Canada Road Trip: Train from Vancouver to Toronto

The grand finale of this trip is taking the scenic VIA Rail Canada train from Vancouver to Toronto. Jim did very little research on scenic trains across Canada and we have since learned that there are other alternatives. We were on the same train in our own Prestige Cabin for four nights and five days. There is also a Rocky Mountaineer Train which only tours during the day and patrons get off in the evening and stay in local hotels. Canadian Train Vacations will also plan combination tours, all of which are much longer than our direct route. They even have a coast to coast tour which goes from Vancouver to Halifax in 20 days. If anyone is thinking about doing a trans-Canada train trip look into the above mentioned option with a link. That being said we feel that this was the best option for us as we had already explored Canada by car.

The train departed at 3pm on November 11 from this station. The only problem with that schedule on this train is that we entered the Rocky Mountains in the middle of the night when we were asleep.

The end car of our train which contained a bar, lounge and upper level viewing car. The cities listed on the right are the major stops en route where we could get out and explore for an hour or so. We only took advantage of Jasper as the other stops were too late night for us.

After boarding we were oriented to our sleeper cabin by our Personal concierge Natalie. We regret we did not take her photo. She was amazing and catered to our every need.

This shows our bed which Natalie made up with fresh linens every night.

This is what our cabin seating area looked like before our bed was dropped down for sleeping . We needed to be very resourceful with our unpacking and where to put things but Sandy loves that kind of challenge.

Video of leaving the station from the rear window.

This is a video tour of the viewing car.

A video of crossing the Fraser River. A new auto bridge is being built.

The train stopped in Kamloops overnight but we were asleep. This is the view from our cabin window on awakening. Excuse the blurriness because it was taken when train was moving.

We are back in the Canadian Rockies and it is so hard to limit the number of pictures as they are all so spectacular.

Viewing Car on the train showing the Prestige seating section..

A video showing how spectacular the views are from the viewing car.

Video approaching Jasper seeing all of the forest fire damage from the July-September fire.

This video shows the damage to the town of Jasper.

We were able to get off the train and explore Jasper for 1.5 hours. All of the gift shops and restaurants around the station were spared the fire damage. We purchased some gifts to help their economy.

The central city was untouched but just two blocks from the center the damage was extensive. This Esso 7-eleven was completely gone.

The damage ended at the building in the background.

After a frigid walkabout we reboarded the train.

Brunch on the train after leaving Jasper.

Our Prestige car. Very narrow walkway through the car. Pretty much of a oneway hallway.

This is all we saw of Edmonton during our hour long stop there, taken from bed.

Bison farm, they announced this ahead of time.

We stopped in Melville but had to stay on the rail platform.

We walked to the front of the train outside and then boarded when we could and walked the length of the train inside. Interesting contrast going from the seats to small sleeping cabins and then the last two Prestige cars.

We are on The Uno Train Bridge which is the longest trestle bridge in Manitoba. You can see the shadow of the train on the bridge.

A video of the bridge crossing.

Our on train entertainment by Willy Blizzard. A couple from Vancouver, John Hough and Andrea Law.

Turn up your sound and listen to John Denver.

Listen to “Freight Train” and watch her work on the washboard. Very fun.

We were on Train #2 going from Vancouver to Toronto. Train #1 is Toronto to Vancouver. This is a video of us passing train #1.

During our late night stop in Winnipeg all of the staff changed. We lost Natalie and her Colleague, a beautiful girl from Senegal. We awoke on day four to two new concierges, Tylor and Kevin. This is Kevin serving us bubbly at 10am. The couple on the left have been having morning bubbly every day for at least 30 years to celebrate another day together. We joined them every morning.

We changed to Caesar’s just before noon. Like a Bloody Mary but made with Clamato juice.

Meet Paul and Jennifer from Toronto. We were seated with them in the dining car the first night and became inseparable for the rest of the trip. We loved their joie de vivre. They have traveled extensively.

Southern Ontario is teeming with lakes. Here is just one of the many pictures that we took. Pretty but not as grand as the Rockies.

We also hung out with Judy and Curtis. She is from Kansas City and he is from the DC area. We had such great conversations with them. Tyler is delivering Curtis’s hot chocolate as he is a connoisseur, tasting hot chocolate all over the world. He is also very well traveled and loves the great outdoors. Judy is an avid Kansas City Chiefs fan and wearing her Red Friday shirt.

Tyler took excellent care of us as did Kevin.

Paul and Jennifer, always with a drink in hand. Here they are enjoying their favorite red wine. Needless to say you can understand why we were attracted to them. We imbibed with them and had a continuous cocktail hour and a number of interesting talks.

We spent such a special few days with these two couples referring to them as our train buddies and enjoyed sitting together in the viewing car. We will fondly remember our time with them.

Approaching Toronto, so sorry we didn’t take more pictures as it was so fun sliding into this great city.

Farewell selfie in front of the Toronto Train Station.

Pictures from our cab ride to the Airport Marriott.

Taylor Swift is playing in this arena tonight.

Leaving Toronto, no further trouble with Canadian Customs but US passport control notified Jim that his Global Entry had expired 15 days earlier on his birthday.

Virgin voyage for our new ORANGE luggage. Can’t miss it on the conveyor belt can you?

Wow, what a trip! Very different from our usual three month city stays but it was fun and rewarding. We felt the road trip was similar to doing El Camino de Santiago except we were in a car and got minimal exercise. We reacquainted ourselves with relatives in PEI, met up with other friends in Winnipeg and Vancouver and made four new friends that we hope to see again. It’s always nice to return to Newport for a week or two and spend time with family. We will be seeing five more grandchildren in Boston tomorrow and then Thanksgiving with the remaining three grandchildren in Florida. We also see their parents of course.

Next stop, Medellin Colombia, December to February.

One response to “Canada Road Trip: Train from Vancouver to Toronto”

Dana

November 25, 2024 at 5:19 am

Thanks for sharing the train adventure. Not at all surprised you made train buddies. If you want to learn about more wildfires, I just finished reading Fire Weather – it’s a little dense, but fascinating!

Living the retirement dream