unironically dreaming to get on this train with my bf someday, because he's obsessed with trains and he really wants to experience a sleeper cab because he's like "wow that's so weird!!" it's also so gorgeous of a trip i might cry
For more context on why they no longer turn the train in Halifax: They wouldn’t turn on a wye, but on the Halterm Balloon track in the Port of Halifax. That part of the port, which contained the balloon track, was bought out by Port of Singapore Authority and kicked VIA out citing that they were interfering with their operations. This was allegedly the plan even before PSA bought that part of the port. What were left now is a mixed consist where the engines run around the train in Halifax. They had considered putting Skyline cars with changeable seats, but was deemed too costly, as the cars themselves needed more repairs. Great videos and I look forward to seeing your Trip Report on The Canadian!
Regarding Gaspé on the map: The Gaspé train has been officially 'suspended', not 'cancelled'. A track washout in 2013 closed the line for about 8 years, and while the rail line has recently re-opened alongside a brand new station in Gaspé, and passenger service is indeed planned to be reintroduced, Via does not have enough rolling stock at the moment to restore the service. I have read that the stainless steel equipment in the Ontario-Quebec Corridor (which the new Siemens trains are replacing) that is still in safe operating condition will be transferred to the long-distance routes as a stop-gap measure until the 2030s.
The Ocean rolling stock was originally intended for the aborted "Night Tube" service through the Chunnel. It's why they're so much slimmer than the old Budd stock.
Also it’s British loading gauge that is the size constraint - the tunnel itself is big enough for the double deck car carriers that are used for the car shuttle service
"The wheels on the bus go round and round!" Not the Kamala reference 💀...whatever Kamala was on that day, I want it! The bridge at 17:00 is the J. C. Van Horne Bridge, it was built between 1958 and 1961 and it crosses the Restigouche River (a name derived from the Listuguj band of Mi'kmaq people around the river; means "good river") to Pointe-à-la-Croix in Quebec. J. C. Van Horne was a New Brunswick politician in parliament who successfully fought for the bridge. The Halifax donair was first invented in the 1970s by Peter Gamoulakos. He migrated to Canada from Greece, and when he arrived, he started selling Greek gyros from his restaurant located off the Bedford Highway. But the gyros with lamb and yogurt just didn’t jive with the palate of the locals, and so they swapped lamb for beef, created a sweet donair sauce, and it became a hit! Halifax made the donair its official food in 2015. The name for the Miramichi River was derived from the Montagnais words "Maissimeu Assi", meaning "Mi'kmaq Land". Amherst's station building was built in 1908! The area of what's now Amherst was called Nemcheboogwek by the Mi'kmaq, meaning "going up rising ground" to reference the higher land to the east of the Tantramar Marshes. Then when the Acadians settled there in the 1670s, they called the village Les Planches. Finally after the expulsion of the Acadians, the village was later renamed Amherst by Colonel Joseph Morse for Lord Amherst, the commander-in-chief of the British Army in North America during the Seven Years' War. Many loyalists fleeing the American Revolution came to Amherst.
So sorry about your gecko. 😢 This is a lovely video! You've carefully included something for everyone: train enthusiasts, foodies, nature lovers, infrastructure geeks, history buffs, channel regulars, singles, couples, people who love to sleep. Bravo!
So glad you guys are riding the full line now, I’ve been waiting for this video Keep up the great work Miles, you always put out great videos I will be actually riding the Canadian, and just about a month. I’m going from Toronto all the way to Vancouver.
If you thought the PEI flag looked like it was made by a child, wait until you see the Liberian county flags that look like they were made on MS Paint! The Quebec flag's white fleurs-de-lis (symbolizing purity) and blue field (symbolizing heaven) come from a banner honoring the Virgin Mary. The white cross made its first appearance during the Crusades and came to represent France during the Hundred Years’ War in opposition to England’s red one. The blue flag with a white cross was adopted by the French Merchant Marine around 1535, and Samuel de Champlain tells us it was still around in the early 17th century. On the Newfoundland and Labrador flag, the flag design is that of etchings on Beothuk and Innu decorative pendants worn hung from a cord around the neck. Blue for water, white for snow, red for effort, gold for their confidence. On the New Brunswick flag, the big lymphad evokes NB's historical shipbuilding industry and the ships utilized by numerous Loyalists to land in the province after they fled the US after the American Revolution. The iconic flag of Canada was adopted in 1965 under Lester B. Pearson which under his term, he launched multiple progressive policies including the world's first discrimination-free points-based system for immigration. He also promoted biculturalism of French and English having equal status. Thus many Canadians wanted distinctive Canadian flag to represent them, to represent the new Canada. Pearson suggested a flag with three maple leaves and bordered by two blue stripes, but this was opposed. George Stanley's design of a giant maple leaf and two red stripes, who was Dean of Arts at the Royal Military College in Kingston, was inspired by the college's own flag!
