "Santa Ana, California on a train trip across Canada." "Have a nice and safe trip".

After the Expos finished signing my book, Vladimir handed it back to me and I yelled "Thank you Montreal Expos!" and they all turned and waved and said "You're welcome!" I walked back to my seat with those French fans' jaws dropped, looking at me in awe. I then watched the Houston Astros defeat the Expos 7-3 with Scott Elarton pitching a complete game and catcher Tony Eusebio hitting a home run and two doubles to extend his hitting streak to twenty-three games. Moises Alou had a home run and a pair of singles for the Expos. All food was reasonably-priced and the Expo Magazine with scorecard was a true bargain. After the game, I took the subway back to Central Station, where I bought a chicken dinner, retrieved my luggage and waited to board my train to Halifax.

We departed on schedule and proceeded out into the evening's clearing skies. The train was crowded but as usual, I managed to keep a pair of seats to myself then retraced my route of this morning as far as Charny, where I stretched out across two seats and slept fairly well through the night.

8/28/2000 I awoke at Matapedia as they were splitting the Gaspé train off and my memory took me back to that most beautiful trip that I had there last summer. I then went to the rear section of the Skyline Car to wait for breakfast to be served and had my entire meal of pancakes as the train was being serviced in Campbellton, New Brunswick. As the Ocean travelled east across the province, I was in kick-back mode and wondered how Sam and Bill's caribou hunting north of Schefferville went. When I boarded the QNSL train there, I had met some hunters from South Carolina, one who had bagged six caribou. So Sam and Bill, I hope you both had good luck and wish you a safe trip on your long drive home.

I had a beautiful clear day with not a cloud in the sky and a good breeze blowing and wonder what the weather was up north. We made our way to Moncton, where I was given a tour of the former Canadian Pacific Railway baggage car, which was originally was a baggage-dormitory with the dormitory section removed in 1980/1981. I had now been inside each type of VIA's rolling stock. The crew cut off two of the Chateau sleepers so they could return to Montreal tonight and we departed Moncton forty-five minutes late.

Our eastward journey continued as I listened to music to drown out two women who had not stopped talking, except to sleep, since they left Montreal. I pitied the two Japanese students who kept on being wakened by their loud outbursts. The Ocean's next stop was Sackville, which sounded like a town on a board game then we crossed the Missaguash River and entered Nova Scotia before our next stop at Amhearst. We did not stop at Springhill Junction but crossed over the ridge as I was doing word fill-in puzzles until just before Truro, where we met the westbound Ocean. At Truro, a carload of school children boarded, many of them making their second train ride of their lives after first coming from Halifax this morning. All too soon, the Ocean was curving along the Bedford Basin and we arrived in Halifax just fifteen minutes late.

I walked and found the Waverley Inn, an excellent old hotel which lacked an elevator so I had to break down the hand truck and make four trips up to the second floor with the luggage. However, the hotel let me store my luggage and hand truck while I was the Bras d'Or, which was a huge help. I needed to do my laundry so returned to the same laundromat I used last summer then visited the Atlantic Super Store for some dinner and the gift shop in the lobby of the Westin Hotel for three Lighthouses of Nova Scotia T-shirts, two for myself and one for my niece Stephanie, who loves lighthouses. I relaxed the rest of the evening and had a good night's sleep before my last piece of new mileage in Canada on this trip, and what should have been my last intercity mile in Canada, had the Algoma Central reservation department not made the mistake. At least I will be finishing VIA's routes tomorrow.

8/29/2000 I awoke to a beautiful and cool sunny morning and following a continental breakfast, walked to the VIA depot to buy an Ocean T-shirt prior to boarding the Bras D'Or.

This service, which started in May, operated this weekly summer excursion service on much of the same route of the Halifax-Sydney train, originally operated by the Canadian National Railway and later VIA Rail between Halifax and Sydney via Truro and Port Hawkesbury. That service was discontinued in 1990.

The route was operated by the Canadian National Railway until 1977, when most of the line's passenger routes were transferred to VIA Rail. Two daily round trips ran the full route between Halifax and Sydney but not all trains stopped at all stations. The April 27, 1980 timetable dropped 22 stops, nearly half the itinerary, which were mostly in small communities located just a few miles from retained stops. On June 3, 1984, a new service pattern took effect. One round trip, trains 604 and 605, ran the entire route on a daily basis. Additionally, train 608 ran from Halifax to Sydney on Fridays and Saturdays, with train 607 returning on Sundays. The remaining days saw trains 603 and 606 run an abbreviated route between Halifax and Port Hawkesbury. The new schedule was billed as enabling same-day round trips from Port Hawkesbury to Truro and Halifax.

