I have taken a cross-country trip on a train before so I assumed I knew what to expect. The “Empire Builder” comes through Grand Forks daily and I have taken it to the west coast. Actually, I took it almost all of the way to the coast. It was a -20 or so December day and we were on our way to Southern Oregon to visit relatives for Christmas. The train had to travel slowly because the tracks were brittle. At some point, the train folks decided it was going to be faster to bus us than keep us on the train and we made the final part of the trip on the bus.
I have known about the Canadian train for some time. I had heard you could buy a pass and get on an off as frequently as you wanted within the time period covered by your pass. This may still be true, but the seats are filled so I do not understand how the system is supposed to work. There were other surprises. When the train left Prince Rupert this morning, there were three cars for passengers. One “fancy” car for the foreign tourists and two cars for the rest of us. No observation car and no dining car. Cindy thought there was Internet access. We don’t even have cell phone access most of the time. I guess things change as you move east.
The trip from the coast to Winnipeg will take 5 days. The trip on the Empire Builder took about a day and a half (although it did seem much longer). This train takes breaks. We stop and get off and walk about for 10 minutes. The whistle blows and everyone gets back on. The train also stops for the night. We have one lay over in Prince George and we take two days off in Jasper. Fine with me. No need to get back for a little while longer and a little more time to take pictures.
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