The Canadian: taking a sleeper train across Canada
The journey by train across Canada from Toronto in the east to Vancouver on the west coast is a wonderful way to see this vast and varied land, and if you can, do it on The Canadian, said Ruaridh Nicoll in the Financial Times.
With its "silvery" 1950s carriages and domed viewing cars, this sleeper train is an "atomic dream" on rails. But despite its splendid appearance, it is an ordinary service, with seats-only carriages in economy class. A "working train" making its way through "wild land", it travels at an average speed of 30mph, and allows stops between stations if requested in advance. Locals hop on and off along the way (sometimes at lakes for kayaking in the summer), and the whole trip takes 97 hours – making it the longest passenger rail journey by duration outside Russia. The construction of the transcontinental railways in Canada from 1871 helped unite the new confederation, and allayed fears that the US might annex its prairies, "on the pretext of bringing order" to a region on which lawless veterans of the American Civil War were increasingly encroaching.
The Canadian Northern Railway, on which The Canadian train runs, was completed in 1915. Among the cities through which it passes is Winnipeg, where I broke my journey for four nights to go ice-skating on the river (I was travelling in January) and admire the superb Inuit art in the city's main public gallery. I also hopped off in Kamloops, further on, to sample the excellent skiing at the huge Sun Peaks resort. With its window-facing chairs and en-suite lavatory, my Sleeper Plus cabin came to feel "like home" (cabins in Prestige class also have their own showers). The dining car – where guests share linen-draped tables for four – was delightfully sociable (the train seems to attract "remarkable" passengers). And the slow speed gives plenty of time to spot wildlife (I even saw a bobcat) and take in the views – which are particularly majestic in the Rockies, with their "Valhalla cliffs" and lakes of "crystal" ice.
Private cabins cost from £925pp (viarail.ca).