"Rich folks eating in a fancy dining car..."

There is usually one on every train like this. Sort of the Cliff Klaven of the rails. He knows everything, trivial or not, about the rail system, the equipment, the latest government policies, and so on and so forth. Ours was this chubby gentleman from Bloomington, IN, who, with his equally smug and chubby wife, was traveling from Vancouver to Winnipeg. Of course, he had a contrary opinion about everything. "Those are the worst accommodations." "This schedule change will be disastrous." "No one likes this or that..." Blah, blah, blah! And every utterance was followed by this little smirk he'd make with his little thin lips framed by his huge jowls and little moustache. This couple from Vancouver and I agreed he had a face that deserved to be slapped.

As exotic as three days and nights on a long distance train across Canada may sound, it can become monotonous and tiring, especially with the majority of the trip through snowy, barren rock and forest-covered terrain. Think Agatha Christie's "Murder on the Orient Express" without Ingrid Bergman or Sean Connery. We do have our array of "characters," some quite pleasant, others bordering on the odd or borderline nutty. Several couples have been delightful to get to know and share a meal or two with. It's all community dining, so who you are seated with is by chance, unless you join up in advance and request a table together.

I did that on Sunday evening after befriending a couple from Vancouver, Peter and Wendy. He is a successful restaurant executive overseeing dozens of locations in Canada and the United States for Boston Pizza and she is, well, she is his wife. They had purchased this trip from Vancouver to Toronto and back at a charity auction, never having ridden the train before. I like them. They appreciate the odd people on our train as much as I do. Our fourth for dinner would be included in that bunch. Jishnu, this Indian chap who works for Hewlett-Packard (what else!), has an encyclopedic knowledge of railroad signals and systems, but his knowledge-base seems to go way beyond that. He and my friend, Chris Braun, would get along admirably discussing toilet configurations on Chateau sleeping cars and their relative ease of use compared to, say, Manor sleeping cars. The rest of us just like being able to pee in the middle of the night without leaving our compartment.

The food is terrific on the Canadian, served on "real crockery," as this Brit put it. Each day at each meal is a different menu and the choices are remarkable considering the facilities in which they are prepared. I've had apple fritters at breakfast, a grilled shrimp salad at lunch and tonight, a stuffed chicken breast with garlic and feta cheese. The other two days have been as unique and delicious. The only expense to me has been for liquor and wine. And the two bottles of Bailey's I brought on board have offset a bit of that.

We are now only a few hours from Toronto, where I will bid everyone farewell and be off to my "Crash Pad" at The Drake Hotel. A real bed and Wi-Fi will be most welcome!