On the Road Again 2015 #4

6:30 AM - somewhere between Souix Lookout and Winnipeg. What a night!!!!

I went to "bed" shortly before 11:00.  While we were still running a few hours late, I assumed/hoped that we could make up the time during the night. I was wrong.

Things are a bit blurry as to the timing and the sequence of events as I was trying really hard to stay asleep but at one point  a dozen or so of the young folks paraded by my seat waiting for the train to stop.  While it would have been less disruptive to the other passengers to disembark through a door closer to their seats, they had a lot of baggage in the baggage car, it was dark and I suppose it was easier to let the teens out close to where their stuff was. They all got off - they all got back on. it was the wrong spot. Teens went back to their seats, the large fishing party lined up, paraded past my seat and got off.

A few miles down the road, the train stopped and the teens got off. This time they stayed off. As the train left them there I noticed there were eight or nine small tents set up by the side of the road. I am guessing that they are on some sort of wilderness adventure. I was not envious

A number of people got on and then appear to have gotten off the train at various points throughout the night. Some of them were quite talkative considering that it was 2:00 in the morning and that people were trying to sleep.. I was tempted to get up and join one of the conversations. It was an interesting one between an older and younger man. The younger guy was enthusiastic about his 60 day rail pass that for a $1,000 allowed him to travel anywhere in Canada. The older one had lots of information about Churchill and the demise of the grain shipping industry up there. He was also telling stories about bears and how dangerous they could be; the younger guy was bemoaning the fact that he had not seen any wild life during his trip (I did think of yelling out "that's because you talk too much and too loudly  but good manners prevailed and I didn't). I didn't join the conversation in part because I could hear every word they said in spite of the fact that they were eight rows up from me! They were far too loud for 2:00 in the morning.

I think people felt okay talking loudly because the conductor had a very loud voice and made no attempt to modulate it. Everyone just followed her behaviour.

The train continued to make stops throughout the night, waiting for space on the main track. At one point the conductor told us we would be stuck for thirty minutes on a siding due to traffic congestion. I can understand traffic congestion on major routes near big cities but on the tracks?? Maybe they need help drawing up or following it.

The number of stops made during the night to let people on and off seemed higher than normal. Because the train was already late, some of those folks had to embark or disembark in the dark. That slowed the process down. I heard a conductor say that the confusion as to who was getting off where was the engineer's fault as they were new to the job. I think the chronic lateness has far more to do with the fact that Via Rail, given the single track and its inability to negotiate a system where passengers are seen as priority freight, will never control its schedule. Perhaps they should just stop pretending that it can.

Oh yes - it is raining.