Travel Books

One of the most important tips I got from a train travel blog is: get a rail travel guide. It has all the sights listed by mileage so you'll know what to expect as the train chugs along the track.

ViaRail offers its own official travel companion guidebook but at $24 a pop, I just couldn't bring myself to buy one. Surprisingly, no electronic version could be found on the internet, legit or otherwise. And after surfing for hours, I was forced to admit defeat. In desperation, a more retro approach was needed.

I don't say this enough but "Huzzah for the public library!" 
Not only was I able to find an older edition at the library, I also found a copy of the Trans-Canada Rail Guide. That $24 is going towards a much better use: .


Ding ding ding! The Throwdown - ViaRail Guide vs. Trans-Canada Rail Guide (TRG)
Round 1 - Appearance (Winner: ViaRail Guide)

There's something to be said about high-gloss colour pages. So purrrty! The whole "not judging a book by its cover" is overrated. Of course you should judge a book by its covers. That's why there's a cover! Yes, I'm extremely superficial when it comes to books. However, the glossy pages also mean the ViaRail Guide is much heftier than its TRG counterpart.

My biggest peeve about TRG is its small print, which makes it hard to read, especially on a moving train

Round 2 - Content (Tie)

TRG includes more sights and it is surprisingly candid in its descriptions.My personal favourite passage - Mile 139: Sioux Lookout "sounds as if it's going to be interesting but it's not." I found some of the TRG sights listed to be somewhat odd, like the orthodox churches, and miscellaneous small towns. TRG also includes a brief travel section on each of the major cities, not particularly useful to me. 


ViaRail, on the hand, includes everything from the history of the rail to the different types of freight cars and rail signs. Not sure what to do with the latter info but it's there. Several sections read like a pamphlet advertising ViaRail. Not exactly an impartial source material now is it?


Frankly, I'm surprised that there are so few reference books about train travel in Canada. I supposed train travelers are a dying breed, like people who use the postal service.

P.S. After watching a YouTube documentary on North Korean workers in Russia, I feel strangely relaxed about my upcoming train trip. After all, it can't possibly be worse than the filmmaker' experience on the Trans-Siberian Railroad... At the very least, I'm pretty sure there are not going to be a bunch of drunk Russian ex-cons slamming back vodka and yelling at me on my trip.

P.P.S. Did you know that you can ride the railroad from London, England all the way down to Singapore? Isn't that cool?