That’s very helpful, thank you!!
Hutterites, most likely.
The scenery is 2 and 4 is what I’ve grown up with my entire life.
Not cramped in by mountains and hills.
Mid-voyage update. First overnight of the outbound is complete. Currently at a scheduled (5-hour) stop in Thompson. Should be in Churchill tomorrow AM.
The observation car thinned out considerably after the first couple hours yesterday. I think the group of… Hutterites (?) got off fairly early, not far out of Winnipeg, and now it looks like the train is pretty sparse (apart from the sleeper cabins and berths, that is–but it doesn’t look like there are exactly throngs of people riding coach for the long haul).
Anyway, the scenery became more varied into the late afternoon/early evening of day 1. Not exactly mountains, but then by no means just flat and featureless plains, either. Some hills/woodlands/creeks/lakes/etc. The stop in Thompason was nice, especially as I was able to exercise my secret weapon for the trip (the folding bike I mentioned upthread). Although the train was about an hour late getting into Thompson (pretty standard, I’m told) that still left 4 hours. More than enough to put in my usual 10 miles on the bike, followed by dinner in town. I’m told it’s traditional to order a pizza from one particular local pizzeria and have it delivered to the train but, well, that’s for the pedestrians: I went to the North Inn Steakhouse and had a ribeye steak. Not a super fancy place, but it did the job (be forewarned, in the summer at least you can eat-in before 3PM, but then can only carry-out from 3PM to 8PM–don’t know if the hours are more or less in the fall/winter/spring).
I closed out my time in Thompson by loading up my backpack with supplies to replenish my stocks not only for the rest of the *train ride, but for Churchill and the first day of the train ride back as well. Churchill has a store, but options are limited, and pricey from the look of things. Thompson, by contrast, has a Walmart with grocery (and a Safeyway, too, in the same complex) about a mile from the train station, so the foot-bound can walk it if they have to (you could probably do the same to the steakhouse or most of the other eateries in town as well, for what it’s worth–it’s not that far).
*Oh, also, if you haven’t already figured it out from Via Rail’s website, this train does not offer dining service. You can buy some snacks and (I’m guessing microwave or toaster oven) slightly more substantial not-quite-meals from the lounge car, like hamburgers or a submarine pizza, but that’s it. Come prepared (rest assured, I did–if anything, I over-ate on day one–those damn maple syrup-encrusted peanuts, couldn’t help myself…).
Good report; thank you. And that’s a fine idea to bring your bike.
And thanks for the tip on the lack of food options. If I take that trip next year, I’ll know to bring along some things, as well as where to stock up in Thompson.
If anybody’s interested, Via does have a Train Tracker, where you can follow a train along in real time:
It should be set up for Train 693, which is the one @ASL_v2.0 is riding; but if it isn’t, there should be a drop down menu at the top of the page. Select Train 693, and the map showing the train’s position should appear. The map can zoom in and out, so you can get a better idea of where the train is in Manitoba, and how far/close it is to places along the line.
The same method can be used to follow his return to Winnipeg. That train will be 69-something. I think it should be 692, but it may be 690. Either way, the “69X” train numbers are only used on the Winnipeg-Churchill route, so it should be easy to find his return train.
Thanks for the report and the pictures in the previous post – very interesting. Other than commuter trains, I haven’t been on a real train in a great many years!
A bit of digression here, but I’ve been to Saskatchewan many times, and I love the unique scenery. It’s beautiful in summer and I even love the crisp clean snowy winters, despite the famous incident with my light Toronto overcoat when Saskatchewan tried to kill me by cryogenic flash freezing. My sister-in-law’s father was a Saskatchewan wheat farmer who was a fervent supporter of the CCF and later the NDP and knew Tommy Douglas when he was Premier, strongly supporting his push for universal health care. A visit to the wheat farm one lovely summer when I was young, and the nearby small town, was absolutely delightful. For me as a big-city kid, it was like an old movie come to life.