Stanley was living in my hometown, Sackville, NB, when he designed the Maple Leaf. Supposedly, when it was raised there, it was greeted by boos. The removal of the Union Jack from the flag rubbed some people the wrong way.
We took the Ocean last year and were sad about no Park Car. So much so that we just recently did the Canadian just from Vancouver to Edmonton so we could sit in one. Worth it! I loved it when you called those 300 foot hills "mountains"!
omg! a kilometers in transit video about my favourite train, the ocean! I have family out east and I've taken this train a Handful of times and it's amazing! only ever been in coach though. it's not western Amtrak! those seats are rough..
"One of your commenters said it was not Anglo" I wonder who that commenter was 👀 😂. I'm sorry for the loss of Aleena's beloved crested gecko, as a fellow reptile owner, I've had a bearded dragon named Frank (after Frank Lloyd Wright and Frank Gehry) since 2013 who I cherish very much and I understand how she feels. Reptiles are the coolest creatures imo, and I know that gecko loved Aleena as much as she loved it. The wildest thing about those British "Nightstar" Renaissance coaches, when VIA Rail first got three of those coaches in 2000 (the remaining 136 carriages they obtained in December that year), for a trial, they leased a F59PHI locomotive from SOUNDER commuter rail in Seattle! Yes, a SOUNDER locomotive pulling coaches originally for Eurostar, in Canada....Mr. Worldwide. The Bay of Fundy is a corruption of the French word fendu, meaning 'split'. Its tidal range (difference in height between high and low tide) is the highest in the world! All it takes is for the word dessert to be said for Miles to get butter cake flashbacks from the Melrose Diner 😂. The Caprese salad is named after the island of Capri in the Gulf of Naples. The island has been a resort since the time of the Roman Republic, a place many emperors and Roman nobles stayed. Roman Empire founder Augustus developed Capri, he built villas, temples, and gardens so he could enjoy his private paradise. Augustus' successor Tiberius built a series of villas at Capri as well and lived there from 27 AD to his death in 37 AD.
The British carriages were meant to be used on regional night services from across the UK to destinations in Europe. These services would have connected large UK cities such as Glasgow and Plymouth ) to mainland Europe. Ultimately it was decided the costs were too high and the demand was too low(thanks in part to the rise of low cost airlines) and the scheme was scrapped.
Welcome again. Don't miss REM phase 2 opening probably end of this year to 2 extra branches. Airport is only scheduled for 2027. There used to be a Montreal-Sherbrooke-Halifax train through Maine but it closed in the 90s
i've been putting off creating a uk train youtube channel for a while because I thought the only way to grow on RU-vid was to do the intricate intense video editing or grind youtube shorts, but seeing you grow from 1.5k to almost 40k fills me with joy and confidence that this style of content still exists.
love these trip reviews! your empire builder video has inspired me to take the same route on the way to a nat'l park and i have your content to thank for exposing me to such a cool method of transportation. being from the sun belt makes trains such an exciting novelty and i am very hyped to get based and cascades pilled
Great review!!!! My wife and I drove to Nova Scotia last summer, spent a week bumbling around, lighthouse hunting, ufo questioning, culture devouring. Eager to find out what you guys thought of Halifax. Also: no joke... go to the Halifax public library, main location... unbelievable...
I've got the privilege of calling Halifax home! I'm glad you enjoyed it! In fact, I get to study in said public library every day. It's easy to forget the beauty we have here on the east coast.
Watching this from the top level of the Go train travelling the Lakeshore West Line Union Station to Niagara Falls. The view between Burlington and Hamilton is very scenic as it runs right along Lake Ontario. You should ride more of the Go trains including this this route if you ever revisit the greater Toronto region. The end of the line is only a 10 minute bus ride from the falls which of course is a must see for any visitor.
Holy cow -- I was JUST THINKING about the Nova Scotia flag's "borrowing" of the Scotish flag's design myself yesterday!! Zut alors! And I'm so sorry for the loss! Lima will be be missed :(
Lovely video Miles! Took the Ocean myself back in January, and it was even less crowded than your March trip (but Halifax was worth it). Weird oddity regarding Halifax's station-it's open 7 days a week, despite the limited service. Perhaps you could wait inside for a bus or purchases tickets at the counter, but still an anomaly amongst train stations these days.
