Our trip across Canada on Via Rail: 1 month 3 kids to Atlantic/Pacific/Arctic Oceans. We ride Via over 15,583 km of Canada, (including a 20 km trip backwards aboard our 22 car train), drive 5292 km, walk about 100 km, ferry 1/2 km and dogsled 10 km.

(As we reflect back on our 1997 trip ee wonder wy we did not do it in 1998 instead???? Check out the weather, our whole trip 1997 was snow and cold and 1998!!!!!!Beautiful Spring and Summer weather right across Canada at the same time of year ?? Where did we go wrong!)

Note for another perspective on travel across Canada; an excellent Comercial Web site giving a detailed tour of Canada during the Summer click here, (after reading about our trip of course), WOW check out the contrast! Wish we had that kind of money support and time for our trip.

• Here is a quick over view of our trip: after months of planning we were underway; April 5, 1997. Leave Vancouver (had been sunny and warm occasional rain all the blossoms finished well before we left) everything leafed out for a month prior to leaving.) drive to Kamloops over Coquhallia highway 3 hour trip. Visit friends and bunk kids down for a short sleep, train due out at 5am. Slide had wshed out train track further south, train from east arrives at Kamloops 22:00, passengers to be bussed up from Vancouver 23:00 board empty train, 3am busses arrive from Vancouver with passengers and crew, not much sleep all night, train did not leave till 9:30 April 6. coach class to Jasper , Edmonton Alberta., Dad buys a bed for the night at $80 and finally gets a good sleep.
• Monday 7th wake up to a severe snow storm in Saskatchewan, our Via train stops to pick up CN train crews stranded in Blizard; every West bound freight train on each siding waiting for CN Rail line to open in Fraser Canyon, we become the rescue train for crews on overtime! arrive Winnipeg 12:35 in a cold blizzard 2 feet + of snow and high wind, go shopping for food. Lv Winnipeg arrive Armstrong Ontario just after midnight. Very small rail town in middle of no where! Stay at hotel across street for 2 days for a break. fresh snow nice out during day but cold. 00:10
• April 10 board train for Toronto Coach class. Arrive Toronto 21:00 April 10, cab to Hotel Clarion Essex nice place kids liked pool.
• April 11 rent car visit CN tower ? Tallest structure in World?? great views. Tour Casa Loma incredible castle like structure with interesting history of early Toronto. Join rush hour driving east to Whitby 1 hour to stay with friends for weekend.
• Sat. 12th visit 4000 sq. ft. Toronto rail club O Scale layout very realistic scenery. Ontario Science center DON'T miss this great (free see tips), drive west to Brantford and visit friends. For dinner. Drive back to Brantford 2 hours freezing rain at times, cold wet day.
• Monday 14th Board Via 1 1st class (courtesy of coupons see tips) 11:16 at Guildwood (just east of Toronto) for Ottawa Canada's Capital. Ar. 15:19 rent car stay at Citadel nice place right downtown. Look around downtown, cold. Visit friend.
• Tues 15th Tour National Museum of Science & Tech. (free see tips) excellent. Private tour of Governors General rail cars used by King and Queen in 1939 for tour of Canada and U.S. + view Old steam engines, etc. under restoration. Toured Parliament buildings and Peace Tower great views, ice still on river, snow around. Tour downtown.
• Wed. 16th board Via 1 10:00 for Montreal 12:00 excellent free 1st class (see tips). Rent car drive around, cold, visited Canadian Rail museum, & massive Church. DP. 18:00 Montreal to Quebec City Via 1 1st Class. Ar. 21:03 Stay at Manor Victoria very nice renovated old building kids love pool.
• Thur. 17th walk around city, + horse and buggy ride tour, lots of old snow piled up, very cold and windy. Walked around old wall and buildings downtown. Interesting history of old Quebec City. Dinner at nice restaurant in renovated train station take a look at ceiling design. 20:00 take ferry (free) over across St. Lawrence seaway to Levis. Dp. 21:30 on #14 Via Ocean train sleeper class sections, nice and big space.
• Friday 18th ar. Halifax Nova Scotia rent car, backtrack to Turro stay at "The Organry" B&B the world's largest collection of its type STAY here neat place! Sat. 19th View Bay of Fundy highest tides in world rapids coming up river! very very cold and windy, heavy rain at higher elevations ice and snow, tour Industrial museum, Lobster dinner for our anniversary in Port Hawksbury.
• Sunday 20th tour Alexander Graham Bells museum, (inventor of telephone and pioneer of early flight), attempt to drive around Cape Breton Trail highlands turned back by heavy snow near northern tip, huge ice bergs and sea covered in ice just off coast. Drive back south to Sheet Harbour B&B.
• Monday tour Volvo plant, and Halifax, Ocean research museum interesting, also discovery science center OK , dp. 14:00 Via Ocean #15 to Montreal, nice beds in sections in sleeper class. Make note that we must come back to Atlantic Coast in Summer!
