Rhythm of the Rails: Northern Ontario and Manitoba on the Canadian

Day 2 of Via Rail’s Trans-Canada Train Journey

 
Travelling across Canada aboard Via Rail’s iconic Canadian train is a one-of-a-kind journey that mixes a sense of adventure, relaxation, and awe-inspiring landscapes. From the dense forests of Northern Ontario to the vast prairie expanses of Manitoba, the journey is full of wonders that can only be fully appreciated when you let the train's steady rhythm sweep you along.
 

Magical Landscapes

 
While it is easy to get a good night’s sleep on the Canadian, I have often found that I get little rest on my first night on board.  For years, I have purposefully purchased a lower berth in the Sleeper Class, which means that I have a large picture window and panoramic view of the world and clear skies to myself all night!  For entire evenings, I can sit up on a cozy bed wrapped in a warm duvet and watch the beauty of Canada’s landscapes majestically roll by.  It is a far better experience than any TV show or movie, in my opinion!  I have spent entire evenings watching the beauty of Canada’s wilderness roll by – trees, lakes, prairies, and mountains shifting beneath a blanket of stars.
 

Add to this the fact that by the beginning of your second day onboard, your body has already begun to relax into the rhythm of the tracks and hum of the train’s engines.  The motion of the train becomes an addictive rhythm set to the sound of the train’s steady clatter against the rails and ties.  In an almost indescribable way, it is somehow wonderful to feel and hear the train alive around you!
 

Breakfast on Board: Simple and Satisfying

 
The first day on the Canadian might have you running on excitement rather than sleep, but the second day kicks off with a hearty breakfast in the dining car. There's no need to make reservations for breakfast, and it's served daily from 6:30 AM. On our journey today, we freshened up in the washroom and set off for the dining car.  Here we started our day with waffles and fresh berries, along with strong coffee and a glass of orange juice. The comforting start set the tone for a day of relaxation and observation. 

 
For those not looking for a full breakfast, there are also plenty of snacks available throughout the day in the Skyline Dome car, from pastries to fruit bars and cookies. It's the perfect pick-me-up when you need to stretch your legs or refuel after hours of watching the ever-changing views outside.

 

As passengers enjoy their morning repast, the staff quickly transforms our berths back into a comfortable pair of seats.  This means that the only question you have to answer is what do you want to do with the free time for the day?  While some build puzzles or play board games, and others watch movies on their laptops, we generally spend our time on board the Canadian looking outside.
 

Northern Ontario: A Land of Lakes, Forests, and Muskeg

 
This means that after breakfast today, we head up to the dome car to enjoy the sweeping vistas of Northern Ontario. The train passes through the rugged Canadian Shield, an area known for its dense forests, moss-covered rocks, and countless lakes. Over the years, we’ve seen this region in every season—moose grazing in the summer, colours glowing in the fall, and as a magical winter wonderland where the landscape and the train are both blanketed in snow. This is Ontario wilderness at its best and is a truly indescribable beauty.
 

As the train rolls west over the rugged terrain, it weaves around lakes and marshes. While the engineering challenges of building the transcontinental through the Rockies were easy to anticipate, the difficulties encountered in Northern Ontario, including the terrain of the Canadian Shield, muskeg, sinkholes, insects and weather, were not.  Ultimately, building the railway through the lands north of Lake Superior would be described as constructing hundreds of miles “of engineering impossibilities”.  In the end, it was the muskeg that most challenged the engineers of the transcontinental railway in this region.  Muskeg is an indigenous word describing unstable and deep soil with high water content in.  The result of the region’s freeze-thaw cycles would mean that seemingly solid terrain and track would suddenly give way and swallow up miles of track.   Given these conditions throughout the 1880s, it would take more than 20,000 men to build this stretch of railway through one of the wildest and most remote parts of the country.  The eventual solution would force the train to abandon the initial plans of having a direct route and force it to weave around numerous wetlands and marshlands as well as navigate the rocky terrain of the Canadian Shield.

Today, little evidence of these challenges is immediately evident as passengers admire the awe-inspiring wilderness around us.  Outside the tracks are lined with hydro poles, drunken telephone lines with their wires still hanging and strands of conifer trees, while rotting fences follow obscure property lines through marshes.  Flocks of birds often flush from marshes as the train rumbles past.

While beautiful in the spring and summer, this region is perhaps more stunning in the autumn when the fall colours are out.

As well as in the winter when we have taken Via Rail's Canadian across the country. 

Choosing which time of the year to take this journey is certainly not easy.

Large Provinces, Small Towns and Flag Stops

 
As the Canadian crosses Northern Ontario, we pass through communities like Longlac, Armstrong, and Sioux Lookout. These towns are located in some of the most remote and scenic corners of the province, often marking flag stops—small, informal halts where passengers disembark or board.

 
One thing that always strikes me when travelling through Northern Ontario is how vast the province truly is. For Europeans, the realization that we are still in Ontario with endless miles of trees and fresh water lakes, still passing after two days of travel, is always a moment of awe. Ontario alone takes up two out of the five days of this transcontinental journey, and the sheer size of the province is often difficult to comprehend.  Merely by the numbers, the province of Ontario is more than 1 million sq km in size, making it almost twice as large as France, twice as large as Germany and more than twice as large as Spain.   In short, if the province of Ontario were a European nation, it would only be smaller than Russia in terms of land size.
 

"How Many Trees Do I Have to See?"

