It's 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, February 15, 2001, and
I've just arrived at Chicago Union Station, where I will be
boarding Train #364, the International, on my way to
Toronto, Ontario. I arrived yesterday from Los Angeles on
the Southwest Chief and stayed overnight with my cousins
Debbie and Aaron. This morning, I got a ride to the
Edgebrook Metra station with friends of my cousins, and I
boarded the 8:00 a.m. Fox Lake train, scheduled to arrive in
Union Station at 8:27 a.m. Upon our arrival at Union
Station, essentially on time, I walked over to the general
departure lounge for Amtrak trains. (Although I had
arrived yesterday on the Southwest Chief in a sleeper, which
entitled me to use the Metropolitan Lounge upon my arrival,
today I would be traveling by coach.)
Usually, this lounge is extremely crowded, with
hundreds of passengers waiting for the departure of their
trains in the late afternoon and early evening. But this
morning, it is virtually empty. I counted only 30 people
waiting for trains at this hour of the morning, when few
Amtrak trains depart from Chicago. One nice thing about
this station is that all of the public phones have been
upgraded to include jacks for modems. I needed to send out
some important e-mail, and this proved to be a great
convenience. I also made a few phone calls.
At about 9:15 a.m., a general boarding call was made,
and I went over to Track 16, where our train was ready for
boarding. Today's International is pulled by engine #515,
formerly painted in the "Pepsi-Can" scheme but now repainted
in Amtrak's Phase IV scheme, and includes only three cars -- coach
34098, coach-baggage car 31036 and dining car 38025.
The appearance of a diner on this train is rather unusual,
since it does not feature full-service dining, but merely
snack and beverage service. There is also no reason for a
coach-baggage car to be on the train, since no checked
baggage is handled. Obviously, this is a low-priority train
for Amtrak, and it is assigned whatever spare equipment is
available. To the best of my knowledge, this is the
shortest Superliner-equipped train that I have ever
traveled on. Although the use of Superliner cars on this
train has been criticized by some rail passenger advocates,
who believe that they should be assigned exclusively to long-
distance trains, the very spacious and comfortable seating
that they afford is much appreciated on this train, whose
Chicago-to-Toronto run extends for over 12 hours.
As a through passenger to Toronto, I was assigned to
sit in the rear coach. After taking a picture of the train,
I walked through both coaches, and noted that there were
about 25 people in each car. I found a seat near an
electric outlet so that I could plug in my computer.
We left on time at 9:30 a.m. and proceeded through the
rather ugly industrial South End of Chicago. On the
scanner, I heard a defect detector announce that we had 16
axles on our train. That was quite a change from the
Southwest Chief which, due to the numerous freight cars on
the rear, had as many as 116 axles for much of the trip!
Our first stop was Hammond-Whiting, Indiana, at 9:58 a.m.
About ten passengers boarded the train here. Soon, at
Porter, Indiana, we left the east-west Norfolk Southern line
and turned north on the ex-Michigan Central line heading
towards Kalamazoo. This line (from Porter to Kalamazoo) is
now owned and operated by Amtrak, with four daily passenger
trains in each direction, it being the only major piece of
track operated directly by Amtrak outside the Northeast
Corridor. It features pleasant, semi-rural scenery, with
many interesting and historic stations.
An announcement was now made that the cafe car was
open for service. Initially, there was a long line, but
when the line subsided, I walked back to get breakfast.
Dining cars, of course, are not designed for the selling of
snacks and beverages, and there is no counter behind which
the attendant can stand. So the attendant used the middle
of the car as a serving area, and blocked off access to the
rear of the car (where the conductors set up shop) with two
plastic boxes. Three of the eight tables in the front of
the train were used to display the condiments and other
items available for free, leaving five tables for use by
passengers. The attendant, who wore a VIA uniform, told me
that Amtrak usually assigns a Superliner coach-cafe car,
with a food- service area on the lower level, to this train,
but that on occasion a dining car or a Sightseer lounge car
will be substituted.
For breakfast, I had a bottle of orange juice, a cup
of coffee, and a bagel with cream cheese. I sat down at one
of the tables (the car was otherwise unoccupied at this
point), and read the morning's newspaper.
During breakfast, we passed through Michigan City,
Indiana. Although our train does not stop here, one train
in each direction does. Michigan City features a very
attractive historic brick station, but the station has been
converted to a restaurant, and Amtrak passengers are
relegated to a small plastic Amshack.
