Ian and Bill Visit the West, Part 1
Long-time reader Ian Walker and his railfan partner Bill Hall visited the Prairie provinces early this summer, and sent along some photos. I’m sharing them here in a series with Ian’s notes.
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Dances and Daydreams – My New Book
I’m pleased to announce that Dances and Daydreams, my fifth book, is now available as an eBook on Amazon and through Kindle Unlimited. Dances and Daydreams is a selection of my poetry, written between 1986 and 2022. It’s a little different than my other books, naturally… although there is one poem about trains. I will … Read more
Trains En Passant
I’ve always loved playing chess. When I was in school, I joined the chess club. I used to check chess books out of the library and study them. Spassky, Fischer, Lasker, Kasparov… names I knew well.
Book Review: M Train
It would be easy to dismiss the book “M Train” by Patti Smith as the ramblings of a sad older woman. It’s true that this memoir rambles – oh, how it rambles – and I believe it’s true that she was sad.
A Long Sprint
I recently had to made a quick road trip to Toronto. I’m not going to go into the reason for the trip, but I wanted to share a few observations and images from the run. It took me 36 hours and 30 minutes to drive to Toronto, and 35 hours and 25 minutes to drive … Read more
Food on the VIA Rail Canadian
I recently rode the VIA Rail “Canadian” from Winnipeg, MB to Sioux Lookout, ON and back. On that trip I had the opportunity to eat two meals aboard the train. I’ll share them here so you can get an idea of the meal experience, coach class. I need to emphasize that I was in coach … Read more
Consists
Here are some details on the two Canadians I rode on July 4, 2022 between Winnipeg and Sioux Lookout, and the CN trains we met along the way. You may want to refer to the CN Redditt subdivision listing for locations. Even train numbers are going east, odd-numbered trains are going west. VIA 2 Locomotives … Read more
Out and Back on the Canadian
Well, I did it – I rode the VIA Rail Canadian to Sioux Lookout, Ontario and back to Winnipeg. It was a good trip and I’m glad I did it. The trip wasn’t without its anxiety-inducing moments, due to late trains… read on.
Print It!
I embraced digital photography as soon as I could. As a computer geek, I like digital things and I am comfortable working with image files and virtual folders and image editors. I never learned how to develop film. The downside of digital photography is that you hardly ever hold your images in your hands – … Read more
I’m Going to Ride the Canadian
For the first time in my life, I’m going to ride VIA Rail’s Canadian train! I’m not going to ride it very far, mind you – Winnipeg to Sioux Lookout, Ontario, and back – but I’ll be on it! This was one of the things I said I wanted to do in 2022 in my … Read more