This timetable also dropped six stops: Avondale, Hopewell, West River, Stewiacke, Shubenacadie and Elmsdale. On October 30, 1988, the Stellarton and New Glasgow stops were combined and on April 30, 1989, trains 603 and 606 were suspended due to track upgrades near Truro. Regular service was planned to resume in late October 1989. Service was discontinued on January 15, 1990, during a round of severe cuts to the Via Rail network overseen by Benoît Bouchard due to the 1989 budget. In an act of protest, local union leader Victor Tomiczek chained himself to the last train departing Sydney station.

It began with my ticket being taken and a walk to a four-car train consisting of the baggage car, a coach, a Skyline Car and Park Car 80170 "Prince Albert Park" from the consist of the Ocean on which I arrived yesterday. We departed on time and followed the Ocean's route as far as Truro and I went to the Park Car's dome for the ride out of Halifax and along the Bedford Basin with our train in excellent light. A continental breakfast was served to the twenty passengers aboard and our male guide, Jeff Grey, pointed out the location of the 1917 explosion of an ammunition ship, which was the world's greatest manmade explosion prior to the dropping of the atomic bomb. It happened when the munitions ship Mt. Blanc collided with the relief ship Immo and this event, along with a snowstorm the next day, killed 2,000 people and was known as the Halifax Explosion. It took place in the narrows between the harbour and the Bedford Basin. Boston sent relief supplies after the disaster and because of their actions, Halifax sends Boston a Christmas tree every year, a way of always remembering that city's generosity in their time of need.

The Bras D' Or passed through the heart of Nova Scotia's dairy farming and milk industry and we crossed the forty-fifth parallel, which puts me halfway between the Equator and North Pole. All the rivers here flow into the Bay of Fundy, a place that I would like to visit. At Truro, we switched off the Canadian National tracks to those of the Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia Railway, where we switched crews and proceeded onto new trackage, then travelled out into a very heavily-forested canyon along the Salmon River, one of thirteen rivers with that same name in the province.

Downstairs, our female guides, Stephanie Hardy and Mary Rachelle Cherpak, were singing Nova Scotian folk songs extremely well and their music really put one in the mood for the trip. The train reached Lorre siding with a marsh to the north and shortly after, we were at the peak of the grade at Milepost 31.3 then we passed through Westville before reaching Stellarton, where two passengers boarded who were members of our engineer's family. I saw a Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia local freight working their lines in the area before we passed the Museum of Industry where Dominion Coal 2-6-0 42 was on display then crossed the East River and entered New Glasgow, with a large smokestack at the Trenton Car Works plant off to the north. This plant builds railroad cars for most major North American railroads.

Leaving New Glasgow, we started climbing the ridge leading to Antigonish. On a high power pole near Milepost 49, I spotted the largest osprey nest I had seen then we crossed an arm of Merigomish Harbour before returning to the trees. As the Bras D'Or passed through Marshy Hope, a call came over the public address systemthat all coach passengers should return to their seats for lunch. The attendant first brough a hot towel which is then collected after use. A menu is then distributed and a cart pushed down the aisle and I received a seafood platter of lobster, salmon and halibut, along with a dinner roll and a Coca-Cola. It was a very tasty lunch before I returned to the Park Car's dome for more outstanding Nova Scotia scenery.

The train passed through Antigonish, home of St. Francis Xavier University, which was to the southwest, and the station built in 1902. The town also hosts North America's longest-running Highland Games. We next traversed James River before paralleling Antigonish Bay to the bridge at South River. Along the route where trees have been cleared, farming takes place and where they have not, it was continuous forests. We crossed the Pomquet River with the bay to the north before the going to Afton siding, which is where the first glimpse of St. Georges Bay occured. Just past Tracadie Bay, where the river of the same name empties into it, we crossed a ridge of highland before running above the shore of St. Georges Bay. This was a very scenic part of the trip as our guide Jeff pointed out places of interest.

