Great Western Coffee Shop

Here are some photos from a journey I took almost two years ago.

I travelled from here... correctly identified as Vancouver
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2565/3994822798_5227195689.jpg)
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2617/3994823174_1b7527a1f7.jpg)

...via here... correctly identified as Jasper
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2433/3994063253_918e0bf481.jpg)
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2462/3994824874_eb958ed6b1.jpg)

...and here...
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2622/3994825216_e5997bc195.jpg)

...to here.
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2577/3994065307_9c614781e3.jpg)
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2659/3994826830_87bd82efc3.jpg)

I'll be seriously impressed if you guys can figure these out:

1. Where did I travel from, to and where are the two places pictured I travelled through?
2. What train number and name did I travel on?
3. How long was it scheduled to take me from my origin to destination?
4. Where did my train eventually terminate and how long after I got off it?

And, for a bonus mark, because I don't know the answer, can anyone tell me how on Earth this was not a SPAD (notice the freight train not too many yards ahead of the front of my train  ???  :o)
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2662/3994068997_b249fda461.jpg)

Good luck...

Looks like people are taking a while to start ... so I'll start with a guess.   Montreal to Calgary was your journey, on a train that went on to Vancouver.

Vancouver is definitely involved, but not Montreal or Calgary I'm afraid.

Is there a Taunton in Canada ?  :P

No, but there are three in the US - one in New York State, one in Minnesota and one in Massachusetts.

Afraid none of them are pictured though!

 ;D ;D ;D

Not sure of the journey but in answer to "Was it a SPAD?" Probably not, you don't say if the train stopped before entering what I presumme is a loop. I would think that the driver was given permission to proceed into the loop by radio or even by the equivalent of our calling on signal.

Most railway administrations tend to trust their drivers not to run into the back of train on the same line especially after they've been cautioned regarding the presence of the train in front.

it is not unuaual even in the UK for two trains to be in same section at once there are still places where trains are split/joined in the platform. Even at Padd in a Turbo you can come in on top of another unit already in the platform having got two diagonal white lights from Royal Oak. The only difference is that it would be very very unusual in UK for it to be a passenger and a freight train.

I would have been more worried if your train was the front train and the freight was entering the loop behind you.

Dah ... that's probably from Vancouver, isn't it?  I was puzzling the first picture as to where it was in the east and it isn't - it's in the west.    Which means you've probably got places like Kamloops and Jasper - perhaps to Saskatoon ...

Absolutely right...the starting point is Vancouver, journey heading east. Kamloops and Saskatoon aren't featured (because we stopped in the small hours of the morning when I was asleep) but you've correctly identified the first stopping point pictured as Jasper, complete with elk wandering around the yard.

Now ... there is a "Union" station in Toronto but the pictures I can find show somewhere much older, and my Toronto memories are car, plane, ferries in the harbour (ah - it COULD be!) and trams.  As for the other stop ... there are so many such as Banff that haven't been mentioned yet.

I'm guessing here, as you've probably guessed  ;D ... looks like we don't have many people who have ridden across Canada by rail on the forum!

It's a long shot, but I'll guess 6th from the top to be Winnipeg.

Spot on!