FreeskierInVT
Lead Service Attendant
Hey all,
This trip report is long overdue, but back in August I took a trip up to Canada to experience VIA Rail, and it was a fantastic trip!
I was in coach from Montreal to Halifax, spent 4 days in Halifax, and returned in a Cabin for two from Halifax back to Montreal. Returning back home to Vermont I took the Adirondack southbound to Port Kent, NY, and the Lake Champlain Ferry to Burlington. The next day I was on the southbound Vermonter for a quick trip to see my dad in Connecticut before school started up the following week.
I'll start with the trip to Montreal. Initially I was going to take the Adirondack northbound from Port Kent to Montreal, spend the night in Montreal and board the Ocean the following day. This plan was foiled when I found out the hostel I booked at was a complete scam, selling my credit card info to China and apparently not even existing. I tried booking at a different hostel, but ended up just taking a Greyhound from Burlington the same day the Ocean departed.
I boarded Greyhound at the Burlington, VT airport and departed right on time at 12:01pm. We arrived at Customs a tad early, and everyone was off the bus and prepared to go through the routine. After about a half hour we departed, but about a third of the bus did not make it through customs. I'm assuming this is because they didn't have the proper paperwork (passport/enhanced ID), since Greyhound barely mentioned these requirements when I bought my ticket. We arrived into Montreal a few minutes early, and I navigated my way successfully via subway to Central Station.
Boarding for the Ocean was supposed to start at 17:55, but didn't start until about 18:30, leading to quite a few impatient travelers waiting in line. Despite the delay the train boarded quickly and we departed Montreal right on time. Shortly after departing Montreal, the northbound Adirondack was approaching the station, also right on time. Definitely can't connect to the Ocean without an overnight.
The start of the trip was great. I had dinner at the station, and apparently it was not possible for Economy passengers to eat in the dining car because it was full with sleeper passengers. I grabbed a snack and a Nova Scotia beer from the Service Car, and watched the sunset as the train made its way through southern Quebec.
The next morning I was awoken quite early by someone using the bathroom, and instead of falling back asleep I went to the Service Car to watch the sunrise. We were traversing through northeastern Quebec at this point, and it was absolutely beautiful in the early morning light. I grabbed a cup of coffee when the service car attendant started her shift at 6am, and stayed in the lounge until we approached Campbellton.
At Campbellton passengers were allowed to stretch their legs, and I took this opportunity to get some fresh air. It was a beautiful, cool morning in New Brunswick, and after a short stop the Ocean departed right on time.
I returned to the Service Car as we paralleled the Bay of Chaleur, and once again the views were stunning with the morning fog starting to burn off.
After Bathurst, the views were a little less stunning, especially with the train only moving at 10-20mph. This continued all the way until past Miramichi, a slow and almost tedious journey. We didn't lose any time as this slow journey was already worked into the schedule, departing Miramichi and Rogersville on time.
At Moncton we were allowed to stretch our legs again. This time a sweatshirt wasn't necessary as it had warmed up quite a bit outside. Once again, the train departed right on time.
Well after Moncton, the train started paralleling some tidal flats (which I assume connect to the Bay of Fundy), providing even more breathtaking views.
As the afternoon continued onwards the train made its way through Nova Scotia. Our first glimpses of Halifax were visible along the Bedford Basin before finally arriving into Halifax on time.
It only took a few minutes for everyone to collect their baggage, and just in time for dinner I made my way to the Halifax HI Hostel, a short walk from the Halifax station.
During my time in Halifax I took the opportunity to watch the Wednesday departure (same trainset I was on on Monday's arrival) and Thursday arrival (same trainset as the Friday departure I was on) of the Ocean into Halifax. The Thursday arrrival was right at sunset, about an hour and 15 minutes late due to freight traffic in New Brunswick.
Come Friday morning it was time to board the westbound Ocean to head back home, and unfortunately the weather was not as nice as it had been all week. It was absolutely pouring when sleeper passengers were escorted to the train, so much so that I had to change all my clothes when I got to my room even though I was wearing a decent raincoat. The rain tapered slightly when Economy passengers boarded, and the Ocean departed Halifax right at 11:00.
Being my first time in any kind of sleeper accomodations on a train, I was quite excited to arrive into my roomy Cabin for two. I spent a few minutes in my room before making my way to the Park Car on the rear of the train. The Park Car attendant immediately handed me a glass of sparkling wine and continued on with his presentation about the Halifax Explosion as we made our way past the Bedford Basin, the spot where I took the two videos of the eastbound and westbound trains arriving into Halifax.
