Got up and had breakfast. Packed my bags. Read half of the last story of my Kathy Reichs novella. Then it was check out and head on down to the railway station to catch the “Ocean” train from Halifax to Montreal. I would recommend the Halliburton House Inn to anyone wishing to spend any time in Halifax. It’s a small boutique hotel with staff who work hard to provide you with an enjoyable stay. And the beds are comfortable.

I have two suitcases, a large backpack (Mindshift 40 Litre) for my camera gear, a small carry bag of my Surface Pro and accessories, with my iPad added, and a small backpack of the gear I needed on the train (sudoku and crosswords, books including on the train ride across Canada, medications, electrical recharge gear, etc.). I got to Via Rail and checked in my suitcases and sat down to read the rest of my book. It was 11am and the train wasn’t leaving until 1pm.

So at 12.30pm they started boarding the train. The train ride was going to be for 22 hours from 1pm Friday to 10am Saturday (we were to be adding an hour on the way West), so I booked a 2 person sleeper compartment (there are no 1 person compartments on the “Ocean” train. I am travelling from Halifax on the East Coast to Vancouver on the West Coast completely by train. Part of my budget is to have a sleeper compartment for any trip longer than 19 hours. Even though the seats in the front carriages (for sit up passengers) recline for the night, I have no great desire to sit in one seat for that whole time, apart from using the shared carriage or being one of those passengers going to the dining room carriage. It’s a big part of the treat of this holiday for me.

I went up to the sleeper compartment check in and got my “Sleeper Plus” wristband and directions where to get on and which compartment I was in. I was in 38-10, being carriage 38 compartment 10. I also set the time for my lunch slot before heading out to the train. The compartment was set up for seating once I got on. Here it is.

Just as I was settling in, a Via Rail employee, Britney, came to introduce herself. She said she was allocated to carriage 38 to assist in making my journey comfortable, and proceeded to show me the lights etc. She agreed to pop in at 7pm to change the seating into the bedding arrangement. She was quite pleasant and I did see her a few times during the trip. After packing a few things I continued reading a book until it was time to head off.

For passengers with compartments (about 3 couples and 1 single person per carriage for the 4 carriages that were being used), we also had a lounge car on both sides of the dining car, each of which had a little shop selling food and drinks including alcohol during the day hours, as well as access to the final car on the train, the dome car. It was 2 storey, with the lower half consisting of a tea and coffee, biscuits and fruit zone, an enclosed seating area with what felt like soundproofing, seats around the walls in the back half, and access to the back window for photographs. The upper half was two columns of double seating looking forward outside and over the train in front, with the windows in a dome and giving 360 visuals. On the times I visited (I got some good sets of 2 minute videos out the back window) there were usually 4-5 people in dome, and no more than two at any time in one of the lounges.

At 1.15pm I headed off to the dining car. I had soup of the day (minestrone style – spiral pasta with beans, carrots and onions) and spaghetti bolognese, washed down with two stubbies of Garrison Irish Red (Garrison being the brewery in Halifax that I visited).

I followed up with a thin slice of tart and cream and a pot of tea. For Sleeper Plus passengers, meals are all free, so of course I had to have each course.

Then I headed back to my compartment and mostly spent the rest of the afternoon looking out of the window, taking photos out of the window, spending a little time in the lounges updating messages etc (the lounge and dining cars had Wifi for guests). I couldn’t concentrate on reading due to the rocking of the car, but I did have an audio book I listened to. It’s hard to take decent photos out of the train (the trees along the side of the track both hide interesting features), but here are a couple I thought were interesting.

The photo above shows a small lake that is mostly iced up, and has already been used by locals for ice skating, however has not fully frozen over (see .he mid-left side which is till water) and so has some risks for skaters.

At 6.30pm, I headed back to the dining car for dinner. I had a small tart for entrée with a piece of salmon for main meal. Again washed down with Irish Red, followed by dessert and tea. I had a chat with Britney, and she said that on the “Canadian” train – which are the legs between Toronto and Vancouver – there is a full kitchen, unlike the “Ocean” which is this trip, and so there will be fuller meals. She has been on those legs as part of her role, and believes I’ll get to see some great parts of the country including the prairies.

I then headed back to my compartment, she came along after about 20 minutes to change the lounge into the bedding format, and I changed and went to bed. The bed was not as comfortable as a hotel room, but it was fine for one night.