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CANADA PASSENGER RAIL On The Move: The Hidden Dangers of Operating The Epic Canadian Train PLAY YOUTUBE VIDEO Original article:
The Hidden Dangers of Operating The Epic Canadian Train On The Move 139K subscribers ... 72,954 views ... 1.5K likes Aug 14, 2025 #OnTheMove In this episode of Mighty Trains, follow the epic 4-day, 4,500-kilometer journey aboard The Canadian, Canada's legendary transcontinental passenger train. Learn about the incredible engineering and dedicated crews that keep this iconic steel behemoth rolling across diverse landscapes, from the rugged Rocky Mountains to the vast prairies and dense Canadian Shield. Leaving Vancouver for Toronto, The Canadian hauls across a dozen tunnels, 670 bridges, and several mountain ranges. Discover the hidden challenges of long-distance rail travel, from avoiding derailments and rock slides to the intricate logistics of an on-board kitchen feeding 140 passengers daily. Subscribe to On The Move to watch more documentaries: http://bit.ly/369zkpx Any queries, please contact us at: owned-enquiries@littledotstudios.com #OnTheMove On The Move Peter Burgess COMMENTARY Peter Burgess Transcript 0:00 Here comes the Canadian. Veril's world famous transcontinental passenger train. It first hit the rails in 1955. Recently upgraded and overhauled, it's now mightier than ever. Barreling along a route with an incredible history. One man died per mile of tractor. There's several thousand miles of track. If you're like me and you love trains, you know that all over the world they connect people and communities. This one built a nation. The Canadian is now arriving from Toronto Cape. The Canadian rolls into Vancouver's 0:52 Pacific Central Station and the countdown to my great adventure begins. 0:59 But before this train turns around and heads back east, an army of staff descends to stock it. 1:06 So glasses, sugar, bananas, champagne, clean it. Yeah, it's covered in bugs. 1:12 And check it from top to bottom. They swap out the locomotive's drive 1:17 motor for servicing, scrutinize every millimeter of the steel 1:22 wheels for flat spots caused by braking, and grind down any problem areas. 1:28 The bass just like a nice smooth ride. They don't like boom boom boom boom boom at 3:00 in the morning. 1:36 To prepare for my great Canadian expedition, I visited a guy in Toronto who's crazy about this train. 1:42 Look at that. Jason Shron has an actual via rail carriage in his house. 1:47 This is incredible. Wow. Complete with the soundtrack from a 1:54 real journey. Okay, so here we are in a train car in a suburban basement. 2:00 That's it. That's it. This is amazing. You're in a via rail coach as it was in 1980. We got a hold of it before it was 2:06 scrapped and literally took it apart. Took all the seats out, the windows, the doors, everything. So a lot of what you see is actually from that car. What is 2:13 it about the Canadian in particular? Why is it so legendary? If you had to um encapsulate the country 2:19 into one object, the Canadian is an object that captures Canada because through it you can experience the whole 2:26 country. The Canadian is it's like a time machine actually. The equipment was built in 1954 and 55 when the train was 2:33 first introduced and via rail has gone through major 2:39 refurbishments 1981, 1990 and then again just recently. So you're in a modern uh 2:45 piece of technology but you're also in history. It's like a magnet. Rail fans 2:50 from all over the world will come to ride the game and it is a experience that they will never forget. 2:56 At Vancouver's Pacific Central Station, zero hour approaches and that's a complete time at 1861. 3:03 And our engineers Brennan and Lesie are finalizing critical details, figuring out exactly when and where they have to 3:10 switch tracks to be sure they have a clear run ahead of them. So trains go this way and trains go that 3:16 way. It's like a puzzle. It's a puzzle. So we kind of zigzag on all these different rail lines. Yeah. Many 3:22 different rail companies own the tracks and operate the switches that guide trains from one track to another. 3:31 Passenger trains need permission from every rail company to get them on the right tracks at the right time. 3:38 Without this, we go out there without this, we're we don't have serious accidents, we're in big trouble, 3:44 right? But the engineers don't have to make decisions all on their own. They've got 3:50 support 24/7 from Operation Control in Montreal, 3:55 where specialists like Nicholas Ashilius keep a close eye on all 70 of VIA's daily trains, even when they're four 4:03 time zones away. So, it's our graph to know where the tracks are, where we can basically put 4:09 two trains in the same area and if a train can proceed or not. He's also the go-to guy 4:15 when there's an emergency. Yes, sir. operations. Nick, that's the most stressful thing I'd say 4:22 is hearing that phone ring. Everybody's quiet until we pick up the phone and realize what problem we're 4:29 dealing with. Could be mechanical problem, heating not working to u somebody passing away on the train or um 4:37 even a derailment. Good to know these guys in Montreal will be keeping track of us 4:45 once we leave Vancouver. The Canadian will travel eastbound 4500 kilometers. 