My lunch reservation was at 1:00, so I stayed in the Park Car enjoying the scenery until the call for the 1:00 seating was made. I was seated with a couple from British Columbia who were taking VIA all the way across the country, with stopovers in Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg and Edmonton. I ordered the Lobster Roll, and it was quite good. I haven't had too many lobster rolls in my life to compare it too, but it was certainly a few steps above the McLobster I had at a McDonalds in Halifax. After an enjoyable meal I made my way back to the Park Car, returning to my room only to grab my phone charger and camera.
At 4:00 the Park Car attendant brought out a Nova Scotian wine and cheese tasting for everyone in the dome. I had both the red and white wines and one of the smoked gouda cheese. This was my first real taste of wine (aside from the sparking wine that was handed out earlier), and to my surprise I liked it. The attendant described in great detail the wineries where each wine was produced, and explained why Nova Scotian wineries have to use different species of grapes than other wineries in Canada and thus why these wines have different notes. It was a very pleasant presentation, capped off by the scenery as we made our way through New Brunswick.
At 5:45 we made our way through Miramichi, and the Park Car attendant had another presentation for us, describing the history of Miramichi and the importance of salmon fishing in the Mirimichi River, which happens to have the highest population of salmon in eastern North America.
Shortly after the Miramichi presentation, I had my reservation for the 6:30 dinner sitting. This was by far the lowlight of the trip. Even though the dining car crew was the same as the crew during lunch, this sitting was different in terms of attitude and service. Including me, there were perhaps eight people total in the dining car seated for dinner, with the rest of the train (including Economy passengers) being told this sitting was sold out. Nonetheless it took forever to get my food, and I was consistently ignored by the crew. The table next to me got two baskets of bread, but it took two reminders to have a basket of bread brought to my table. The same went for beverages, I had to get up and go to where the dining crew were sitting to get my first beverage, which was not refilled at any point in the 90 minutes spent in the car. When my food finally came it was quite good, but the overall experince certainly was sub-par. I had the Old Style Atlantic Salmon with cheesecake for dessert, both things I would absolutely order again.
After dinner I once again returned to the Park Car, and happily grabbed the front row seat just before the Park Car began his Bay of Chaleur presentation. The sunset I witnessed was beyond spectacular, and the only way to really get a decent picture of it was to take a video, and even that doesn't do it justice. Once we reached the Bay of Chaleur, the sun was reflecting off both the bay and the front 19 cars of the train, providing for an absolutely breathtaking view.
Immediately after the sunset, a musician on board played some live music in the lower level of the Park Car, which was quite nice to have to close out the evening. I finally returned to my room, dozing off as the train crossed into northern Quebec.
I set my alarm for a bright an early 4am, hoping to catch the sunrise as the train made it's reverse move over the Saint Lawrence. I made my way to the Park Car, where there was already a fresh pot of coffee waiting and a few passengers getting off at Saint Foy who were hoping to catch a few more minutes in the dome. I talked with a woman who was travelling from Australia who was also taking the train across the country, but with more stopovers in eastern Canada than the couple who I had met previously. She was getting off in Saint Foy to connect to the shuttle to Quebec City, where she would spend a few days before continuing to Montreal and points west. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate with showing the sunrise that morning, but it was still cool to be in the "lead car" of the train for about 10 minutes as we backed up over the Saint Lawrence.
I stayed in the Park Car for a bit, enjoying some more coffee as the train continued across southern Quebec. At about 7:00 I made my way to the dining car for breakfast, which was a more pleasant experience than dinner the previous night. I had the waffles with fruit and (thankfully) real Canadian syrup, which was absolutely scrumptious. I was seated with a woman from Quebec who didn't know much english, so there wasn't a whole lot of conversation between us, but it was still a nice meal nonetheless.
After breakfast it was announced that the train was running early, something I was not expecting since so many LD Amtrak trains consistently run late. I figured I could try connecting to that morning's southbound Adirondack instead of overnighting in Montreal, so I called Amtrak to see if there was a seat left on that morning's train. There was, so I thought I could give connecting a shot, and if I miss it I would have my hostel reservation as a backup. I mentioned to my sleeper car attendant that I was going to try connecting, and she had the train's service manager talk to me who decided I would have a better shot connecting at Saint Lambert. He brought me up to the baggage car to retrieve my checked bag, and five minutes later I was off the train at Saint Lambert with plenty of time to connect to the Adirondack. I called Amtrak to change my ticket, paid the extra 95 cents in fare difference, and waited for the train.
