Saskatchewan
Saskatoon. Don’t you just love the name? It’s another short stop on the second day of our rail journey from Jasper to Edmonton to Saskatoon to Winnipeg. We’re now in the province of Saskatchewan, no slouch of a name itself. From our window there is no sign of the structures of civilization beyond a cargo train, but I am looking south and the city of Saskatoon is to the north. It’s too early in the morning to get dressed and leave the cabin to check out the view in that direction. Maybe in a bit.
Saskatoon is our only scheduled stop in the province of Saskatchewan. Regina, the provincial capital, is a two and a half hour drive to the southeast. Both are modest-sized cities of about a quarter million, neither large enough to support an NHL team. There was a time this train route, the “Canadian”, passed through Calgary and Regina, but now the route is farther north.
Except for several periods of the train stopping during the night, always a noisy affair, we slept better last night. We frequently stop at a siding to let a freight train pass. As with Amtrak in the U.S., passenger trains (“VIA Rail Canada”) have the lowest priority of all train types for right-of-way. After all, tracks are owned by CN, the Canadian National freight line. Once government-owned, CN was privatized in 1995 and supports freight trains up to three miles long. As the occasional sidings are mostly about a mile and a half long, it is our passenger train that must sit and wait. Seventy percent of the route is single track, so sitting and waiting is a frequent occurrence, as we are doing now. I don’t know how two three-mile long freight trans pass each other but, obviously, that has been worked out.
By the way, the Canadian rail lines still use miles versus kilometers, officially to keep train travel a unique experience but, in reality, because it’s cheaper not to convert.
Mountains and forests have given way to the great plains and to yellow fields of rapeseed and mustard. In the kitchen, rapeseed oil is now more commonly labeled canola oil, for obvious reasons. Rapeseed oil is also used as an industrial lubricant. We’ve not seen the telltale mounds yet, but Saskatchewan provides much of the world’s potash.
We’re now pulling out of another siding, a freight train having just passed. It was a good time to take a shower, an opportunity that both Frances and I took advantage of.
Top: This is as close to Saskatoon as we got. Bottom left: The red blur is a distant fire that our train stopped for. It must have been a gas fire as it blazed brightly yet was quickly extinguished. Bottom right: We occasionally passed terrain other than farmed fields.
Oops, we’re back in a siding and another freight train is passing by. We’ve been told our train schedule factors in worst case delays just to accommodate such happenings.
So what are we doing with all this unstructured time, besides writing this blog? Meals, naps, books, and two or three extra happy hour opportunities fill much of the time. (There is yet more competition for the Oban 14. We’ve already met two couples who have thanked us for arranging for a bottle to be on board.) Each day at 3:00 p.m. we enjoy a talk by Martin, the prestige class service manager. Be sure to pronounce the ‘t’ in Martin, which we Americans often elide through.
Mostly, though, we have delightful conversations with fellow passengers, particularly at meals. We’ve dined with Canadians, New Zealanders and fellow Texans. If the train is traveling fast and the dining car is full, the noise level is, for me, overwhelming. I have a device which I lay on the table during meals to assist me in hearing. One couple, seeing me place the device, cried out “you have Roger!” Apparently they have a friend who is also hearing impaired and who uses a similar device, which they’ve nicknamed Roger. So Roger it is henceforth.
Manitoba
There was a surprising change to the terrain as we entered the province of Manitoba. We were greeted by a shallow valley, a mix of forest and farmland, with a terminal moraine ridgeline on the far side. A river meanders through the valley. It’s all quite attractive. At least for now the prairie flatness is behind us for a stretch.
More of Manitoba. Center right: The orange structures are bee hives. Bottom: That is not a ridge line in the far background. It’s tailings from a potash mine.
Winnipeg—Not
I was to finish this posting with our stop in Winnipeg, but the train did not arrive there until near midnight. We did not get out of our bed. This was also my last opportunity to pick up a wifi signal prior to our arrival in Toronto in two more days. As sad as I know you are to miss my stimulating and insightful narrative in semi-real time, all must wait until our disembarkation in that city.
I post this missive from a hotel in Toronto, and not the hotel we had arranged. We arrived twelve hours late. But that story must wait for the next post. It’s already 12:30 a.m. We’re really, really tired.