Took this exact trip in 1981. Wife and 2 kids in a bedroom. Remember everything like it happened yesterday. Trip of a lifetime, and i'm an old geezer now that has travelled around the world but nothing comes close to this.
Hello John, from London, England. My wife and I took The Canadian (Train #2 eastbound) for our honeymoon in 1998, which started our love affair with Canada. We know Brockville station very well ! When covering the "Ottawa Triangle" (Montreal - Brockville - Ottawa - Montreal) bashing trains, we visited Brockville a few times. Since then, we have covered every Canadian route with a passenger service (except Churchill) including Sept Iles to Schefferville, Toronto to Cochrane to Moosonee, Sarnia, Windsor, Niagara, Quebec, Halifax, Vancouver, Whistler, Quesnel, Jasper, Prince George, Prince Rupert, Banff, Calgary, the West Coast Express, Skytrain, GO Transit, EXO Montreal, the Pearson Airport Shuttle, and Carcross in Yukon Territory. Plus loads of heritage lines like Orangeville to Brampton, both Orford Express routes from Sherbrooke, the Hull Chelsea Wakefield, Chute Montmorency to La Malbaie, Port Stanley to Whytes Park, the South Simcoe, etc.
Looks like you've seen and covered more of Canada than most Canadians! We should make you an honorary Canadian just for that lol. Crossing Canada by rail and the train to Churchill are on my bucket list, but I didn't even know there were trains in the Yukon!
@@tinsley999 Thank you for such an honour. I have always said the Canadians are nice people ! The White Pass & Yukon Route goes from Skagway Alaska, USA, to Fraser BC, Bennett BC and Carcross YT. It is highly scenic and climbs 2,885ft into the St Elias Mountains. After watching the WP&YR on RU-vid, I bet you will be adding that to your bucket list too ! Whilst the most scenic bit is the climb to White Pass Summit, recommend you do the whole line to Carcross Yukon. They provide lunch in the station at Bennett, and the run alongside Lake Bennett is scenic in its own right. So many people claim to have done the WP&YR, yet when you ask them did you do Carcross, they say no. I reply, then you have only done the White Pass, the AND Yukon bit means you have to go to Carcross. Only one train goes that far. There is one railway to North West Territory to Hay River, on the Great Slave Lake (nearest railhead to Yellowknife) but you have to hide in a freight car so I have not done that LOL ! One commentator said the line to Churchill was an endurance. It used to leave Winnipeg, travel two days and one night and reach Churchill by 20.30 the next evening. Now the schedule is retimed to be mostly at night. It leaves Winnipeg at 20.30 and arrives at Churchill at 08.30 on Day 3, after two nights on the train. As the train returns the same day, you no longer overnight in a bed in Churchill. The train goes up the Thompson line, which branches off the line to Churchill. The train used to take one hour getting to Thompson, spend SIX hours in Thompson, then take one hour getting back on course for Churchill, making one chap say it was 8 hours going no where.... Probably the most scenic railway in Canada for beautiful sea fjords is the line from Vancouver to Whistler. The remote line from Sept Iles, Quebec to Schefferville, Quebec is very little known about, but it is well worth adding to you bucket list. Search RU-vid for the Tshiuetin Railway. You can thank me later. It travels 357 miles north of any road, across Newfoundland and Labrador. I managed to ride in the cab of the locomotive, seeing wolves and bears cross the track. I have also done all FIVE railways in Alaska ! Anchorage to Seward is a personal favourite. In the Lower 48, I have only done Toronto to New York (on the AMTRAK Maple Leaf) and New York to St Albans, Vermont (on the AMTRAK Vermonter). Both I can recommend. I have also done every railway in Britain, Isle Of Man, Ireland, Portugal, Norway, and most of Europe. My all time most scenic railways are 1st) Bergen to Oslo (Tip: You MUST do it EASTbound), 2nd) Trondheim to Bodø (goes north of the Arctic Circle, for many hours alongside the shores of the Atlantic), and 3) Dombås to Åndalsnes (the train goes UNDER twenty waterfalls and dives off a 3,000ft cliff, almost vertically). Any questions, just ask.
@@vicsams4431 looks like you are very knowledgeable with the train’s!!! Good to know person like you before take a train, some good advices are absolutely helpful 👌
@@dmitriybrodskiy9319 Cheers mate. I am happy to answer any train questions on Britain, Europe and parts of North America. I also have friends in Canada, America, Hungary, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden and France so if I don't know, I have folk I can ask. Some of them have been to over 60 countries, and one speaks 16 languages fluently, including Mandarin and Russian. Indeed, I have two Russian speaking friends. Railways are a great way to meet local people. Travel makes us realise that we are all the same at heart. Mostly friendly decent folk, to share a beer, or meal with, language not a problem. The First Nations line to Schefferville, English is the 5th language, behind three indigenous languages and Quebecois. It did not stop us having a great time. My wife has done Russia, Bulgaria, Greece and Estonia, and I have done the Ukraine, Poland, Hungary, Czech, Slovak Republics, Slovenia, Croatia etc. I wish you safe travels. Feel free to keep in touch.
