Left on a Train, Arrived on a Bus: Mere First World Problems
After a short week of being in transit I’ve arrived at my final destination: Toronto. For those that have never travelled Canada via train I can honestly say it was a purely pleasant trip with exceptional service, amazing food and, as you could probably guess, the scenery of the Canadian Landscape is absolutely stunning.
I must admit, however, that being an artist on board gave me some of the luxuries that I likely wouldn’t have enjoyed had I travelled on my own dime. But if you can afford your own sleeper car and aren’t worried about arriving a little bit late, I would highly recommend crossing Canada VIA train. Waking up with to the rocky mountains or the sun rising across the prairies being broadcast on your widescreen window is enough to make anyone fall in love in my opinion. (That is, I guess, if you could fall asleep on the train. I have no qualms sleeping basically anywhere).
Without a lot of explanation, I posted to instagram etc the other night that because of a train derailing we would be finishing the journey via bus. Not to worry, it wasn’t our passenger train that derailed. A freight train travelling east of Hornepayne, Ontario had derailed and blocked the tracks in both directions. When we arrived in Hornepayne we had to wait for a bus to pick us up and take us to Toronto.
I’m sad to say that I was a little ashamed of all of the humming, hawing and belly aching I heard from my fellow passengers. Some were up in arms fighting to get their whole trip refunded. Some looking for seemingly anything and everything to whine about to the VIA rail staff. My bus for instance was “too hot” during the night. There was apparently a system malfunction and for the bus driver to be able to defrost his windshield the whole heating system had to be on. As the VIA rail staff walked the aisles passing out drinks and pop to aid in the situation I heard a light mention that the second bus (carrying the economy class) didn’t even have heat. The whole bus was freezing cold for the whole 14 hour bus trip.
I really had to hand it to the VIA rail staff that I witnessed. Their 5 star service didn’t stop until we were sent off on our merry way. One of the staff members even took the initiative to stock up on hand sani wipes to offer to passengers emerging from the bus bathroom when he found out the bathroom didn’t have any hand sanitizer.
All in all, I got what I wanted out of travelling via train. I made some new friends. I shared my music with people I never would have come into contact with. I made it to Toronto. And I had an adventure.
Now to have some fun in the Golden Horseshoe. First shows start this weekend:
Friday Jan 24 in Chatham @ Left Wing Tattoo
Saturday Jan 25 in Windsor @ Phog Lounge
