VIA Chaleur (long)
Tom Box
I recently made a quick trip from Sackville, NB to Gaspe, QC
and back, aboard VIA Rail's "Ocean" and "Chaleur". This is a
report on that trip.
(Prices are of course in Canadian dollars. U.S. readers should
multiply by about 0.73 to get an idea of the costs.)
I've ridden the Ocean several times in the past year. The
main goal of this trip was to ride the Chaleur between Matapedia
and Gaspe. I took this train once before, in 1991. It was a
nice trip then. It's much better now.
I left Sackville on the westbound Ocean on Friday, May 26. The
train was right on time, leaving at 1735. The consist:
2 F40PH-2 units (6434, 6436), 1 baggage car (8622), 2 coaches
(8137, 8134), 1 Skyline dome-cafe-lounge (8514), 1 coach (8143),
1 dining car (Emerald), 7 Chateau sleeping cars (3 sections,
8 duplex roomettes, 3 double bedrooms, 1 drawing room - Roberval,
Richelieu, Latour, Rigaud, Rouville, Lemoine, Argenson), 1 Park
dome-observation-sleeper (3 double bedrooms, 1 drawing room - Yoho).
I sat in the Skyline dome for a while, had dinner in the diner
(scallops for $9.95, my favourite on the Ocean menu), then
returned to the dome. I didn't see any freight action at
all on the Newcastle sub, going north from Moncton (most
freight trains use the Napadogan sub). I went back to my
coach to try to take a nap.
I usually ride the Ocean on an overnight trip between Sackville
and Montreal, and I travel in a berth. Today I was only going
to Matapedia, so I was in coach. I've sometimes thought that
an overnight trip in coach wouldn't be too bad -- the seats are big
and comfortable, and have leg rests and reclining backs, and pillows
and blankets are provided on the Ocean. However, a few hours on
this trip convinced me that a sleeper is definitely a good idea
for overnight travel.
I had a long day coming up the next day, so I wanted to get some
rest on the evening trip from Sackville to Matapedia. This proved
difficult. Reclining in a seat is not nearly as restful for me
as lying down flat. What's more, the woman in the seat ahead of me
was coughing her lungs out, there was a slightly rowdy drunk who would
occasionally accompany his Walkman with off-key singing, and there
were some medium-loud conversations going on. It was still early
evening, so I couldn't expect silence from other passengers, but there
wasn't much chance of getting a nap.
We arrived in Matapedia at 22:25, twenty minutes early. (The
schedule is heavily padded, a point I'll discuss further below.)
I spent the night at the Motel Restigouche. I thought this was
a little pricey at $52, but the location is very convenient (just
across the tracks from the station) and it was clean, well-kept,
and quiet.
My train was scheduled to leave the next morning at 05:05, hence
my desire to get some rest the evening before. The eastbound Ocean
was late into Matapedia, arriving at 05:09. The Chaleur now operates
as part of the Ocean between Montreal and Matapedia. The consist
arriving that morning was:
2 F40PH-2 units (6435, 6432), 1 baggage car (8620), 2 Chateau
sleepers (Viger*, Varennes*), 1 Skyline (8503*), 3 coaches (8116*,
8142, 8135), 1 Skyline (8511), 1 coach (8147), 1 diner (Wascana),
7 Chateaux (Dollard, Marquette, Closse, Cadillac, Lauzon, Brule,
Papineau), 1 Park (Waterton). The cars marked with an asterisk
were set out at Matapedia, and the rest of the train continued
on to Halifax, departing at 05:27.
An F40 and a baggage car were already on hand at Matapedia, and they
were coupled to the cars set out by the Ocean, to form the Chaleur:
1 F40PH-2 (6433), 1 baggage car (8612), 2 Chateaux (Viger,
Varennes), 1 Skyline (8503), 1 coach (8116).
We left Matapedia at 05:32. The Gaspe peninsula is in the Eastern
time zone, though it's really far enough east to be on Atlantic time.
So it was already broad daylight by this time. I sat in the Skyline
dome for a while, then went downstairs for breakfast. These are
the two biggest improvements in this train since my previous trip in
1991, the dome and the meal service.
The cars used on this train are Budd stainless steel cars, built
for Canadian Pacific in 1954-55. As I've mentioned in several
other postings, these have recently been completely rebuilt for VIA,
including conversion to head-end power, and they're in superb
condition.
