From the Pacific to the Atlantic - Crossing Canada by Train
2 October - 5 November 2024

Canada 2024
8 October 2024: Day 7

The "Canadian Train" into Toronto

Introduction

Our last night on the train and we slept a lot better - perhaps we were getting accustomed to the rocking and sudden movements, or perhaps the tracks were in better condition. We progressed through more rock and patches of forest. By this time we were running around 6 hours late.

We were up just before the sun, in time to catch the frost that covered the ground near the tracks, but within half an hour it was gone. Wilderness gave way to a host of small lakes. As we moved closer to Toronto the occasional hut or small dwelling appeared, some with a jetty and boat. Now the lakes had many small cottages. Soon the larger lakes had larger houses where the people of Toronto came to spend their summers. We stopped for a while at Capreol Station. This should have been at about 3am but it was now nearly 9am.

The outskirts of Toronto appeared, with a few farms, scrubby bush and messy commercial properties. Our progress slowed and we crept on into Toronto. Freight trains and GO trains took precendence but we were eventually given a definitive arrival time - 1910, only 5 hours late! There were many grumbles from people who had (foolishly) booked onward travel by train or plane only a few hours after the putative arrival time. There was some frantic rebooking needed. They should have heeded the warning from The Man in Seat 61!

So into Toronto we came, arriving at the grand Union Station. We waited 30 minutes for our luggage to arrive. The entertainment was free - the porters who brought all the "Platinum" bags to the wrong location, and the tall man from Norway who insisted on pushing in front of me so he could unload everybody's bag from the conveyor in the mistaken assumption that all bags belonged to his Norwegian tour party. He was mightly surprised to be told otherwise (by his Norwegian colleagues)!

Bags safely retrieved from conveyor and from the Viking warrior we walked the 5 minutes to the Novotel Hotel. Outside Union Station the taxi touts descended on us, trying to shepherd us into the waiting "taxi". We resisted these, walking (but the 15th tout got very offended when I told him to "P*#$ off". Once at the hotel we were joined by a couple from the train. They had succumbed to the touts, arriving in a vehicle which they decided was not an "official" taxi. They were also upset they had been conned into paying $25 + $10 tip (!) for the ride, when it should have cost them about $8. They consoled themselves that "it was too far to walk". After checking in, and feeling rather tired we made the decision to eat at the hotel - a choice we regretted as neither food nor service were up to the standard expected. As it was very dark by this time, we did not recognise the line of bars and restaurants across the street. Pity. But tomorrow...