I did the same direction just 3 days before you. Great to see it all again and great soundtrack. I was in a cabin for 1 and yours was positively enormous and palatial in comparison!
Thankyou for this wonderful ride across Canada. I took the train twice from Saskatoon to Toronto return in the 1980s Back then the train ran every day in both directions and there was the southern route through Regina. Later on, it ran every other day and the southern route was history and, as you said, now only twice a week. The food on-board was great and VIA prided themselves for having no microwave ovens on board. Those were the days. I think that when these 1950s cars finally ware out, VIA will end the Canadian service; I don't think they will ever replace them. It will be very sad indeed.
Hi John, thanks for your video. As Technology seems to speed up life everyday, we must find ways to slow time down and this trip looks like the perfect plan!
Thank you for sharing this trip , it’s awesome , we would love to take this trip someday as oppose to driving … We did drove last March took us four days and three night in a hotel. Nice video I enjoyed it…. cheers 🥂
Thank you so much John (I am still only half way through). Your vlog shows me all I want to see. Love all the Whistlestops, very informative. Those beautiful carriages were built the year I was born! We're hoping to travel Toronto - Vancouver on The Canadian in May next year. It's really moving to think about how much we travel nowadays to get from A to B and how on this train The Journey is the point. I love that The Canadian will stop for all those that need to travel. Thanks again. Kathy in France.
I was born in 1954 the year these trains were build and put in service 1955, I’m going to fly across Canada to catch this train at the end of October !
I was hoping to see a full tour of your cabin, bathroom facilities and dinner car. Guess I’m useful to the professional tours on RU-vid by Americans - they show everything. I’m familiar with the Canadian landscape, just wanted to know what the trains are like. 🕊🙏🏻
I enjoyed that - thanks for sharing. I've booked a cabin for 1 on the Canadian over Christmas this year to check off a bucket list item I never got to do with my late wife..
The last time I worked as a Trainman on this train; the 'Canadian' was on Dec. 31 '89/Jan. 1 '90. Two weeks later it was gone from CP tracks. I haven't been on it since. Seeing it taken off of the very tracks that it had run on since its inaugural run in 1955 and moved to CN tracks was a very difficult thing to see for all who had worked on it for years - even decades. It was a very sad time to be a railroader! Many of us still miss her! 😢
Some do but train schedules are so reduced in Canada due to continual government shortsightedness and cutbacks that schedules do not make a return trip by train possible. 2 times a week is hardly a transportation system.
@@Kingshighway1930 .. Mmmm. I suppose sightseeing and travelling to and for vacations never were about being green at all. We do the green stuff at home.
I thought you might mean Melville. I'd have as much trouble with towns in Ontario as I'm not familiar with the geography. Still, an excellent video. Thanks for posting it. Nice views along Kamloops Lake.
As you walked from one sleeping car to the next it occurred to me that I have had the pleasure of calling each one of those cars home at some point over the years
go to the VIA app or website www.viarail.ca/en/plan-your-trip/train-schedules/toronto-winnipeg-jasper-vancouver You are train 2 which leaves on Fridays and Mondays from Pacific Central. If you load the VIA app you can track any train in real time by going to the "train status" tab at the bottom of the screen. and existing train journey will give you an idea of what to expect on yours. Keep in mind the Canadian can run up to 6 hours behind sometimes but it usually makes it back before it gets to the final destination. The schedules are quite fluid. At the rest stops there is usually at least 30 minutes for a leg stretch. Jasper is 2-3 hours. Rest stops are: Kamloops, Jasper; Edmonton; Saskatoon; Melville; Winnipeg (3 hours); Sioux Lookout; Hornepayne; Capreol. enjoy!
There’s also The Atlantic that goes east from Montreal to Halifax 3 days a week. It’s successive governments over the last 40 years that have cut train services to this level.
OMG the Canadian with only two trains in either direction has faired worse than Amtrak’s Empire Builder or California Zephyr. Now that the Maple Leaf service has been restored to Toronto from New York, I had better ride your great Canadian while I am able before the two trains a week become one.