4:52 We'll feel its awesome power as it hauls us through several mountain ranges and 4:57 spectacular feats of engineering, a dozen tunnels, 670 bridges, and 5:04 ingenious construction over millions of hectares of swamp before hitting Toronto, its final destination. 5:14 Before departure, our engineer Leslie Redford runs some checks. 5:19 The operators need to know their brakes work and all the bells and whistles, too. Bellist 5:28 red for emergency harm or imminent disaster. 5:33 There is a backup in case the engineer is distracted, loses consciousness, or 5:38 worse. If he doesn't touch the brakes or gears for 30 seconds, an alarm goes off and he 5:45 has to hit a response button to show he's paying attention. If this button is not depressed, then 5:52 the uh alert will set the train brakes and bring the train to a stop. 5:57 This locomotive, an F40 PH2, a legendary workhorse, weighs in at almost 118,000 6:06 kilos, as heavy as four Sherman tanks. At 18 m long and 5 m high, it's the size 6:14 of a small house. Your attention, please. Economy 6:21 passengers on VR Canada, please get ready to board the train. Thank you. 6:28 The adventure starts now. Hello. I'm Teddy. 6:33 Hey, Bird. Nice to meet you, Bert. Your first time on the trip? No. No, it's my third. It's a great way 6:40 to cross the country. Any advice for me for living for 4 days on a train? Uh, use the bar cart. 6:46 The bar car. I think we're related. And here we are. 6:53 Welcome. Oh, cool. Oh, this is great. Everything you need. Uh, where is the bed? 6:59 The bed is hidden in the wall. What you get here, these chairs fold right down very flat. 7:04 And I have a special key. I'll be coming around later on while you probably you're at your meal and I'll be pulling 7:10 down the beds. What happens here is this one drops down like a Murphy bed. Okay. And if necessary, there's another one that drops from the top to create bunk 7:17 beds. Oh, there's a double in here. It could be a double if you want. I assume you just want the one today. I'm just good with the one. 7:22 All right. All aboard. The train is so long it was split to fit 7:28 the platform during servicing. Now the front half moves forward, switches 7:34 tracks, then backs up to connect with the rest. 7:42 And we're away. 7:47 As Vancouver's lights grow dim behind us, we cross the first of those 670 7:53 bridges, catch glimpses of the TransCanada Highway, and see a lot of 7:59 freight trains. Some of them are 200 cars long. 8:05 When we meet them traveling in the wilderness, usually on a single track, our shorter passenger train will switch 8:12 over onto a siding to let the big guys pass. 8:19 We departed Vancouver after sunset. So, because this is such a long journey, obviously a lot of it is going to take 8:25 place at night. And if it was daytime, you would see the Fraser River just on this side of the train. 8:32 I'm definitely taking that advice I was given. Time to hit the bar car and meet some fellow travelers. You guys having a 8:40 good trip so far? Yeah. This is the first time we've taken a journey, not a trip. Being able to just 8:46 sit back and relax and like and really see Canada. You really do. This from a totally different angle. 8:52 What do you think of the ride here? I get to sit down. I get to meet people and it's an enjoyable journey. 8:59 We start hitting tunnels about 100 km northeast of Vancouver, heading into our 9:05 first mountain range. That's when the real work begins for the locomotive and its mighty engine. 9:14 It's hauling 18 loaded carriages that stretch more than half a kilometer. 9:20 The diesel engine has 16 cylinders and 3,000 horsepower, giving it the pulling 9:26 power of half a dozen tractor trailers. It runs a massive electric generator, 9:32 powering four traction motors that drive the wheels pulling the train. 9:38 When these locomotives were built in the 1980s, few machines on Earth could match 9:43 the F40's strength and staying power. Then a few years ago, VIA had to decide, 9:49 scrap them or overhaul them. The result, many innovative upgrades that make the 9:55 locomotives better than ever. We wanted to get a fleet that was going to take us for the next 20 years, be 10:01 more fuel efficient and easier to maintain, and also increase the total power available in the locomotive. And 10:09 all the removable components were removed, and they were sorted. Some had to be just thrown out for garbage. Some 10:15 were sorted for reuse. Some were then rebuilt and others were renewed 10:22 completely. The locomotive was stripped down to bare metal. All the repairs that 10:29 needed to be done, the body repairs, the corrosion repairs, some major patches had to be put in place. 10:34 But VIA did more than rebuild. They also found better and more efficient ways to 10:39 operate the engine. We had to add this section of body here. And we had to add this bulge up here to 10:46 accept the cooling system for what we call the gen set. And the gen set is what gives us the ability to save over 10:51 10% of our fuel bill on our F40 fleet. Now in here you can actually see the gen 10:56 set. The yellow piece is the diesel engine. This diesel engine generates 500 kW of 11:04 power for the train's hotel needs. everything from lights, heating and air 11:09 conditioning to running the kitchen and the toilets. And all of this it's allows the main 11:16 engine to operate much more fuel efficiently than it did before. 