Return from Churchill
Return from Churchill
Dinner was great! I had the evening special of a 6oz New York Steak Neptune. It was smothered in shrimp, and what I believe was REAL crab meat, mixed in a Hollandaise sauce. All washed down with a glass of white wine.
My traveling Kiwi friend, Mary, had similar --- hold the swimmers. We had an interesting conversation about where we came from, how we got here, and where we were going. She’s also in the IT biz so we shared some discussion about computers, and spy ware on machines open to the public while we were traveling.
On the way out of the restaurant I noticed another gentleman who had been traveling up with us. He indicated that he was headed back tonight also. Not sure how much I’d see of him since he was traveling sleeper class. However, there is no Park Car, or even a Dome Car on this trainset, so the dining car is the only common lounge area.
The trip back was mostly quiet starting out with only a few people in coach, and probably just that one gentleman in sleeper. Just the way I like it when the trip starts late in the evening….nice and quiet so I can settle down and get some work done. The next day however we picked up a bunch of locals headed to Thompson for a day of shopping.
Most got on at the same stop. But it seemed others joined up with their families at subsequent stops. I don’t know if they are true Inuit, or just northern Canadian natives. Regardless, 99% of the people who got on where of First Nations heritage. From toddlers to grandmothers, the whole family was there.
A few of the younger girls became fascinated with my camera. I had been shooting the sunrise and they hung around my seats watching until I started making photos of them. They all excited and asked me to shoot each of them holding ‘the baby’ --- a doll which each of them seemed to love equally.
After a hurried shooting session with my new would-be models I uploaded the photos onto the laptop…did a bit of quick editing and proceeded to show them a slideshow of photos of themselves. In a fit of giggles they all crammed around the laptop (and all over me) for a good view. I suspect these girls had never seen a digital camera before, and maybe not even a laptop. They were fascinated by the whole setup.
It wasn’t too long before they had to get off in Thompson, and one little girl came up to me and said in her little girl voice, ‘We’ll miss you’. I showed her mother the photos before they detrained. I was a bit overwhelmed at the innocence these girls had, and I wanted to make sure their parents didn’t think I was some kind of perv. I think it was another example of being influenced by American paranoia of such things. I needn’t have worried about. Or maybe, society SHOULDN’T have to worry about it….but we do. Is ignorance really bliss?
Whilst stopped in Thompson for about an hour I detrained to get some fresh air. It was then that I got to talking to the gentleman in sleeper class. Turns out he is an associate member of the Private Railcar Owners Assoc. He’s one of those train junkies who just loves traveling by train just for the sake of traveling by train. In fact, he was taking this trip for similar reasons as me….to unwind from daily stresses and clear his head.
He has plans for starting a Private Railcar touring business covering tracks that have not seen passenger traffic for years and years. You’ll soon find his website at http://www.raremileage.net if things fall into place shortly. You may even see a few of my photos from this trip there.
We had lunch and dinner together and discussed many things concerning rail travel around the world. He also happens to be in the IT biz, and we even found out we had worked on the same piece of accounting software way back when!
After Thompson the train was mostly empty. For hours on end I had my own private Coach. And I knew the only other passenger was my friend back in Sleeper. It’s a weird feeling having a whole trainset to yourself. At least four crew to transport two people. Later on we picked up a passenger here and there, but the total never got above five passengers.
I also re-watched the movie ‘Serenity’ late last night. It was totally different watching it AFTER I had watched the TV series on DVD. I recommend not watching the movie until you’ve seen the series…..it just all makes sense.
The whole Churchill leg gave me a lot of time to reflect. There’s nothing but snow and trees for hours and hours. And although it was the most boring leg, it was also the most productive for me…at least on a mental level. Sometimes you just need that extra peace and quiet for an extended period to sort things out in your head.
When I first entered Canada I felt weird. I couldn’t associate with the people. I chalked that up to them being ‘west coast’, but really, I’ve had never seen THAT much of a difference between East and West coast Canadians before. I was reminded of something my friends Greg and Shane had said when I was home for vacation last year: that I had become too Americanized.
Maybe they were right. Maybe that is why I couldn’t relate to the shocking friendliness. I was waiting for the ‘hook’. As an American friend was told me, ‘Americans are obligatorily friendly….like they always want something in return. Canadians are genuine.’ Maybe I was waiting to see what they wanted from me in return, and I felt weird when the answer was ‘nothing’. They wanted nothing in return other than for me to be happy. Strange thought in the service industry, eh?
My first encounter with this was not long after I had reached Vancouver. I noticed I had lost my cellphone and realized it was probably still on the Amtrak train since I had been fooling with it and probably mishooked the clip while putting it back in my pocket. I had mentioned this to the Via Rail baggage lady and she told me she would check with the Amtrak crew when they came back. Not only did she check, she walked over to the train, and brought my phone back to where I was sitting. That was 3 hours after I had talked to her! Now that’s service! THAT is what being Canadian is all about! It’s about doing something and expecting nothing in return. I don’t need to file it in the ‘you owe me a favour somewhere down the road’ folder. It’s just a given.
Anyways, like I said, a lot of time to reflect. A lot of photos that will be posted when I get some high-speed connections. Just got my first connection in days. And actually being incommunicado for 4 days has been a big help to my mental state. I just got one post off and will try to get this one off…..then maybe a photo or two. I should be getting into Winnipeg at about 10:30am this morning….two hours behind schedule.
