Day Nineteen Thompson to Churchill Manitoba

Day nineteen has Tyler and Catherine waking up early to get some exercise before leaving their hotel to travel a short distance within the town of Thompson Manitoba to catch the VIA rail train to the polar bear capital of the world – Churchill.

The only ways to get to Churchill is via train or to fly in from Thompson or Winnipeg. The VIA rail passenger train has scheduled travel trains from Winnipeg and Thompson a few times a week. From Thompson we were to depart at 1300 hrs and arrive at 0700. But the surprise was on us – the train was delayed till 1700 hrs and didn’t actually leave the station until 1715 hrs. We were not told by any staff why and to find the time we were to leave we had to track them down. Needless to say we nor any of the other passengers were very happy with this complete and utter lack of customer service. The station in Thompson is in an industrial area so there is nothing nearby to entertain yourself with and the station itself is old and decrepit and it also has no services and nothing to hold your interest for more than a couple of minutes.

We left our car at the station as well and we were a bit worried it might not be there when we got back. The area is run-down and poorly lit. We spoke to a couple locals who said it was 50/50 whether the car would be there or not vandalized when we got back. That was less than reassuring! So we can recommend for peace of mind doing what we didn’t if you have a car – leave it at a local hotel until you get back and take a taxi to the train station.

We booked a couple cattle-level tickets in coach and paid for it – literally. With each stop along the way we seemed to pick up more loud-mouthed drunks. This made sleeping nearly impossible and a couple people near us were snoring like you could not believe. We promised ourselves that on the way back we would upgrade our tickets to a private room to avoid the hassles. Be sure to take along some earplugs.

The train finally arrived in Churchill at 0900 the following morning and a staff member of the lodge we were staying at was there to formally greet us. We scooped up our luggage from the luggage car and were quickly whisked off to the Lazy Bear Lodge after a short introductory tour of the immediate town. It was a nice warm welcome that contrasted with the bitterly cold weather outside. We knew it would be cold but not that cold for mid-October!

Tyler says of day nineteen – Leaving over four hours late from Thompson with no reasoning why from the VIA rail staff was annoying to say the least. The amount of drunk idiots on the train made sleeping impossible for me. I will never travel that distance on a train again without a private room. I was more than disappointed in the people from VIA rail. The only way to get any answers was to track them down and harass them. The food on the train was of corner store quality so be sure to pack your own meals.

Catherine says of day nineteen – It was a long trip because of VIA rail being so late departing Thompson. We were not able to see any views along the way because it was dark shortly after we left the station. I recommend that if you take the same train that you make sure to get an individual room for privacy and it’s more quiet. I was disappointed to see so many loud drunks on the train.