The Lonely "1"
In my younger years, I've always wanted to take the train across Canada. "The Canadian" was the dream. When VIA Rail announced major cuts in funding and routes in 1989, the largest wound was to be "The Canadian". Oh, it was still to exist, but that would be the re-badging of the Super Continental, which rode the rails of the Canadian National. I wanted the Canadian Pacific route. THAT my friends was the ONLY route to ride across Canada. I went for it, booking a roomette on #1 out of Montreal, the second to the last #1. Getting to ride the last was not an option. It was booked way ahead, but you know, it was just as well. That train was a foam fest, press fest, crowds of tears fest, that was something I could do without. The second to the last was what the train should be, a peaceful journey. It wasn't without some fanfare. Many of the crews, both VIA and CP were on their last runs. Their families came out, both sad and celebratory. Some would transfer, or bump. Others took severance or retired. Either way, they were leaving and no press or crowds were there along the route to say, "Goodbye", just me. At Swift Current, Saskatchewan, we find one such person. The conductor of the lonely "1" looks over his train for the last time before taking it west. It would be a cold day in hell before this train was pried from the rails of CP, and it was.
The Lonely "1"
In my younger years, I've always wanted to take the train across Canada. "The Canadian" was the dream. When VIA Rail announced major cuts in funding and routes in 1989, the largest wound was to be "The Canadian". Oh, it was still to exist, but that would be the re-badging of the Super Continental, which rode the rails of the Canadian National. I wanted the Canadian Pacific route. THAT my friends was the ONLY route to ride across Canada. I went for it, booking a roomette on #1 out of Montreal, the second to the last #1. Getting to ride the last was not an option. It was booked way ahead, but you know, it was just as well. That train was a foam fest, press fest, crowds of tears fest, that was something I could do without. The second to the last was what the train should be, a peaceful journey. It wasn't without some fanfare. Many of the crews, both VIA and CP were on their last runs. Their families came out, both sad and celebratory. Some would transfer, or bump. Others took severance or retired. Either way, they were leaving and no press or crowds were there along the route to say, "Goodbye", just me. At Swift Current, Saskatchewan, we find one such person. The conductor of the lonely "1" looks over his train for the last time before taking it west. It would be a cold day in hell before this train was pried from the rails of CP, and it was.