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Daniel Chazin's Trip on VIA Rail Canada's Hudson Bay
Winnipeg-Churchill-Winnipeg, March 10, 1996
TrainWeb.com/travelogues/dchazin/1996c10a.html
It's about 9:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 10, 1996, and I'm at
Union Station in Winnipeg, Manitoba waiting to board the Hudson
Bay
for Churchill. This trip has been described as "always an
adventure and truly one of today's unique travel experiences."
It
will be something of a first to me, as I have no reason to go
to
Churchill except for the sake of taking the train there. I have
made many other trips by VIA and Amtrak in the last five years,
and
have at times gone somewhat out of my way to take the train, but
in
each case, I had some non-rail-related reason for getting to my
final destination. This is the first time that I am taking a
trip
on a scheduled (non-railfan) train for its own sake!
After having visited my cousins Debbie and Aaron Kahn,
I
arrived via American Airlines this morning from Chicago. The
flight was over three-quarters empty, and we arrived about 20
minutes late. My cousin Sheppy Coodin picked me up and took me
to
his home in the Garden City section of north Winnipeg. After
lunch, we attended a memorial service for the victims of the recent
terrorist attacks in Israel, and then we met Sheppy's brother
Shalom, his sister Dvora, and their families for dinner at a kosher
restaurant on Main Street. The food was quite good, and I also
used the opportunity to buy a little more food for the trip.
At
about 8:30 p.m., we left for the station, stopping along the way
to
pick up some Canadian money from a cash machine.
At this hour, the station is virtually deserted. The
westbound Canadian had been scheduled to depart at 6:35 p.m.,
and
although it was somewhat late, by 9:00 p.m. it was long gone.
The
central feature of this station -- designed by the same architect
who designed Grand Central Terminal in New York -- is an imposing
rotunda, but this large space is entirely empty (except for a
maintenance person sweeping the floor). The ticket window is
open,
but no one is buying any tickets. We walked into the concourse
leading to the trains, which now doubles as a waiting area. Only
a handful of people are waiting there. We started talking to
one
young man, Philip, who is originally from Germany and now lives
in
London, Ontario. He had bought a VIA Rail pass that permits 12
days of travel in 30 days, and was using it to go from London
to
Winnipeg to Churchill and back. Like me, he was making the trip
just for the fun of it. Opposite him was Pat from Alaska, also
traveling on the train for the fun of it. He also had a VIA Rail
pass, and had arrived the previous day from Vancouver on the
Canadian. There are three people in the next row of seats who
appear to be Native Americans, and two women ahead of us are
returning to their home in Dauphin, Manitoba -- only several hours
out of Winnipeg.
At precisely 9:40 p.m., the boarding of the train is
announced, and everyone goes up to board the train. As soon as
I
caught a glimpse of the train, I saw that it was covered with
steam. As I had hoped, the train is made up of steam-heated
equipment, which will be phased out entirely by next month. As
Dawson Wolk, the Customer Service Manager in Winnipeg, had
mentioned to me, only two railroads in the world still operate
steam-heated equipment: VIA and the Trans-Siberian Railway!
My
attendant, Pete, showed me my duplex roomette #12, where I put
my
belongings, and then walked down the platform to explore the train.
The
train consists of two F-type engines, two steam generator cars,
a baggage car, a 76-seat coach, a lounge-diner, and my sleeper
Elmsdale. All are old Canadian National cars, now painted in
the
blue-and-yellow scheme of VIA. The lounge-diner has a dining
area
at one end, a counter with stools in the middle, and a lounge
area
at the other end, with the aisle going down one side of the car
at
this end, and a wall rather awkwardly separating the lounge area
from the aisle. The sleeper consists of eight roomettes, four
double bedrooms and four sections. My room #12 is an upper-level
accommodation, which proves to be desirable in that it contains
a
shelf on which my large suitcase easily fits. (As I learned from
my last trip on VIA, the lower-level roomettes have less
conveniently accessible storage space.)
I reboarded the coach, and at precisely 9:55 p.m. as
scheduled, we departed. I walked through the car and counted
precisely eleven coach passengers. My attendant informs me that
there are four passengers in the sleeper, making a total of 15
people on this eight-car train (including engines and steam-
generator cars). There are two conductors, probably two engineers,
and three on-board service personnel (Pete, the sleeping car
attendant, Lloyd, the lounge car attendant and Edgar, the cook).
Seven
crew members for 15 passengers. No wonder VIA must be losing
a fortune on this train! Looking at the seat checks, I noticed
that, of the coach passengers, only my two friends from Germany
and
from Alaska are going all the way to Churchill. The other
passengers are going to Dauphin, Veregin, Hudson Bay, The Pas
and
Herchmer.
I returned to my room and started writing these memoirs.
At
one point, Pete came by and, seeing my computer, warned me against
trying to recharge it by plugging it into the outlet in the room.
He explained
that the old electric generators on this car can
produce power surges that will ruin the computer. Oh, well.
I
guess I better heed his advice, but maybe I'll be able to recharge
the computer by plugging it into electric outlets at the stations
along the way where we are scheduled to make long stops.
When I walked through the lounge-diner before the train
left,
Lloyd informed me that the kosher meals I had requested were indeed
on board. That is a story in itself. I had made the reservations
for this trip several months ago with the Rail Travel Center,
a
travel agency in St. Albans, Vermont which specializes in rail
travel. A week and a half ago, I called up the travel agency
to
ask them to request kosher meals for me. Several hours later,
they
called back to inform me that they were told by VIA that kosher
meals are not available except on trains operating in the Toronto-
Montreal-Quebec corridor. That seemed to be the end of the story
as far as they were concerned. But I was determined to pursue
the
matter further. I sat down on my computer and wrote a letter
to
VIA asking why kosher meals could not be obtained, and then --
using a fax number I found in their timetable -- I faxed the letter
to VIA's Customer Service office in Montreal. Several days later,
I received a phone call from Dawson Wolk, VIA's Manager of Customer
Services in Winnipeg, who was not entirely sure where to obtain
kosher meals, but said that he would do whatever he could to make
them available to me. I gave him the name of a kosher delicatessen
in Winnipeg, and he assured me that they would have the kosher
meals that I requested. I'm glad to see that my request has been
honored. Later on, Pete presented me with a book that VIA produces
for its Silver and Blue Class passengers on the Canadian -- a
gift
from Mr. Wolk, which he had also mentioned to me when we spoke
last
week.
At 11:03 p.m., we arrived at Portage la Prairie, our first
scheduled stop. I walked up to the coach, where the conductor
was
standing by the open dutch door. No one would be getting on or
off
here, and the station was closed, but we had to wait seven minutes
until our scheduled departure time of 11:10 p.m. On the way back
to the sleeper, I stopped in the lounge car and asked Lloyd for
a
cup of tea. He replied that tea was not available at this time,
since the car had already officially closed, but that I could
have
a cold drink or a cup of coffee if I liked. I chose the coffee,
which I was not charged for.
Lloyd started talking to me about the train, saying that
this
old steam-heated equipment was never maintained properly by VIA,
and that it is barely hanging together at all. He confirmed what
Pete had earlier said to me about the electric outlets producing
unreliable power, and said that we were lucky that the lights
worked! He also confirmed that we had two steam generator cars
because one might break down, which could result in a very
unpleasant and even dangerous situation (due to the extreme cold
prevalent in this area) if no backup were available. Lloyd then
asked me if I had ever ridden in the cab of an engine, and when
I
replied that I had not but would very much like to do so, he said
that he and Pete had been planning to arrange for a cab ride for
me, either on the way up or on the way back! I had sort of hoped
that this might happen, but I was truly amazed that it was offered
to me without my even asking for it! We'll see if it actually
materializes. Lloyd also told me that, in the summer, this train
becomes quite full, with three sleepers completely sold out months
in advance.
I walked through the coach again. By this time, everyone
but
two of the Native Americans (who were going to Herchmer, the last
stop before Churchill) was sound asleep. Then I went back to
my
room, turned off the lights, and watched us slow down as we passed
through the town of Gladstone. At this late hour (11:55 p.m.),
the
town seemed completely deserted.