• Tue. 22, ar. 08:24 tour downtown Montreal Quebec cold, horse drawn carriage tour saved the feet. 12:15 Via 1 1st class to Toronto16:49, then Via Coach class to Brantford Ontario 18:14. rented car Stayed with friends. PS remember all that snow on the prairies on the way out; well it is melting now and word of a large flood due in Winnipeg about time we return!!!
• Wed. 23 toured Spencer Gorge, nice place cold day. toured Welland canal visitor center worth a visit to understand Lake chain system and locks. Visit private rail club Aberfoyle Juction huge model rail layout with full scenery custom built Brass Steam engines in huge O Scale best layout I've seen.
• Thur. 24 Traveled West visited Tillisonburg Dolls in Toy land (youngest daughter was in heaven), Elgin County Rail Museum, to London Ontario. Toured area visited Children's Museum (free see tips), good! Dinner in Park cold day. Visited large O Scale Model Rail club excellent huge layout.
• Fri. 25th drove south east to Niagara Falls, toured Fort. Erie, Under falls journey, still ice coming down rivers and falls area deep in ice, quite stunning. Cool day. Worth the trip! tough drive back in traffic; suggest you take train down here for a day and overnight.
• Sat. 26th 08:56 dp. Brantford for Toronto, last 1st class great breakfast. ar. 10:12 Toronto, tour downtown, Cdn. due to leave at 12:45 we board and wait 4 hours for people from connecting train delayed by freight derailment they arrive by bus. Slow progress, switch to CP tracks, and get going. At Sudbury train backs up very slowly through town for several miles to Sudbury junction 45 minute trip, at a crawl to get from CP to CN track and facing the right way. Rent 2 beds for night.
• Sun. 27th So late and with reports of massive flood wonder if we will make connection to train to Churchill ?? Meet Chris whom is doing same trip as us for next week, run into him again in summer in Alaska! Chris wonders if he should skip trip to Churchill to sandbag? Note flooded areas as we arrive very late in Winnipeg, board Via train # 693 "Hudsons Bay" to Churchill have large bedroom, nice (though bigger beds facing right way in sections). (Very informative information site on the Churchill Railine and area)
• Mon. 28th The Pas and Thompson interesting little towns intrigued by summer stuff on sale at a dept. chain store!
• Tue. April 29th We arrive 08:00 in Churchill on Frozen Hudsons Bay -20C very cold and windy, go for breakfast then arrange doglsed ride later on and explore town. Dog sled ride great going with wind but return trip into strong wind was very cold, fun trip kids had a blast. Dropped off at Town center to thaw out! Note they have a large complex with all government offices, all schools, library day care, gym bowling alley alley center everything under one roof great idea here. Find a nice little restaurant for dinner, with T.V.s showing Red River flood and predictions that Winnipeg may be under water when we return if ring dike extension not finished in time. Our Friend Chris rents bowling alley with us for evening! Then back on train to bed, have double bedroom for trip back still tight! 2 nights one day on train back!
• Thur. May 1st arrive to flood central! Winnipeg, looks different then when under 2 feet of snow. Chris heads off to sandbag. We book in at Louis Riel hotel, full with people flooded out! We tour excellent DON'T miss this Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature. (free see tips) and downtown, cold windy day.
• Fri. May 2nd , Tour waterfront area, huge medi/camera crews set up for flood coverage by forks market waterfront. Sand bags everywhere river right up to edge and bottom of bridges. Tour Children's museum (free see tips) excellent! Due to depart on Via #1 Cdn. west for home at 18:00 at station word is train is very late, back to children's center (life saver). Late out, buy 2 beds for night. Chris has sore arms from sandbagging.
• Sat. 3rd, Through Alberta cool outside, Chris departs at Jasper headed for Alaska, Dad gets sick flu bug? our Churchill attendant had? Train dies out of Jasper in snow storm in middle of nowhere! Takes a while to get already late train going!
• Sun. 4th. arrive 2 hours late in Kamloops after midnight drive to friends for rest.
• Mon.5th drive home to Vancouver ! The thing we notice most is that it is the same as when we left sunny and warm, everything is Green, something we have not seen for a month any where else in Canada! Take note we like living here!!!!!!!! But great trip, suggest you do it!! Maybe in summer!

A little piece of history; Nov. 4, 1925; Transcontinental worlds record set by Canadian National Railway with a trip from Montreal to Vancouver in 67 hours for the 1st time with an engine running non-stop averaging 45 mph. The 57 seat passenger car was an Oil powered Electric car.

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