11:24 It's just after midnight when we pull into a siding for the first shift change. 11:30 Okay, we had a clear signal coming in. Uh 20 cars tonight, two engines, no problems with the power. Okay, good to 11:36 go. Time for Leslie and Brennan to hand over the controls. As long as there's no more delays, 11:42 they'll make up the train will make up time. The new engineers will keep a close eye on the clock as we head deeper into the 11:49 mountains. I say to you, good luck. It's a real challenge struggling to stay 11:55 on schedule while pulling over for so many freight trains on a busy single track. 12:02 These engineers are well trained and understand that fine balance. They know 12:08 that a moment of inattention could lead to big trouble. 12:14 Aboard the mighty Canadian. We're 12 hours into an epic cross-country journey. When the sun came up this 12:21 morning, we were in the BC interior near Cam Loops. Right now, just on the other side of this, we're paralleling the 12:28 North Thompson River. Uh, but we we've basically been passing the side rivers the whole time. And it makes a lot of 12:33 sense because there's rivers that originally cut a path through these mountains. This is Little Hell's Gate, where the 12:40 North Thompson squeezes through a narrow gorge creating wicked rapids. And I I 12:45 kept this window open all night. And you know, you'd sleep for an hour and then you'd wake up for 10 minutes and you'd 12:50 see a little town on a hill or you'd see a freight train pass. 12:57 In the clear light of day, it's easier to see what's happening when we meet those trains. 13:03 I can see the sidings now where we can pull over. 13:08 It makes sense that our shorter train will have an easier time switching onto that parallel track than the long 13:14 freight trains. 13:22 The signal system tells engineers when and where to do this, so they need to 13:27 know their signals. Track, clear, proceed, slow down, and stop. 13:35 Missing a signal or switch can derail a train or worse. 13:40 In 2008, the engineer of a packed commuter train in Chadzsworth, California, missed a red signal and 13:48 collided with a freight train, killing 25 people. 13:53 Sure makes me appreciate the skill and alertness of the guys driving our train. 14:02 The Canadian is more than a tourist train. People who live in remote areas 14:08 like Veil Mount, a small logging town, can call ahead and ask it to stop. 14:14 This was um where you came this morning, the North Thompson River. Okay. Matthew Wheeler is a local photographer. 14:20 His family has lived in this area for generations and relied on the train to connect them to the world. 14:26 The passenger train was the only way to get to the city for dentists and all that sort of thing. A real lifeline, right? 14:32 Yeah, it was. There was no highway out to the west becomes a traveling village. 14:39 Tell us about where we are. We're in Robson Valley now. We're in the Robson Valley which is the Rocky Mountain Trench which stretches 14:44 from Yukon to the States and the Fraser River fills it. 14:50 That's Robson. That is impressive. It's 3 kilometers from top to the valley 14:56 floor. If it's clear at the top, you It's like a beacon. You can see it from 100 miles. 15:02 It's a beautiful site, but don't be fooled. We're in wild country where 15:08 forest fires and rock slides can devastate a mountain side. Avalanches 15:13 can wipe out tracks in seconds, as one did in 2007 on a different rail line a 15:19 few hours south of here. But sturdy snow sheds protect the trains from most avalanches. And special detection 15:27 systems pick up signs of falling rock. The railway has poles with wires and if 15:32 something comes down and breaks one of those wires then it'll detect the broken signal and someone will come out to have a look. 15:38 No hazards on our route so far. Just some spectacular scenery. What would Canada be without this line? 15:45 The it wouldn't feel like a country anymore. Really wouldn't. 15:52 It was the railroad that made Canada a country. Building the first transcontinental route was brutal work. 15:59 It took more than a decade to survey, then four years and tens of thousands of 16:05 workers to lay down 4,500 km of track. The last spike was hammered in 1885. 16:12 Very dangerous stretches of track to build because of hanging off the sides of these raging rivers. Uh there's 16:20 estimated about one man died per mile of track in building the Canadian Pacific Railroad. 16:26 Wow. I think there's several thousand miles of track. For most passengers, this trip is not 16:32 about getting from one place to the next. Being on the Canadian is the destination. The scenery out the windows 16:40 are big screen entertainment. 