Soon I decided to go to sleep. I was not really tired,
and it
took me quite a while to fall asleep. I was awake when we arrived
at Dauphin at 1:37 a.m. Here, two passengers got off, and a woman
boarded the train and occupied the roomette directly opposite
mine.
We
stayed at the station for 13 minutes, until the assigned
departure time of 1:50 a.m., and then pulled into the yard and
waited another 20 minutes while the steam generator cars were
refilled with water. We made a few more stops, but I couldn't
tell
where we were. I did note, though, that at 3:18 a.m. we passed
the
southbound Hudson Bay, which was made up of the new head-end power
equipment. (Subsequently, the conductor told me that the
southbound train had been held up because there was a hot journal
bearing on one of the cars.) I was also awake when we arrived
at
Canora at 5:37 a.m. We spent ten minutes there. (The conductor
later told me that while the conductors change at Dauphin, the
engineers change at Canora. This is a very unusual arrangement,
which I never heard of on Amtrak.)
Finally, at about 7:15 a.m., I woke up for good. I got
dressed and walked down to the coach. On the way, I stopped in
the
lounge-diner, where the conductor told me that we were running
half
an hour late. I now counted only eight coach passengers on the
train, the others having gotten off at Dauphin or Veregin. I
returned to the sleeper where Sandra, the woman from Dauphin who
occupied the roomette opposite me, mentioned that she works for
Parks Canada, and is based in Riding Mountain National Park, near
Dauphin. She was going to Churchill on business -- to train people
who work for the Park Service there on how to operate a new
computer accounting system. She mentioned that she could have
flown to Churchill, but it would have cost $1,000, while the train
-- with a roomette -- is costing her only $300 or so.
At 8:10 a.m., we arrived at Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan.
Here,
the rail line makes a sharp turn to the left (north), but the
station is on a short spur off the main line. So the crew has
to
throw a hand switch to get onto that spur, and then -- after
stopping at the station -- the train backs up to regain the main
line. We stopped for three minutes here; one person got off,
and
an envelope was handed to the conductor. I, along with Philip
from
Germany, stepped off and took a few pictures.
Then I returned to my room and soon went to the diner
for
breakfast. There were four tables set up at the rear end of the
car, but I was the only passenger eating at this time. I had
orange juice, corn flakes and coffee, with the attendant giving
me
refills on the orange juice and the coffee. He mentioned to me
that the meals are not included in the price of the sleeping car
ticket, but said that since all I had was cold cereal, he wouldn't
bother charging me anything!
When I returned to my room, Pete, the
attendant, came by, and
we started talking about the train and its patronage. He said
that
today, the sleeper -- with only five passengers -- was very
"crowded." Other days, he explained, there were even
fewer
passengers in the sleeper, and sometimes there were none at all!
The five
passengers consisted of myself, the woman across the hall
who was going from Dauphin to Churchill, a man by the name of
Ed
from Denver who had boarded in Winnipeg and was going to Churchill
and back just for the fun of it (he occupied a double bedroom
because he originally intended to bring his wife along on the
trip), and two women who were going from Winnipeg to The Pas and
travelling in sections. He also mentioned that no one else was
scheduled to board the sleeper for the rest of the trip, and that
each of the three on-board crew members had appropriated a double
bedroom for themselves.
The scenery up to this point consisted of almost unbroken
wilderness, with trees growing only about 30-40 feet high.
Occasionally,
there was a small settlement or a road crossing.
Soon, a road started to
parallel the railroad on the left, and then
some buildings began to appear. We were getting near The Pas.
At 10:58 a.m., we arrived at The Pas. I got off the train,
went into the station, and plugged in my computer. The hour or
so
that we will be spending here should suffice to recharge the
batteries for a while. Then I walked along the train and took
pictures with my camera and with the video camera that Harry
Harczstark had lent me. I finished a roll of print film, put
in a
roll of slide film, and took some more pictures. The train is
refueled and watered here, and the crew is changed. After walking
around the block, I returned to the station, where Pete informed
me
that we had a slight problem. Last night, he had noticed that
the
dining-lounge car seemed to be riding rather roughly, and when
the
maintenance crew checked the car, it was determined that it had
a
flat wheel. He said that he wasn't sure what was going to happen,
and that they might even have to cancel the train!
A few minutes later, though, Pete came back and told us
that
they had decided to replace the wheel. This would require them
to
uncouple the sleeper and back up the rest of the train to the
yard
where the work would be done. He estimated that we would be
delayed for about an hour. That's fine with me -- I don't really
care when we get to Churchill, but I do want to get there on the
train!
In the meantime, I went back into the station and continued
working on these memoirs, my computer having been recharged in
the
interim. At about 11:20 a.m., the mixed train to Lynn Lake --
which had been scheduled to depart at 11:00 a.m. -- pulled in.
It
was powered by three CN diesels, which were followed by about
20
freight cars, baggage car 9631, coach 5186 and a CN caboose.
A
Native American family, with two small children, had been waiting
at the station for the departure of this train, but only the
husband actually boarded the train. He was the sole passenger.
The agent
mentioned that combine 7201, sitting on a side track, was
still operable, and could substitute for the coach and baggage
car
if they were bad ordered. That car has the old-style ceiling
with
air vents, and must be about 70 years old. The agent also pointed
out that while Lynn Lake can be reached by road from Thompson,
many
communities along the way are reachable only by train, and the
one
person aboard this train today was going to one of those
communities.
I got back on the train to retrieve my food, and then
the
train backed up to the yard so that the wheel could be replaced.
I went
back into the station. Sandra and Philip went out in search
of a restaurant, while I remained in the station along with Ed
and
the station agent. The agent mentioned to us that when he started
working for the railroad, The Pas was a very busy place, with
daily
trains to Thompson and tri-weekly trains to Churchill, and
Railiners to Regina and Flin Flon. Now there were only the tri-
weekly trains to Churchill and Lynn Lake. He also pointed out
that
these trains are used much less in the winter than in the summer
because, in the winter, "winter roads" can be built
on the frozen
terrain, permitting one to drive to locations that cannot be
reached in the summer. He also indicated that it was unlikely
that
our train would depart before 2:00 p.m. Soon Ed left in search
of
something to eat.
At 12:15 p.m., after eating a can of tuna salad with some
crackers at the station, I decided to explore the town. The agent
said that it would be fine if I came back by 1:30 p.m. I walked
down to the center of town, where the one thing that appeared
to be
of interest -- a museum of local history housed in a 1916
courthouse -- was closed. I also stopped in a bank to change
a $20
bill. As I was leaving the bank, I noticed that our train seemed
to be pulling up to the station. I walked back to the station
and
-- sure enough -- the flat wheel had already been fixed, and the
train was ready to leave! It was only 12:30 p.m. By this time,
everyone had returned except for Ed; he was quickly located, and
we
departed at 12:42 p.m. We were almost two hours late, but I had
expected much worse. Lloyd, the lounge car attendant, told me
that
he was astonished that the wheel had been fixed so quickly.
Soon after we left The Pas, Pete asked whether I would
like to
eat lunch. Although I had eaten the tuna with crackers, I was
still a little hungry, so I went to the diner, where I was served
a kosher meal from Omnitsky's Delicatessen in Winnipeg, consisting
of a turkey sandwich, kasha varnishkes, a pickle, cole slaw and
two
kinds of mustard -- labeled "mild" and "hot"
(I chose the "hot"
one). I was charged $5.50 for the meal, and $1.00 for the
accompanying soda. Then I went to the coach and sat there for
a
while. There were now only eight passengers on the train -- Ed,
Sandra and myself in the sleeper, and Philip, Pat and the three
Native Americans in the coach. And we still had a crew of seven!
At 1:49 p.m., we stopped at Cormorant, said to be "the
first
settlement of any size along the Hudson Bay Railway." According
to
the Scenic Rail Guide to Central and Atlantic Canada, "Cormorant
has two stores and two churches," and one of each was visible
from
the train. I had the chance to step off the train here and take
a
picture. No one got off here, but a young woman with a baby got
on. She was going to Wabowden. The number of passengers on board
had just increased by 12«% (and that doesn't even include
the
baby)! I walked to the back of the train, and took some video
pictures out the back and through the open dutch door. Then I
walked through the train with the video camera and took pictures
of
each of the cars.