The advantages of a dome will be obvious to anybody who has ever
ridden in one. The dome is all the more desirable on the Chaleur,
because the scenery is outstanding. I think it's the best on any
VIA Rail route east of the Rockies. The route runs along the
south coast of the Gaspe peninsula from Matapedia to Gaspe, next
to the Baie de Chaleur (from whence the name of the train). It's
not all waterfront running, though; the rails head inland for short
stretches here and there.
The terrain is quite rugged, and construction of the line was
obviously a difficult engineering feat. The entire route seems
to be made up of curves or grades (or both). Hence speeds are
not high. The limit is 45 mph for most of the route, and there are
slow orders in many places. There's a 630-foot long tunnel just
east of Port Daniel, and the scenery near here is among the
best along the entire route, with the roadbed cut into a cliffside.
The best-known sight in the whole Gaspe peninsula is without
question Perce Rock. There is a station named Perce on the
rail route, but I would strongly advise people planning a trip
here not to get off in Perce, but to go on to Gaspe. You'll want
to visit Perce', but Gaspe' has several advantages as your railway
destination.
For the mileage collectors among us, Gaspe' is the end of the line
and Perce' isn't. Why travel hundreds of miles, then miss out on
collecting 39 miles of track? (especially when you might never get
another chance to ride on it)
Even for non-railfans, I think Gaspe' makes a better base of operations
for your visit than Perce'. The Perce' station is not near the centre
of town. The rail line leaves the coast briefly just west of Perce',
and the station is far from Perce' Rock and the other attractions you'll
want to see. Unless you're a very enthusiastic hiker, you'd need to take
a taxi from the station, and I don't know if there are any in Perce'.
In fact, if you get off at Perce' station, you'll never see the rock
from the train. It only becomes visible from the train near
Barachois, where you get a good, if rather distant, look at it.
The Gaspe' train station is much more centrally located, and you can
walk to a motel. If you're there in the summer and are on a tight budget,
the residence at the local CEGEP (community college) is a convenient
and cheap place to stay.
Heretical as this will sound to many of us railfans, you really
need a car to get around the area, and Gaspe' has two or three car
rental agencies. I don't believe Perce' has any.
You can easily drive from Gaspe' to Perce', spend a day there, and drive
back that evening. Perce' Rock is nice but a little overrated, IMO.
You should also head up into the hills east of the village, where you
get a great view of the area. My favorite destination in Perce' is the
Bonaventure Island bird sanctuary. There are boat cruises to the island,
and you can land on the island and see the gannett colonies.
Also worth a day's visit is Forillon National Park. This is north of
Gaspe', in the opposite direction from Perce' (another reason to use
Gaspe' as a central base for your visit). The train doesn't go as far
north as Forillon. Again, you can easily drive from Gaspe' to the park,
spend a day there, then drive back that evening.
Some of the above comments are based on my 1991 visit, when I spend
three days in the area. On this year's trip, I just went to Gaspe'
and returned the same day. We arrived at 11:32 (22 minutes late),
and left at 15:50. Gaspe is a pleasant and pretty little town, though
not really exciting.
I've already mentioned the advantages of a dome when travelling through
scenic country such as the Gaspe peninsula. The other pleasant
discovery I made was that the quality of service on board the Chaleur
has greatly improved since my previous trip four years ago.
When VIA started using its newly-rebuilt cars on the Canadian in 1992,
it also introduced "Silver & Blue Class", marketed as a new level of
service. Similarly, when the Ocean and the now-vanished Atlantic got
the rebuilt cars, "Easterly Class" was introduced. There was no such
marketing effort for the Chaleur, which suggested to me that the level
of service was lower on this train. But that turned out not to be the
case. I found the service on the Chaleur quite comparable to that on
the Ocean.
The service isn't exactly the same, since the Ocean has a "Park" dome-
observation car for the exclusive use of sleeping-car passengers, and
a full dining car. The Chaleur has neither. Sleeper and coach passengers
share the Skyline car's dome, and eat in the Skyline cafe. This is no
hardship, though. It's a small train, so the dome was not overcrowded
on my trip. The food service in the Chaleur cafe is quite comparable
to that in the Ocean diner. The cafe has tablecloths, porcelain place
settings, and and stainless steel utensils. The selection is slightly
more limited, since the Chaleur's kitchen is much smaller, but there was
a choice of four main courses for dinner. I had pancakes and sausage
for breakfast ($3.95, including unlimited coffee), and steak for dinner
(The most expensive choice on the menu, at $11.95). My whole dinner,
including wine, dessert, coffee, taxes, and tip, cost $21.50.
