Stardate 5/7/18. Just
outside of Kamloops. Well Karen lost my
blogpost, so this is version 2.
We woke this morning to the Fraser river, at least I thought
it was the Fraser, but now know it was the Thompson river much of the morning,
as we have learned from our amazing conductor, whom I have dubbed Cap’n Dan
(although he says no Lieutenant Dan!). The river is quite full, swollen and
brown. We have been following it all
morning. For those of you who have been
following the train on the Via Rail site, you may be noticing that we are
running behind.
Yup, we left 4 hours late, which was problem #1. Why?
The train is scheduled to arrive on Saturday to Vancouver at 9AM, and
then ostensibly the crew gets a scheduled rest period, the train flipped (no
not literally!) and we are supposed to embark at 20:30. But the train got in at 6AM on Sunday. Do the math on that one. Here
is the link to watch the progress:
tsimobile.viarail.ca
Turns out that the passenger trains are low priority and
freight trains get the right of way.
While the US has many routes across the nation, there are only 2-3 cross
country routes across Canada, so it’s a bit of a bottle neck. According to Cap’n Dan, the Canadian
government has given up trying to get the passenger rail to run on schedule,
and fighting this fight. So there are
some inevitable delays. We may actually
have an extra day on the train, but it is too early to tell. BUT!
We are zen about it, and this is really the key. We have nothing but time, and this is all
part of the adventure. And the scenery…
The scenery is spectacular.
In passing Ashcroft, we have been seeing amazing geological
features. Will add some photos. Whodos (hoodoos?) on the cliffs. Striations. Or whatever they are called. We don’t have our favorite geologist along as
an interpretive guide.
About the train. This
train has 27 cars. 2 of which are
engines, and then another one is for luggage.
There are 2 dining cars, 2 of those nifty elevated panoramic cars. There are a variety of options for
sitting/travelling: seats, which recline
a little. Berths with curtains, and then
cabins with berths, toilets and sinks. We are in the latter. They are very comfortable, but we shall call
them cozy. The staff are amazing: friendly, incredibly professional,
informative and clearly love their job.
They have a perfect level of amusing humor, and all speak what I presume
to be excellent French to boot. As the
announcements are all in both languages.
Photos to come! ----cool geology photos from west of the Rockies
View out of our window on Day 1
Who dos? Hoo Doos?
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