We rounded a bend and Canso Causeway was seen before we travelled over the deepest causeway in the world, 217 feet at its deepest point, which opened on August 13, 1955 and created a road connection between Cape Breton Island and mainland Nova Scotia. We entered Cape Breton Island and paralleled the Straits of Canso to our brief layover of Port Hawkesbury. We were told that our departure would be after the passage of a freight train so I visited a shop and bought a Lighthouses of Nova Scotia sweatshirt at forty percent off then an ice cream cone and walked to the end of the pier. Once I arrived there, the freight train started to move and departed, after which the Bras D'Or reversed into the depot and I was the first passenger to reboard, storing my purchases and returning to the Park Car's dome for departure.

Departing Port Hawkesbury, we started inland across a low divide and travelled past MacIntyre Lake before we climbed to West Bay and over the top of the grade at Milepost 28 then descended to River Denys siding. Just before Orangedale was the first view of an arm of Bras D'Or Lake and after passing the station, a museum, I had my second look at an inlet of the lake. Further along, we crossed the Ottawa Brook on a curved trestle built in 1915 followed shortly thereafter by a shorter bridge as we travelled along more inlets of the lake. We passed the location of the former siding at McKinnon and moments later, were paralleling our namesake lake with its cliffs of white before cliffs of red. Absolutely beautiful!

We rounded a curve with the beautiful brick St. Columba Roman Catholic church and graveyard to the west in Iona and the Barra Strait Bridge, also known as the Grand Narrows Bridge, which was opened in 1890 to the east. The train stopped for ten minutes so everyone could detrain and enjoy the view prior to our crossing of the Grand Narrows.

Our train followed the St. Andrews channel of Bras D'Or Lake northeast, first passing through Grand Narrows, where there is a former railway hotel, now a bed and breakfast, then passed Christmas Island, a town where Canadians send their Christmas cards to be postmarked. We ended our lakeshore running, returning to the forest with the lake visible between the trees with off and on shore views.

Off to the west after Milepost 81, we passed Long Island, a less-populated island than the one in New York then minutes later across the channel to the west, was Boularderie Island before we bridged Georges River. The train passed a yard that had a sign that read "Welcome Back VIA" and a gentleman who waves to every train that passes. We came to the north end of the St. Andrew Channel of Bras D'Or Lake, which connects it to the Atlantic Ocean then ran through Gannon before it crossed a causeway. We then went through Sydney Mines before travelling through North Sydney and in the fading light of day, we circled the south end of Sydney Bay before crossing a forested peninsula and along the east side of the bay to our final destination, a new wooden platform built in a residential area where the Bras D'Or would end its journey.

With that, I reached the end of one of my goals - riding every mile of VIA Rail of Canada's system. A passenger took a picture of me beside "Prince Albert Park and it had been an absolutely special day with the train, the scenery and the people, all making it one of the most delightful days of riding trains.

I walked the mile-and-a-quarter to the Cape Bretoner Inn, checked in and went off for dinner as well as some film. The Dairy Queen provided the food and Walmart was one of three stores that I visited just to get a single roll of film. I returned to my hotel for a good night's rest.

I started my walk back to the train with a stop at the Comfort Inn for postcards where I discovered that my travel folder was gone which had my birth certificate in it. I stashed my bags behind some bushes and ran back to the hotel, knowing I had it when I checked in. They said that they did not have it and acquired a key to check my room, which was in vain then returned to retrieve my bags and on the way to the train wondered how I was going to deal with this rock on the road on my return to the United States. I wondered if Halifax had a US Embassy? Was this going to be another case of 'everything works out if you let it'?

Once aboard, I told the service manager Ken Cairns about my dilemma and he said he would assist me. The car attendant, Shamus McDonald, bought me a Coca-Cola at my request and I started my westward journey home from the shores of the Atlantic Ocean all the way across North America to my home in Santa Ana and wrote postcards and read the newspaper until departure time. Today's passenger count was a mere nine, so there was even more space to move about. Sydney Harbour was fogged over until we reached the south end and I returned to the Park Car dome and enjoyed the causeway before sitting back and taking in the whole scene while listening to music.

We crossed the lake at Grand Narrows and I switched sides in the dome for the west side of Bras D'Or Lake. Since I am was the only passenger riding in this car, it was akin to having my own private car. When we reached Ottawa Creek, the train crew came back and told me several stories about the bridge, with one person living and one engineer dying. We passed the Orangedale Depot Museum and descended towards Port Haweksbury as I read The Hockey News Ultimate Pool Guide. At our morning stop, I went to put stamps on the postcards I was mailing and our guides wanted to know how I was enjoying my private car.

