Thursday 11 February 2016

On some tidbits from the train

On the third night on the Train, I had retired to my roomette, folded down the bed and was lying down on top of the covers watching a movie on the iPhone when a member of the crew commented noticed me through the open door and curtains. He looked in to say: "You look comfortable" which I rather was.

The names of the cars were mostly very well known Canadian figures or places. I was in the Brock Manor. The other sleepers were named for Rogers (as in the man who discovered the pass), Osler (the doctor), Monck (as in Moncton) and Joliet (the explorer). The park car was called Laurentide. The dinning car was named Louise, which must be named for the dinning room in the Château Lake Louise.

The next day, there was relatively little to report aside from the majesty of the Rockies under relatively grey skies. The Athabaska River looked like it had been very high recently with ice sitting on solid ground. Nearing Jasper, I was a trifle unnerved to see about four grain cars derailed and partially submerged in the river and in sediments suggesting that they had been there for some time. My guess is that CN is waiting until summer before removing them.

Leaving Jasper, the Train was running about three hours late. I had supper at six then retired to my roomette for a snooze. As luck would have it, the Train made up time and arrived in Clearwater at around 11, where Alice was waiting having been alerted by phone.

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