Maritime Bus used to operate out of a small addition on the side of the VIA station, but as of last year they share the main station with VIA! One other reason the station is open every day is because the train departs from Halifax the day after it arrives, so there is a train either coming in or going out every day except Tuesday. Hope you enjoy your time in Halifax!
Sorry to hear about the loss of your gecko. Thanks for the trip report though, it's been a while since I've been on The Ocean. Tip for the bathroom: I bring flip flops so I can step into the bathroom without getting my feet wet (or to get to the community showers in the Budd cars.) Also … I believe it's possible to detach that shower head and use it as a shower wand but not 100% sure about my recollections on that one. Could possibly avoid the initial burst of cold water that way. I stand to be corrected on this point.
The "mountain ass mountains" is the Wentworth Valley. So it's the Cobequid Mountains. It's a great place to take railfan pics!! The red plants in the fields are blueberries. After Amherst, you would have went close to Oxford, which is a big place for blueberries. The town is a awesome roadside statue of a cute blueberry man named Oxley.
The Acadian French spoken in the Canadian Maritimes is, actually, more closely related to Louisiana Cajon than it is to the French spoken in Quebec. As I understand it, some Quebecers find Acadian French unintelligible. It's such a geographically isolated dialect, that it didn't evolve with the rest of the Francophonic world and still uses certain aspects of the language that have gone extinct everywhere else. "𝙉𝙊𝙒 𝙏𝙃𝘼𝙏 𝙄𝙎 𝘼 𝙁𝙐𝙉 𝙁𝘼𝘾𝙏!"
Yup, the reason it's similar to the Louisiana French spoken by Cajuns is become many Acadians ended up in Louisiana during the Spanish colonial period of Louisiana after the expulsion of Acadians from Acadia by the British in the late 1750s!
The French spoken by the Acadians contains some very old vocabulary words from regions of Brittany and Normandy that were spoken before the King of Frnace declared Parisienne French to be the standard. The Acadians left for the new world before this happened. At that time, many dialects were spoken in France according to where one lived. The French the Acadians spoke also evolved over the 100 plus years of settlement in Acadie ( now Maritime Canada). The people developed a mutually beneficial relationship with the native Mi'kmaq people which had an influence over the language as well. The French spoken in Quebec , at least around Quebec City, was more official and administrative in nature as that was one of the areas, along with the Fortress of Louisbourg in Cape Breton, where the business and administration of the French colony took place. In essence, the French spoken in all regions evolved out of necessity. Even those Acadians who made their way to the territory Louisiana after the deportation had Creole influences in their spoken language over time, again, out of necessity. Language is dynamic and ever evolving, adapting to circumstances historically and geographically. This makes keeping the "purity" in any language difficult.
We did exactly that in the reverse direction two weeks ago. Incredible. I was wary of the berths, but the curtains were super thick and pretty much as good as a wall, and so much cheaper. The seats were meh but if spend almost all of your time in the dome car or Park Car, who cares? It's a great trip, incredible scenery (Mt. Robson!), have fun!
Bought sleeper tickets for November based on your video - we have a shower room! Getting to Montreal on the newly-reinstated (today) Amtrak Adirondack train. Thanks for your fun content.
From 1889 to 1981 and from 1985 to 1994 Canadian trains ran across northern Maine to get to New Brunswick, with a US crew and a few stops in Maine. The boarding or leaving passengers went through a single door; other doors were sealed by Customs for the passage through the US. The Atlantic was cut in a cost-saving move in 1981 and again in 1994.
the sleeper trains would have ran between places like manchester, wales, scotland and places further in europe. the engines made for this actually moved to our main sleeper, the caledonian
VIA used to have a train called the Atlantic from Montreal to Saint John, New Brunswick. It went through the state of Maine, with three stops there. People getting on or off in the US had to sit in a separate car. At the border, the cars with Canada-to-Canada passengers were sealed, so Customs only had to inspect people going to or from the US. The Atlantic ceased operation in 1994.