From here to Wekusko, a distance of 40 miles, there are
no
roads paralleling or crossing the tracks. As has been the case
all
day, the scenery consists of scrub trees, with the ground
completely covered with snow. If you look at the timetable, you
see names of what appear to be towns every few miles along the
way,
but in fact these names signify nothing more than signs along
the
railroad, with no signs of civilization whatever nearby. (In
fact,
there are only eight stops normally made in the entire distance
from The Pas to Churchill: Cormorant, Wabowden, Thicket Portage,
Thompson, Pikwitonei, Ilford, Gillam and Herchmer. And these
are
the only significant places of settlement along the entire route!)
The
train was very quiet, of course, and I used some of the time to
read and evaluate one of the papers for Justice Elon's course.
Our next stop was Wabowden, where we arrived at 4:02 p.m.
So
far, this is the biggest town we've come to north of The Pas,
and
it even boasts a hotel visible from trackside! The Rail Ventures
book states that Wabowden "acts as a transfer point for goods
destined for more remote regions." Indeed, Wabowden is the
end of
the line for a weekly train to Gillam, and there is a wye just
south of town, used for the sole purpose of turning this train
around. But despite all this, no one got on here, and we paused
for only one minute in order to let off the woman and baby who
had
boarded at Cormorant. They were met by two men in a car, and
the
number of passengers on our train once again dropped to eight.
We
have made up about half an hour since our tardy departure from
The
Pas, and are now only one hour and 18 minutes late.
After Wabowden, we once again traverse a stretch of track
that
is nowhere near any road. The trees along the right-of-way in
this
section are somewhat higher than those farther back, and the area
has more of an appearance of a forest. About 20 minutes out of
Wabowden, I noticed that we were going through a rock cut. This
is
the first time I've seen such a thing in awhile; up to here, the
ground has been very flat. I spent some time in the coaches,
and
actually fell asleep for a few minutes.
About 5:20 p.m., as we were approaching Thicket Portage,
the
brakeman (who essentially was the assistant conductor) asked me
if
I wanted to come into the baggage car to take some pictures when
we
stopped at the station. Instead, I elected to get off briefly
when
we arrived at the station at 5:26 p.m. For the first time on
the
whole trip, our stop here was a real center of activity. Nine
people (all Native Americans who live in Thicket Portage) got
on
the train to go to Thompson, and various items (including mail)
were loaded onto and unloaded from the baggage car. I took several
slides with my camera, but the video camera's battery seems to
have
died, so I couldn't get any pictures with it. After I reboarded
the train, I went into the baggage car (which was still largely
empty) and took a picture out of the open door.
I might add that the baggage car on these VIA trains serves
a
very different purpose than those on Amtrak trains. On Amtrak,
the
baggage car is used only for checked baggage, which means that
the
baggage must be checked in with the station agent, and picked
up
inside the station from the agent. That means that both stations
must be served by agents. With VIA, by contrast, you just go
over
to the baggage car, hand your parcels to the conductor, and then
pick them up from the conductor at your destination. This permits
one to utilize the baggage car for large parcels even at stations
without agents, and this arrangement seems to make much more sense
to me.
Soon Pete came over to me and said that I would want to go
to
the back of the train to observe the pipes used to pump freon
under
the tracks so as to prevent the permafrost from melting in the
summer. I observed this feature looking out of the back, where
both dutch doors were now opened. Then, at 5:54 p.m., we reached
Thompson Jct. Here, the brakeman had to get off to throw the
switch for us to go onto the branch line to Thompson. He got
off
at the front of the train and, after rethrowing the switch to
reset
it for the main line, got back at the rear.
Now we were on our way to Thompson. This branch line
is far
more scenic than the rest of the line so far has been. It has
many
curves, and there are also a number of deep rock cuts. The
conductor encouraged us (meaning myself, Sandra and Ed) to stand
out on the back vestibule and look out of the open dutch doors.
To
improve the viewing, Pete lowered a plastic covering that had
been
placed over the open vestibule in the back, so we could see out
of
the back without the somewhat dirty piece of plastic impeding
our
view. I remarked how different the attitude of the VIA employees
is from that of their counterparts at Amtrak. Ordinarily, I
wouldn't dare try to open dutch doors on an Amtrak train and look
out; when I open the windows in the Superliner doors, I always
try
to make sure that no Amtrak employee is watching. Here, by
contrast, the VIA employees actually encouraged us to stand on
the
back vestibule and look out of the open dutch doors! It is true
that we are on a single-track railroad with no other trains in
the
area, and that we are going no more than about 40 miles an hour
(and often much less than that). But still, the attitude of VIA
employees in general is much more friendly than that of their
counterparts at Amtrak.
I watched the train cross the scenic trestle over the
Grass
River, and then returned to my room and updated these memoirs.
I
also started talking to Shayne, the young brakeman who acted as
assistant conductor. He told me that he grew up in a railroad
family, with his grandfather having been an engineer and his father
being a conductor for VIA working out of Winnipeg on the Canadian.
He seemed
to enjoy his work, but said that he would really like to
become an airplane pilot instead. When I asked him what he thought
of the future of this line, he said that the train from Winnipeg
to
The Pas might be abandoned, but service north of there could not
be
discontinued because it is essential to the villages that cannot
be
reached in any other way. (Dawson Wolk subsequently told me that
the Government deems only the service from Thompson to Churchill
to
be an essential "remote service," but VIA chooses to
operate the
train all the way to Winnipeg, since it does not have facilities
to
properly maintain the equipment north of there.) When I asked
Shayne how he would get back to The Pas, he explained that he,
the
conductor and the engineers would be driving back -- and that
it
would take them only four hours, instead of the six hours or so
that the train takes. Shayne also mentioned to me that he's never
been to Churchill!
At about 7:00 p.m., the train was wyed, and then we backed
into the Thompson station, where we arrived at 7:11 p.m. Quite
a
few people were there to meet us. Here two flat cars containing
trailers are added to the back of the train (thus, of course,
blocking the view -- but, then again, you can't really see anything
out the back in the darkness, anyway). To accomplish this
maneuver, the front engine is taken off, it couples onto these
flat
cars, and then they are pushed onto the back of the train. Of
course, the engine then has to be moved back to the front of the
train. While all this was going on, vans were pulled up to the
baggage car, and a good number of parcels and boxes were loaded
onto the train. Also, the train is watered here. All this takes
quite some time.
As soon as we arrived, I walked into the station in the
hope
of finding an outlet to plug in both the computer and the video
camera battery. I found only one outlet that worked, and that
one
had a Coke machine plugged into it, leaving only one available
plug. I plugged in the camera battery, and then asked the ticket
agent if I could plug the computer into an outlet in the office.
She was
glad to oblige. In the meantime, I started talking to some
of the people who were waiting to board the train. One young
woman
was a nurse who served Ilford, with a population of about 150.
She
was the only trained medical person in the town, and in case of
emergency, the only recourse is to call for an airplane to
transport the person to Thompson. She pointed out that, at best,
this takes several hours. Accompanying her was her boyfriend
from
Calgary. A young man and his girl friend were on their way to
Pikwitonei, where he was raised and still lived. Other people
were
going to Gillam and Churchill. For the first time, it seemed
that
there would be a considerable number of people on the train.
When I stepped back into my sleeper, Pete mentioned that
two
of the bedrooms had now been filled by people going to Churchill.
That
left only one bedroom for the crew, so two attendants had to
move to roomettes. I also talked to Lloyd, who said that he
thought he could arrange for me to ride in the engine on the trip
back from Churchill, probably from Thicket Portage to Wabowden.
