Sometimes traveling doesn’t have to be an epic journey to be fun, educational and just a
nice break from the everyday working world.
A good example of this is a day trip, and it is hard to beat a day trip
on a historical train, the sort that might have been found 100 years ago on the
great plains of North America, in this case Alberta, Canada.
Depending on the day,
and your luck, it might be an old steam locomotive or an old 1950s era diesel-electric,
like the one shown below, which we travel led on during a lovely August day in
2019.
Alberta
Prairie Railway is based in Stettler Alberta, which is about 2 to 3 hours from
the main population centers of Alberta, the cities of Edmonton and Calgary. Both of those cities have excellent
international airports, so they are easy to access for visitors from all around
the world. During our trip, our
coach-mates were from England, Austria, and the Netherlands, as well as from
many regions of Canada (Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan and British
Columbia), and of course, Alberta itself.
The
railway primarily uses an old branch line, which is no longer in use by the
major railway companies, to journey through the big blue sky country of central
Alberta, on a trip that lasts for about 5 hours, including a great
country-style meal at the half-way point.
Note that this is not
the Rocky Mountain region of Alberta (though those are only about a three hour
drive due west), nor the dry dramatic badlands (though those are only about an
hour south), nor the vast ranch-lands of the foothills (though those are also
only a few hours southwest); they are rather the fertile heartland of the
province, generally known as the parkland.
The line
does occasionally share some facilities with the modern railway business, such
as these cars on a siding, which contain oil (the round dark cars) and
agricultural products (probably wheat in the cars farther back), two of the
mainstays of Alberta’s economy. Though
that does intrude on the historical fantasy aspect of the journey, it is
probably appropriate, as railways have always been largely about moving freight
and making money. It is likely that 100
years ago, a lot of the rail traffic in Alberta would have been devoted to
moving wheat, just as you would see today.
The passenger cars
are about 100 years old, according to the patter that our train guide
provided. They have obviously been
refurbished, but are in quite excellent shape, as the accompanying photo
clearly shows.
The seating was
comfortable and spacious, and the windows opened to provide fresh country air. However, given the age of the cars, and the
rhythmic jostling of the train on the branch line, people were cautioned to
keep their body parts on this side of the open window, as there was always a
chance of the window coming down on its own, as the train jostled, as trains
will do.
The seating is
assigned when passengers get their tickets, which can be arranged by a phone
call or email. We had our tickets mailed
to our house in the city, but I imagine other arrangements are available. The metal signs above the windows let people
know to whom the seating has been assigned, so there is no potential for
misunderstandings on that score.
Along with
the passenger cars (our train had several of these), there is a “bar car” where
you can sit and enjoy a beverage (alcoholic or not, as you prefer) and listen
to live musical entertainment. The bar
car had a fairly decent selection of beverages, all things considered, at good
prices. They also had some snacks available.
I bought a
serving of white wine for myself and my wife – it had to be served in a plastic
cup with a lid and straw (and yes, it was a paper straw). As you can
imagine, carrying a properly stemmed wine glass on a jostling train was just
not a sensible option. Along with the
bar car there is a concession car, with snacks, souvenirs, and maps, to help
you plan further adventures in the area.
There is also an
observation car, which is open to the elements and is a stand-up affair, which
gives one a nice view and a chance to feel the wind in your hair. As the sign says, the car was actually
created by retrofitting a flat-car, to enclose it with walls, yet open it up
with nice big windows. At the leisurely
pace that the train travels, there is no sense of danger when leaning up against
the windows and taking in the sights, sounds and pleasant breeze of the
countryside.
Along with the
historical railway stock, the staff were also dressed in period costume (more
or less) and role-played their parts as historical characters. The conductors were dressed in appropriate
costumes – I don’t know about the engineer, as we never saw him (or possibly
her).
One of the
main historical characters portrayed was Gabriel Dumont, a major figure in the
Riel Rebellions of 1885. The Dumont
character acted as a tour guide on the train, mingling with the passengers and
relating interesting facts about the early railroading days. Among these was the fact that the standard
railway gauge (the width between the tracks) could be traced back to the
wheelbase of an early Victorian horse-drawn carriage, and that width could
ultimately be traced back to ancient Rome, via the width of tracks on the old
Roman road system. There seems to be
some controversy about that, but it makes for a good yarn on railway tourist trip.
Dumont as a
railroader in the old Canadian West seems rather unlikely, but Wiki tells us
that he actually lived until 1906, so he would have overlapped some of the
early railroad era in Western Canada. On
top of that, he spent some of his later years working in Buffalo Bill’s Wild
West Show, so he was no stranger to performing and speaking in public. So, perhaps
having a Gabriel Dumont character as Master of Ceremonies wasn’t as much of a
stretch as one might think, at first. It
certainly could be considered dramatic license, though.
Dumont was also a
crack shot, and that played a prominent role in one of the highlights of the
trip, a “train robbery”. The train was
held up by horse-riding train bandits, though passengers were assured that the
loot that the desperados were collecting would go to a children’s’ charity. As you can probably tell from the passengers
expressions, they took the “robbery” in stride, knowing that it was going to
two good causes, our entertainment and a children’s charity.
The
bandits were soon put in their place by our man Dumont. A “gunfight” ensued, with the aforementioned
crack shot Dumont eventually getting the better of the other contestants,
before returning to the train. Amazingly
enough, the horses were not particularly alarmed by all the gun-play, as they
grazed bucolically while the duel transpired.
