Day 4 - Exiting Manitoba, Returning to Ontario

Beautiful Manitoba. It really is. We saw bison but, they were vacationing in Saskatchewan. Lots of red winged blackbirds - my favourites, deer and prairies. That was west of Winnipeg. We also must have gone through the bug capital of Manitoba! The observation car (front window) is covered in bug splat. Eeeew.

It was fascinating watching the transition from prairie to...not. There was a wide valley starting just inside the eastern boundary of Saskatchewan and continuing into Manitoba.

Still six hours late. Now we are east of Winnipeg & it is lakes, trees and pre-cambrian shield.

Welcome to Ontario. Lakes, trees, pre-cambrian shield. 

Regardless of train traffic, it takes over 24 hours to get from the western border of Ontario to Toronto. 

Something I didn’t realize...thought our time zones were tied to the borders of the provinces. Not the case for Ontario. NW Ontario is in the same time zone as Manitoba (Central Time). The rest of Ontario is in the Eastern Time zone. 

Who knew?

A little disappointing...the train no longer goes along the northern edge of Lake Superior. Not that there’s anything wrong with the route we are taking...wherever we are! The north Superior route took you right along the edge of the lake. Trestles high above gorges. Lots of trees, small lakes...and freight trains. Fewer freight trains than yesterday...thank goodness!

We’ve been sitting now, for over an hour...in the middle of nowhere. We stopped while at dinner and were told there’d be a short stop for smokers. I suspect that was a “smoke screen”. A freight train went by about 30 minutes ago at a fair clip & still no movement from us. 

Oh well. Our beds are turned down & it’s a pleasant enough evening. And still 24 hours to go, until we reach Toronto. 

We were told by our new crew (all changed in Winnipeg, in the wee hours this morning) that we can make up time. Yes. I’m sure we can. But doubtful we can make up 7+ hours.

Finally started moving...backwards! After three freight trains. Back out from the spur & then on to the main line.

Hopefully.