At about 8:10 p.m., the boarding of the train was announced,
and we left at 8:15 p.m. We had spent just over an hour at
Thompson, rather than the hour and a half that we are scheduled
to
spend there. Now, we were only 55 minutes late. I updated these
memoirs and then, at 8:40 p.m., I went to the dining car for
dinner. I was first given a fresh salad, and then I was served
a
roast beef dinner prepared by Omnitsky's in Winnipeg. The roast
beef was accompanied by mashed potatoes and peas and carrots,
and
it was quite good. Despite the fact that quite a few people had
boarded the train in Thompson, no one else chose to eat dinner
at
this time, and for the third time I had a table to myself.
After dinner, I talked to the conductor, who was a CN,
not a
VIA, employee. He explained that he and the remainder of the
crew
is based in Gillam, and told me that there were now 24 coach
passengers on the train. Since only three of those coach
passengers had boarded before Thompson, that means that 21 coach
passengers got on there (in addition to four sleeping car
passengers). Most (but not all) of these people were Native
Americans. I walked into the coach, and for the first time it
began to look sort of full (although there were still plenty of
empty pairs of seats). If my count is correct, there are now
a
total of 31 passengers on the train -- certainly nowhere near
capacity, but at least a fairly respectable number.
I returned to my room and did some more work with the
computer. Soon, I noticed some lights on the left side of the
train. We must be approaching some village! So I walked down
to
the coach just in time for our stop at Pikwitonei at 9:44 p.m.
Six
people got off, and they were met by snowmobiles, which apparently
are the main means of transportation here. The conductor mentioned
that there is a "winter road" to this place, and I did
see one
truck in the village. There is also an airport, but I would
imagine that flying to and from the village is quite expensive
--
and there may not be any scheduled air service. The village seemed
like a very charming place. I imagine that I should be able to
get
a better look at it on Wednesday morning, when it should be light
for our stop there.
I then went to the dining car, where I brought my computer
and
worked on an evaluation of a paper for Justice Elon's course.
(I
might add that I chose the dining section of the car because the
lounge section -- which was relatively small -- was quite full
with
passengers and crew members, many of whom were smoking, which
is
permitted in that area.) Since no one was using those tables
to
eat dinner, the crew had no objection to my sitting there -- again,
quite a contrast with the general attitude at Amtrak. I noticed
that three people who appeared to be crew members were sitting
at
the counter eating dinner. Two of them were wearing shirts with
the wording "CN Assistant Conductor"; the other one
was the person
I had already identified as the conductor. They explained to
me
that, in this area, CN rules require a train to be operated by
a
conductor and two assistant conductors. Exactly why so many people
are needed was not made clear; the train seemed to be running
quite
well while all three of them were sitting in the diner and eating
dinner.
Pete mentioned to me that we probably will not be making
up
any more time and that, as a result, we most likely will not arrive
in Churchill until about 9:00 a.m. He also pointed out that this
will probably result in us leaving about an hour late tomorrow
night, since the crew has to get 12 hours of "rest,"
and if we
arrive late, they won't get their 12 hours unless the train
departure is pushed back to about 10:00 p.m. (Earlier in the
day,
though, Lloyd pointed out that the main reason why a number of
long
stops are needed on this route is that it takes quite a while
to
add water to the steam generator cars, which seem to require water
in very large quantities. This will all change soon, he noted,
when all the trains on this line are converted to head-end power.)
About 11:15 p.m., I was getting rather tired. I walked
down
to the coach once more (by this time, most of the passengers were
asleep), returned to my room, pulled down the bed and climbed
in.
I quickly
fell asleep, but woke up when we arrived at Ilford at
11:50 p.m. The stop took three minutes, presumably because items
had to be unloaded from the baggage car. Ilford seemed to be
an
attractive village, although I could not see the station, which
was
on the other side of the tracks. As we pulled out, I noticed
someone driving by on a snowmobile.
We arrived at Gillam at 1:02 a.m. When we stopped, the
window
of my room was directly in front of the station. Today, Gillam
is
a very large (relatively speaking, of course) community, with
a
population of about 3,000. But this is only because a
hydroelectric power plant was constructed nearby about 20 years
ago. Up to then, only a few hundred people lived there, and its
primary importance was as a railroad division point. The map
of
Manitoba that I brought with me, dated 1976, did not show a road
to
Gillam, but the conductor told me that a road was built there
about
ten years ago, so the community is no longer dependent on rail
and
air transportation.
I pulled down the shade to my room and fell asleep long
before
we left Gillam. I slept soundly until about 4:00 a.m., when I
woke
up and looked out the window. The vegetation had changed
significantly from the previous day. Now there was nothing but
thin evergreen trees, no more than about 15 feet tall, with large
open stretches where almost nothing grew.
At 5:46 a.m., we arrived at Herchmer. This seemed to
be a
very small community, built right next to the tracks. The
surroundings looked very bleak. As we pulled away, I noticed
the
passengers who had gotten off the train (three of whom had come
all
the way from Winnipeg) walking into their homes, which faced the
tracks and were situated only about 100 feet away. I also noticed
a boxcar and a tank car parked on a siding. Herchmer seemed to
be
a particularly isolated village -- quite a contrast with Winnipeg,
from which these passengers had just come. We were now an hour
and
15 minutes late, having actually lost some additional time since
leaving Thompson.
Soon after we left Herchmer, I noticed that it was snowing!
This represents
quite a change from the weather yesterday, when it
was above freezing all day long and the sun was shining. (In
fact,
one of the people boarding the train in Thompson told me that
the
temperature had gone up to 50ø yesterday afternoon, which
is
exceptionally warm for this area during this time of the year.)
The warm
temperature was quite unexpected, but it permitted us to
spend quite a bit of the ride looking out the open dutch doors
without freezing. I was warned, though, that the temperature
in
Churchill can be very different. I also noticed, for the first
time, an electric power line running to the left of the tracks.
Presumably,
this line originates in Gillam and supplies power to
Churchill and the small communities along the way. The upper
part
of the poles are constructed in the shape of inverted triangles,
and the poles are each supported by four guy lines.
I didn't fall asleep again, but I stayed in bed until
about
7:00 a.m., mostly looking out of the window at the scenery. Then
I got up, dressed, and walked down to the front of the train.
There were
now about 12 coach passengers on the train, the others
having gotten off at intermediate stops. I then went to the diner
for breakfast. Again I had juice, coffee and cold cereal, and
again I was not charged for the meal (although, according to the
menu, I should have paid about $4.00).
After breakfast, I went back to the coach, where I started
talking to the conductor. He pointed out that the way freight
(actually, a mixed train) leaves Churchill every Wednesday morning,
and suggested that I take that train to Gillam rather the train
leaving tonight, because that way I would be able to see the
scenery in the daylight. I told him that I might consider doing
that on the next trip, but for now I would stick with my original
plans. He also said that this will be the last run of the steam-
heated equipment to Churchill. (When I returned to Winnipeg,
Dawson Wolk said that this was not entirely accurate. He told
that
the particular equipment used on this train was being taken out
of
service, but that other steam-heated equipment would probably
be
used for some trains on this run, at least until the end of March.
And,
indeed, when my friend Ben Anderson took the Hudson Bay to
Churchill two weeks later, he also rode in steam-heated equipment
-- in fact, he had the very same sleeper, Elmsdale!)
We were now getting close to Churchill, where we would
be
arriving at about 9:20 a.m. When the conductor saw my video
camera, he pointed out that there was a curve ahead, and suggested
that I take some pictures from the dutch door in the rear of the
coach. He opened the upper half of the door, but the blowing
snow
made it very difficult to get any good pictures. I returned to
my
room and started getting my belongings together.
Before I knew it, we had arrived at the Churchill station.
It
was 9:12 a.m., so we were 52 minutes late. I took my backpack
and
camera bag off the train, and then returned for my suitcase.
Lloyd
had told me that Leona, who owned the Churchill Motel, would be
picking him and the other crew members up and taking them to her
motel, where they would be staying for the day. He suggested
that
I do the same, and I gladly agreed. I brought my belongings into
the station, and then went out to take some pictures.
The Churchill station is a two-story frame building with
a
rather dilapidated appearance. The first floor is still used
as an
active station and ticket office, but the waiting room is
surprisingly small for a station of this importance.