While I was waiting a VIA corridor train pulled into Saint Lambert, which waited in the station for a few minutes before departing. Shortly after a very long CN freight train rolled through, which the station attendant said was bound for Halifax. I counted 177 cars, which was by far the longest freight train I had ever seen. The Adirondack pulled up right behind the freight, and departed Saint Lambert just about on time.
This is where things went south. The conductor that opened the door at Saint Lambert was the one who had scanned my ticket (and the other person's ticket since there were only two boarding). When the other conductor scanning Montreal tickets came by my seat, he hastily asked for my ticket and ID. I gave him both, and was told I did not have a valid ticket for this train. I told him the other conductor had already scanned my ticket, to which he replied again that I did not have a valid ticket for this train. I further explained that I had just switched reservations to today's train, and after a few moments scrutinizing my enhanced ID, I was told I would not be allowed to cross the border with my ID since it was not a passport. I told the conductor that it was an enhanced ID that allowed me entrance to Canada, and he finally threw me a declaration sheet to fill out without any further words. He essentially treated me like I was trying to get a free ride on Amtrak and was trying to illegally cross the border, definitely not the warm greetings that I received from almost the entire crew on the Ocean.
At the border we experienced a long delay as three people were taken off the train for further questioning by US Border Patrol. I thought I would also be pulled off the train for questioning after the confrontation with the conductor earlier, but thankfully I wasn't. I did get asked more questions than other passengers at my seat, but I won't go into detail about that here. After about an hour and a half delay we were given the clear to go, and I finally arrived at Port Kent just in time to make the next ferry to Burlington.
The next day I hopped on the southbound Vermonter for a last minute trip to see my dad before school started, which as always is a pleasant trip. In total I traveled over 2,100 miles and 62 hours by train in just over a week. I definitely want to take another trip through Canada after a mostly pleasant journey on the Ocean, hopefully on the Canadian next.
Hope you guys enjoy the pictures!
-Josh
This trip report is long overdue, but back in August I took a trip up to Canada to experience VIA Rail, and it was a fantastic trip!
I was in coach from Montreal to Halifax, spent 4 days in Halifax, and returned in a Cabin for two from Halifax back to Montreal. Returning back home to Vermont I took the Adirondack southbound to Port Kent, NY, and the Lake Champlain Ferry to Burlington. The next day I was on the southbound Vermonter for a quick trip to see my dad in Connecticut before school started up the following week.
I'll start with the trip to Montreal. Initially I was going to take the Adirondack northbound from Port Kent to Montreal, spend the night in Montreal and board the Ocean the following day. This plan was foiled when I found out the hostel I booked at was a complete scam, selling my credit card info to China and apparently not even existing. I tried booking at a different hostel, but ended up just taking a Greyhound from Burlington the same day the Ocean departed.
I boarded Greyhound at the Burlington, VT airport and departed right on time at 12:01pm. We arrived at Customs a tad early, and everyone was off the bus and prepared to go through the routine. After about a half hour we departed, but about a third of the bus did not make it through customs. I'm assuming this is because they didn't have the proper paperwork (passport/enhanced ID), since Greyhound barely mentioned these requirements when I bought my ticket. We arrived into Montreal a few minutes early, and I navigated my way successfully via subway to Central Station.
Boarding for the Ocean was supposed to start at 17:55, but didn't start until about 18:30, leading to quite a few impatient travelers waiting in line. Despite the delay the train boarded quickly and we departed Montreal right on time. Shortly after departing Montreal, the northbound Adirondack was approaching the station, also right on time. Definitely can't connect to the Ocean without an overnight.
The start of the trip was great. I had dinner at the station, and apparently it was not possible for Economy passengers to eat in the dining car because it was full with sleeper passengers. I grabbed a snack and a Nova Scotia beer from the Service Car, and watched the sunset as the train made its way through southern Quebec.
The next morning I was awoken quite early by someone using the bathroom, and instead of falling back asleep I went to the Service Car to watch the sunrise. We were traversing through northeastern Quebec at this point, and it was absolutely beautiful in the early morning light. I grabbed a cup of coffee when the service car attendant started her shift at 6am, and stayed in the lounge until we approached Campbellton.