16:46 For diehard rail fans, a trip like this in these iconic vintage cars is highly 16:51 praised as is collecting them. The models that is our friend Jason Shron 16:58 spends his working life crafting perfect replicas and selling them around the world. See kind of little seats in 17:04 there. So this is the coach car. This is the coach, right? The coach is basically the bread and butter. This is if you're going from A to B, especially 17:10 if it's not going overnight, you're going to be in the coach. And to an average person who's never ridden the train, oh that's like an airplane. It's 17:16 not like an airplane, okay? You have a lot of space. You've actually got a leg rest that folds out. The seat goes 17:22 almost all the way back. It's a very comfortable place. And a lot of people will actually go all the way across Canada staying in the coach. 17:28 Sleeper car, I presume? Yes. This is actually a manor sleeper. They've got uh single bedrooms called 17:33 rettes. They've got open births called sections. And then they've got the bedrooms. Ooh. So, which car is this? Okay. This is a dining car. The food on 17:40 the Canadian is something else. It's really amazing and it's one of the few places anywhere in North America where 17:46 you will have fresh prepared food on board from fresh ingredients by chefs. Wonderful thing about dining on the 17:52 Canadian is it hasn't changed. So it's like you're in the 1950s and you are 17:58 getting beautiful service on the train 1950s and it's it's still great service. You really feel like you're being taken 18:03 to a very classy restaurant 60 years ago. And at this end of the car you have the kitchen and then you have an aisle 18:09 going along as well. The kitchen is very very very tight. Um, everything has its place there. So, as a fan of trains, this car 18:15 instantly recognizable as the Canadian. It's very unique to the Canadian to have these dome cars. Um, and then the 18:20 Skyline's got a whole bunch of things to do. It's actually called on board the activity cars. And the Skyline has three 18:26 sections to it. So, it has the lounge at the end, which I'll tell you is actually uh the most comfortable lounge on the 18:32 train in my opinion. It's got these big curvy seats. It's very, very cozy. Uh you've got the um dome on top and then 18:38 you've got a a coffee shop area on the other end where you can have activities, you can play games, you can meet people, 18:44 you can have a snack. I mean it's it's a it's a just nice place to hang out. Sleeper cart. Well, this is a chatau sleeper. The 18:49 chatau sleepers have recently been refurbished for prestige class. So if you really shell out a lot of money, you'll be in a chatau. The L-shaped 18:56 couch pulls out into an extra-lar bed. And each prestige room has its own shower. All the private bedrooms have 19:03 their own toilets. And guess what? They don't empty onto the tracks. I checked with the guy in Vancouver who's in 19:09 charge of them. First of all, we can't just flush out onto a track, right? That's been forbidden for years. At one time, 19:15 toilets could be flushed on the truck, which is pretty bad. And then they came up with this whole idea of flushing into 19:21 retention tanks. But there's no place that you could put big enough sewer pipes like on a house, like three and 19:26 four inch pipes that could drain down on on, you know, on grade and into a tank. So they have to be basically sucked into 19:32 the tank through these inch and a half pipes. When you want to flush an individual toilet, you're going to press 19:37 the button. Then the main brain under the car fires up the vacuum ejector. 19:42 Basically send a signal back to the single toilet and say go ahead and flush. 19:49 20 car train will probably have about 130 toilets. They're all like my little 19:55 children. So, I tell people I I got 130, 40, 50 children out there that I have to 20:01 go out and babysit every day, you know. So, that's how I feel about them. Good to know Larry's taking care of that 20:07 business. Now, back to our tour. The end of the train is the park car. They're named after national parks in 20:13 Canada, and the bullet lounge is the one at the back, and that is really an iconic uh symbol of the Canadian. Now, 20:20 the Canadian was a product of its age when it was made. So in the 1930s to50s, uh, streamlining was all the rage. And 20:27 what is a miracle is that we still have it running today. They're all gone from regular service. So people travel from 20:34 all around the world just to ride in this car. An economy ticket from Vancouver to 20:41 Toronto starts at $700. Travel in luxury in the brand new 20:46 Prestige car in a suite for two will cost around7,000 Canadian. 20:54 Time to check out that skyline lounge. Dark wheel. That looks good. You know what? I'm 21:00 going to pay with this $10 bill, which check this out. This train, the Canadian, is on. Is that cool? Did you 21:07 That is way cool. Is that awesome? I just found out about it. I think it's great. That's great. Um, so why did you want to 21:12 take the the Canadian, Bob? And there you go, Mark. Thank you very much. Thank you. Oh, how cool is it that it's 21:18 not my fault that nobody can talk to me for four days because there's no internet, that I have four days 21:23 completely free. So, part of this trip was an intentional unplug for you. Absolutely. 21:28 Wow. Yeah. And literally feeling like we've gone back 60, 70, 80 years. That's part 21:34 of the allure. Now, this is the way they did it in the old cars. This is the way we want to do it. That technology is 21:42 still so valid. 