I walked through
the snow to the front of the train, so I
could get a picture of the front of the engines. Right after
I
took the picture, I saw Ed waving at me from in front of the
station. Leona had come to take us to her motel. The two of
us,
along with Edgar, the cook on the train, piled into her Suburban,
and after a short driving tour of the town, we arrived at her
motel. (Although there are no roads to Churchill, there are roads
in and around the town, and many people apparently own pick-up
trucks, utility vehicles or cars, which are transported to the
town
by train.) After settling in my room, I went back to the station
(which was only a five-minute walk away, and was in fact visible
from my room). Our train had already been pulled away, but the
consist of the mixed train which would depart tomorrow morning
from
Churchill had just pulled into the station. There were two CN
engines, an empty boxcar filled with snow, VIA combine 7209, and
a
CN caboose. I took some pictures and made a few phone calls,
and
then I returned to my room, where I reviewed the videos that I
had
taken so far, took a nice, hot shower and updated these memoirs.
I also
determined from the weather channel on the television that
the temperature outside was 3ø. It was much colder than
yesterday,
and cold enough to wear both my heavy down parka and Sorel boots
that I had brought along for this very purpose, but it was nothing
like the -30ø readings that I thought I might encounter.
Next, I took a walk around town. Churchill is a very
compact
town, and it is easy to walk to everything. I visited the town
center, which contains a school, library and recreational
facilities. Then I walked back to the motel and ate lunch, which
consisted of a can of salmon and crackers.
After lunch, I decided to go the Parks Canada visitor
center.
There
are a few exhibits, but the main feature of this facility is
a small theatre in which videos are shown. In the busy tourist
season, there is a schedule for the showing of these videos, but
in
the off-season, they are shown on demand whenever a tourist happens
to walk in. Pat from Alaska came in around the same time, and
we
both watched an historical video which focused on the Prince of
Wales Fort at the mouth of the bay, a video on the construction
of
the Hudson Bay Railroad, a video on polar bears, and another one
on
life around the ice in the ocean. I also met Sandra, who was
now
busy at work. Then I went to the Eskimo Museum, where I bought
a
T-shirt, a book on the construction of the railroad to Churchill,
and some postcards; to the post office, where I mailed the cards;
to the bank, where I exchanged my remaining American money for
Canadian funds; to the library, where I looked at a book about
the
history of the Hudson Bay Railroad; and to the supermarket, where
I bought a few items for dinner. As can be seen, despite its
low
population (currently, only about 1,000), Churchill is a well
developed community, with all the facilities that one would expect
to find in a much larger municipality.
Of course, I mentioned to many of the residents of Churchill
that I encountered in the course of my wanderings through the
town
the fact that I had come by train. As might be expected, most
of
the residents had, at some point in their lives, traveled to and
from Churchill by train. However, the majority of the people
I met
indicated that they preferred to fly in and out whenever they
possibly could, rather than take the train. There were a few
exceptions, though. The owner of the convenience store told me
that he always took the train. And the woman at the museum
mentioned that on her family's annual vacation, they arrange for
their car to be shipped by train to Thompson, where they travel
by
train, and then they drive from there to eastern Canada where
they
have relatives. She explained that they found this to be the
most
cost-effective way for her family of four to travel.
Generally, the prices in Churchill are -- as one might
expect
-- significantly higher than they are back home. Obviously, the
fact that everything has to be trans-shipped by rail must add
to
the cost. In many cases, I found that items in the supermarket
cost twice as much as they would in Teaneck. (At the convenience
store, I found that a can of soda sold for $1.45, and a small
jar
of peanut butter for over $5.00.) But there were some interesting
exceptions. I found that a half gallon of Tropicana Pure Premium
orange juice, which normally sells for $3.49 in Teaneck, was
selling in the supermarket for only $1.99 Canadian, which
translates to less than $1.50 American funds. It was a sale item,
but still I was amazed that something so bulky, heavy and
perishable would be sold here at such a low price. Of course,
I
bought a container, and used it to accompany my supper. I also
bought a package of rice cakes for $1.00, which again seemed to
be
a very reasonable price.
I also took a walk down towards the port. The large grain
shipment facility is, of course, totally deserted at this time
of
the year, when the port is frozen solid. Also visible along the
way were parking areas where the tundra vehicles used to transport
tourists to view polar bears were stored. At the Parks Canada
exhibit, the ranger on duty had said that it would be possible
for
me to walk across the ice to the fort, and I thought of doing
so,
but it was getting late, and I decided against the idea. I
returned to my room, and ate dinner, which consisted of a can
of
sardines with jalapeno peppers (purchased at the supermarket),
crackers and orange juice.
During my earlier visit to the town center, I noticed
a sign
which stated that the pool would be open this evening from 6:30
p.m. to 8:00 p.m. I had brought a bathing suit along, and thought
that this would be an interesting way to end my visit. So after
dinner, I went back to the town center and took a swim. The large,
Olympic-size pool was open to anyone -- whether or not they resided
in Churchill -- upon the payment of an admission fee of $1.90,
but
it was largely empty, with only about half a dozen people (at
most)
in the water. I swam for about half an hour, and then returned
to
my room, where I started packing everything up again.
At 8:45 p.m., Leona called and said that the time had
arrived
for us to return to the station. I brought my belongings to the
front desk and checked out. Then I started talking to a Native
American woman sitting nearby who lived in Rankin Inlet, Northwest
Territories. She had come south to Churchill for medical
treatment, and when I started saying how expensive things were
in
Churchill, she remarked that things were far more expensive in
Rankin. For example, she said that a two-liter bottle of Coke
sold
there for $10.00! Rankin has no roads or railroads leading to
it
(except for "winter roads"), and everything must be
flown in. She
also mentioned that the price of a round-trip ticket from Rankin
to
Churchill was over $1,000, and that she was able to come only
because the Government paid for her trip, since it was made for
medical reasons. (The Government also has a contract with this
motel to house such people during their stay in Churchill.)
Ed and I piled our belongings into the Suburban, and we
left
for the station. The woman from Rankin Inlet accompanied us,
as
she had never been on a train and wanted to see what one looked
like.
When we arrived at the station, it was filled with a group
of
teenagers. They were Native Americans from Island Lake, an
isolated community in eastern Manitoba, near the Ontario border.
There
were 14 students, accompanied by a teacher and the vice-
principal of their school. The teacher (who came from Fredericton,
New Brunswick) explained that this was a class trip. Last Friday,
they flew to Thompson and took the train from there to Churchill,
and they were now returning to Thompson on the train. Several
other people were also waiting for the train, and it was rather
noisy, with one of the students playing the song "It's a
Beautiful
Life" rather loudly on a boom box.
Among the people waiting for the train was, of course,
Pat
from Alaska, who told me that his wallet had disappeared somewhere
in the town center. In it was several hundred dollars -- all
of
the money that he had planned to use for the remainder of the
trip.
He
reported the loss to the police, who promised to contact the VIA
agent at Churchill if the wallet were found. Fortunately, he
still
had his train and airline tickets. I offered to lend him some
money, but he said that that would not be necessary at this time.
While waiting for the boarding announcement, I went outside
and took some pictures and videos of the train. Of course, the
equipment was the same as it was on the way up, including the
two
trailers on flat cars (which were now presumably empty) at the
back
of the train. At this point, the baggage car was positioned just
north of the station, and baggage was being loaded onto the train.
Then
the train was pulled forward and, at 9:25 p.m., boarding
began. Everyone got on the train very quickly, but we did not
actually depart until 9:55 p.m. -- fifty-five minutes late.
After walking through the coach and the lounge, I returned
to
my room and spent about 45 minutes writing about my day's
activities. Then I went to the lounge car, where I started talking
to the conductor. He mentioned that there were about 25 people
in
the coaches. (From my previous conversation with Pete, I found
out
that there were five people in the sleeper, with two double
bedrooms and two roomettes occupied.) We talked about the route
followed by this train, and I remarked how unusual it was that
we
would not be meeting or passing any other train all the way to
Gillam (and probably to Thompson, too) -- a little different than
Amtrak's Northeast Corridor line from New York to Washington!