Bald eagle facts: The bald eagle is a type of sea eagle in the bird of prey subfamily Haliaeetinae. In its genus Haliaeetus, it is grouped with the Pallas's fish eagle, the white-tailed eagle, and the Steller's sea eagle, and all of the genus except for the bald eagle are found in Asia. Despite Hollywood movies having the bald eagle make an intimidating screech, that call is actually from a red-tailed hawk and the bald eagle sounds more like a seagull! The bald eagle can exert grip pressure upward of 400 pounds per square inch. Researchers believe that a bald eagle's gripping strength is about 10 times that of an adult human hand. The bald eagle is a sacred bird in different Native American cultures, and its feathers, like those of the golden eagle, are central to many religious and spiritual customs among Native Americans. And if we're ranking dog breeds: I like the Lagotto Romagnolo because its name is fun to say! I also like the Komondor from Hungary which is just a walking mop that herds flocks that descends from Tibetan breeds brought over from Asia by the Cumans (Komondor means "Cuman dog"). Though my favorite is the Afghan hound because of their regal appearance! Admired since ancient times for their beauty, the Afghan Hound's distinctive coat was developed as protection from the harsh mountain climate. Their huge paw-pads served as shock absorbers on the rocky terrain of Afghanistan. The Afghan Hound has been identified as a basal breed that predates the emergence of the modern breeds in the 19th century, and it is most closely related to the Saluki which was originally bred in the Arabian Peninsula.
"Those red plants" are low bush blueberries. Grown in the Maritimes and Northern New England mostly because those things will grow just about anywhere.
There are a couple cool routes on Halifax Transit, which you can go on. One is the three that goes through one of the depots So if you’re wondering of stuff to do while in Halifax, there also the ferry you could get onto
Great report, glad you guys enjoyed the trip! One note about the new booking/reservations system - you can still pick a Renaissance room with shower, but you have to do it at the seat-selection stage. By default, the system will assign you a room, sometimes with and sometimes without the shower. You can use the seat selection tool to move to a room with shower from one without, or to a different shower room (if you have a specific preference), depending on what's available. Oddly, the system will not allow you to move to a different non-shower room (it always shows the rest of them as "sold out", even when they are not). Similarly, for accommodations in HEP (stainless steel) equipment, the system will not allow you to select different bedrooms, roomettes, or upper berths - it will only allow you to select a lower berth (either as an "upgrade" from an upper, or to move to a different lower). It appears that the only sleeper spaces it will allow you to move to are the ones that either require an upgrade charge now (as is the case with lower berths) or might in the future (i.e. the Ren rooms with shower). Hopefully VIA will eventually allow full room selection online, because it sure seems like the new system should be able to support it! In the Renaissance cars, half of the rooms face in each direction, so you can still get a forward facing room after they rotated the consists for the better views. At the moment, odd numbered rooms (1, 3, 5, 7, 9) face forwards on train 14, and even numbered rooms (2, 4, 6, 8, 10) are backwards - and the opposite is true for train 15.
Gosh, thanks for the extra info - I should've clicked all the way through the new booking system! It seems pretty powerful, but as you say, there are some odd quirks in there right now. Also good to know I got the forwards-backwards thing completely wrong! Really appreciate the corrections, thank you.
To add more service to the Maritimes, they should restore the Atlantic, the (shorter by 86 miles/140 kilometers) VIA train that ran from Montreal to Halifax via northern Maine and St. John, NB. Eastbound it entered Maine at Jackman, and exited at Vanceboro with several stops in Maine, cars holding through passengers sealed and unsealed at the borders, several cars were not sealed as they passed through the US to allow local boardings and alightings. I have a relative in New Brunswick who regularly used both the Atlantic and the Ocean, and she really laments the Atlantic's demise, as it was a little shorter to get to Montreal, and she liked the scenery a little better (especially the one time she rode it when it ran super late, allowing for daylight transit through Maine), and that VIA promised 6 day per week service to NB on the Ocean to make up for the loss of the Atlantic.
The views were quite impeccable. Seeing the river frozen over was surreal. However, the room didn’t look comfortable- it seemed cramped. With that said, I’m glad that you and the missus had fun.
This train and its destination are on the bucket list. Nice to see New Brunswick get good reviews. Having visited there three times while our son lived in Fredericton, I got the impression that the province is under the radar, even for Canadians. There is a national park on the water near Miramichi and another on the Bay of Fundy, plus plenty of other attractions (including oddities like the world's largest ax and the world's largest lobster sculpture).
I took the Ocean in winter a decade ago. The Tantramar Marshes on the New Brunswick/Nova Scotia border were unexpectedly beautiful! I wish I had a cabin, though. Sleeping in coach class was impossible.
I was just in Halifax last month; it kinda reminded me of Boston with all of the maritime history. Being right next to the noon cannon shot was my favorite part of the trip.