I noticed that a number of segments of the right-of-way
along this line were fenced with rather unattractive
chain-link fencing that appeared to have been installed
rather recently. Apparently, this is part of Amtrak's
program to upgrade this line for higher-speed trains. The
effectiveness of the fencing is rather limited, since there
are numerous grade crossings, and anyone who really wants to
walk onto the right-of-way can still easily do so. The
fencing, though, does detract from one's enjoyment of the
scenery.
Our next stop was Niles, Michigan, where we arrived at
12:08 p.m. Eastern Time, having crossed into the Eastern
Time Zone when we entered Michigan. The Niles station is a
magnificent stone edifice built in 1891, and still used by
Amtrak as a manned station. The building appears to be in
excellent condition, and the conductor explained that part
of the station serves as a ticket office/waiting room, while
the remainder is used by Amtrak's maintenance-of-way crew.
Although our stop lasted for only two minutes, the conductor
told several passengers that they were welcome to step off
the train and smoke a cigarette on the platform (since
smoking is not allowed on board the train). Of course, I
also got off and took several pictures. A few passengers
boarded and detrained here.
After passing several other noteworthy station
buildings, including the one at Dowagiac, also served by
only one daily Amtrak train, we arrived at Kalamazoo at
12:51 p.m., six minutes early. This gave me plenty of time
to step off the train, take a few pictures, and walk inside
the station. About a dozen passengers got off here, and a
few passengers got on. Kalamazoo features a beautiful,
sprawling brick-and-stone station, which also must be over
100 years old. It is still used by Amtrak, and the large
interior space also houses a local bus company and a small
restaurant. Unfortunately, the modern partitions installed
in the interior of the building are not in keeping with its
historic character, although the original wooden ceiling
and benches do remain. North of Kalamazoo, the tracks are
owned by Norfolk Southern rather than Amtrak.
At 1:17 p.m, just south of Springfield, Michigan, we
slowed down to pass the southbound Twilight Limited from
Detroit. Then, we switched over to the Grand Trunk line
and, at 1:25 p.m., we pulled into the Battle Creek station.
We were nine minutes early, and an announcement was made
that passengers were welcome to detrain for a few minutes if
they so chose.
The Battle Creek station is quite a contrast to those
at Niles and Kalamazoo. Unlike those stations, which are
built in a classic, decorative style, the Battle Creek
station -- designated a transportation center, since it also
serves buses -- is of ultra-modern design. It features a
sloping roof and round columns, with a large concrete
expanse in front of the building. One's overall impression
of the place is so startling that it looks like it came
straight down from the moon! There is not even a sign with
the name of the station outside on the platform.
After taking a few pictures, I walked inside the
building and made a few phone calls. The architecture of
the interior is just as strange as the exterior, with the
seating consisting of circular black-cushioned couches, with
their backs covered with a type of corrugated sheet metal.
Overall, this is one of the most bizarre Amtrak stations I
have ever seen!
A final boarding call was made about 1:31 p.m., so I
returned to the train and reboarded. The conductor
mentioned to me that the old Grand Trunk station still
stands about half a mile down the tracks, and I watched as
we passed by this beautiful brick-and-stone building, which
features two decorative towers. The old station seems to
have been beautifully restored and now is being used for
some private purpose. It is quite a contrast with the new
transportation center!
I then walked through both coaches and counted about
25 passengers in the first coach (including four on the
lower level) and 40 passengers in the second coach. On the
seat checks for passengers traveling to destinations within
the United States, single-digit numbers were used to
indicate the passenger's destination (rather than the three-
letter code normally used), and the seat checks for
passengers traveling to Canada were marked with a single
dash.
At 2:01 p.m., we came to a halt in the middle of some
fields. On the scanner, I heard the dispatcher telling us
that there were several freight trains ahead of us. Almost
immediately, the conductor made an announcement on the
loudspeaker as to the reason for our delay. We waited for
over ten minutes for a freight train to pass us on a siding
to the right, and finally, at 2:16 p.m., we resumed our
journey on this single-track railroad, having lost over
fifteen minutes waiting for this freight train. We have
been early arriving at the last two stations, but we will
probably be late at every station from now on.
I now decided to move into the dining/cafe car, where
I could spread out some papers on one of the tables.
(Although Superliner seats are very comfortable, it's nice
being able to sit at a table as a change of pace.) Soon, we
passed a defect detector, which announced "no alarm." This
is the term used in Canada for what would be termed by
American railroads "no defects." Since the Grand Trunk
railroad is part of the Canadian National system, the
Canadian terminology is now being used. Another change I
noted was that our Amtrak train is now designated by the CN
dispatchers as #88 (with the southbound train being #85).
