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This Train Just Keeps Getting Worse 😢 (VIA Rail "The Ocean")

Not Just Bikes

848,097 views

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References & Further Reading

Via Rail marks 120th anniversary of Ocean train, but what’s left to celebrate?
https://www.pressreader.com/canada/tr...

Nova Scotia Railway Heritage
https://novascotiarailwayheritage.com...

VIA 1 "The Canadian" at Brandon North - CN Rivers Sub Mile 129
VIA 1 "The Canadian" at Brandon North - CN...

Via Rail cuts Montreal-to-Halifax service by half
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-s...

Via Rail cuts concern workers and passengers
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-br...

When VIA Rail was almost cut in half
https://www.cbc.ca/archives/when-via-...

Traveliving - Vintage 1960's Canadian National Railway Passenger Service Film
Traveliving - Vintage 1960's Canadian Nati...

1971 Canadian National Commercial
https://archive.org/details/videoplay...

1974 Canadian National Commercial
CN commercial 1974

Home Movie: 98229: Canadian National Fan Trip
https://archive.org/details/HMCanadia...

BUDD COMPANY
https://www.trains-and-railroads.com/...

The Budd Company and also Other Stuff (donoteat01)
The Budd Company and also Other Stuff

By Buddah - originally posted to Flickr as The Long Renaissance, CC BY 2.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...

Nightstar Carriage Photos (used with permission)
https://www.flickr.com/search/?user_i...
https://www.flickr.com/search/?user_i...
https://www.flickr.com/search/?user_i...
https://www.flickr.com/search/?user_i...

Renaissance (railcar)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaiss...)

The Canadian VIA Rail Train Skyline Car Forward View Crossing South Saskatchewan River
The Canadian VIA Rail Train Skyline Car Fo...

Skyline Car Photos
By Savannah Grandfather - https://www.flickr.com/photos/savanna..., CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By Sancho McCann - https://www.flickr.com/photos/sanchom..., CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By Kosboot - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...

As usual, the YouTube Description is not nearly long enough for all of the references. You can find the full list on Nebula or at this link:
https://notjustbikes.com/references/v...

The vast majority of the content in this video was filmed on location by Not Just Bikes, with some images licensed from Getty Images and other sources.

No generative AI or AI voices were used in the making of this video.

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Chapters
0:00 Intro
2:20 The second-best train in Canada
3:16 Forgettable Halifax
4:19 Lunenburg
5:07 Halifax train station
5:45 From six to three days per week
6:50 The CN era
9:22 Boarding "The Ocean"
10:20 The Budd Company
11:09 Our sleeper rooms
12:24 "The Ocean Limited" in 1965
13:32 Departure
15:04 Lunch
16:23 Chronic underfunding
16:55 Renaissance cars
20:14 Dinner
20:32 Other sleeping options
21:31 Seating cars
22:01 Station stops
22:41 The missing Park car
24:30 Sleeping
25:08 Terrible, terrible tracks
28:06 Breakfast
28:42 Arriving in Montréal
29:04 Booking this train
29:56 The future of "The Ocean"
31:15 Our continued travels
31:48 Supporting this channel & Nebula

20 Comments

@NotJustBikes Creator 1 year ago (edited) Pinned

** IMPORTANT **
Noki Travels, channel of the VIA Rail employee that I featured in this video, had his channel hacked. He was unable to recover it. :(
Check out his new channel here:
https://youtube.com/@nokitravels?si=2sSWiYhO7a4BY_Lh

And his video about this VIA Rail train here:
https://youtu.be/E-L372kI_hw

/// [ previous pinned comment below ]

Check out the rest of my (failed?) public transit journey on Nebula:
https://nebula.tv/videos/notjustbikes-i-tried-to-take-the-bus-to-the-beach-and-failed

I really want to take public transit more often in Canada, but they don't make it easy. 😩

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@marcgauthier6894 1 year ago

“Car culture did more to destroy Halifax than the explosion did.”

Preach.

@nWestie 1 year ago

The insane dichotomy between "this rail line is being cut to save $6 million" and "we're spending $5 million to update this one highway intersection" continues to piss me TF off. The numbers aren't exact, but how long will it take people to realize how cheap transit actually is?