At Campbellton passengers were allowed to stretch their legs, and I took this opportunity to get some fresh air. It was a beautiful, cool morning in New Brunswick, and after a short stop the Ocean departed right on time.
I returned to the Service Car as we paralleled the Bay of Chaleur, and once again the views were stunning with the morning fog starting to burn off.
After Bathurst, the views were a little less stunning, especially with the train only moving at 10-20mph. This continued all the way until past Miramichi, a slow and almost tedious journey. We didn't lose any time as this slow journey was already worked into the schedule, departing Miramichi and Rogersville on time.
At Moncton we were allowed to stretch our legs again. This time a sweatshirt wasn't necessary as it had warmed up quite a bit outside. Once again, the train departed right on time.
Well after Moncton, the train started paralleling some tidal flats (which I assume connect to the Bay of Fundy), providing even more breathtaking views.
As the afternoon continued onwards the train made its way through Nova Scotia. Our first glimpses of Halifax were visible along the Bedford Basin before finally arriving into Halifax on time.
It only took a few minutes for everyone to collect their baggage, and just in time for dinner I made my way to the Halifax HI Hostel, a short walk from the Halifax station.
During my time in Halifax I took the opportunity to watch the Wednesday departure (same trainset I was on on Monday's arrival) and Thursday arrival (same trainset as the Friday departure I was on) of the Ocean into Halifax. The Thursday arrrival was right at sunset, about an hour and 15 minutes late due to freight traffic in New Brunswick.
Come Friday morning it was time to board the westbound Ocean to head back home, and unfortunately the weather was not as nice as it had been all week. It was absolutely pouring when sleeper passengers were escorted to the train, so much so that I had to change all my clothes when I got to my room even though I was wearing a decent raincoat. The rain tapered slightly when Economy passengers boarded, and the Ocean departed Halifax right at 11:00.
Being my first time in any kind of sleeper accomodations on a train, I was quite excited to arrive into my roomy Cabin for two. I spent a few minutes in my room before making my way to the Park Car on the rear of the train. The Park Car attendant immediately handed me a glass of sparkling wine and continued on with his presentation about the Halifax Explosion as we made our way past the Bedford Basin, the spot where I took the two videos of the eastbound and westbound trains arriving into Halifax.
My lunch reservation was at 1:00, so I stayed in the Park Car enjoying the scenery until the call for the 1:00 seating was made. I was seated with a couple from British Columbia who were taking VIA all the way across the country, with stopovers in Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg and Edmonton. I ordered the Lobster Roll, and it was quite good. I haven't had too many lobster rolls in my life to compare it too, but it was certainly a few steps above the McLobster I had at a McDonalds in Halifax. After an enjoyable meal I made my way back to the Park Car, returning to my room only to grab my phone charger and camera.
At 4:00 the Park Car attendant brought out a Nova Scotian wine and cheese tasting for everyone in the dome. I had both the red and white wines and one of the smoked gouda cheese. This was my first real taste of wine (aside from the sparking wine that was handed out earlier), and to my surprise I liked it. The attendant described in great detail the wineries where each wine was produced, and explained why Nova Scotian wineries have to use different species of grapes than other wineries in Canada and thus why these wines have different notes. It was a very pleasant presentation, capped off by the scenery as we made our way through New Brunswick.
At 5:45 we made our way through Miramichi, and the Park Car attendant had another presentation for us, describing the history of Miramichi and the importance of salmon fishing in the Mirimichi River, which happens to have the highest population of salmon in eastern North America.
Shortly after the Miramichi presentation, I had my reservation for the 6:30 dinner sitting. This was by far the lowlight of the trip. Even though the dining car crew was the same as the crew during lunch, this sitting was different in terms of attitude and service. Including me, there were perhaps eight people total in the dining car seated for dinner, with the rest of the train (including Economy passengers) being told this sitting was sold out. Nonetheless it took forever to get my food, and I was consistently ignored by the crew. The table next to me got two baskets of bread, but it took two reminders to have a basket of bread brought to my table. The same went for beverages, I had to get up and go to where the dining crew were sitting to get my first beverage, which was not refilled at any point in the 90 minutes spent in the car. When my food finally came it was quite good, but the overall experince certainly was sub-par. I had the Old Style Atlantic Salmon with cheesecake for dessert, both things I would absolutely order again.
