Jay and Liam take the train

Lateness is part of the Via culture. The Crown corporation and its people are so oblivious to time, they don't even know they're pissing people off with their laissez-faire approach to schedules. But I guess Via isn't alone among its rail business cronies. "Timeliness" and "railroads" are rarely heard in the same sentence in North America. Germany, yes. Canada, definitely not.

Yet, knowing of Via's famous reputation, I went for a ride anyway. My son Liam and I took the train last week to visit my parents. The drive from Kenora, Ontario to Hartney, Manitoba is about six hours and boring, especially for a five-year old boy who'd rather be skinning a raccoon or grinding wheat. So I paid $170 for two return tickets to take the train from one unserviced rail stop in Reddit, 20 miles north of Kenora, to another in the middle of a field 10 miles north of Brandon. That's class. Did I mention it was 90 minutes late, to boot? A longnose gar makes a better first impression.

I hate when things are late, especially when my mother in law is waiting with us to make sure we get on and my parents are waiting at the other end to catch us when the conductor flings us off. Luckily for Via, they have you trapped on board for hours to soften you up and make you feel good about train travel. Once you take your seat, put the bags away and take out the snacks, the train becomes a relaxing retreat from the cramped car and slushy highway. I got to hang out with Liam. Not once did I turn around and yell, "Quit kicking the back of my seat or I'll tear off your foot and throw it out the window!" We went to the dome car 10 times an hour. We saw rocks and trees and deer. We saw parts of Winnipeg we'd never seen in the 10 years we lived there. We watched Monsters Inc. on my laptop. We went to the dining car for breakfast AND lunch. I let Liam drink tea.

You're going to think I'm nuts, but I loved the train. I can't wait to ride it again. As long as my in-laws and parents are willing to help out, I think I'll do the same trip soon with my younger son, Campbell. On second thought, he's almost three and he swears a lot and throws pointy objects. I'm not sure the friendly staff on board (and I'm serious, they are friendly) are up for that. I'm used to it. But they might not think it's cute like I do.