The conductor explained that all CN freight trains are
assigned three-digit numbers, with passenger trains being
given two-digit numbers.
At 2:52 p.m., we arrived at the East Lansing station.
This is a modern concrete building, with a wooden-frame
front, located in front of a cinder-block warehouse. (The
location is not quite as bleak as it sounds, as Michigan
State University is located on the other side of the
street). Again, I stepped off the train, along with several
people who wanted to smoke. Quite a few people were waiting
to board not only our train, but the westbound Train #365,
scheduled to depart at 2:45 p.m. (and also running a little
late). The conductor had told me that 32 people, all headed
to Canada, were scheduled to board the train here, and the
boarding passengers were assigned to sit in the first car,
where there was more room. Due to the large number of
boarding passengers, our stop lasted for four minutes, even
though we were running late. When we departed at 2:56
p.m., we were 21 minutes late, most of the delay having
resulted from our wait for the westbound freight train.
Our train moved forward only slightly, then stopped in
order to trigger the signals at the adjacent grade crossing.
We then proceeded ahead for a short distance, and again came
to a halt. This time, we had to pass two trains on a
siding -- first, a freight train, and then our westbound
counterpart, Train #365. The westbound International was
pulled by engine 510 and included coaches 34026 and 34087
and coach/cafe car 35002 -- the type normally used on this
train. After we finally resumed our eastward journey at
3:04 p.m., I walked through the first coach and counted 45
passengers aboard that coach -- a net increase of 20
passengers since our previous stop. There are now a total
of about 85 passengers aboard the train. We continued
through a rural agricultural area, with the ground covered
with a light coating of snow.
Our next stop was Durand, where we arrived at 3:30
p.m. Only a handful of passengers boarded here, and the
stop lasted for only a minute, but the friendly conductor
permitted me to get off and take a picture. Durand Union
Station is a real beauty. This brick-and-stone building,
with a peaked roof and circular towers, is situated right on
a diamond, with the station designed to serve both
railroads. Although it is no longer staffed by an agent,
the waiting room is open for Amtrak passengers. The
remainder of the building houses the Michigan Railroad
Museum, and an historical plaque is located in front of the
structure.
It would have been nice if we had arrived here a few
minutes early so that I could be afforded the opportunity to
explore this fascinating station a little more closely, but
under the circumstances, I considered myself fortunate to be
able to step off the train here at all!
When we departed Flint, I took out a salami sandwich
that I had brought with me and went back to the cafe car,
where I purchased a can of root beer and a bag of potato
chips, and sat down at my table to eat a late lunch. At
about 3:50 p.m., we came to a halt again. The conductor
explained to me that I was in for a "treat": the two main
tracks that we ordinarily would have proceeded on were
occupied by freight trains, so to "expedite" our train's
passage, we would be running parallel to the main tracks on
a yard lead. After a switch was hand-thrown, we proceeded
very slowly along the yard lead for a few miles (the rule
being that you must be able to stop the train at any time
if some obstruction comes into view). It took us 25 minutes
to proceed through the yard, which ended at the former
location of the Flint station (now razed), where the yard
lead is converted into a main track, and we could proceed
ahead at normal speed.
We didn't have very far to go before we reached the
new station at Flint, our next stop, where we arrived at
4:19 p.m. Again, I briefly stepped off the train while a
handful of passengers detrained and a similar number
boarded. The current Flint station is constructed of
stylized concrete blocks in what I would term "Amshack-style"
architecture -- a boxy, unadorned design, with an
overhanging roof, similar in concept to the stations in
Rochester, Richmond, Miami and Minneapolis (although
considerably smaller than those stations). The station is
located adjacent to a large bus garage, which features the
same unattractive architectural style. When we departed at
4:21 p.m., we were 46 minutes late, having lost another 25
minutes due to our leisurely sojourn through the Flint yard.
An announcement was made that the cafe car would close
after our next stop, Lapeer, so I brought all my belongings
back to my seat. I also stepped off the train during our
brief stop at Lapeer at 4:40 p.m. The Lapeer station is an
historic frame structure -- the first such station building
that I've seen along the route of our train. It is painted
gray and appears to be in good condition. Although
unstaffed, the waiting room is open for Amtrak passengers.
