2025: Across Canada by Rail

3. From Whistler's Mountain to Toronto and Niagara

The cable-car climbs Whistler's Mountain, over the burnt-out remains of the forest

We had a day of free time in Jasper before our train to Toronto was due, and while most of our group chose to visit Lake Maligne to enjoy its scenery and wildlife, we decided to be a little more adventurous and take the Skytram cable-car to the top of Whistler's Mountain. The friendly taxi driver who took us to the lower station took us along the road where a mother bear had been spotted with her cubs just a few minutes before, but she had gone by the time we got there. Apparently female bears with cubs seek the company of humans as a way of getting away from their males (who do not like humans), but this particular one was getting too friendly and would soon need to be moved away. Indeed, at that same place, instead of the bear there was an elk grazing peacefully at the roadside.

Definitely not a bear, it's an elk	The drive mechanism for the Skytram	Passing the descending cable car	At the upper cable-car station

The upper station, at 7424 ft, is still 650ft below the summit of Whistler's Mountain, but we didn't feel inclined to make that final climb. Instead, after walking the length of the boardwalk around the station, we sat in the cafe there and enjoyed a hot drink before rejoining the cable car for its descent to the lower station (which is at 4100 ft)

There was deep snow beside the boardwalk	The view from the top of the mountain	Looking back down at  the lower station	The cable-car arrives to take us back down

The next morning we  were taken to the station to await the arrival of 'The Canadian' train which was to take us the remaining 2750 miles of our journey to Toronto. We had re-packed our luggage so that most of our possessions were in the 'large' suitcase that would travel in the luggage van, while the remainder were in the 'medium' case that we could take into the cabin with us (we could have taken one each, but the one was sufficient for our needs and also made a convenient small table to fit between the two chairs in the cabin}.

Sadly this old engine would not be hauling our train	Cleaning the train's observation car before departure	Our cabin in night-time and day-time modes (pictures not taken by me)

We would be spending 3 nights on board this train, so we had upgraded our ticket to an en-suite 'sleeper plus' double cabin which, although quite expensive, proved to be well worthwhile. The cabin was reasonably spacious, and very comfortable; by day it had 2 very comfortable chairs and then, while we were at our evening meal, the steward came to the cabin and converted it to its sleeping configuration of 2 good-sized bunks. In the mornings, while we were at breakfast, the steward would put away the bunks and restore the chairs. During the day, when not doing anything else (such as eating one of the excellent meals, or taking part in their group entertainments such as quizzes, bingo, films, wine or beer tasting, etc), the cabin was a very relaxing place to just sit and watch the scenery go past while perhaps listening to music or an audio-book, The scenery for the first 2 days, whilst very pretty, was very flat as we crossed the prairies, so an audio book was an excellent way of passing the time whilst also being able to look out of the window and not miss anything.

We found the time-zone shifts rather confusing, particularly when one shift produced no change because we moved an hour forwards but at the same time moved an hour back because that province did not believe in Daylight Saving Time. Clearly the train's steward  was also confused, as at one point he announced the new time to be 2 hours ahead of the old one. The chef seemed to find them equally confusing; after each meal he would announce the time of the next one, but in practice it was often served nearly half an hour early or half an hour late without any announcements to warn us. Despite this, however, we never missed a meal and I must say that the food and the service were both absolutely excellent.

The journey was quite slow at times because, once again, the freight trains have priority so the passenger trains must wait while they trundle past. I found this to be a rather sad reflection on a railway whose original function was to transport passengers, opening up the whole of Canada to them whilst also providing convenient transportation between the many towns and villages along the route. Now the only passengers are tourists such as ourselves so that the many abandoned station buildings, with their boarded-up windows and doors, remain as monuments to times past.

We had been hearing reports of wildfires across this part of Canada, such that the smoky air in Toronto had been deemed unsafe; elderly people had been warned to stay indoors with all the windows closed, and all organised outside events such as sports had been cancelled. There were in fact 5 forest fires near to our route to Toronto, but a huge number of people had been deployed to bring them under control and their efforts were proving successful. Our train was delayed at Winnipeg for 3 hours during the night; we were told that it was while they changed the engine, but we strongly suspect that it was actually a wait for the area just a few miles in front of us to be declared safe.

The scenery of Ontario, with its thousands of lakes and forests, was beutiful	Outside the Parliament building in Toronto	Outside the Art Gallery in Toronto	At Niagara Falls

A few miles out from Toronto we were running 4 hours late, but magically we arrived in Toronto on time; it turns out that they have allowed over 4 hours on the timetable for the train to complete the last 5 miles of the journey and thus make up for lost time. Now happily installed in our Toronto hotel, we were met by my cousin and her husband who took us for a walk around some of the sights of the city before venturing deep into Chinatown for an excellent Chinese meal (at a small restaurant where nobody spoke any English at all).

The next day the group went to Niagara Falls to take the boat-trip right up to the falls, which we had enjoyed 2 years ago. It's a very enjoyable boat trip, but we saw little point in repeating it so, after travelling with the group to the Niagara Falls area, we turned the other way from them and took a taxi 6 miles to the location of Whirlpool Jet Boat Tours who offer a variety of white-water experiences on the rapids downstream of the falls. We were there in plenty of time so were able to choose the best seats on their 'Freedom Jet'; this boat gives you the option of staying dry inside a glass-walled compartment, or getting wet on one of the two rows of open-air seats in the front of the boat. Guess what, we chose the front row of open seats!

The experience on the jet boat was utterly amazing! They warn you that you will get wet, and advise you to take no possessions with you. We made use of their changing rooms and lockers, wearing just shorts and t-shirt plus some sandals which we bought on-site. and tied on our hats and glasses (it was a good thing that we did, Debbie's sunglasses ended up around her neck several times and the gentleman next to us completely lost his). They also offer you the use of a poncho to help you stay dry; this is a complete waste of time as it does little more than retain the water and keep you in a water-bath while other people are drying off in the sunshine. And then you are bouncing around on, and through, the waves. How wet do you get? Well imagine a scale from dry, through standing under a shower, through having a bucket of water thrown over you, through having a whole bath of water thrown over you; well this experience would be the next level up on this scale. The water crashes down on you so hard that you cannot even stay sitting upright, and you have to time your breathing between the waves. The boat travels up to the whirlpool and then back again, turning to cross the rapids again and again, while the guide gives a hilarious commentary. It was the most wonderful, marvellous experience with which to finish our Canadian holiday.

The Whirlpool Jet Boat, in the front section of which we rode the white-water rapids

You can just see us, getting soaked at the front of the Whirlpool Jet Boat (photo © Whirlpool Jet Boat Tours)

After our Jet Boat experience we changed back into our dry clothes and took a taxi to the village of Niagara on the Lake where - after a delicious lunch of traditional British-style fish and chips - we were able to rejoin our group to travel back to Toronto.

The following day we had some spare time before travelling to the airport, so we spent a couple of hours at the Art Gallery - which was marvellous. Finally we flew home overnight, arriving back at Heathrow tired but happy after a simply amazing, incredible, wonderful holiday.

All pictures on this site are © Allan Jones unless otherwise stated.