21:50 We're coming into Jasper National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site. 21:56 It's wet outside, but that's not going to stop me from getting out there. So, every time the train stops in 22:02 Jasper, you do this. Wash all the windows. This is where I get to stretch my legs and arms, doing my bit to uphold 22:10 the Canadian's picture perfect reputation. 22:16 Tomorrow we meet the guys who never have time to look out those windows. They'll be too busy trying not to lose their 22:22 fingers when we hit the bumpiest part of the journey. 22:31 [Music] [Applause] The legendary Canadian has crossed the continental divide and conquered the 22:38 Rockies. With the mountains behind us, we're now picking up speed. 22:43 Today we wake up to the Saskatchewan prairies. Now this this flat undulating land. Uh wheat fields everywhere and 22:52 wheat and Saskatchewan and the railway all totally intimately tied together. 22:57 Every small town along here has a grain elevator bringing wheat up to the passing rail cars. So the history of 23:03 Saskatchewan is very much the history of this railway route that we're on right now. 23:10 Pioneers flocked to this area in the late 1800s. The government was giving away land and promising prosperity. 23:20 You really do get a sense of how much the railway built this part of Canada in in every way, especially here in 23:25 Saskatchewan was a huge huge lifeline uh for people, but also for building the towns for 23:32 business. Hey, hold up. Table five. 140 meals come out of this tiny galley 23:40 every day. We open at 6:30 in the morning, pretty much go till 10:30 at night. Wow. 23:46 So, I can It can get a bit crazy. As you can see, this is a challenge. 23:52 Have you ever put your hand on the grill accidentally or anything when you uh No, but I've been lurched that way 23:57 and I'm actually catch myself. This safety bar helps a lot as well. It's a big thing, right? Right. This is why we have the uh rails 24:03 around here. The pans will slide. That'll stop them from sliding. right off the table. So, it's a safety issue, too. Also works as a good hand grip when 24:10 you're falling over. For the cooks and passengers, how smoothly the wheels ride really counts. 24:19 The wheel sets on the train are made up of two steel wheels on a fixed axle that fits precisely on the rails. 24:26 The tread of the wheel is coned or angled and the rail rounded and angled inwards. 24:32 That's what keeps it on the tracks. The actual contact spot between the wheel and rail is barely the size of a dime. 24:40 The less resistance between the two, the smoother the ride. The flange on the 24:46 inner side of the wheel never actually touches the rails if the train is rolling smoothly. It's only there to 24:52 prevent derailment. Before every journey, the maintenance 24:58 crew in Vancouver make sure the surface of each wheel is perfect. The bastards like a nice smooth ride. 25:03 They don't like boom boom boom boom boom. They start by eyeballing every single wheel set, 25:10 looking for damage to the wheel surface. Damage like skid plats caused when the 25:16 trains slide or skid during abrupt stops or emergency braking. Any flat spot on 25:22 the round wheels makes for a bumpy ride. So when damage is detected, the wheels 25:29 are sent to be tred or rep-profiled. 25:34 This machine is uh designed to remove the defects from the wheel. 25:41 A special lathe or milling machine with multiple cutters on each side is used to 25:47 shave off thin layers of steel and restore the wheel's profile. Should it get another defect in it, 25:53 it'll come back and be put back on the machine and true again. A wheel set on the Canadian can be tred 25:59 up to four times and usually lasts about a year. During that lifetime, they do a lot of 26:06 rocking and rolling. Is there a certain part of this journey, Vancouver to Toronto, that's the roughest for you guys? 26:11 Pretty much this part in the prairies cuz it's straight line. So, we can go as fast as we can, right? 26:16 We're in the uh mountains. We tend to go slower around by the rivers, which is a good thing. So, I came back here in the most jerky 26:23 part, right? Hey, you picked the perfect time. 26:34 Oh, there's a picture. So, Chef K, can you tell me about these uh these foot locks here? I just put my feet under here and I lean 26:40 back sometimes. Hold on. Like that. That's it. It ruins your best shoes. Got 26:45 to be careful. Right. You'll use all kind of tricks on the train, you know. Yeah. You kind of find every spot to grab. Yeah. You leave your knees on here as 26:51 you're cutting. When you're using a knife, when the train is really fast, you're rocking around like this. You need to stay balanced, right? You don't 26:56 want to get your fingers under the knife, right? So, but when you're moving back and forth, you kind of get used to the movement of the train, so you can 27:02 almost anticipate which way it's going to go. You know, over the years, how much have you guys bumped into each other? Lots of times. Lots of times. We stay 27:09 kind of friends. They've logged a lot of time and distance through all that bumping and 27:15 balancing. The Canadian has traveled a 27:20 mind-boggling 97 million kilometers in its lifetime. The equivalent of 250 27:27 trips to the moon. I'm about to learn how that's even possible. 