The station also is used as a meeting place for the local
train club, and three cabooses, painted in the colors of
three different railroads, are on exhibit on an adjacent
side track.
Although the timetable allows nearly one hour and 20
minutes for the trip from Lapeer to Port Huron, our final
stop in the United States, the conductor assured us that it
should take us only 50 minutes to get there, the rest being
make-up time. In fact, it took only 46 minutes for us to
reach the Port Huron station, where we arrived at 5:27 p.m. -
- just 12 minutes late, due to the make-up time built into
the schedule.
I stepped off the train and walked over to the
station -- a small, modern structure, built out of cinder blocks and
faced with stucco. A slanted roof does give the building a
little character, though. I attempted to make a phone call,
but the only public phone was located outside of the
station, on the platform, and right next to the engine. The
noise of the engine would drown out anything heard over the
phone, though, so I quickly gave up. I stepped into the
rather austere looking station, took a picture, and got back
on the train.
I returned to my seat and turned on my scanner. Soon,
I picked up a conversation on Channel 87, used by VIA. The
question was presented as to whether we can accept standees
on board a VIA train. The answer was that VIA's official
rule probably is not to take standees, but that it is hard
to turn them away, and that one possible solution is to
permit these passengers to board but not collect their
tickets. If a definitive answer were needed, the questioner
was told to call VIA's head office in Montreal. Then I
heard that we will be having 40 standees on the train
tonight! That should be interesting, as ordinarily there
are three coaches on the train, and reservations were
probably taken on that assumption. On the other hand, it
would seem that the tables in the dining/cafe car could be
used as revenue seating if necessary, that certainly being
preferable to requiring people to stand!
About 5:50 p.m., an announcement was made that all
passengers should return to their seats and remain there,
so that a head count can be taken. This was followed by the
statement that within an hour, the train will become sold
out -- thus confirming what I had heard on the scanner
earlier.
Although the Amtrak conductor had indicated to me that
the train need not spend any significant time at Port Huron
if it is late in arriving, we actually spent half an hour in
Port Huron, and did not pull out of the station until 5:56
p.m, twenty-one minutes late. Actually, it might be more
accurate to say that we pushed out of the station. Port
Huron is now a stub-end station, requiring all trains to
back in or out. It seems that the track in front of the
station used to lead directly to the tunnel under the river
connecting Port Huron with Sarnia, Ontario, but that
historic tunnel -- built in 1891 and commemorated on
several plaques now attached to the exterior wall of the
station -- was replaced several years ago by a new tunnel
with a higher clearance, and the old tunnel is no longer
used. The tracks leading to the new tunnel are just to the
north of those ending at the station, and it would seem that
a direct connection could easily be constructed that would
eliminate the necessity for the back-up move, but I presume
that this would cost some money that neither Amtrak or VIA
nor CN is willing to spend to accommodate the one passenger
train a day that uses this station. So, for now, our train
has to back up in order to leave the station.
We reached the end of our short back-up move in only
two minutes, but then I heard on the scanner that we would
be held ten minutes for a westbound freight train passing
through the single-track tunnel. While waiting for the
westbound to pass, the VIA service manager came by to
collect tickets. Several years ago, VIA abolished the
position of conductor on passenger trains, with the engineer
being the only operating member of the train crew, and thus
having sole control over the actual operation of the train.
The conductor was replaced with the service manager, who
assumed all the passenger-service-related functions of the
conductor, but does not control the operation of the train
(except to radio the engineer that all passengers have
boarded and that he may proceed ahead).
I asked the service manager whether the train would
fill up at Sarnia, and he replied that a number of
passengers will be boarding at Sarnia, and that the train
will become oversold at London (where we are scheduled to
arrive at 8:00 p.m.). I suggested to him that the extra
passengers be accommodated at the tables in the dining/cafe
car, and he replied that this would be done, but that even
so, some passengers would have to stand. We'll have to see
what materializes.
The wait for the westbound train ended up being far
longer than the ten minutes predicted. After half an hour,
the service manager announced that the freight train had
gone into emergency inside the tunnel, and that a "task
force" was investigating the situation and trying to
determine what happened. Since this was the only way of
getting into Canada, we would have to wait for this problem
to be resolved. Well, it doesn't look like we will be
arriving in Toronto anywhere near on time tonight! But I'm
seating comfortably in my Superliner coach, with plenty of
room to work, and with my computer plugged in. I don't have
anywhere in particular to go tonight, so it doesn't really
matter if we get to Toronto a little late.
We waited and waited, with no further announcements.