Correction for you, Hudson Ontario comes after Sioux Lookout Ontario, not before when you're heading to BC. by rail. According to VIA Rail schedules that was Nakina Ontario, not Hudson. Also, Hudson got absorbed into the township of Sioux Lookout several years ago.
Very sorry. I love these videos of rail trips particularly across Canada, but the music drove me to distraction so haven’t seen this one, what a shame.
It made up the time as they allow for 4 hours in Edmonton and we took 2. We waited 1 hour ahead of Kamloops on a siding as we were then ahead of schedule. So the train arrived in Vancouver at 5:30am due in at 8am.
I can only afford the train if i book the train like six months in advanced. if i book it any sooner its like $2700 for a cabin. I have heard that people complain that the views were better on the other route. The current makes more stops.
The routes east or west see different things based o their respective departure times. Also most cabins are on right side (starboard) so you get north views westbound and south views eastbound. Both train 1 and train 2 make the same stops.
I have done Vancouver to Winnipeg, it was a great trip of meeting new people, and beautiful scenery. I'm curious how long the ride took you, and Winnipeg to Vacnouver time? Rail Travel ages ago was something good in this Country, now it is a joke VIA(Except Ontario TO, Montreal, and Southern Ontario), the trains are in disrepair, train is second to every other trains frieghts on the lines, if Canada as a nation really cared about Tourist this line we would have VIA own line. that is the issue VIA doesn't own the train, CN does. I personally will never use VIA again, until major changes happen. the world braggs about the beauty of are country, we treat it like poo
Hello, I agree with the fact that the Canadian gouvernement should put more money in Via Rail and make it a Canadian Jewel, since the Canadian gouvernement owns Via but the tracks are owned by CN and are rented out to Via. I did that trip from Bathurst N.B. to Vancouver and back, in 1978. I had just received my long service pass as I just joined CN in June 1978 and was laid off for a few months.
Quite expensive in comparison because of the time and meals that they serve. Food in cabin or prestige class is outstanding, 3 meals a day prepared by chefs on board. No microwaves here. So discounted from Toronto to Jasper that class would start around 2k per person (3 days) and then you can pick up the Skeena to to Prince George in Jasper. It takes a day but the schedule does not line up with the Canadian so you would have some time in Jasper. Air is definitely cheaper and faster but… without the charm of the rails and the scenery.
@@jackfishcampbell6745 - seasoned vloggers tend to adopt one of or combination of three techniques; these days using a selfie stick to point the camera in the direction of the speaker, or more traditionally (and infinitely safer due to the risk of ruining content) to apply a voice-over once the video editing process is complete. Or use a phone or camera held at arms length but usually in narration rather than conversation. Participating in conversation from behind the camera is one of the hallmarks of the amateur.
They are quoting $3,900 CAD each for trips in June 2023 for a cabin for 2. 3 gourmet meals a day are included. You can also get single berths (less privacy) starting at $1300. You may get better deals off season but then there will be less daylight.
On day 2 and are you just sending videos of sceneries? Aren't you served any meals on board? We're more interested in that. And personally, I think Amtrak rooms, service are better. Thanks anyway.
@@revenniaga6249 oh,really.Canada does not need HSR? I can see enormous economics with Calgary-Edmonton HSR, and many other inter-city. The reason Canada cannot pull courage into HSR is because USA is not at it yet. Wait up brother.
How many travellers trips originate in downtown Edmonton and end in downtown Calgary? Very few. First everybody would need to get to downtown then in Calgary get from downtown to an outlying area. What are you going to do ride the bus transit in both cities wiping out any gain in time from the train on a bus? This is why both cities built ring roads, to avoid downtown. In situations like this people would not even ride the HSR if it was free. It does not get them to where they need to go. They did not even ride Greyhound between those two cities and it folded, what makes you think they would ride HSR. Look at the HSR(125 mph) ridership from New York to Washington, extremely low for their populations. North America is not Europe or Asia, some things will never work here.
@@revenniaga6249 as students, we used to drive from Edmonton, eat dim sum in Calgary and drove back. Most of time spent on driving. 6-7 hours. HSR cuts driving time by 3 times. Without bus commute, use Uber. There’s lots of time left to walk around. HSR for 183 miles is just nice. 1 hour. No need HSR? Just because USA doesn’t have HSR yet, Canadians must wait, for fear taking over USA number 1 place. C’mon. Alberta and many landscapes are flat, much much cheaper to build HSR than across Banff.
What is it with train stations in the US and Canada. Why no door height platforms as is the norm in most countries. Too bad if you are old and have difficulty with stairs, seems logic and the want to spend money to make the journey as pleasant as possible by providing the bare necessities ain't there. How ridiculous.