Also during the stop, I bought another sweatshirt similar to mine for Karen, the Amtrak agent at Solana Beach in California, as well as four more postcards and filled them out, leaving them with the store owner to be mailed before getting another ice cream cone. We departed at our assigned time after meeting a switch engine and within minutes, crossed the Canso Causeway, leaving Cape Breton behind for mainland Nova Scotia. At Havre Boucher, three cuts of box cars in the yard prevented me from photographing the lighthouse there. I had chicken for lunch in the rounded end of the Park car and rearranged the chairs for a rear view. At Afton, we went around the CB&CNS Railway's eastbound freight train which was quite long today.

Following our passage through Antigonish, Ken, our service manager let me use his company's cell phone and I reached the US Consulate in Halifax, who was absolutely no help with my problem so it was time for a new plan. I asked Ken for VIA's fax number in Halifax and when he gave it to me, I called my mother Nancy and after several attempts due to the loss of the signal in the low mountains, I was able to get through. With instructions on what I needed to, I asked her to go to the Hall of Records, get a copy of my birth certificate then fax it to VIA in Halifax, thanking her for all the trouble that I was causing and she said that she would always help me in any circumstance, no matter where I was on the planet. It was certainly nice to know I was so well-loved even when I was on the other side of North America. Will this be another case of 'everything works out if you let it' with a little help from my friends?

We continued south into the sun and this route favours photography going east towards Sydney. It was just nice to sit back and enjoy the view from my private car. The Bras D'Or passed through New Glasgow and stopped in Stellarton to switch engine crews then they chatted with me all the way to Truro, where we switched engine crews again and returned onto the Canadian National main line to Halifax.

Stephanie and Mary Rachelle came into my private car to perform and we sang "Song for the Mira" (Allister MacGilluary), they sang "Working Man" (Rita MacNeil) a song about a coal miner, then "Orangedale Whistle" (Rankin Family), "My Love, Cape Breton and Me" and "Farewell to Nova Scotia", with a Cape Breton step dance performed by Mary Rachelle. The women were excellent and I felt very honoured that they did it just for me. I enjoyed the rest of the journey into Halifax and returned to my coach seat as we arrived at the station, where I thanked the entire Bras D'Or crew for an exciting two days of train riding in Nova Scotia, and they thanked me for coming.

In the depot, I checked for the fax which had not arrived then walked to the Waverley Inn when my luck started to change. The Cape Bretoner Inn had called and said that they had found my materials behind a chair on their side of the counter and the owner, who was coming to Halifax on business, would drop it off at my hotel and since my itinerary had said where I was going to be on a daily basis, it would be easy to return to me. I called home and had to leave a message about my good news then walked to the Atlantic Super Store for film, which was plentiful, and dinner then stopped at a local store for some ginger ale and a Hockey Yearbook before returning to Room 120 to relax.

The floor did not seem level and I felt off balance until I realized that the floor had sagged from the building's sinking. About 9:30 PM, I received a phone call that my materials had arrived in town and would be here in ten minutes. I went downstairs to the lobby and eight minutes later, they were back in my hands and I was one happy person. I called my mother, told her the whole story and thanked her for everything that she had done for me and said I would get her something (a Lighthouses of Nova Scotia T-shirt). I went to bed with the chance to sleep in for the first time since Hearst, Ontario.

8/31/2000 Sleep in that comfortable bed I did and I awoke one refreshed man ready to start the trip home again. Downstairs, I had a continental breakfast before walking to Pier 21 and saw a Canadian National passenger car used to transport immigrants to other places in the country. Pier 21 is to Canada what Ellis Island is to the United States. I walked back to the Westin Hotel gift shop for the present for my mother and to the Atlantic Super Store for some smoked salmon.

I photographed my next train before stopping at Tim Horton's for some doughnuts to take with me then walked back to the Waverley Inn for a couple hours of relaxation before checking out and rolling back to the station.

Ken Cairns and I had a good laugh as he handed me the fax and I told him that the missing materials had been already returned to me. He walked me out to a coach behind the dining car so I could experience VIA's newest innovation, Economy Plus, whose car's main function is to transport sleeping car passengers from Halifax to Moncton to board the turnaround sleeping cars that are added to the Ocean there. Coach passengers may also pay an extra fare to ride in the car as well and have access to the whole train by doing so, including the Park Car. Coffee and tea are provided as well as snacks and newspapers. I was told that after Moncton, the car would be mine.