27:36 We've been rolling through the prairies all night long heading toward the halfway point of our journey, Winnipeg, 27:42 Manitoba. I'm finding it hard to wrap my head around the size of this country and how 27:49 amazing it is that the Canadian has done this journey more than 2400 times 27:56 and racked up 97 million km in the process. 28:04 The secret to the Canadian's long lifespan is here at VIA's maintenance center in Montreal. 28:13 The eyes of the best mechanics in the business are all over these locomotives. They get serviced every 7 days, every 14 28:21 days, and this F40 has rolled in for its e inspection, which happens twice a 28:26 year. They're going to be doing the inspection of the engine, the uh all the electricity, the communication. They'll 28:33 look at the windshields that they're cracked, all the safety items. 28:39 Turns out this locomotive arrived just in the nick of time. When a mechanic checks out the massive V16 engine, he 28:46 discovers something that's not supposed to be there. There was uh oil in the the base where the engine sits. Supposed to be no oil. 28:54 We need to do a thorough inspection on that. To get at the problem area, the team has 29:00 to use two 15tonon cranes to hoist the engine out of the locomotive. put it on 29:05 the side and that's where we're going to start investigating the um exactly where the oil is the leak is coming from. 29:15 It might take days to find the problem. 29:21 With a situation this complex, engineer Maxim Lee steps in to troubleshoot. 29:26 So we we look at places where there could be evidence of leakage. if there are gasket missing or if there's ceiling 29:34 surfaces that are not working properly. 29:44 They're measuring actually what's the gap between the crankshaft and the housing. If the gap is too big, we fear 29:52 that it might it might leak oil from there. So that's why we're making those kind of measurement to make sure that 29:58 the the engine is in good condition. It takes 24 hours before Maxim's crew 30:06 zeros in on the cause of the problem. Turns out a clog in the drain under the 30:12 engine made oil spray out everywhere. Once fixed, it's back on the rails 30:18 again. Since we we hold passenger trains, it's very important to make sure that the 30:24 train are in good condition and we don't have road delays because of the equipment condition. 30:31 That attention to detail means breakdowns in the middle of nowhere are highly unlikely. 30:39 We're now passing through an area of Manitoba known for its wide river valleys. To span the deep gaps in the 30:45 landscape, trestle bridges were built. The one we're about to cross, the UNO 30:51 Bridge, is close to 500 m long. It's supported by steel trestles and it 30:56 stands over 30 m high. Hi there. How are you enjoying your journey with us? 31:03 Service manager Chris Nadau can't even begin to count how many bridges he's crossed during his career on the 31:09 Canadian, but the thrill of it never gets old. Even when I'm not working, I love being 31:15 on on the train. Like, it opens your eyes up a lot to see what's actually out there. I've driven across the country 31:21 before, but to take it uh by train is a whole different experience. Of course, 31:26 your first few trips, you're too busy working to look out the window. Yeah. But once you get the hang of things and 31:31 have a chance to uh appreciate the scenery, uh we are so fortunate to live 31:36 in the most beautiful country in the world. In the meantime, my room is being serviced and I want to see firsthand how 31:43 it's done. Are people on the train pretty particular about their beds, do you find? Well, you know, they're pretty happy by the time the end of the day they get to 31:49 have any type of a bed, but uh it's always nice to climb into a nice clean crisp bed. So, it is. Yeah. Every section of the track 31:55 across the country has a little bit of a different cadence. Okay. So, without opening the window of the train when I 32:01 wake up in the morning, I can tell whether where whether we're on time. You know, when you're going through the through the Rockies or through the 32:06 Fraser Canyon, we get the creaking of the train going around the corners left to right. 32:13 The prairies, you get the hopping, skipping, you know, rattling. Everything starts bouncing around. 32:20 When you're doing stuff like this off the train, does it feel weird not having this the sway? is you can really feel it. 32:25 You know what? I don't even make beds at home. I uh I don't make beds or wash windows. I've actually told my wife that 32:31 uh I shovel coal on the train cuz I don't want to have to do that when I get home. The last thing to do Yeah. Well, it's been working so far. 32:39 We're slowing down as we approach Winnipeg, the halfway point of our journey. 32:45 In urban areas, it's absolutely critical that the brakes of this mighty machine are working at 100%. 