After dinner I once again returned to the Park Car, and happily grabbed the front row seat just before the Park Car began his Bay of Chaleur presentation. The sunset I witnessed was beyond spectacular, and the only way to really get a decent picture of it was to take a video, and even that doesn't do it justice. Once we reached the Bay of Chaleur, the sun was reflecting off both the bay and the front 19 cars of the train, providing for an absolutely breathtaking view.
Immediately after the sunset, a musician on board played some live music in the lower level of the Park Car, which was quite nice to have to close out the evening. I finally returned to my room, dozing off as the train crossed into northern Quebec.
I set my alarm for a bright an early 4am, hoping to catch the sunrise as the train made it's reverse move over the Saint Lawrence. I made my way to the Park Car, where there was already a fresh pot of coffee waiting and a few passengers getting off at Saint Foy who were hoping to catch a few more minutes in the dome. I talked with a woman who was travelling from Australia who was also taking the train across the country, but with more stopovers in eastern Canada than the couple who I had met previously. She was getting off in Saint Foy to connect to the shuttle to Quebec City, where she would spend a few days before continuing to Montreal and points west. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate with showing the sunrise that morning, but it was still cool to be in the "lead car" of the train for about 10 minutes as we backed up over the Saint Lawrence.
I stayed in the Park Car for a bit, enjoying some more coffee as the train continued across southern Quebec. At about 7:00 I made my way to the dining car for breakfast, which was a more pleasant experience than dinner the previous night. I had the waffles with fruit and (thankfully) real Canadian syrup, which was absolutely scrumptious. I was seated with a woman from Quebec who didn't know much english, so there wasn't a whole lot of conversation between us, but it was still a nice meal nonetheless.
After breakfast it was announced that the train was running early, something I was not expecting since so many LD Amtrak trains consistently run late. I figured I could try connecting to that morning's southbound Adirondack instead of overnighting in Montreal, so I called Amtrak to see if there was a seat left on that morning's train. There was, so I thought I could give connecting a shot, and if I miss it I would have my hostel reservation as a backup. I mentioned to my sleeper car attendant that I was going to try connecting, and she had the train's service manager talk to me who decided I would have a better shot connecting at Saint Lambert. He brought me up to the baggage car to retrieve my checked bag, and five minutes later I was off the train at Saint Lambert with plenty of time to connect to the Adirondack. I called Amtrak to change my ticket, paid the extra 95 cents in fare difference, and waited for the train.
While I was waiting a VIA corridor train pulled into Saint Lambert, which waited in the station for a few minutes before departing. Shortly after a very long CN freight train rolled through, which the station attendant said was bound for Halifax. I counted 177 cars, which was by far the longest freight train I had ever seen. The Adirondack pulled up right behind the freight, and departed Saint Lambert just about on time.
This is where things went south. The conductor that opened the door at Saint Lambert was the one who had scanned my ticket (and the other person's ticket since there were only two boarding). When the other conductor scanning Montreal tickets came by my seat, he hastily asked for my ticket and ID. I gave him both, and was told I did not have a valid ticket for this train. I told him the other conductor had already scanned my ticket, to which he replied again that I did not have a valid ticket for this train. I further explained that I had just switched reservations to today's train, and after a few moments scrutinizing my enhanced ID, I was told I would not be allowed to cross the border with my ID since it was not a passport. I told the conductor that it was an enhanced ID that allowed me entrance to Canada, and he finally threw me a declaration sheet to fill out without any further words. He essentially treated me like I was trying to get a free ride on Amtrak and was trying to illegally cross the border, definitely not the warm greetings that I received from almost the entire crew on the Ocean.
At the border we experienced a long delay as three people were taken off the train for further questioning by US Border Patrol. I thought I would also be pulled off the train for questioning after the confrontation with the conductor earlier, but thankfully I wasn't. I did get asked more questions than other passengers at my seat, but I won't go into detail about that here. After about an hour and a half delay we were given the clear to go, and I finally arrived at Port Kent just in time to make the next ferry to Burlington.
The next day I hopped on the southbound Vermonter for a last minute trip to see my dad before school started, which as always is a pleasant trip. In total I traveled over 2,100 miles and 62 hours by train in just over a week. I definitely want to take another trip through Canada after a mostly pleasant journey on the Ocean, hopefully on the Canadian next.
Hope you guys enjoy the pictures!
-Josh
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