Recently I came across notes of 2 trips my wife and I took in the early 1980's. The first trip in 1980 Philadelphia - Montreal - Sydney NS I covered in a trip report below. This report is one we took in March 1984 Philadelphia - Montreal - Vancouver then round trip flight to Pasco WA then return the same way. Between the two we covered continental Canada coast to coast. Too bad the "Newfie Bullet" wasn't still running, we could have added Newfoundland too 
In March 1984 with my wife expecting our first child, we figured it was time for one last fling. My wife had traveled on the Canadian as a child and wanted to repeat the experience. It was also an opportunity to visit her parents now living in Richland WA.
We left Philadelphia on Amtrak 60 the Montrealer due to depart at 7:24 PM. It actually arrived late at 7:45 PM. Train consist at PHL was as follows:
2 x AEM7
Baggage
Sleeper 10/6? (our car #6020)
Slumbercoach
Amcafe (dinette / lounge)
coaches 4719, 4647, 4733, 4612, 4702 - all Heritage Fleet
Amcafe 20223
3 x Amfleet coaches
The Amcafe and 3 amfleet coaches were dropped at New York.
Attendant on our sleeper was very pleasant. We each had a glass of Blue Nun and a raspberry danish snack as New Jersey flashed by.
We were delayed another 40 minutes at Mount Vernon, possibly an issue with a drawbridge?
At Springfield I observed SPV 2000 and RDC cars at the station. We backed out of the station and headed up the Conn River line.
I did not record our arrival time in Montreal. I do recall the immigration and customs at the border was a brief for those in sleeper, as opposed to what coach travelers dealt with, as we found out on our 1980 trip.
We had some time in Montreal before our 4:30 PM departure on the Canadian so we went on a horse drawn carriage ride snuggled under a blanket. We also went shopping. I bought a warm Canadian Tuque for the upcoming trip across the frozen plains. A chance to use my high school French.
The Canadian at Montreal was somewhat abbreviated. The full train would be added at Toronto.
Dome lounge/observation/sleeper (3 bedroom, 1 drawing rm) Waterton Park
Sleeper 6 bedroom, 4 section, 4 roomette Christie Manor - This was our car. We had a bedroom.
Dome Diner (Skyline Coffee Shop?) #501
Coach /snack bar (ex CN) #3221
coach 110, 103 - dropped at Toronto
baggage (+dorm?) #616
Departure from Montreal on time at 1630. Nice view from the dome as we sped along to Toronto.
At Toronto, extensive switching of the train. The train was cut between our sleeper and the dome diner and 4 additional cars cut in.
Quite a variety of equipment in the station - Amfleet (probably the Maple Leaf), LRCs, RDCs and Go Transit cars.
After departure from Toronto our consist was as follows:
Dome lounge/observation/sleeper (3 bedroom, 1 drawing rm) Waterton Park
Sleeper 6 bedroom, 4 section, 4 roomette Christie Manor (our car)
Diner 1338
Sleeper Emperor 8 roomette/4 Bedroom/4 section
Sleeper Entwhistle 8 roomette/4 Bedroom/4 section
Dayniter coach 5703
Dome diner/lounge - used as a dinette
Coach / snack bar 3221
Baggage 616
GMD FP7 B unit 6607
MLW FPA4 A unit 6783
Went sleep and woke up near Sudbury. Breakfast in diner, much nicer than the coffee shop car out of Montreal.
Out of Sudbury, an interchange yard with a line hauling ore cars with electric trolley locos. Probably the INCO nickel operation.
Lots of meets with freights. A couple of times we set off hotbox detectors and had to stop for inspections. We still stayed on schedule probably due to lots of padding. 30 minute stops at division points for crew changes. A person became ill on the train and had to be taken off at Chapleau which was the nearest place with a medical facility in this fairly unpopulated part of Ontario. A couple of places people got off for hunting and fishing. Sometime after Chapleau we went into a siding for the eastbound Canadian #2. We spent a lot of time in the dome with opportunities to talk to interesting fellow passengers including a mime from France. I got to talking to one of the crew and he gave me his old train orders which I still have somewhere.
Just before Winnipeg, we switch over to the CN. Winnipeg was cold! About -20 C. I remember the battery on my camera went dead as I was taking pictures. The station was very clean and well maintained with a model railroad and Prairie Dog Central coaches in a yard south of the station. At Winnipeg we got new locomotives:
6510 class GPA 17a (GMD FP7 A)
6615 class GPB 17c (GMD FP7 B)
6612 class GPB 17c (GMD FP7 B)
At Portage La Prairie we switch back to the CP. Meet #2 again at Brandon. Around Carberry we spot antelopes.
At Calgary it was a long stop so we got off and walked around a bit. Saw some of the light rail trains. An additional sleeper “Draper Manor” was added between our sleeper and the observation car.
Time keeping was good. We arrived Banff 6 minutes late, Lake Louise 11 min late, 15 min early at Field which was a crew change. The Spiral Tunnels were impressive. We went through them in the dome.