We have snow here in Canada so access to the door of train would be impossible and need to be shovelled out. And you are right....very difficult ascending steps to the cars and with suitcases. But more times as not, there are friendly, helpful staff to assist, especially if you advise them of your need. And seeing as most of Canada is above the 49th parallel, they are the snowiest provinces, compared to Ontario which is at the same level as northern California.
No understandable dialogue or captions. . No review of sleeping accommodations or food. Not worth watching unless you just want see passing scenery with no discussions of what you’re looking at.
Furniture is ugly, its too expensive for what you get, and as a solo traveller…..well the cabin for one is ridiculous. One gets a toilet that isn’t enclosed, and instead of a door we get a curtain. Noooooo. The train is not the way to go for a solo traveller, on a budget or not. I did actually want to take this train til i saw what kind of cabin Id get.
A human chain from a holding area through a busy Union Station onto archaic railroad equipment. Reduced personal service, limited dining choices and accommodations pre-1970. No doubt the price of your travel reflects 21st century CCG (Canadian Communist Gov't) greed and neglect. I took this trip in 1983, the cars are the same just different locomotives. The scenery is of course always beautiful as Canada is truly God's work. Being behind schedule is a benchmark of this train, passenger service outside of the built-up centres in Canada receive secondary priority, always have. It's time for a new route through Elliott Lake to Sault Ste.Marie and onward through parts of northern Manitoba to Saskatoon, Edmonton then up to Yellowknife and Whitehorse before descending through BC. The line should start in Sydney NS, down through Halifax and cross the St. Lawrence to Quebec City, including cities in New Brunswick. With new rolling stock that would be a true Canadian National heritage to be respected.
It's nice to have a recent video of the Canadian, some of the cars were pulled out of service and upgraded during the height of pandemic. I think your video is the most recent review of the Canadian (Aug/10/2022). FYI: I have an HO scale version of the Canadian I got from Rapido Trains.
Brings back fond memories of travelling as a kid in the 1960’s on the CN Super Continental, Montreal to Vancouver, back when train travel was the cheapest mode of transportation, and when the trip was considered part of the vacation.
Nicely done....really like your music....did this trip in 1966 both ways....out on the Canadian Pacific "The Canadian" through Banff ....return on the Canadian National "Super Continental" through Jasper, the Super Continental had a observation car only from Vancouver to Edmonton....sweet family memories as an 11 year old.....Highly recommend this trip....the equipment is exactly the same as in 1966 with Bud cars built in 1955 from stainless steel, the equipment is aging well.....engines are newer lol.....
Hello, very nice video, very interesting I'm curious about when you rode the Super Continental in 1968, were you a kid then, do you remember it well? Did you ride any VIA routes which have since been discontinued?
I do remember it well and I was 9 years old. Unfortunately I have not taken other routes that were cancelled although we do plan to take the Churchill train and the Skeena to Prince Rupert in the future.
@@Kingshighway1930 Ah shame, I've always seen so many people talk about riding the Canadian or the Ocean or the Skeena but nobody ever talks about the old routes and I don't think VIA will ever reinstate most of them because even if VIA gets given the same budget it had in 1979, they would use that to improve Corridor services, I doubt we'd get a daily service on the Canadian. Also many of the tracks have been lifted on some routes. Anyway if you're doing the Hudson Bay train, maybe you should try riding the Keewatin Railway as well from the Pas to Pukatawagan. Nobody's ever done that before.
My parents took this train about 10 years ago from Vancouver to Toronto. Their car had a broken air conditioning and they arrived exhausted and dehydrated 32 hours late in Toronto and had to be taken to a hospital for recovery. They complained about the small cell like 2 person cabin with limited view . Compare this train today to the Mountaineer train out west in the Rockies. It runs for 2 days through the Rockies and the cars special rounded windows are much better for view the mountains. This train was especially build for sight seeing. Add a first class meal service. This train runs only during the day and all passengers stay at night in some first class hotel along the way, In regard to this film it is informative , but the music is just unbearable and I had to turn the sound off Chris in Toronto
One of the best videos I’ve seen of the Canadian and I’ve seen just about them all! The music was great the videography It’s been a long time dream of mine to take that train ….. don’t know if I ever will get to do it but it sure is nice to watch all the train videos I have taken The Ocean many times starting from an early age but I haven’t been past southern Ontario on a train Thank you for posting… It’s been so enjoyable, watching And you guys are a lovely couple
It’s a treat to travel on VIA trains during 2023 I got to experience amazing train journeys Winnipeg Thompson, Ottawa Montreal, Montreal Quebec City and Quebec City to Ottawa