@jbassguy571 1 year ago

What is truly sad and ironic is that Canada was literally created by train, and the construction of the Canadian Pacific railway was one of the miracles of human effort and nation-building in all of history. And we let it all go to shit.

@aaronwilkinson8963 1 year ago

1950s and 60s futuristic vision did not anticipate the Shitification of everything

@kevinbarry71 1 year ago

speaking as an American; it's nice to know we're not the only one screwing these things up

@Sadwaffles 1 year ago

Youll be happy to know, for some reason the goverment spent 14 million on restoring the halifax train station but couldnt put a dime into the service. I was actually one of the people to restore it

@vaikkajoku 1 year ago

Passports and luggage limitations for a train is just so baffling.

@SAMUSUMA 1 year ago

North America try not to completely fail at intercity rail challenge (IMPOSSIBLE)

@TT-jp7kh 1 year ago

Kind of off-topic, but watching this took me back to January 1986 when I took a temporary position in Toronto from my company in the US. A dozen or so of my co-workers flew from Seattle to TO, but my wife and I elected to be dropped off in Vancouver and take ViaRail. It was cheaper than flying, and we took 17 suitcases/boxes at no additional charge (vs 4 suitcases authorized by our company on the plane). What an amazing trip! Spotting wolves tracking a deer in the snow-heavy Rockies.Walking to a nearby pizza place recommended by the train staff during a layover in Calgary. Taking a taxi to Manitoba's capital building in Winnipeg--it was closed, but the night guard let us in and turned on the lights, illuminating the great hall with its two huge buffalo statues. Stepping outside to a bitter cold Moose Jaw night to watch the crew knock off huge blocks of ice that had accumulated on our wheels. Wonderful staff. Comfortable sleeping room. Sharing meals with other travelers in the small dining car. 40 years ago, but it's still one of my best travel memories. Sorry to go on so long.
Not Just Bikes--l love your channel!

@oniondeluxe9942 1 year ago

It's amazing how privatization can obliterate any good infrastructure. Whether it's rails, electricity production, highways or hospitals, it all goes to crap.

@fridgeking6014 1 year ago

It's both hilarious and sad that you not only need a car to get to the train station, but also to get from the train station to the actual train.

@Nickxis 1 year ago

Bruh, 3 times a week? My village of 150 people in Czechia gets train every 2 hours

@chichichi_rocket 1 year ago

This feels like the definitive documentary for The Ocean, amazing work!! Thank you so much for giving me an opportunity to promote my channel in your video, I’m glad my content was able to help your video!!

@obsolete959 1 year ago

As a finn, luggage restrictions, check-in luggage and queuing at the train station seem absolutely surreal to me. Not a single one of the busy European train stations could stay operational for even a day like that.

@kathrynelrod5570 1 year ago

19:17 "This is my kind of car, because I also used to be Canadian but then transitioned to become European." congrats queen 🇪🇺🏳‍⚧

@Coffeepanda294 1 year ago

"Canadians should visit other countries and learn not to operate trains like airplanes"
But what if I want my train to fly?

@QemeH 1 year ago

You know, I always wondered why US americans and Canadians tend to be so... sceptic towards trains, even averse to them. As a european I couldn't understand what was not to like about a fast, frequent, affordable, widespread network of public transportation.
But then I heard sentences like the ones in this video (e.g. "Three trains per week in the whole of eastern Canada. That's it.") and understood. Obviously you think trains are shit if they are more expensive than flying, take longer than driving and are less frequent than busses.

@Shantara11 1 year ago

2.5 hours late?! $7000?! 3 trains per week?!
I’m only 6 minutes in, and this video is already shaping up to be a massive WTF-fest

@Tetrium 1 year ago

It's weird. I lived in Halifax 2015-2022, and I actually found that it was a very walkable city. I lived in the South End, which is close to downtown, but still, there was everything I needed within a 15-minute walk, and if I needed to go to the mall or to particular places outside of the core, I had no trouble using the bus system. The VIA Rail station is right by downtown, no need for a car to get in or out of there.