The
conductor mentioned that the only settlement on the railroad
between Churchill and Gillam was Herchmer, and that village
consisted of only a few houses which were inhabited by section
workers for the railroad. He explained that the tank car that
I
saw on the siding yesterday morning was used to supply the village
with water! Apparently, it is an insulated car, which prevents
the
water from freezing. (The conductor said that Weir River, the
other location shown as a scheduled stop between Churchill and
Gillam, used to be a small village for section workers, but that
everyone who lived there has now been moved to Gillam, and the
train no longer stops there.) I also walked through the coach
where, by now, the lights had been dimmed and almost everyone
was
asleep (although the young man with the boom box was still playing
some song, but a little more softly).
By now it was 11:20 p.m. I was still not that tired,
even
though I didn't sleep at all during the day, but I decided to
go to
sleep. I fell asleep very quickly and slept soundly until about
1:30 a.m. when I heard some communications on the scanner. The
train had stopped, and although I couldn't see the station, which
was on the other side of the tracks, I concluded that we must
be at
Herchmer. When we left a few minutes later, I fell asleep again,
and woke up again about 4:30 a.m., as we were about to cross the
large bridge over the Nelson River at Kettle Rapids. Although
it
was still dark, I could see the front of the train as it passed
around a curve on the approach to the bridge.
I was still awake when we arrived at Gillam at 4:50 a.m.,
but
again I fell asleep. When I next woke up at 6:00 a.m., we were
still there. So I decided to get dressed and see if I could step
off the train here. Before I had a chance to do so, though, I
heard "highball" on the scanner, and we started moving.
I took the
video camera and got some views of the town as we departed. Gillam
apparently has a population of about 3,000 -- much larger than
Churchill, and it seems to be a pleasant, modern community. Soon,
though, we stopped again. Apparently, there was a problem with
one
of the steam lines which had to be repaired, and we didn't start
moving again until 6:24 a.m. We were now an hour and 15 minutes
late.
I walked down to the coach, where almost everyone was
still
sleeping. I counted 29 passengers in the coach, which probably
means that a few people got on at Herchmer or Gillam. I think
that
there are now more people on the train than there have been at
any
time since we left Winnipeg! It was now snowing, and the
temperature was much colder than it had been on Monday (although
probably not as cold as it had been yesterday in Churchill).
On
the way back to my room, Edgar the cook offered me a cup of coffee,
but I told him that I would come back later for breakfast. I
returned to my room and, although I did not expect to fall asleep
again, I climbed back into bed, took out my computer and recorded
the night's events. I also started reading Turmoil and Triumph
--
the book on the history of the Hudson Bay Railway that I had
purchased yesterday in Churchill.
The history of this railroad is
another thing that makes this
trip so fascinating. Unlike most of the major railroads in the
United States and Canada, which were built before the turn of
the
century, construction of this railroad was not started until 1913,
and the line to Churchill was not completed until 1929. Turmoil
and Triumph recounts the incredible stories of the men who built
the railroad. They endured sub-freezing temperatures in the winter
-- and black flies and mosquitos in the summer -- while living
in
the most primitive conditions. Another thing which is unique
about
this railroad is that it has always been the subject of controversy
-- which continues to the present day. The whole reason for
building the line to Churchill was to provide a short route to
a
port, but the limited season at the port of Churchill (it is only
open about four months a year) lessens its usefulness and makes
it
relatively expensive to operate. In 1926, while the line was
still
under construction, the editor of Railway Age magazine was quoted
as saying: "The Hudson Bay Railway is one of the most chimerical
transportation projects ever conceived. The people of Canada
would
much better dump $75,000,000 into Hudson Bay than carry it out.
If
it is carried out they will lose not only their original
investment, but millions of dollars every year in addition."
There
are those today who believe that this statement has proved to
be
correct. Nevertheless, the port of Churchill is still in
operation, and while passenger service is no longer operated on
the
main line of the Canadian Pacific Railroad, VIA still runs a tri-
weekly passenger train to Churchill.
I stayed in bed until shortly before 7:30 a.m., when I
heard
on the scanner that we were about to stop at Ilford. Before I
got
dressed and had a chance to walk down to the coach, we had already
stopped there, and since the stop lasted for only two minutes,
I
didn't have a chance to step off the train. At least five people
got on at this rather small village. I walked through the coach
again, and for the first time -- with about 35 people in the car,
or nearly half its capacity -- the coach began to look a little
crowded!
In fact, I couldn't find a single pair of unoccupied
seats, since some people had appropriated two or even four seats
to
themselves, and eight facing seats at the back of the car were
used
by the crew.
I went to the diner for breakfast, which consisted of
my usual
juice, corn flakes and coffee. Although I again had a table to
myself, this time a Native American woman and her young son
occupied the opposite table. She had gotten on at Ilford, and
was
traveling to Thompson to do shopping, etc. It turned out that
she
was the assistant nurse for the community of Ilford, who
substituted when necessary for the regular nurse, whom I had met
on
the train on Monday evening! This time I was charged $1.00 for
the
orange juice (since it was served in a can) but, again, the
remainder of the meal was free. Lloyd remarked that the take-out
counter in the car had been pretty busy this morning, with many
of
the Native Americans ordering hamburgers for breakfast!
After shooting some videos out of the back (including
the
crossing of the Nelson River at milepost 240.9), I returned to
my
room, where I heard on the scanner the conductor telling the
engineer: "Keep an eye on 226 -- Rusty said that he might
have
some fish today." Sure enough, at 9:11 a.m., when we reached
milepost 226, the train stopped, and a man got on with a cardboard
box tied together with string. He lived in a small house adjacent
to the tracks, and apparently made a living from fishing in the
area. This is the first stop of the kind that this train has
made,
but it will stop just about anywhere along the route to pick up
or
discharge passengers.
As we were arriving at the next stop, Pikwitonei, I walked
to
the coach, but the conductor said that I could not step off the
train here. We stopped just for a minute and departed at 9:35
a.m., but eleven people got on here. There now were close to
50
people traveling in coach on the train! I'm sure most of the
people are going no further than Thompson, though.
At 10:00 a.m.,
we arrived at Thompson Jct., where the
conductors had to leave the train to throw the manual switches.
As
I noted from the ride going up to Churchill, the branch line from
here to Thompson is particularly scenic. I did go out to the
back
of the train and take a few pictures through the open dutch doors,
but the blowing snow made it difficult to get good pictures, and
the cold made it difficult to stay outside very long. I also
walked back to the lounge car and coaches. As one might expect,
the lounge car was quite crowded, with many people playing cards
and smoking, and a number of people were also eating meals in
the
diner section. Because of the large number of people in the lounge
car, the coach ended up not being exceptionally crowded.
After setting out the flat cars with the trailers at the
wye
outside of Thompson, we backed into the station at 11:14 a.m.
Most
of the coach passengers got off here, including -- of course --
the
school group from Island Lake. After taking some pictures, I
went
into the station and plugged in my computer. Everyone quickly
left
the station except for the school group. It turned out that the
van that they had arranged to meet them had broken down, so they
had to proceed to town via several taxis.
At about 11:45 a.m., Lloyd came over to me and told me
that
the regular engine crew was not working today, and the substitute
crew was not receptive to the idea of my riding in the engine.
However,
Lloyd explained, it would be possible for me to climb up
and look at the engine while we are here in Thompson. So I quickly
put my computer away, gave it to Lloyd (along with the video
camera), and climbed up into the engine. The engineer gave me
a
copy of a booklet about this line put out by CN many years ago,
moved the train forward to position it to receive water, and then
climbed down, leaving me alone in the engine! I was a little
surprised at this, but was glad to have some time to look around.
After
about 10 minutes or so, the assistant engineer came into the
engine and backed the train up so that the coach would be in the
appropriate place to receive passengers. Then the engineer
returned and asked me to get back onto the main part of the train,
since we would soon be leaving. I would have liked to ride in
the
cab for some of the trip, but at least I got a chance to climb
inside and take a very short ride along the station platform.