We departed Halifax on time and I made my way to the Park Car dome then returned to my seat to read the paper and the Hockey Yearbook as far as Truro and returned to the Park Car for the meet with our sister train at Londonderry. We proceeded west as I watched "Stuart Little" in the bar section of the car before having a roast beef dinner in dining car "Emerald" while the four sleeping cars were added at Moncton.

I rode in the Park Car dome for about an hour on some really long pieces of tangent track as the train flew, leaving the traffic on the highway far behind. I visited the bar and waited for "Galaxy Quest" to be shown with me, which I enjoyed, then returned to coach plus seat for the night and as soon as they turned out the lights, the attendant and a drunk who had no tongue from one of his major surgeries he had told his whole life story that no one wanted to hear. I walked back to the bathroom and told the attendant that they were keeping the entire car up, but they just kept on talking. After another lady complained, the attendant bought ear plugs and eye blinders, which were a first in my train riding experience, and I slept soundly using my new tools.

9/1/2000 The next morning, after a continental breakfast, the Ocean had an on-time arrival in Montreal.

I went up into Gare Central, visited McDonald's and bought a new watch to solve this trip's time-keeping problems that I had been having since returning from Labrador then waited for the Adirondack to Albany, New York when I learned that due to a chemical spill from a freight train accident, all passngers would be bussed. I boarded a bus following the directions of the train crew and sat for ten minutes listening to Jeff Bec then the conductor boarded and asked where everyone was going and told me to get off the bus because he had a better plan, so returned outside. In my 'I just want to get home mood', I boarded Bus 4 and things improved and I chose the front seat so I could at least enjoy the interstate view on what I called the Magic Bus to the Lake Shore Limited.

We left Montreal and made our way across the St. Lawrence River towards the American bborder. US Customs were not set up to handle the five buses as well as the other regular bus traffic. We were sixth in line and waited twenty-five minutes before moving up to be next in line, followed by another ten minutes before our turn. We had to take off any hand-carried luggage, place it on a table and I led the way inside the building to the Customs officials. I was asked just three questions before being sent to another counter to turn in my declaration form then I was sent to a waiting area until the bus was checked and we were allowed to reboard. Everyone returned except for one who had to come out, get his bag and was never seen again. An hour and twenty minutes later, we were told to go on without him.

It was actually a nice drive down Interstate 87 as we made our way to the Albany-Rensselaer Amtrak station with the highway cutting through the Adirondack Mountains but only two views of the south end of Lake Champlain. We made really good time and I assisted the driver with directions from another driver who had written them down for him. They were perfect and soon the New York passengers were on an earlier train to New York City. I enjoyed the time before my next train to Chicago by reading USA Today, doing word fill-ins puzzles and listening to music then learned that the northbound buses were given food and drink for their trip while we were not given anything, especially with the long wait at the border, which did not seem right to me.

One of the Rohr-rebuilt Turbo trains Albany-Rensselaer station.

I walked out in a light rain and was given seat 60 in the coach of the Boston section and I had the end wall in front of me and with the seat in full recline position, if I turned my head, I could see out of a corner of a window. I asked about the open seats in the middle of the car but was told those were for short haul passengers. The seat was also right over the truck, which was going to make for an interesting ride along with the bright end-of-the-car light that would be on all night. Once the two sections of the train were coupled together, I went to the dining car for dinner, having a New York strip steak which was nicely done, then returned to my seat and remembered that I had ear plugs and eye blinder that VIA had given me. I put them on and slept the night away, never noticing the bright light. Everything works out if you let it indeed!

9/2/2000 The stillness of the Lake Shore Limited woke me up and I glanced out of my tiny window to a view of Cleveland, Ohio, then went to the lounge car for a cup of tea and to wait for breakfast where I had pancakes with a Cajun flavour, the most unique pancakes I ever had on a train. With breakfast complete, I returned to my seat to relax the morning away and we made our way to Toledo.