32:55 Every train's brakes are tested before leaving any station to make sure there's enough air pressure in the system to 33:01 reach all the way to the back wheels of the last carriage. Another thing they pay serious attention 33:08 to in Montreal. So, I will manipulate this handle here and I'll put it in any position that I 33:14 want just to make sure that the the the brakes apply. So the first brake position is the minimum brake position, 33:20 which is the first notch that you encounter when you move this lever. [Music] 33:27 One of the F40 locomotives trademarks is a rugged air braking system. Lucas 33:32 Simsak knows it inside out. So this locomotive has a compressor which uh will pump air into reservoirs 33:40 which are beside me over here. So the the compressed air goes in this piston. When the locomotive engineer moves the 33:47 handle, that piston gets pressurized, pushes on a set of linkage, which will apply brakes on each of the wheels. 33:57 Many people think that trains take so long to stop because of their enormous weight. Not so, says Lucas. 34:04 There's actually not at all the weight. It's because of the adhesion of the wheels on the rails. Trains run on steel 34:09 wheels, on steel rails. Compared to tires, you slip very easily between two 34:14 steel surfaces. So, you're limited on how hard you can break before the wheels lock. For that reason, you cannot break 34:23 above what the available adhesion between two steel parts is. In a worstc case scenario, the driver 34:30 needs maximum adhesion instantly. Emergency situation requires emergency braking. 34:38 When the lever is in emergency position, maximum air pressure is forced into the braking system. 34:44 Unfortunately, if uh sometimes this is not enough and they will collide most cases 34:53 as we pull into Winnipeg, our brakes are serving us well. 35:01 This is a 90-minute pit stop to restock and switch crew, including the service managers. Chris Nado hands over to Sunny 35:09 Restio. Everyone's behaving. Torch is yours, brother. Thanks, buddy. Have a great 35:22 The train is restocked, the crew and new passengers board, and the Canadian is 35:27 ready to move on. Okay, for doors right hand side, Winnipeg. Thank you very much, gentlemen. Attention on train service 35:33 personnel via 2. Once again, you're okay to open up your doors right hand side. Winnipeg terminal SM2 out. 35:41 Heading into Ontario Bush Country, there will be surprises, unscheduled stops, and some unexpected 35:49 cargo. Moose. We're past the midpoint of our journey, 35:55 having traversed incredibly varied landscapes. Two more days to go on our journey to Toronto. 36:01 Uh so here we are our third morning and surprise our third completely new landscape. This is Ontario. We crossed 36:08 into the province overnight and uh we've just passed Sue lookout. We're about an hour past that and we're on route to 36:14 Sudbury. This is the Canadian shield that we're seeing. It's this vast dense layer of precamrian rock. 36:20 On top of this wide area of precamrian shield, we find Muske country. It was a 36:27 big challenge to build the railroad across these millions of hectares of bog. As big a challenge as it was to get 36:34 through the Rocky Mountains. This gigantic expanse of wet, dead, and 36:40 decomposing vegetation lies on top of the hardest rock on Earth, the Canadian 36:45 shield. Railway workers used dry earth to fill in the holes, wo tree branches to bridge 36:53 gaps, then poured tons of rock and gravel on top to pack it solid and level 36:59 it to create a rail bed. [Music] 37:04 As harsh and wet as this place is, it's still home to remote settlements, and 37:10 the Canadian serves them well. The railway continues to be for the people in the small communities, the inaccessible communities. It's their 37:16 lifeline. Uh specifically in the summertimes, in the winter time, they can get by with winter roads and they 37:23 can get all their commodities and such brought in that way. But in the summertime, there's just no access in 37:28 the communities. This is Collins. Population about 30. No 37:34 roads in or out. Only air evacuations for medical emergencies. 37:40 Okay. So, there's a couple fasters he's going to get. We'll do the bag. Okay. I'll leave you with this and I'm going to go crack the door. 37:46 Yeah, they have to get all their supplies, you know, out of town. So, they only recently got electricity here. 37:52 We're running about 2 hours late, which is uh it's not too bad for this train. Generally speaking, 2 hours you can live 37:59 with. You can almost make it up on the road if you get a couple of breaks. Almost. But even the best train 38:05 schedules can be delayed by late comers. Yeah, last minute arrival. Uh so luckily for them, we were still here when they 38:12 uh when they decided to show up. So we usually give the we'll give the horn a couple tootses before we before we pull 38:18 and you'll see them come running. We call them marathoners. Good day. How are you? Up you go, young 38:24 man. Go to your left. Hey, we almost missed you. What happened? 9:30. 