We left Thompson at 12:19 p.m., and were now only 40 minutes
late. Quite a few people got on here, almost all of whom were
Native Americans going to Thicket Portage. I tried to get some
video pictures out of the back, but the steam coming out from
under
the cars made this somewhat difficult, and the task was complicated
by the cold and wind. After we crossed the bridge over the Grass
River, I went back inside and proceeded to the diner for lunch.
My
kosher meal was served promptly, and today consisted of a corned
beef sandwich with potato salad, together with mustard and cole
slaw. Soon Pat came in and sat down on the table opposite me.
He
had inquired at Thompson about his lost wallet, but received no
information. I asked him how he was going to pay for his meal,
and
he replied that Lloyd had said that he was going to treat him!
We
both thought that this was very nice of him -- indeed, Pat wanted
to nominate him for Employee of the Year (Lloyd told him that
VIA
does not have such an award).
At 2:01 p.m., we arrived at Thicket
Portage. Here, most of
the passengers from Thompson (there were about 20 of them) got
off.
Trucks
pulled up to the train to take the baggage being unloaded,
and because of the volume of parcels to be taken off the train
here, the stop lasted for five minutes. Of course, I had plenty
of
time to get off the train and take pictures.
After we left Thicket Portage, there were only ten coach
passengers on the train, which now began to resume the relaxed,
quiet atmosphere that it had on the way up until Thicket Portage.
These
ten passengers included Pat from Alaska, Philip from Germany,
a family of four who were going to Canora, one man going to Hudson
Bay, Saskatchewan, and a retired couple going from Thompson, where
they were visiting his daughter and grandchildren, back to
Winnipeg, their home. The husband told me that he was traveling
by
train because he was a retired railroad employee and was able
to
travel for free, but that otherwise he would have driven or taken
a bus, since it takes only seven hours to drive from Thompson
to
Winnipeg, while it takes 22 hours to go by train. (This is largely
due to the circuitous route that the train takes.) Subsequently,
he told me that he was formerly a supervisor at CN's Symington
yards in Winnipeg, and that at one time several hundred people
worked under him.
Soon, Lloyd came over to me and gave me a copy of the
manifest. He had crossed out the number of the "cafe-lounge"
(as
it was termed) listed on the manifest and inserted the number
of
the car that was actually on the train, explaining that other
car
had been bad-ordered at the last minute and was replaced. Unlike
the computer-generated manifests that Amtrak uses, this manifest
only gave the number of passengers expected to be on the train
leaving Winnipeg, Thompson and Churchill. The numbers on the
manifest turned out to be very inaccurate -- in each case, they
were significantly lower than the actual counts. Lloyd explained
that while reservations were theoretically required for travel
on
this train, most people didn't bother making reservations, and
the
crew is very glad to accommodate anyone who shows up.
I decided to spend some time in the coach, which was now
largely empty, so I brought my computer there and started working
on these memoirs. Soon, though, I began to get sleepy, so I turned
off the computer and slept for about 15 minutes. When I awoke,
I
heard on the conductor's radio that we will be meeting the
northbound Hudson Bay at Lyddal, and since we were almost there,
I
decided to go to the back of the train where I would hopefully
be
able to get a good view of the passing train.
On the way back to the rear of the train, I passed through
the
lounge car, where I started talking to a woman sitting there.
She,
her husband and their two children were going to Canora. She
explained that her husband worked for CN as a track maintainer,
and
that they were moving to Churchill, where she would be working
in
the cafeteria at the town center. Since she had been separated
from her husband for the last few months, he lived in Canora while
she lived in Hudson Bay. So they were going to Canora tonight
to
pack up his belongings and load them in a boxcar, then at 5:10
a.m.
on Friday morning they would be taking the northbound train back
to
Hudson Bay to pack up her belongings, and finally next week they
would take the train to Churchill! Both she and her husband seemed
to love Churchill, where they had been living for the last month,
and very much looked forward to moving there. She explained that
although some housing in Churchill is available for purchase,
most
people choose to rent housing from the government for about one-
fourth of one's monthly pay, and that is what they would be doing.
Later on, when I talked to her husband, he told me that, despite
his past and future employment at CN, he did not presently have
a
pass to ride the train, but that he and his family were
nevertheless riding for free because his father used to be a
conductor on this line and everyone knows his family.
I then proceeded to the rear of the train, where I saw
the
northbound Hudson Bay pass us. Unfortunately, because of the
steam
coming out of our train, I could not get a clear view of the entire
northbound train, but I did notice that it was a head-end powered
train with the sleeper Chateau Verchenes (or something like that).
On the
way back to my room, the assistant conductor mentioned that
he thought that our train would be the last steam-heated train
on
this line.
I finally got to spend a little time working on updating
these
memoirs, but before I knew it, it was 3:39 p.m. and we were pulling
into Wabowden. We only stopped here for two minutes, but both
the
conductor and Lloyd, the attendant, went into the local store
to
purchase some items, so I had enough time to get off and take
some
pictures. Moreover, Ed from Denver also stepped off the train
here, so I had him take my picture. A family (husband, wife and
young child) got on here, and they loaded some packages onto the
baggage car. (I later found out that they were going back to
Cormorant, where they lived.) Pete told me that Wabowden is a
center for processing fish, and that in the summer this train
often
carries large quantities of fish in the baggage car to be dropped
off here. I wonder what the car must smell like then! When we
left Wabowden, we were only 20 minutes late, and the conductor
told
me that we should be arriving at The Pas on time.
I returned to my room, where I started talking to a teenager
who boarded the train last night in Churchill and was going to
Winnipeg. His hockey team was going to be competing there, but
the
rest of the team would be flying down. He decided to leave earlier
with his father and take the train because he enjoyed the train
ride and wanted to spend some time shopping. The two of them
were
staying in a double bedroom, but for part of the ride he moved
over
to the roomette opposite mine and listened to music on a CD player.
I also
talked to a woman who was occupying a roomette on the other
side of the car. She was returning to Winnipeg from Thompson,
and
chose to take the train because she enjoyed it. It seems that
these three people, together with Ed and me, are now the only
passengers in the sleeping car.
By now, the sun had come out, and I decided to try to
take a
few more video pictures from the rear of the train. Since most
of
the track here is quite straight, though, it was still hard to
get
any good pictures. After spending some time in the lounge car
and
the coach, I returned to my room, where I did some reading. It
was
very quiet on the train, and the scenery was the usual unbroken
wilderness.
We stopped briefly at Cormorant at 6:07 p.m. The three
people
who boarded at Wabowden got off here, and were met by a pick-up
truck, into which they all somehow fit. Their parcels were
unloaded from the baggage car, but all this took only about a
minute, so I didn't step off the train.
The sun had already set when we crossed the bridge over
the
Saskatchewan River and pulled into The Pas at 7:19 p.m. I got
off
and went into the station, where I plugged in my computer for
recharging and made a few phone calls. I could feel that it was
much colder than it was yesterday. I also noticed that steam
generator car 15477, which I saw on Monday in the middle of a
string of freight cars, had been moved to the siding next to the
station. The agent explained that this car had developed a hot
journal near Gillam last week, and had to be taken off the train
there. It was brought back to The Pas on a freight train, and
now
would be added to our train to be taken to Winnipeg (where,
presumably, it will be scrapped). Sure enough, this car was added
to our train in front of the baggage car.
I went back to the train to get my book on the construction
of
the Hudson Bay Railway, and sat in the station, reading the first
chapter of the book which -- quite appropriately -- talked about
the near-riot conditions which developed in The Pas around 1915
when foreigners who had come to seek work on constructing the
railroad were turned away empty-handed.
Before we reached The Pas,
I asked Lloyd if he could heat up
my kosher dinner. He replied that the oven in the dining car
was
no longer working, so he would have to heat the meal in the oven
at
the station at The Pas! (This did not pose a problem when it
came
to serving the non-kosher meals to other passengers, since they
were all of the "boil-in-a-bag" variety.) Sure enough,
I saw him
bring the kosher meal into the station and, about 8:05 p.m., he
told me that the meal was now ready. So I took the computer,
reboarded the train, and ate my meal, which consisted of roast
chicken, mashed potatoes, and peas and carrots. We left The Pas
at
8:22 p.m., just two minutes late.