I stepped off for a picture and visited the station where I bought three coffee mugs for my collection (Lakeshore Limited, The Cardinal and the Pennsylvanian, then returned to the train and asked Joe the car attendant if I could now switch to a seat with a large window and received a positive response. That was until three of the most uncontrolled children returned to the seat behind mine so at Bryon, I moved back to my old quiet seat. West of there, the Lakeshore stopped dead in its tracks for a Norfolk Southern freight, Amtrak's Pennsylvanian and two more Norfolk Southern freights. I took advantage of this lull for another cup of tea in the lounge car, which had been rebuilt with a smoking lounge at one end and thought this could be what solves the smoking problems on low-level trains and this arrangement could also work on VIA's trains. The train passed through Goshen, Indiana, the hometown of the parents of one of my best friends, Bruce Fenton, who lives in Victor, Idaho. We paused at Elkhart with the National New York Central Railroad Museum south of the tracks then ran uninterrupted until just north of Comiskey Park, home of the Chicago White Sox, before arriving at Chicago Union Station for a brief rest before my next train.

I detrained from the Lakeshore Limited and went straight to Gold Coast for a pair of Char Dogs which were as delicious as ever. I went out into the city looking for an open drug store since this was Labour Day and Walgreens was closed but three blocks north on Madison Street was Osco Drug Store. I returned to the station and was asked to leave the waiting area I was in because the train caller wanted it closed so had to pack everything up as I was repairing my bag with duct tape at the time. I found a quiet area, repaired the bag, filled out postcards and did some word search puzzles then about 4:30 PM, had two more Char Dogs then called home and learnt it had cooled off while being hot and humid here. I could only be so lucky for so long with the weather here as in all my other trips here over the years, this was the first time it had been like this. I returned to a proper waiting area to wait for the last new train of the trip, the Kentucky Cardinal.

All outgoing trains out of Chicago were delayed on this night and the crowd in the station was very hostile and short-tempered because of the delays, the heat and the humidity. The Texas Eagle was the first train brought into the station two-and-a-half hours after its departure time. The Cardinal was next and I boarded the rear coach along with everyone else going to Indianapolis and it was packed due to the Labour Day weekend. There were only six of us going to Jeffersonville, Indiana, so we wouuld have the car to ourselves after Indianapolis. Our train was further delayed by the fact that food has not been stocked on the Cardinal, whose cars we ride behind to Indianapolis three days a week, while the other four days, the Kentucky Cardinal runs as its own train.

We sat waiting until after the Capitol Limited departed before we also proceeded out into the night. I was tired, so put on the eye blinder and ear plugs and fell right to sleep, only waking briefly before Indianapolis as people queued to detrain. I fell back to sleep until it became light enough to see out of the windows for the last few new miles and saw a sign that said 'Jeffersonville seven miles', so started to pack up my belongings.

Fifteen minutes later, I stepped off the three-car Kentucky Cardinal (a coach and two express cars) in Jeffersonville, having once again completed riding every mile of the Amtrak system.

Since I was across the border from Kentucky, I tried to contact the Kentucky Railway Museum in New Haven to have someone meet me and take me to their museum, but no one arrived. I rolled my bags out to the access road after seeing a Motel Six across the tracks a little way to the south and my walk took me to a street then a main road which led me under the railroad and I found a Days Inn, where I managed to get a room for the day. I walked over to the Louisville and Indiana Railroad shops before returning to the hotel via a Quick Mart then showered and slept for three-and-a-half hours. Relaxing and watching television in the afternoon, I checked out and walked back to the platform and waited in the humidity with a nice sunset until my train arrived from the yard about 7:30 PM. I noticed that the express cars had been built by Trenton Car Works, the same plant's smokestack seen from the Bras D'Or.

This train, led by Amtrak B32-8WH 504, departed on time after its six passengers had met each other and I fell asleep to the rocking and rolling of our single coach, two express car train.

9/4/2000 I awoke as we sat in Indianapolis with a great lightning show outside. The westbound Cardinal finally arrived and about 6:00 AM, I ventured outside onto the platform and learned that a CSX freight train had broken down, thus blocking the Cardinal's ability to couple onto our cars. I went downstairs into the station and across the street for a newspaper then returned trainside just as new locomotives arrived to move the offending freight train. The Cardinal reversed onto our equipment but the air brake line was attached to the safety bar on the car's rear door and that door could not be opened to release it. An attempted climb to reach it was futile. Our brakeman received a blue flag and after many opportunities, was finally successful, after which the cars were coupled and the power lines connected before the crew faced another problem. The door of our car that leads to the rest of the train would not open and after attempting several methods to open it, we, the passengers, were forced to relocate two coach cars up and I led the way after we were told we had two minutes to accomplish this but no offer to assist with luggage.