Nor did I hear any informative comments on the scanner. (I
presume that the may have been some communications on a
channel to which my scanner wasn't programmed.) Finally, at
7:04 p.m., a westbound freight train began to pass us to the
left. The train proceeded very slowly, and not until ten
minutes later did it clear the switch over which we had to
proceed, permitting us to move ahead. We had waited for one
hour and 15 minutes for the tunnel to be cleared of the
westbound train!
Almost immediately, we entered the tunnel, and within
three minutes, we were through the tunnel and into Canada.
We arrived at the VIA station in Sarnia at 7:18 p.m., one
hour and 21 minutes late. The Sarnia station is a classic
brick building, with a sloped roof and decorative wood trim.
Here the Canadian customs agents boarded the train. The
customs inspection went rather quickly, with most passengers
being merely asked whether they were bringing in alcohol,
tobacco or firearms. Other than a man sitting across from
me who was an Israeli citizen, I didn't see anyone asked for
their passport, and no one's baggage appeared to be
inspected. Nor did I see anyone taken off the train. The
customs inspection took only 25 minutes, and at 7:43 p.m.,
customs released the train, and the waiting passengers
boarded. There were about 40 people who boarded at Sarnia.
Amazingly, the boarding process took only three minutes,
and we departed the Sarnia station at 7:46 p.m. We had
spent only 28 minutes there, instead of our scheduled dwell
time of one hour, so we were now only 49 minutes late.
All passengers boarding in Sarnia were directed to my
coach, which already was more than half full. I removed my
backpack from the adjacent seat, and a woman who boarded in
Sarnia sat down there. She was traveling to Toronto for the
weekend, along with three companions. They all live in
Michigan, but chose to board the train in Sarnia, thereby
avoiding the long delays built into the schedule between
Port Huron and Sarnia. Due to the crowded condition of the
train, the four of them were unable to find seats together,
and had to sit separately in single seats.
We proceeded ahead a short distance, but then we
stopped and backed up. It seems that we had to switch over
to a different track, and the switch was west of where we
were located. Then, after a further delay, an announcement
was made that we were waiting for VIA Train #83 to arrive,
and that that train had precedence over us since it was
running on time (it is scheduled to arrive in Sarnia at 8:19
p.m.), while we were late. The VIA train finally passed us
at 8:11 p.m., and we resumed moving two minutes later.
Around this time, an announcement was made that the cafe car
is now open for service.
We stopped briefly at Strathroy, which has only a
small shack to shelter waiting passengers, at 8:43 p.m.
When we departed Strathroy, I walked through both coaches,
noting that only a handful of seats in our car were
unoccupied, and relatively few seats were available on the
upper level of the first coach. However, only two of the 12
seats on the lower level of the first coach were occupied.
Then I retrieved another sandwich that I had stored in my
luggage and brought it to the cafe car, where I purchased
another root beer and sat down to eat. I noticed that the
various condiments had been consolidated onto one table,
leaving seven open tables in the section of the car open to
passengers. I also saw the service manager help out the
cafe car attendant in filling orders -- something that an
Amtrak conductor would rarely think of doing. Soon, the
service manager came over to the passengers sitting at the
tables in the cafe car and asked everyone to return to their
seats so that the seats in that car could be made available
to the passengers boarding at London.
At 9:05 p.m., we arrived at the station in London.
Since it was dark, it was hard to see what remained, but the
London station was imploded several weeks ago, with videos
of the event being publicized on the Internet. (From what I
understand, the building that was imploded was an
architecturally undistinguished modern building that will
not be missed.) At least 40 or 50 passengers boarded here,
and our stop lasted for four minutes. Many of the
passengers were directed to the cafe/dining car, where they
were seated at the tables. When we departed London at 9:09
p.m., we were one hour and nine minutes late.
I now returned to my seat and did some more work on my
computer. At 9:39 p.m., we made a very brief stop at St.
Mary's which features a classic brick station that still
appears to be staffed by an agent. Then, at 9:56 p.m., we
stopped at Stratford, where one passenger got on and six got
off. Stratford has a classic brick-and-stone station, which
is staffed by an agent who was on duty when our train
arrived. We could have left a minute or two after we
arrived, but instead we waited here for ten minutes,
apparently to allow a westbound train to clear the track
ahead of us.
I dozed off for a little while and then got up and
walked through the train. Virtually every seat in the two
coaches was occupied, including those on the lower level of
the first coach. I then went to the cafe car, where I
obtained a cup of tea and a Danish and sat down at a table.