38:29 Yeah, that's what we heard, too. But we got you. Hopefully there's nobody else here. No. Okay, fantastic. Guys, grab a seat and 38:35 I'll come and see you. This train is their lifeline. They use it. They do all their shopping in Armstrong and they bring their supplies 38:41 in by train. We carry building supplies in the baggage car. I've seen ATVs up 38:46 there. I've seen refrigerators, seen hamsters, guinea pigs, 38:53 lots of dogs, of course. So, we've had some really strange things in there. There's no end to surprises along the 39:00 Canadians route. Grocery shoppers hitching rides to nearby towns. Cottagers flagging a lift to their cabin 39:06 in the wild. Sometimes even caskets get a ride. 39:13 And tonight it's moose hunters hopping a ride out of the bush with their catch 39:19 moose. How many? One with that many legs. 39:27 Over his years on the Canadian, Sunny has seen it all. Mostly good. Except the 39:33 one day it was really bad. Unfortunately, our train got hit by a logging truck carrying two trailers full 39:39 of logs and we were doing about we were doing probably around 75 mph 39:45 and the engineer almost seen it coming. He seen the guy wasn't going to stop. He slowed the train and we went from 70 to 39:52 zero in 13 seconds and we put 14 cars on the ground. When I say on the ground, 14 39:59 cars derailed. But you were okay. I was okay. And the best part was uh I had no injuries on 40:04 that train. That's not a bad result for No, it's not considering it's midday and we got people in the dining cars and 40:10 you're going that fast. We evacuated the coach. By the time I got up there, we already had sirens in 40:16 the distance and local firefighters approaching the train and assisting. 40:21 Without anybody saying anything, everything just everything fell in the way it should with the emergency calls, 40:26 the evacuation of the train. I feel totally confident that should the situation ever happen again, my 40:31 passengers are in good hands and it it'll go we'll do okay. Operations Nick whenever there's an 40:38 incident having to to either speak to the engineers as or right after the 40:43 incident happened here uh the person's voice uh maybe sometime trembling 40:49 affected uh that's quite something. We've had a few um 40:57 I can say very um stressful. 41:03 There are times when you feel it. I mean you the emotions come running and uh you 41:10 just have to deal with it. You got to push through it and think about the people that are on the other end and the 41:16 people that need your help. 41:22 This trip has been light on stress, heavy on fun. But one thing still needs some work. My 41:29 train legs. Uh, more water, anyone? 41:37 We've been riding the rails for almost 4,000 km all the way from Canada's west 41:42 coast, and we're closing in on our final destination, Toronto. So, morning number 41:48 four and our second morning in Ontario. We woke up yesterday in the province, too. It gives you a sense of the massive 41:54 scale of this part of Canada. 42:00 As we head into Toronto, which is Canada's biggest city, you also really realize how big this province is, but 42:06 how concentrated the population is in southern Ontario. And it's also the most populated part of the country. 42:15 I'm basically a train sleeping champion now. I'm sleeping pretty much as I do back at home. Uh getting used to the 42:22 shakes a little bit. I'm wondering if when I get home it'll feel weird to not have that jostling in the night cuz my 42:28 body's kind of cool with it now. [Music] So, I've mastered sleeping on a train, 42:34 but what about train legs? Hey, so Renee, part of the job of a senior service attendant serving in the 42:40 dining car? Yeah. Uh so the first thing is you want to kind of spread everything so that it's balanced. So I like putting them 42:47 all the way around. So for walking um because the train can lurch at any moment. So I like to keep my legs like 42:54 hip distance or more apart and my knees are always a little bit bent so I can really kind of move with the train and 43:01 absorb be one with the train. Right. Be one with the train. This is my first waiting opportunity. So Oh, really? 43:06 I hope I can get another job where the building doesn't move. That would be nice. That'd be great. Okay. Wish me luck, Renee. 43:12 You're right. You'll be good. 43:19 Morning folks. How are you? Water for anyone? 43:25 Yeah. And obviously when you take the glass off the tray changes, 43:30 but that's compounded because of the train movement. How am I doing? Great. Really? I love when you lie to me. 43:39 You're gonna have to share that one, folks. Okay. All right. 43:45 Oh, you guys. Whoa. 43:50 [Applause] More water. Anyone? 43:57 As the journey winds down, I can't stop thinking about this incredible experience. 44:04 Every morning we woke up and it felt like we were in a different land altogether. And I knew that going into this, but it's completely different to see it, especially on a journey like this. And the other thing that I've really got the sense of now on a personal level is how much this railway and this train connects these tiny isolated communities throughout most of the country. And what a lifeline it is for people and how it must have really helped build this nation. Oh, and it's just also been completely awesome. The Canadian, the only stainless steel streamliner left in North America, has completed another 4500 km crosscountry journey. In less than 12 hours, it will turn around and head back westward. 45:01 The legend rolls on. What a trip. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music]

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