Leaving town about four hours late, I did see the RCA dome and State Capitol from the end of the platform then went to the dining car for French toast and had a delightful conversation with a couple returning home to Chicago and a woman going to Chicago to fly on Virgin Air to London. The meal hit the spot and I enjoyed a follow-up tea back at my seat as I watched the Indiana scenery. As the Cardinal approached Lafayette, it gave me an opportunity to see the railroad's relocation around town; I do miss the street-running with the stop at the station there. We stopped at the new station before making our way out of town on the former Monon Railroad and at the town with the same name, we curved off to the west to Rensselaer. Due to the padding in the schedule, we continued to make up time, now only two hours and twenty minutes late.

However, there were more unexpected delays since as we passed through Lowell, we came to a halt because of a Labour Day parade then lost more time due to slow orders and bad signals on the CSX, but the Union Pacific and Grand Trunk Western (Canadian National) were both ready for us. It was a rainy and windy morning as we made the rest of the way into Chicago and I was glad to be back here and if all goes according to plan, I was three trains from home.

Back in Union Station for a pair of Char Dogs and a call home, I boarded the Portland section of the Empire Builder and was pre-boarded due to my sore back caused by that quick move they made the passengers undertake in Indianapolis and my Red Cap did an excellent job of assisting me. We departed on schedule and proceeded to Milwaukee where the clouds parted and blue skies were seen for the first time today.

I had an excellent ribeye steak and a Turtle cake for dessert before I returned to my seat to photograph Wisconsin Dells as we passed through, saw the crossing of the Mississippi River before falling into a deep and restful sleep, not waking up until North Dakota.

9/5/2000 The next morning, I was having breakfast as the train stopped in Ruby, North Dakota, the geographical center of North America. I had a very interesting tablemate, a man who lives outside of Helena, Montana and he recounted the issues surrounding the wildfires there.

The Empire Builder stopped for an hour in Minot, a servicing stop and I went into town to buy another tube of Crazy Glue for my shoe's other heel and bought a local newspaper. In the station, I picked up state maps for all the states through which this train passes, except for Montana. To the west of town, the Empire Builder crossed the always impressive Gassman Coulee Trestle before continuing west across North Dakota, then I hopped off in Williston but was back aboard five minutes before we departed. It felt really good to run and my back was feeling better after that long rest last night.

We crossed into Montana, normally Big Sky Country, but today it was under mostly cloudy skies and I was a time zone closer to home now that we were on Mountain Time with our station stop at Wolf Point, and another station closer to home. One down, forty one more to go and five states to go, but who's counting on day 31 of this trip?! After doing five word fill-in puzzles, the train arrived in Malta under the now clear Montana Big Sky and was refuelled prior to its stop at Havre, where I detrained for a telephone call, an ice cream and a long walk around town. It was a beautiful late summer's day and I enjoyed my walk, needing some peace and quiet and time to myself.

The ride west of Havre started my anticipation for the Rocky Mountains and the ride along the southern boundary of Glacier National Park. I had a 5:00 PM dinner reservation and chose the pork chops with a Turtle cake for dessert and during the pleasant table conversations, the Rocky Mountains came into view. We moved closer and closer to them and just to the west of Browning, passed a herd of buffalo then crossed the lofty Two Medicine Bridge and I had an opportunity to step off into the fresh Montana air at East Glacier. I really miss visiting Glacier National Park and being here made me want to return. The crossing of Marias Pass bought back a flood of memories and I remembered exactly where everything was. As we stopped in Essex, I wished I was getting off to stay at the Izaak Walton Inn again, then I enjoyed the trek down to West Glacier before calling it a night. It had been another good day of train riding.

9/6/2000 I awoke as the Empire Builder started its journey westbound along the Columbia River just south of Pasco, Washington. As I always do on this segment, I ventured into the lounge car and chose a riverside seat for the trip down the Columbia River Gorge. It was always a beautiful trip and after viewing Mount Hood from the left side, the train encountered clouds streaming into the gorge, thus blocking the sunlight and the great views of the Oregon side of the gorge. Upon exiting, we entered the damp world of Washington before stopping in Vancouver prior to our crossing of the Columbia River with an early arrival at Portland Union Station.

I checked into the Metropolitan Lounge, stored my luggage and borrowed an umbrella to ride the west end of the Blue Line of MAX, Portland's light rail system from Chinatown to Hillsboro and return. Back at the station, my bags had been tagged with my bedroom number on the Starlight and I relaxed and watched CNN. The Coast Starlight arrived thirty minutes late and Eric, the Red Cap, brought my luggage out to the train and loaded it into my sleeping car. An excellent job was done by the entire Portland station staff, especially Michelle, who was in charge of the lounge.