Arrived Vancouver in the morning of Wednesday March 7. We transferred to the airport where we caught UA 1181 to Sea-Tac and changed to Cascade Airlines 325 for the short hop to Pasco where my wife's parents met us at the airport.
Part 2 will be the return trip coming soon.
In March 1984 with my wife expecting our first child, we figured it was time for one last fling. My wife had traveled on the Canadian as a child and wanted to repeat the experience. It was also an opportunity to visit her parents now living in Richland WA.
We left Philadelphia on Amtrak 60 the Montrealer due to depart at 7:24 PM. It actually arrived late at 7:45 PM. Train consist at PHL was as follows:
2 x AEM7
Baggage
Sleeper 10/6? (our car #6020)
Slumbercoach
Amcafe (dinette / lounge)
coaches 4719, 4647, 4733, 4612, 4702 - all Heritage Fleet
Amcafe 20223
3 x Amfleet coaches
The Amcafe and 3 amfleet coaches were dropped at New York.
Attendant on our sleeper was very pleasant. We each had a glass of Blue Nun and a raspberry danish snack as New Jersey flashed by.
We were delayed another 40 minutes at Mount Vernon, possibly an issue with a drawbridge?
At Springfield I observed SPV 2000 and RDC cars at the station. We backed out of the station and headed up the Conn River line.
I did not record our arrival time in Montreal. I do recall the immigration and customs at the border was a brief for those in sleeper, as opposed to what coach travelers dealt with, as we found out on our 1980 trip.
We had some time in Montreal before our 4:30 PM departure on the Canadian so we went on a horse drawn carriage ride snuggled under a blanket. We also went shopping. I bought a warm Canadian Tuque for the upcoming trip across the frozen plains. A chance to use my high school French.
The Canadian at Montreal was somewhat abbreviated. The full train would be added at Toronto.
Dome lounge/observation/sleeper (3 bedroom, 1 drawing rm) Waterton Park
Sleeper 6 bedroom, 4 section, 4 roomette Christie Manor - This was our car. We had a bedroom.
Dome Diner (Skyline Coffee Shop?) #501
Coach /snack bar (ex CN) #3221
coach 110, 103 - dropped at Toronto
baggage (+dorm?) #616
Departure from Montreal on time at 1630. Nice view from the dome as we sped along to Toronto.
At Toronto, extensive switching of the train. The train was cut between our sleeper and the dome diner and 4 additional cars cut in.
Quite a variety of equipment in the station - Amfleet (probably the Maple Leaf), LRCs, RDCs and Go Transit cars.
After departure from Toronto our consist was as follows:
Dome lounge/observation/sleeper (3 bedroom, 1 drawing rm) Waterton Park
Sleeper 6 bedroom, 4 section, 4 roomette Christie Manor (our car)
Diner 1338
Sleeper Emperor 8 roomette/4 Bedroom/4 section
Sleeper Entwhistle 8 roomette/4 Bedroom/4 section
Dayniter coach 5703
Dome diner/lounge - used as a dinette
Coach / snack bar 3221
Baggage 616
GMD FP7 B unit 6607
MLW FPA4 A unit 6783
Went sleep and woke up near Sudbury. Breakfast in diner, much nicer than the coffee shop car out of Montreal.
Out of Sudbury, an interchange yard with a line hauling ore cars with electric trolley locos. Probably the INCO nickel operation.
Lots of meets with freights. A couple of times we set off hotbox detectors and had to stop for inspections. We still stayed on schedule probably due to lots of padding. 30 minute stops at division points for crew changes. A person became ill on the train and had to be taken off at Chapleau which was the nearest place with a medical facility in this fairly unpopulated part of Ontario. A couple of places people got off for hunting and fishing. Sometime after Chapleau we went into a siding for the eastbound Canadian #2. We spent a lot of time in the dome with opportunities to talk to interesting fellow passengers including a mime from France. I got to talking to one of the crew and he gave me his old train orders which I still have somewhere.
Just before Winnipeg, we switch over to the CN. Winnipeg was cold! About -20 C. I remember the battery on my camera went dead as I was taking pictures. The station was very clean and well maintained with a model railroad and Prairie Dog Central coaches in a yard south of the station. At Winnipeg we got new locomotives:
6510 class GPA 17a (GMD FP7 A)
6615 class GPB 17c (GMD FP7 B)
6612 class GPB 17c (GMD FP7 B)
At Portage La Prairie we switch back to the CP. Meet #2 again at Brandon. Around Carberry we spot antelopes.
At Calgary it was a long stop so we got off and walked around a bit. Saw some of the light rail trains. An additional sleeper “Draper Manor” was added between our sleeper and the observation car.
Time keeping was good. We arrived Banff 6 minutes late, Lake Louise 11 min late, 15 min early at Field which was a crew change. The Spiral Tunnels were impressive. We went through them in the dome.
Arrived Vancouver in the morning of Wednesday March 7. We transferred to the airport where we caught UA 1181 to Sea-Tac and changed to Cascade Airlines 325 for the short hop to Pasco where my wife's parents met us at the airport.
Part 2 will be the return trip coming soon.