The half-way point of
the trip was in the small town of Big Valley.
The town had some appropriately themed “old west” shops and served an
excellent buffet supper in the community centre. Among other items, it featured fresh Alberta
prime rib, which is as good as beef gets. As it happened, I had attended a wedding on
the previous weekend at the Edmonton Country Club, which may well be the swankiest
golf and country club in the city of
Edmonton (1 million plus people), but the meal at the Big Valley Community
Centre was easily as good as the supper at the high-end country club. The rich eat well, but so do country folk, at
least around harvest time.
We had a bit of time
to kill in Big Valley, so we visited a fairly amazing old tool and hardware
museum near the train station. One of my
companions was a heavy duty mechanic, so he could really appreciate the museum. Apparently, the vast collection of old tools
(from farm equipment to electronics) and some vintage automobiles were
collected by a single fellow, with help from his wife, of course. Among the collection was old Model T farm
truck, a mint condition 1970 Chevelle, and a motorized bathtub racer. Oh, and there is also a vintage doll
collection, for the kids, collected by the wife.
By the
way, another great museum, not too far away, is the Reynolds-Alberta Museum,
which also has a vast collection of vintage machinery, including classic
automobiles and aircraft. My mechanic
friend says it is great, and others I know that have visited the place have
said the same. I haven’t had the chance
to visit yet, but I plan to do so, soon.
After leaving Big
Valley, we headed back to Stettler.
People were digesting the excellent meal, so everyone was a bit laid
back. That put people in the mood to
enjoy the entertainment provided, a sort of cowboy singer with a folksy and
amusing patter between songs. He managed
to get people to sing along to some old classics, and just generally provided a
nice capstone to the trip. Unfortunately
the picture is a bit blurry (train jostling, I guess) but you get the idea.
We got
back to Stettler about 7:30 p.m. or so, which meant a two hour drive back to
the city in the late summer evening of a pleasant Alberta day, which is always a
pleasure. A bit of advice – if you are
heading to the train from Calgary or Edmonton, take the secondary
highways. There are plenty of
alternative routes on the prairie and the paved backroads are generally much
more scenic than the busy four lane Queen Elizabeth Way, which runs between the
two major cities.
Sources:
Alberta Prairie Railway website:
Wiki entry for Gabriel Dumont
Big Valley Tool Museum
Reynolds Alberta Museum
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Now that you have read about some old-time train travel, you should read about some other interesting road-trip possibilities.
Now that you have read about some old-time train travel, you should read about some other interesting road-trip possibilities.
On the Road with Bronco Billy
What
follows is an account of a ten day journey through western North America during
a working trip, delivering lumber from Edmonton Alberta to Dallas Texas, and
returning with oilfield equipment. The writer had the opportunity to accompany
a friend who is a professional truck driver, which he eagerly accepted. He
works as a statistician for the University of Alberta, and is therefore is
generally confined to desk, chair, and computer. The chance to see the world
from the cab of a truck, and be immersed in the truck driving culture was
intriguing. In early May 1997 they hit the road.
Some time has passed since this journal was written and many
things have changed since the late 1990’s. That renders the journey as not just
a geographical one, but also a historical account, which I think only increases
its interest.
We were fortunate to have an eventful trip - a mechanical breakdown, a near miss from a tornado, and a large-scale flood were among these events. But even without these turns of fate, the drama of the landscape, the close-up view of the trucking lifestyle, and the opportunity to observe the cultural habits of a wide swath of western North America would have been sufficient to fill up an interesting journal.
We were fortunate to have an eventful trip - a mechanical breakdown, a near miss from a tornado, and a large-scale flood were among these events. But even without these turns of fate, the drama of the landscape, the close-up view of the trucking lifestyle, and the opportunity to observe the cultural habits of a wide swath of western North America would have been sufficient to fill up an interesting journal.
A Drive Across Newfoundland
Newfoundland,
Canada’s most easterly province, is a region that is both fascinating in its
unique culture and amazing in its vistas of stark beauty. The weather is often
wild, with coastal regions known for steep cliffs and crashing waves (though
tranquil beaches exist too). The inland areas are primarily Precambrian shield,
dominated by forests, rivers, rock formations, and abundant wildlife. The
province also features some of the Earth’s most remarkable geology, notably The
Tablelands, where the mantle rocks of the Earth’s interior have been exposed at
the surface, permitting one to explore an almost alien landscape, an
opportunity available on only a few scattered regions of the planet.
The city of St. John’s is one of Canada’s most unique urban
areas, with a population that maintains many old traditions and cultural
aspects of the British Isles. That’s true of the rest of the province, as well,
where the people are friendly and inclined to chat amiably with visitors. Plus,
they talk with amusing accents and party hard, so what’s not to like?
This account focuses on a two-week road trip in October 2007, from St. John’s in the southeast, to L’Anse aux Meadows in the far northwest, the only known Viking settlement in North America. It also features a day hike visit to The Tablelands, a remarkable and majestic geological feature. Even those who don’t normally consider themselves very interested in geology will find themselves awe-struck by these other-worldly landscapes.
This account focuses on a two-week road trip in October 2007, from St. John’s in the southeast, to L’Anse aux Meadows in the far northwest, the only known Viking settlement in North America. It also features a day hike visit to The Tablelands, a remarkable and majestic geological feature. Even those who don’t normally consider themselves very interested in geology will find themselves awe-struck by these other-worldly landscapes.
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Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07NMR9WM8
