Fred Frailey's articles continue to fascinate me. His piece Amtrak at its best (and worst) in August, 2011 Trains is one that was both informative and fun to read. I took a similar but different trip in September, 2012 and what follows are my observations...
Day one was a "positioning trip." American Air Lines St Louis to Toronto via DFW of all routing! Why not via Chicago or even New York? If you look at AA.com you could find one selection of STL to YYZ/Toronto, was via LAX! A day occupancy to freshen up at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel, across the street from beautiful Union Station before boarding VIA #1 and a 10:00 p.m. departure. I had always been intrigued by Duplex Roomettes, harking back to the days when my family vacationed in Michigan. The Pennsylvania Railroad's Northern Arrow left Cincinnati bound for Mackinaw City, Michigan. In those prewar and early after postwar days, most women traveled with steamer trunks and St. Louis Transfer Co. sent a truck to our home to pick up the day before departure. The St. Louis sleepers traveled east on No. 30, The Spirit of St. Louis - a great name for a train. Michigan cars were switched out at Richmond, Indiana for pick up by the Northern Arrow. Chicago-Michigan sleepers were picked up at Ft. Wayne, Indiana. Leaving Grand Rapids: 16 heavy weight sleepers, a rider coach, and a pair of K-4 Pacifics to supply the power. At Petoskey, MI the Harbor Springs cars and one K-4 were set out, the rest of the train went onto Mackinaw City. Included in the Spirit's consist were cars containing Duplexes, similar but different from today's Duplex Roomettes found on the Chateau series of VIA cars. These Chateau cars were 6-6-4, six Duplex Roomettes, six open sections, and four bedrooms in contrast to the Manor series which were the more common 10-6 layout: ten Roomettes (conventional, all at the same level) whereas the Dup-Roomettes were shoe-horned into a layered configuration. I asked for and received Dup 8, an "upper." Do I remember correctly that some of the Manor cars now have Dups also? No. 1 left On Time on a very slow schedule laced with excessive station dwell times - but who's in a hurry? The superb Canadian National track plus the well-maintained Budd cars were a great combination for a smooth ride. However, some of the hog heads had a nasty habit: as they approached a station stop, say they got down below 5 MPH. As soon as the conductors gave the signal to stop, the engineer(s) used the engine brake to stop the train with the resultant lurch as the slack ran in. Then, when started, the slack ran out with another lurch. Where I come from (MP and C&NW) the "Graduated Stop" didn't work on all consists, but on short, well-maintained cars, reduce from run-8 to the sixth notch, making a service reduction (brake application) at the same time, reducing power until finally reaching the first position. Shove the throttle to idle position, make a running release and the train glides to a stop with the slack stretched, no jolt. On departure, grab the sander lever with your right hand, the throttle in your left and click-click-click as fast as you can until run-8 is found. All this is in the days of 24RL brakes. No jerk; no jolt. Some engine men were born to run engines; others would never learn, but it sure was fun to watch and analyze them.
Ugh! Had enough? I hope not. Next installment: Overnight in Jasper, east to Montreal, south on the D&H to Schenectady , west to Chicago, south to St Louis, all by rail. Alan Smith
Interesting, especially since my wife and I made two trips east and two trips west between Toronto and Vancouver (stopping over in Jasper once in each direction), and once to Halifax and back and once to Moncton and back; I will watch for future installments.
When we rode the VIA trains, the Manor sleepers had one shower (taking the place of one of the four sections), three sections, four roomettes, five bedrooms, and one compartment (sold as a "cabin for two," just as the bedrooms were). Also, the Chateau sleepers had one shower and three sections, eight duplex roomettes, three bedrooms, and one drawing room, and the Park cars had one drawing room and three bedrooms.. I understand that VIA is reworking some cars, but their current website does not show such for the Canadian.
As to the Royal York, we enjoyed staying there, and in other former railroad hotels in Victoria, Vancouver, Lake Louise, Banff, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, Montréal, Quebec, and Halifax. The Queen Elizabeth in Montréal and the Nova Scotian in Halifax vie with one another for being convenient for rail travelers-the Queen Elizabeth is over the station, and the Nova Scotian's lobby is directly connected with the Halifax station's waiting room. It is possible to walk under Front Street to go between the station and the hotel in Toronto--but the bellman always took us straight across the street to the station.
Please hurry with the next installment! I trust you had no trouble with customs at Rouses Point; we did not, either time we came in through there.
Johnny
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