July10, 2019
It is sort of strange sleeping in someone’s house when they aren’t there. It is kind of like a Goldilocks thing. Sorab and Victoria certainly made us feel at home, (even if they weren’t there), by leaving food in the fridge for us to eat, laying out toiletries for us to use and leaving some cold beer and wine in the fridge! We enjoyed a nice shower and breakfast in their home and then decided that we needed to prepare and pack for our trip to Churchill. Debbie had contacted the VIA rail and confirmed our reservations. We shopped at the various stores to pick up some things to take to Churchill with us. We were not expected to board the train until 5:00 in the afternoon, so we drove around Thompson and checked out some local sights.
Thompson is basically the end of the line on Highway #6, and has a population of approximately 14,500 people. Its economy is mainly supported by the nickel mines and has a large provincial and federal government worker base. Thompson in the 1800s was also the terminus for many of the trappers and traders for the Hudson’s Bay Company and the large groups of aboriginal hunters who travelled on the Nelson and the Burnwood river systems.
We spent some time taking photos of various interesting sights. On the end wall of a five-story apartment building is a beautiful mural of a wolf. The mural is a reproduction of a 1990 painting by Robert Bateman. Winnipeg muralist Charles Johnston reproduced it. Throughout the town, there are statues of wolves painted in various colors and donated by community groups or organizations. The town of Thompson is branding these wolf statues to highlight points of interest of historical, cultural, geographical, and other significant perspectives of Thompson.
In the early 1900s the railway (owned then by the Hudson Bay Railway) passed through Thompson to Churchill and was the main source of travel to the various settlements north to Churchill. Later in the mid 1900s large hydro-electric dams were built on the Nelson river, and subsequently the town of Gillam was built to support the employees of Manitoba Hydro. Highway 280, a secondary road, ends at Gillam. From there is are no roads going north.
At about 1:00 we received a text from VIA rail telling us that the train is not arriving until 8:00 pm. We had now packed two carry on bags with our necessary clothes etc. for Churchill and were anxious to get going. We went to the Boston Pizza to have supper and watch the football game. While there, we received another text telling us that the train was further delayed and we could not board it until after mid night. We returned to Sorab and Victoria’s home, watched television until 11:30 and then phoned for a taxi. When we arrived at the station, many of the folks who were travelling to the settlements had boarded. We were allowed on and checked into our sleeper cabin.
We were too excited to go to sleep right away so we walked to the observation dome car. We met several fellow Churchill bound travelers. Tracie and Max were from a small town in Saskatchewan, Jack and Rita from Victoria, B.C and Mike, who is from New Mexico. Most of them had travelled by VIA from Winnipeg and were as anxious as we were to get going. They have been experiencing the delays since Winnipeg. We were going to have lots of time to tell stories, but after getting to know each other, the train began to roll and we all felt it best to go to bed. Debbie chose the upper bunk. I laid in the lower bunk and looked out the window. I was soon to learn that the train was only going to travel at about 15 – 20 miles per hour and I would have lots of time to watch the boreal forest slip by. Even at 1:00 in the morning there was still enough light outside to see things and it took me a long time to fall asleep.
Quilting in a Kayak 