Using my experience of British sleeper trains: - those weird cup holder metal bars are (I believe) for leaflets, magazines and other papers. - that shelf area beneath the wardrobe might have originally been a fridge. - the tube in the bathroom is indeed a hairdryer. I’ve never seen one of those in a train before, though - they’re usually in the shower rooms of ferries and in swimming pool changing rooms. Sorry, you probably already know this, but it wasn’t just the coaches that were built for the Nightstar. A fleet of insanely powerful electric locomotives were built (Class 92) which could run both off overhead wires and third rail, and had a staggering 6,670hp, to comply with Channel Tunnel safety regulations. Of course, with no Nightstar, they were largely left out of work, but they have recently been operating the Caledonian Sleeper between London and Scotland (which has awful coaches, by the way, their ride quality is hideous and you’re vibrated out of bed). Anyway, great video as always, and this looks like a really nice route. Is coach reasonably priced?
The plan for me is to be on this train on the 10th in Chateau Sleeper heading to Montreal and changing on to Toronto. The Ocean is a great train journey. Hopefully, it gets a dome car back someday
they werent exclusively for london-paris, they were supposed to be from other parts of the UK and then through the channel tunnel to european destinations. hopefully something like the nightstar can be done in the future
I believe the lounge cars on the Canadian are much more useful as social gathering spaces because it’s such a long train, and the crew schedules daily events like wine tastings, board game nights, music. The loss of the “bullet” lounge is a shame because it had a dome, and a dome car on The Ocean lets you see 360 around you. VIA is trying to bring back the line to Gaspé, but the rail and signal maintenance was so poorly done, and for so long, they had to rip everything out and start over. Phase 1 of 3 is done, the other two are progressing, but service all the way to Gaspé will not be ready until 2026.
@@MilesinTransit unfortunately that might be a long time, the tracks are owned by a non-profit foundation. The BC ministry of transportation seems to not be in a rush, despite Ottawa offering matching funds to bring the line up to passenger safety standards (conditions are so poor even freight rail stopped running). Then again the total amount granted was only CA$15 million (and that was ten years ago) so it may no longer be enough.
There are Acadian communities in Northern Maine and Massachusetts as well, around Boston, Lowell, and Fitchburg/Leominster areas. A few restaurants and churches even sell Acadian rappie pie.
You can pick cabins with showers on the seat map, although VIA has been starting to charge a fee if you want to select a different room than the one assigned to you. It's stupid, and I agree cabins without shower should be priced lower than the ones with.
30:05 My partner had to take that exact bus trip last summer due to extenuating circumstances, including the walk, and it was just as ridiculous as you think it was 😅
@@MilesinTransit haha no kidding! In North America you're supposed to fly or drive, but we don't really care for either one so I guess we're not doing ourselves any favours 🙃 But she figured out the Pointe-à-la-Croix - Campbellton connection on her own despite not being a transit foamer of any kind, and I have to say I was pretty impressed! 🤓
Halifax and Moncton respectively have 6-7 and 2 daily flights to Montreal, costs as much as the train with a fraction of both the travel time and emissions per passenger (The Ocean is a diesel loco hauling a 400+m consist with enough water for 20 showers in each sleeper car). The Atlantic provinces need frequent regional rail for all the fly-over communities in between the hub cities.
How many Miles in Transit soundbites were in this one? Now it's time for a bathroom review (hmm), Menu Shot (x2), Canadian Dollars (x3), Toronto!, Poor bid (x2), That was a good review from me, Tracks are for trains not for playing games
Love all your videos miles, id love to see you try the canadian someday, it was an amazing experience. Id recommend getting berths since they are less expensive and the beds are super comfy. Also there is a train from jasper to prince rupert that goes through some pretty cool small towns in remote northern bc, with beautiful scenery so id recommend that too. Also we have an overnight ferry with cabins! Glad you had a good time here in Canada:)
Just found your channel and I love it! When you get a chance you should visit Sault Ste Marie and take the Agawa Canyon Tour Train. Peak season is late September.
At 17:00 there’s another GeoGuessr-related moment: Miles is looking out at the J. C. Van Horne Bridge in Campbellton, New Brunswick. That’s the exact bridge GeoWizard uses to identify a fan’s location in his first Geo Detective video.
Took a roadtrip from home outside of Philadelphia to halifax in 2018. Really enjoyed New Brunswick, some nice little towns and good scenery. Long ride let me tell ya, would rather have been on a train but..
