The Day I Became a Railfan by Lesley Bernard

This is a companion piece to one written by my father, Julian Bernard, published in Branchline, October 1997 regarding his experience in 1943. Now, I should say I was never not a rail fan, as I had grown up with it and never experienced the "epiphany" that dad had (as described in his story) it was just something we did. And, as time went by, it became apparent, to my father, that I appreciated these experiences of the 'journey' vs my brothers, who were more like my mother with traveling should be more about the destination and the shortest, fastest route to that destination and tended to like flights to the Caribbean.

Most of my early rail experiences are just fleeting flashes of memory - including trips to visit my grandparents in Toronto (eg overnite train from Ottawa to Toronto via Canadian Northern route), opportunistic rides (eg Paisley to Southampton RDC) while cottaging in Southampton, and excursions accompanying my father (eg La Malbaie). However, one trip really stood out, for not only the meticulous planning by my father, but also the fact that most of that trip can no longer be done and most of the equipment we rode is gone for scrap. It was on that trip that I grasped the history, fleeting opportunity, and tenuous attitude towards passenger rail in this country. Maybe that was my "epiphany". With the proposed Jan 1990 VIA cuts looming, dad said this was a now or never experience.

This was the first of what would become many east coast trips with dad up until he could no longer cope and featured innovations (at least for me) as the mandatory dome experience crossing the St, Lawrence on Victoria Bridge (his favourite bridge), followed by sharing Happy Hour in our opposite roomettes (to the sometimes befuddlement and bemusement of our passing fellow passengers and crew as we passed ice tubs and snacks across the aisle), followed by dinner in the dining car.

It started on a Saturday in mid September 1989. We boarded the midday train #64 "Meridian" in Toronto to Montreal and connected with #12 "Atlantic" in Montreal. Crossing Maine during the night, Sunday morning brought New Brunswick and Saint John, then Moncton, with a mid afternoon arrival in Halifax. A quick connection was made to the RDC #151 "Evangeline" to Yarmouth arriving early evening. We overnighted in Yarmouth and returned to Halifax Monday morning on #152 "Evangeline". The run was lightly patronized. Upon returning to Halifax, we checked into the Nova Scotian Hotel adjacent to the station and set out to explore Halifax browsing the then excellent Sam the the Record Man store, the Public Gardens, Citadel and much more followed by dinner at McKelvie's.

Tuesday morning featured a bus tour of Halifax and Dartmouth and a midday departure on the RDCs #604 to Sydney. A much busier run than Yarmouth and we overnighted in Sydney. Wednesday was a return trip from Sydney on #605 to Truro and connected with the north/west bound #11 " Atlantic". After settling in our coach seats we sought out lunch in the dining car. The custom of the day was to seat people with strangers to maximize table usage and we were seated with then NDP leader Alexa McDonough and NDP Transport Critic Iain Angus who were traveling in protest of the impending VIA cuts. Conversation through lunch was exclusively about VIA and the cuts.

In Moncton, we connected with #15 "Ocean", which only went as far as Moncton at that time, and continued north to Matapedia. It was a short night in Matapedia as we had to arise around 4 am Thursday morning for our connection #16 "Chaleur" to Gaspe. From here on, we were retracing dad's 1940s trips and his story, also his first train ride to Gaspe since then. From my coach seat, I dozed a fair bit but recall a grounded ship, slowly being torn apart. In Gaspe, we rented a car and explored Gaspe and the remnants of Fort Ramsay, the WW2 base my grandfather commanded and Perce Rock. We overnighted in Gaspe and headed for home Friday on #17 "Chaleur".

The incoming Chaleur arrived and I quickly noted there was no sleeping car. Upon boarding, the service manager said the sleeping car had been bad ordered on the outbound trip but assured us a spare was being brought up from Moncton on the connecting Ocean. The Ocean and Chaleur were combined between Matapedia and Montreal. So, it was coach seats for us to Matapedia and we had cocktails in the bar section of the 700 series cafe-lounge car. In Matapedia, #15 "Ocean" arrived shortly after we did with a Green series sleeper for us as promised. Another delightful sonic experience I discovered about Matapedia, is the sounds of the train horns, something dad had told me to listen out for. An enormous rock face looms over the town and, when switching, the train horns echo off the rock face and up and down the valley. Now well after 10 pm, I settled into my roomette bed, with a full moon and the blind up, it was almost as a bright as daytime following the Matapedia River valley. I drifted off to sleep but awoke momentarily in Levis with a view of the Chateau Frontenac and Quebec city. Connection again in Montreal and back in Toronto by midafteroon Saturday on #63 "La Salle".

7 days, 5725 km/3558 miles, 11 trains. Since then, the Atlantic, trains to Yarmouth and Sydney and the Chaleur are gone. Along with the old F units, Cafe-lounge cars, Green sleepers and most of the rest of the blue fleet. Now, looking back on it, I wish I paid more attention to details, made notes, took more pictures.