While I was eating dinner, I heard on the conductor's
radio
(the two conductors were sitting right behind me) that we would
be
taking the siding at Turnberry (on the Manitoba-Saskatchewan
border) to permit a freight train to pass. About 9:10 p.m., I
noticed that the freight train was stopped on the track to our
right. I walked to the back of the train, where the conductor
explained that the engineer of the freight train had already lined
the switch for us to take the siding, and that he would be relining
the switch once we got back on the main track. Then he asked
me:
"Did
you ever line a switch?" When I replied that I hadn't, he
told me to get my gloves. I got off the train with him and, after
he unlocked the switch, he let me move the lever which lined the
switch! Another unexpected bonus of this trip.
I walked down to the coach, where I noticed that seven
people
had boarded the train at The Pas, all going to Winnipeg. Together
with the nine coach passengers on the train from earlier, this
means that there are now a total of 16 coach passengers on the
train. I noticed that one person who boarded the train at The
Pas
was a boy who had been on the train Sunday night when we left
Winnipeg. He explained that both this past weekend and this coming
weekend, he has had Thursday and Friday off from school, so he
went
to Winnipeg to visit his stepfather. On Sunday, he was returning
home, and today he is going back. Since his father works for
the
railroad, the trips cost him nothing. (Parenthetically, I might
add that this means that at least seven of the 16 coach passengers
on the train are traveling for free -- and two of the other nine
are traveling on VIA student tickets at greatly reduced rates.)
I returned to the diner, sat down at a table, and started
updating my story of the trip. Edgar came over and offered me
a
cup of cranberry juice, which I gladly accepted. He later stopped
in my room and gave me two oranges.
At 10:20 p.m., we backed into the station at Hudson Bay,
Saskatchewan. The station was closed and the platform was both
unlighted and covered with ice. About five passengers boarded
the
train here, including three elderly people who spent the night
in
section accommodations. (Two of them later told me that they
used
to live in Hudson Bay, and were returning to Winnipeg after having
attended a funeral in Hudson Bay.) The conductor pointed out
that
the station here has been closed since last year. I told him
that
there should be some way to have the platform lighted and the
station open at train time, even in the absence of an agent, and
mentioned how Amtrak sometimes hires caretakers to open stations
where there is no agent. The dark, icy platform seemed to be
a
real safety hazard. (I mentioned this to Dawson Wolk in my
subsequent conversation with him, and he promised to check into
this.)
After we departed Hudson Bay at 10:27 p.m., I returned
to my
room and, at about 11:15 p.m., pulled down the bed and went to
sleep. I fell asleep rather quickly, although I woke up briefly
at
1:00 a.m. when we stopped at Canora. I slept pretty soundly until
4:00 a.m., when we were approaching Dauphin. We spent about 20
minutes at the Dauphin station. The very large, old station was
visible on the left side of the tracks, but it was unlighted and
seemed to be unused. We left Dauphin at 4:38 a.m., which meant
that we were 18 minutes late. (Subsequently, the conductor
explained that there was a freight train blocking the main line
at
Dauphin, so we had to go through the yard, resulting in a slight
delay.)
About 5:00 a.m., I heard on the scanner the report of
a defect
detector. (Here in Canada, the defector announces "no alarm,"
rather than "no defects," the term used in the United
States.)
This was
the first time I heard the report of a defect detector
since Sunday night. There are no such things on the line north
of
Dauphin! I stayed in bed and tried to fall asleep again, but
I
don't think that I could have slept for more than a few minutes.
At 6:15 a.m., I decided that I better get up. Last night,
Lloyd had informed me that -- due to the fact that this will be
the
last run of the diner-lounge and everything will have to be taken
off the train at Winnipeg -- breakfast will be served only until
7:00 a.m. this morning. I got dressed and walked down to the
coach, where there appeared to be about a dozen passengers. Then
I returned to my room. We were now passing through flat, open
farmland, which actually looked even bleaker than the wilderness
we
went through on the way to Churchill.
At 6:50 a.m., Pete came through to announce the last call
for
breakfast. I went to the diner, where I was promptly served my
standard breakfast of juice, cereal and coffee (except that this
time, raisin bran was substituted for corn flakes). We passed
the
Portage la Prairie station at 7:00 a.m., but again no one got
on or
off and we did not even stop here. After I finished eating, I
walked down to the lounge section of the car, where I saw Pat
studying a directory of lodging in Winnipeg to ascertain where
he
could stay tonight at a low cost. (He had to stay overnight in
Winnipeg because the westbound Canadian would not leave until
tomorrow.) When I asked how he would pay for his room, he
mentioned to me that various people had loaned him some money,
so
I gave him a Canadian $20 bill, which was just about all the money
I had left (except for $10, which I wanted to use to tip Lloyd
and
Pete). We each exchanged addresses, and I promised to send him
a
copy of my story.
On the way back to my room, I gave my tip to Lloyd, and
mentioned that I hope to publish the story of the trip and wanted
to know whether there would be any problem including such details
as leaning out of dutch doors, going into the cab of the engine,
etc. I explained that I did not want to get him or any of the
crew
members in trouble for their having violated VIA's rules. He
replied that there would be absolutely no problem in reporting
everything that took place. Again, quite a contrast with Amtrak,
where even the most friendly and helpful employees are concerned
with being cited for violating the railroad's strict rules about
what passengers are allowed to do. I got Lloyd's address and
promised to send him a copy of the story.
I then started talking
to Pete, who mentioned that -- for each
weekly round trip he made from Winnipeg to Churchill and back
-- he
was paid $18 an hour for working 19 hours on each of four days.
If
I got these figures right, that would mean that he is paid over
$1,300 for each round trip. Presumably, Lloyd must be paid at
least as much, and Edgar has to be paid, too. Thus, the salaries
of just the on-board service personnel for each trip must amount
to
well over $3,000. Given the very light patronage of the train
and
the number of people traveling for free or for a greatly reduced
fare, I doubt whether that much was collected in fares from all
the
passengers traveling on the train. And, of course, the operating
personnel (at least four people for each leg of the trip) must
be
paid, and then there are expenses for maintenance of equipment,
use
of CN's right-of-way, operation of stations, etc., etc. It's
not
difficult to see how VIA must be losing a fortune on the operation
of this train! (Subsequently, Dawson Wolk told me that VIA spends
$17 million a year to operate this train, but recovers only $4
million in fares. He also mentioned that the crew agreements
for
this train have recently been changed, so that in the future only
two on-board employees will be required during the off-season,
rather than three.)
Soon, we were approaching Winnipeg. I packed up my belongings
and brought my luggage to the rear of the car. At 7:58 a.m. --
two
minutes early -- we pulled into the Winnipeg station. After I
got
off, I had a station attendant take my picture, and then I walked
down to the front of the train to get a picture of the engine.
By
the time I went down into the station, everyone else had
left, and my cousin Kayla was almost ready to give up on me!
She
explained that she had tried to go up to the platform to meet
me,
but was not allowed to do so. We walked to her car and she took
me
over to Sheppy's house. (Dawson Wolk subsequently mentioned to
me
that it is because of insurance requirements that persons other
than passengers are not allowed on the platforms at Winnipeg or
other VIA stations, but that persons meeting passengers on trains
are generally permitted to go onto the platform if they agree
to
sign a waiver. It seems rather ironic that VIA should be so
concerned with liability for persons merely going onto station
platforms, yet tolerate -- at least informally -- passengers riding
in vestibules and sticking their heads out of dutch doors of moving
trains!)
And so ended my trip to Churchill on the Hudson Bay.
The trip
was everything I had expected it to be. My only regret is not
having been able to take a real cab ride, but that is something
that I could not have counted on, in any event. Perhaps the train
ride to Churchill can best be summed up in the words of the Rail
Ventures book that I quoted earlier: "Always an adventure
and
truly one of today's unique travel experiences."
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