There is some freight traffic on the Gaspe line. I just caught a glimpse
of a switcher moving on a spur at New Richmond, and there were
numerous freight cars in Chandler. There is no freight traffic east of
Chandler, and that puts the future of the Chaleur in question. CN was
going to abandon the line from Chandler to Gaspe in 1991, but the
abandonment order was overturned by Cabinet. That decision will
probably be up for review soon, so the Chaleur could be threatened again.
We met one freight train on the westbound trip. I think it was headed by
two M-420s, but I didn't get a good look.
We arrived in Matapedia on time, and I spent another night at the
Motel Restigouche. The next morning I was up early again to catch
the eastbound Ocean. There was no Chaleur section to set out that
day, so the train left on time at 04:32 (yawn). The consist was
identical to the train which had brought me from Sackville to Matapedia
two days before.
The Ocean runs six days a week (ex. Tues), but there is only a Chaleur
section on three days. The Ocean timetable only allows for a two
minute stop in Matapedia, but setting out or picking up the Chaleur
obviously takes longer than that. To deal with this, the Ocean's
schedule is heavily padded. We were stopped in Campbellton for about
45 minutes. This is a crew change point, but that should only take
15 minutes at most, so we were half an hour early. Even after leaving
Campbellton on time, we were repeatedly early into other stations, at
Bathurst, Moncton, and even a couple of minutes early at Sackville,
where I got off. I know one doesn't want a schedule to be too tight,
so that the train is persistently late, but it seems to me that VIA
could afford to shave some time off the Ocean schedule.
Alco power was in evidence on the return trip. In the Campbellton yard,
a train was being switched by two M-420s and a six-axle unit (either
M-636 or C-630M; I didn't take notes), at Harcourt we met a freight
pulled by a GP40-2, M636 (or C-630M), SD40, and HR616, and in the
Gordon Yard at Moncton an S-13 plus slug was working.
For railfan tourists visiting eastern Canada to ride the Ocean, a side
trip to Gaspe on the Chaleur is well worthwhile. You could do either
Montreal-Halifax-Matapedia-Gaspe-Montreal, or Montreal-Gaspe-
Matapedia-Halifax-Montreal. In either case, a one-night stopover in
Matapedia is required. You can arrive in Gaspe and leave again the same
day, if your only interest is the train ride, or you could spend a few days
there, and visit Perce and Forillon. You could also just do the
Montreal-Gaspe trip.
Discount fares are available until June 18, and from Sept. 5 to Dec. 14.
Montreal-Gaspe in coach costs $70, and in roomette $120.
Montreal-Halifax is $88 in coach and $138 in roomette.
Full fares apply from June 19 to Sept. 4. Montreal-Gaspe is $116 (coach)
and $200 (roomette), while Montreal-Halifax is $146 (coach) and $230
(roomette). Upper and lower berths are available for less than a
roomette, while a double bedroom is just twice the price of a roomette.
Condensed timetables:
Train Number 15 14
Train Name Ocean Ocean
Frequency km ex Tu ex We
Halifax, NS (AT) 0 Dp 14:00 Ar 15:30
Moncton, NB 304 Ar 18:22 Dp 11:10
Moncton 304 Dp 18:42 Ar 10:50
Campbellton, NB (AT) 605 22:50 06:45
Matapédia, QC (ET) 624 Ar 22:45 Dp 04:32
Matapédia 624 Dp 22:47 Ar 04:30
Lévis (Québec) 1093 Ar 04:55 Dp 22:30
Lévis (Québec) 1093 Dp 05:05 Ar 22:20
Montréal, QC (ET) 1352 Ar 08:25 Dp 19:00
ex We ex Tu
Train Number 17 16
Train Name Chaleur Chaleur
Frequency km Mo Th Sa Mo Th Sa
Gaspé, QC (ET) 0 Dp 15:50 Ar 11:10
Matapédia, QC (ET) 325 Ar 21:55 Dp 05:05
Matapédia 325 Dp 22:47 Ar 04:30
Lévis (Québec) 794 Ar 04:55 Dp 22:30
Lévis (Québec) 794 Dp 05:05 Ar 22:20
Montréal, QC (ET) 1053 Ar 08:25 Dp 19:00
Tu Fr Su Su We Fr
Full timetables are available via WWW at
http://www.mcs.net/~dsdawdy/Canpass/via/hfx_mtl.html
http://www.mcs.net/~dsdawdy/Canpass/via/gas_mtl.html
for the Ocean and Chaleur, respectively.
Tom Box
tb...@mta.ca