Saskatchewan’s sorta the opposite of Australia, where every critter is out to get you. We’ve got the occasional wolf or rattle snake, but by and large our critters do their best to avoid contact.
Sounds pretty safe, right?
Except …
it’s the land itself that will try to kill you.
Heatstroke in the summer, exposure in the winter, and you’re done for.
Getting back to the OP: I’m really interested to hear about Churchill. I’ve always wanted to make that trip.
Black flies aren’t just for North Ontario anymore.
Not anymore - it’s like greyhound with smaller windows and less leg room.
I am just old enough to remember the tail end of when flying was glamorous. Boy, has that mode of transportation changed!
According to the Via Train Tracker, our friend has just gone through Oday, Manitoba.
Never heard of it, so I looked it up. I was expecting a village, with maybe a few dozen inhabitants. Nope, it’s a sign post. From Via’s information on Oday:
It gives you an idea of just how remote that part of Canada is.
With no road access, are people who do use the Oday stop arriving on horseback, motorcycle, snow machine, or by helicopter? Or walking to / from some cabin the surrounding nothingness?
It looks like there are game boards set into the dining/lounge car tables - do they have checkers or chess pieces available for riders, or is it bring your own?
As someone born and raised and now living around Vancouver, with mountains and ocean and the 49th parallel trapping us, I am deeply envious!
I have just arrived in Churchill and checked into the motel. Iceberg Inn. Pleasantly surprised to find that the room was ready for a (very early) check-in as it’s only just after 8 AM. Presumably this happens a lot: people show up predictably early after getting off the train. I’d have been happy just to have a place Incan leave my bags.
Anyway, to your question, sometimes they do have a game or two they can break out on request, but that’s not a guarantee. To be safe, they recommend bringing your own.
I’d imagine that it would either be walking, ATV, or snowmobile.
I’ve never taken that route, as I’ve admitted, but I have taken the train through northern Ontario, and I imagine that it would be much the same. The place looks uninhabitable; nothing but rocks and trees and lakes and swamp (muskeg).
Yet there are stops marked on the schedule, and if you follow along with the schedule, you’ll see that there are indeed “signpost stops,” where the train only stops on request. So somebody must be there. Maybe not living, maybe just a hunter’s or trapper’s cabin, but there had to be a reason why the railroad put a flag stop there.
There’s a travel vlogger (Mike Downie of the “Downie Live” YouTube channel) who has taken that Winnipeg-Churchill trip, and while he did it during Covid, meaning there were no sleepers or food service, it should give a pretty good idea of what that train trip is like, and the landscapes it goes through. And it shows the fun of ordering pizza in Thompson:
x_https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h28Cb3b9gqk
(Remove the “x_” from the URL, of course.)
The “reality” TV show about the eccentric folks who live in the Alaska outback has many similar scenes of a signpost next to a railroad track in the middle of seeming nothingness. But on Tuesday somebody ATVs cross country the 8 miles from their cabin to that sign to rendezvous with the passing train and receive their meagre supplies.
I’d say it looks much nicer in the summer. Took my bike to the south of town on the paved road (until it becomes unpaved) then came back along the gravel coastal road. In theory, one is not supposed to venture out on foot due to the danger of polar bears, but there was good visibility all along (nary a bear to be seen) and plus… a bike isn’t technically on foot, right? Anyway, I’m back. Taking a proper tour out to Prince of Wales Fort tomorrow.
I suggest reading The Edge by Dick Francis.
He organized a rail trip across Canada as inspiration for his mystery book.
A investigator for the Jockey Club goes undercover on the train as a waiter.
A lot of the geographic references are accurate because Francis actually took the trip.
Should be back in Winnipeg late this afternoon, flying home tomorrow. I found a mix of podcasts (downloaded in advance for the train specifically) and a couple of shows (one of which I had downloaded in advance) helpful to supplementing the scenery on the train and also rounding out my time in Churchill between bike rides and the one tour I signed up for (you can of course stream netflix from Churchill–I at least did not need a VPN for that, although Hulu and Max it looks like I would have).