About 20 people -- mostly high- school students who had
boarded in London -- were sitting at the seven open four-
person tables in the front of the car, although the rear
section of the car was still unoccupied. Since there was no
place to put any luggage, the students' belongings were
placed in the aisle, and you had to walk around them to get
to the service counter.
At 10:37 p.m., we stopped in Kitchener, which also has
a classic brick-and-stone station staffed by an agent.
Several passengers boarded here, and since no seats were
available in the coaches, two girls sat down at my table
(now filling all four seats). I remained at my table for
another few minutes, then walked through the coaches again
and returned to my seat.
Soon, we began to pass through the picturesque town of
Guelph, We slowed down considerably while going through
Guelph, where the rail line at one point runs down the
middle of a street. Guelph also has a beautiful stone-and-brick
station, still open when we arrived at 11:01 p.m.
About a dozen people got on here, and a few passengers got
off. Among those detraining were several students who were
sitting in the dining car. They had to detrain from the
second coach. At 11:03 p.m., two girls started walking down
the stairs in my coach. A few seconds later -- before they
had a chance to detrain -- the train started moving.
Luckily, the service manager was able to have the train
stopped after we moved only a few feet, and the girls were
able to get off.
Prior to our arrival in Guelph, an announcement was
made apologizing for the lateness of our train, and stating
that all passengers were entitled to a 50% travel credit for
their next trip on VIA within the following six months.
Well, it seems to me that if that is what VIA is offering, I
should also get a credit -- or, to use the American
terminology, a voucher -- from Amtrak. This would
compensate me not only for the lateness of today's train
(which really means rather little to me), but also for
several aspects of the much longer trip from Los Angeles to
Chicago which I was not completely satisfied with. I
didn't feel it fair to demand a voucher for the rather
expensive Los Angeles-Chicago trip in a sleeper, but a
voucher for the shorter, less expensive Chicago-Toronto trip
would be fair compensation under the circumstances. So I
think that I will request one.
Our next stop was Georgetown, where we stopped briefly
at 11:27 p.m. Georgetown has a very attractive stone
station. Georgetown is the end of the line for a branch of
GO Transit, the local commuter rail operating authority,
which operates four daily round-trips during rush hours from
Georgetown to Toronto. In the yard adjacent to the station
are stored a number of bi-level sets of GO Transit commuter
equipment. We are now only about 20 miles from Toronto,
well within the range of suburban commuter service. Then,
ten minutes later, we stopped at Brampton. Here quote a few
of the students got off. The classic brick station,
adjoined by a large parking lot for commuters, was closed at
this late hour.
As we approached our final destination, Toronto Union
Station, an announcement was made that VIA's Train #50 to
Montreal, scheduled to leave at 11:30 p.m., would be held
for the arrival of our train, and that passengers would be
able to transfer to that train across the platform. Train
#50 provides overnight service between Toronto and Montreal,
and was reinstated last year after having been discontinued
for many years. This train has a rather leisurely eight-hour
schedule to Montreal -- a route that is covered by
other trains in only five hours -- so a delay of half an
hour or so can easily be made up.
We finally arrived at Toronto Union Station at 12:09
a.m., one hour and nine minutes late. I detrained and
noticed that Train #50 was not across the platform, but
rather in front of our train and on the same track. I
walked down the platform to get a better view of the train.
At the end was dome-observation car Banff Park, followed by
sleeper Chateau Levis and coach #4121, which appeared to be
quite full. There were other cars which appeared to be
coupled in front of the engine, and I did not find out why
this was done (presumably, a set of equipment had to be
deadheaded to Montreal). In any event, this was a
magnificent train, and VIA is to be applauded for restarting
this service, for which there is clearly a demand.
I continued down to the lower level of the station,
where my cousin Dov met me and drove me to his home in
northern Toronto.
Today's ride on the International was a very enjoyable
experience. The United States part of the ride was made
even more pleasant by a conductor who not only went out of
his way to permit passengers to detrain briefly at each
stop -- even when we were running late -- but also took the
trouble to talk about details of the operation of the train.
The Canadian part of the ride was very different, since it
was dark and the train was much more crowded. But the
Superliner equipment on the train made the ride far more
comfortable, even though I had someone else sitting next to
me for our four-and-one-half-hour journey from Sarnia to
Toronto. I'm very glad that I took this trip by train, and
am looking forward to next Monday's trip on the Maple Leaf.