 
As we pass through Northern Ontario’s thick forests, I’m reminded of a question once asked by a child who had travelled on board the Canadian years ago, "How many trees do I have to see to know Canada?" At the time, it seemed like a simple, perhaps even silly, question. But over the years, it has stuck with me. I’ve worked in places like Algonquin Provincial Park and live in British Columbia, as well as often visiting areas like Jasper, Banff, and Gros Morne.   We have hiked more than 14,000 km across the country over 4 years on the Trans Canada Trail.  And we have travelled by train from coast to coast almost two dozen times, and yet I still don’t know that much about this vast nation and still wonder “How many trees that I will have to see to know Canada?”
 
It is these types of questions and random thoughts that come to mind during these beautiful, quiet moments on the train. 

 
Sitting in the observation dome, chatting about the regional birds and reminiscing about hiking around Lake Superior, we were surprised when the call for lunch was made.  While most people do enjoy the three meals offered each day in the dining car, we often opt to skip lunch.  Given the generous portions of each meal and the fact that we are sitting all day (for 5 days), we rarely find ourselves hungry enough to have lunch.  
 

Goodbye to Ontario

 
Not long after departing Armstrong, the Canadian passed through the community of Collins, a point which also marks the first time change of this journey.   Here again, the sheer scope and size of Canada are emphasized.   Beyond the distances and varied geographies that this journey traverses, the simple fact that en route between Toronto and Vancouver, you also cross 4 time zones is somewhat staggering to realize. 

As the afternoon passed by, we spent time in the Skyline car lounge building a puzzle with other passengers.  At one point, the Canadian pulled into Sioux Lookout, a community that is both the centre of the regional forestry industry as well as being popular with outdoors and nature enthusiasts.  Pulling into town here we were given a 20-30 minute break at the station where we could get off the train and stretch our legs. 
 

Back on board, we participated in a regional beer tasting session and a game of bingo in the lounge.  Today’s options focused on Canadian beers, which, among the British and Germans onboard, was the subject of much critique.  For those used to strong German stouts or pints of Guinness, it seemed that Labatt Blue and Bud Light could simply not compete.  Regardless, it was a fun time, and we again got the opportunity to chat with other passengers.  During this period, beyond Sioux Lookout, the train passed through a succession of flag stops including Hudson, Canyon, Farlane, Minaki, Malachi, and Rice Lake, beyond which we come to the end of our time in Ontario.  
 

Crossing into Manitoba

 
With the sky filled with a gorgeous sunset on the horizon in front of the train, we passed through Manitoba’s amazing Whiteshell Provincial Park.  It is in this park on board the Canadian that we have witnessed some of the most memorable events on this route.   We have watched as canoes are unloaded to lamplight in the middle of the night.  We have seen hunters load deer into the baggage car during hunting season, and we have been here in the middle of winter as the train slowly pushed through the frozen landscape in search of campers due to board as they returned to the east. 

 
Dinner on our second night was wonderful.  With the sun blazing as it touched the horizon, we enjoyed a wonderful falafel wrap and chocolate cake for dessert. 

 
Departing Whiteshell, we find ourselves leaving behind the forested wilderness of Northern Ontario and Eastern Manitoba and entering the vast open farmlands and spaces of the prairies. The train’s pace quickens as the land flattens out, stretching out as far as the eye can see.
 

Winnipeg : The Gateway to the West

 
With our evening meal completed and our stomachs full, we still had several hours of travel before arriving in Winnipeg.  The provincial capital, Winnipeg, is known as the "Gateway to the West," and was founded by Lord Selkirk in 1812 on land granted by the Hudson’s Bay Company.  It became a major railway centre in 1881 when the CPR arrived, though it had long been a site of meeting at the “forks” of the local rivers.  In terms of Via Rail Winnipeg station is also the place where people can transfer to the Winnipeg-Church Hill Train heading north. 

 
Originally, our arrival into Winnipeg was scheduled for 7:30 PM however we are presently about 2 hours behind.  This late arrival is not usual for the Canadian, fortunately, with a scheduled 4-hour break in Winnipeg, there is a possibility of making up this time.  Unfortunately, the fact that we have pulled in at 9:45 PM means that everything from the Train Museum in the Station, to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights nearby, to the Forks market are closed to visitors.

 
While in Winnipeg, the train is serviced, and the platforms are closed, so passengers either have to remain on board or leave for the duration of our stay.  Off the train, people are welcome to wander about the station, explore the nearby Forks or wander the local area.  As such, we have spent many of our breaks in Winnipeg simply walking around for a few hours while the train is cleaned, refuelled and resupplied.  Even at night, the change of pace and getting the opportunity to move around are enjoyable. 

 

On this journey, the call for re-boarding is made just after midnight.  This – in theory – means that we have regained an hour and are now only an hour late.  In practice, this doesn’t turn out to be the case.  With both new and old passengers on board the Canadian, we are introduced to our new car attendant and head off to the dome car. Given the late hour, we only spent a few minutes in the skyline dome car watching the city pass as we resumed our westward journey before heading to our berths, which had been made up during our stop at the station.

 
Tonight, as we lie tucked in bed, the train will traverse western Manitoba and cross into Saskatchewan.  Tomorrow we will wake up and be in the heart of the prairies and near the midpoint of our journey.
 

Reflecting on Day 2 onboard the Canadian

 
Our second day travelling on the Canadian train through Northern Ontario and Manitoba is more than just a journey from one place to another. It’s a chance to slow down, connect with the land, and truly take in the beauty of Canada’s diversity of breathtaking landscapes. The rhythm of the rails, the comfort of the train, and the ever-changing scenery create an experience unlike any other. Whether you're gazing at the forests of Northern Ontario or watching the sun set over the Manitoba prairies, the Canadian is a journey and experience unlike any other.

See you on the Trail or the Rails!