Dinner was great! I had the evening special of a 6oz New York Steak Neptune. It was smothered in shrimp, and what I believe was REAL crab meat, mixed in a Hollandaise sauce. All washed down with a glass of white wine.
My traveling Kiwi friend, Mary, had similar --- hold the swimmers. We had an interesting conversation about where we came from, how we got here, and where we were going. She’s also in the IT biz so we shared some discussion about computers, and spy ware on machines open to the public while we were traveling.
On the way out of the restaurant I noticed another gentleman who had been traveling up with us. He indicated that he was headed back tonight also. Not sure how much I’d see of him since he was traveling sleeper class. However, there is no Park Car, or even a Dome Car on this trainset, so the dining car is the only common lounge area.
The trip back was mostly quiet starting out with only a few people in coach, and probably just that one gentleman in sleeper. Just the way I like it when the trip starts late in the evening….nice and quiet so I can settle down and get some work done. The next day however we picked up a bunch of locals headed to Thompson for a day of shopping.
Most got on at the same stop. But it seemed others joined up with their families at subsequent stops. I don’t know if they are true Inuit, or just northern Canadian natives. Regardless, 99% of the people who got on where of First Nations heritage. From toddlers to grandmothers, the whole family was there.
A few of the younger girls became fascinated with my camera. I had been shooting the sunrise and they hung around my seats watching until I started making photos of them. They all excited and asked me to shoot each of them holding ‘the baby’ --- a doll which each of them seemed to love equally.
After a hurried shooting session with my new would-be models I uploaded the photos onto the laptop…did a bit of quick editing and proceeded to show them a slideshow of photos of themselves. In a fit of giggles they all crammed around the laptop (and all over me) for a good view. I suspect these girls had never seen a digital camera before, and maybe not even a laptop. They were fascinated by the whole setup.
It wasn’t too long before they had to get off in Thompson, and one little girl came up to me and said in her little girl voice, ‘We’ll miss you’. I showed her mother the photos before they detrained. I was a bit overwhelmed at the innocence these girls had, and I wanted to make sure their parents didn’t think I was some kind of perv. I think it was another example of being influenced by American paranoia of such things. I needn’t have worried about. Or maybe, society SHOULDN’T have to worry about it….but we do. Is ignorance really bliss?
Whilst stopped in Thompson for about an hour I detrained to get some fresh air. It was then that I got to talking to the gentleman in sleeper class. Turns out he is an associate member of the Private Railcar Owners Assoc. He’s one of those train junkies who just loves traveling by train just for the sake of traveling by train. In fact, he was taking this trip for similar reasons as me….to unwind from daily stresses and clear his head.
He has plans for starting a Private Railcar touring business covering tracks that have not seen passenger traffic for years and years. You’ll soon find his website at http://www.raremileage.net if things fall into place shortly. You may even see a few of my photos from this trip there.
We had lunch and dinner together and discussed many things concerning rail travel around the world. He also happens to be in the IT biz, and we even found out we had worked on the same piece of accounting software way back when!
After Thompson the train was mostly empty. For hours on end I had my own private Coach. And I knew the only other passenger was my friend back in Sleeper. It’s a weird feeling having a whole trainset to yourself. At least four crew to transport two people. Later on we picked up a passenger here and there, but the total never got above five passengers.
I also re-watched the movie ‘Serenity’ late last night. It was totally different watching it AFTER I had watched the TV series on DVD. I recommend not watching the movie until you’ve seen the series…..it just all makes sense.
The whole Churchill leg gave me a lot of time to reflect. There’s nothing but snow and trees for hours and hours. And although it was the most boring leg, it was also the most productive for me…at least on a mental level. Sometimes you just need that extra peace and quiet for an extended period to sort things out in your head.
When I first entered Canada I felt weird. I couldn’t associate with the people. I chalked that up to them being ‘west coast’, but really, I’ve had never seen THAT much of a difference between East and West coast Canadians before. I was reminded of something my friends Greg and Shane had said when I was home for vacation last year: that I had become too Americanized.
Maybe they were right. Maybe that is why I couldn’t relate to the shocking friendliness. I was waiting for the ‘hook’. As an American friend was told me, ‘Americans are obligatorily friendly….like they always want something in return. Canadians are genuine.’ Maybe I was waiting to see what they wanted from me in return, and I felt weird when the answer was ‘nothing’. They wanted nothing in return other than for me to be happy. Strange thought in the service industry, eh?
My first encounter with this was not long after I had reached Vancouver. I noticed I had lost my cellphone and realized it was probably still on the Amtrak train since I had been fooling with it and probably mishooked the clip while putting it back in my pocket. I had mentioned this to the Via Rail baggage lady and she told me she would check with the Amtrak crew when they came back. Not only did she check, she walked over to the train, and brought my phone back to where I was sitting. That was 3 hours after I had talked to her! Now that’s service! THAT is what being Canadian is all about! It’s about doing something and expecting nothing in return. I don’t need to file it in the ‘you owe me a favour somewhere down the road’ folder. It’s just a given.
Anyways, like I said, a lot of time to reflect. A lot of photos that will be posted when I get some high-speed connections. Just got my first connection in days. And actually being incommunicado for 4 days has been a big help to my mental state. I just got one post off and will try to get this one off…..then maybe a photo or two. I should be getting into Winnipeg at about 10:30am this morning….two hours behind schedule.
posted by HotShot at 10:15 AM
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