We departed Portland and I went downstairs for a shower which turned out to be the best I have had on Amtrak. While wine tasting was occurring in the Pacific Parlour Car, I went downstairs to watch "Inspector Gadget" then after Eugene, I had a seared New York steak with a Turtle cake for dessert, watched the History Channel video "Streamliners" and called it an early last night of my journey and had a full night's rest.

9/7/2000 My morning started with some ginger ale for a stomach ache and a little more sleep then I arose for breakfast prior to Davis, California, a French toast and bacon event. I rode the Parlour Car along the Carquinez Straits and the rest of the way into Oakland, where five Road Railers on the rear of the train were cut off then enjoyed the morning sun at our extended station stop at the Jack London Square station in Oakland. I napped to the Pajaro Gap before showering and starting lunch along the Elkhorn Slough and finishing at Soledad, with all sorts of train riding questions being asked by my tablemates. I enjoyed the journey up the Salinas Valley, working on a couple of more drinking song lyrics for a future album, thus giving me thirteen done on this trip. The Starlight made another fantastic descent down Cuesta Grade and around the horseshoe curve before we arrived at San Luis Obispo early, where the late northbound Starlight arrived and the final major problem of this trip took place.

We had arrived with head end power (HEP) but lost it while we sat during the crew change. When the crew attempted to restore it, an explosion and fire occurred where our sleeper was connected to the next one and a fire extinguisher was used. They were going to try to again and I said "It is going to happen again!" and was laughed at by the people in charge, however, the assistant conductor who knew me went to get another extinguisher.

A second attempt and the same result. The decision was made to cut the two sleepers off and put them on the rear of the train. What should have been a simple switching move took over two hours and we finally departed three hours late. My option to take a Pacific Surfliner home from Los Angeles went up in the smoke of that HEP explosion and fire and I would now have to ride a bus to end this thirty-three day rail trip.

Since our rear cars now had no HEP and were useless, the passengers had to walk through the entire coach section to the Parlour Car and the attendant gave an excellent description of our route until it grew dark. I did not know that the set of the Ten Commandments still exist and is buried out in the sand dunes west of Guadalupe, California. I had another seared steak with the trip's final Turtle cake at a late dining time of 8:00 PM since there had been no HEP for so long. I returned to my car where its batteries were running low so I enjoyed the open downstairs window for my coastal night time ride to Santa Barbara and passed that area of slippage which was all lit up. The batteries then failed completely so I went back to the Parlour Car and watched "Skulls" which lasted most of the way to Los Angeles.

9/8/2000 I rode in a coach seat the final miles to Los Angeles Union Station, ending the rail portion of this trip at 12:03 A.M. on September 8th, 2000.

By now, I was really in my 'I just want to get home mood' so after the near comical loading of the buses, we departed Union Station by way of the California Highway 60 (the long way) to the California Highway 57 down to Chapman Avenue then surface streets to Fullerton where the driver did not know where the station was, so I had to take over and get us there. We learned that there was no agent in Anaheim, thus no taxis would be there to meet us at its isolated location, so it was decided to take everyone to their hotels. We stopped at the Ramada Inn then went to the Disneyland Hotel before stopping at the Comfort Inn on the way back to the freeway.

Everyone who debussed thanked me and several believed that I should be involved in running Amtrak, which pleased me very much. The driver announced "Next stop is Irvine" until I pointed out that I and another person were getting off in Santa Ana and his response was "Los Angeles said we had no Santa Ana's." We arrived at the station and I found my father had locked himself out of the van so I called home to my mother to rescue me again. She came and I was home in bed at 2:30 AM to get up at 6:00 AM to start another school year at McFadden Intermediate.

I evoked the Amtrak Service Guarantee for the laughing red caps in Philadelphia, no food provided for the meal period missed on the Magic Bus trip, the non-window seat that prevented me from seeing America, the Grand Move in Indianapolis due to equipment failure and that fiasco on the Coast Starlight. The North American Rail Pass cost was $654 and I receeived $350 for a future trip such as the one now planned for December. This was all done by calling the toll free number and telling the service representative the problems encountered on my travels.

RETURN TO THE MAIN PAGE