Have you taken the train from the states accross Canada? Is Sept. a good time to go? Did you stay on the train the entire trip or where did you stay when off the train? How long should you take to make this trip? Any suggestion?

Which train are you talking about? The only train "from the states" across Canada that I know of is the "American Orient Express". Is this the one?

DES

A number of years ago my husband and I took a fall trip across Canada on the Canadian railroad. We caught the train in Toronto and rode it across Canada to Vancover. We were on the train several day and had our own bedroom. It was a nice experience. The train made a number of stops at various places. We booked with the Canadian railroad. We flew into Detroit and caught a train across the border at Windor,making a connection in Toronto.

In my opinion, Davidess is the expert on trains on this board. He helped me immensely when we were planning our own trip across Canada by train and I'm of the opinion that he knows pretty much everything there is to know about the routes and trains themselves. If you clarify your question he can no doubt be of enormous help.

Having said that, I can add that If your trip is the one mentioned by Sabrina (ie 'The Canadian' run from Toronto to Vancouver over 3 days - sleeping on the train as it continues along), we took that very train in June and I posted photos taken along the way on Webshots.com at the following URL:

http://community.webshots.com/album/79242289QhYBGx

You may want to take a look. I took photos of both the views outside the windows, and the interiors of the various cars.

It was a terrific experience and I highly recommend it. The food was wonderful and there is nothing quite like falling asleep to the ryhthm of the rails.

Ken

As a previous poster said, your choices between the US and Canada are very limited. AMTRAK (www.amtrak.com) runs a couple of trains between the northeast US and Montreal and one train between Seattle and Vancouver. ViaRail Canada (www.viarail.com) runs a trans-Canada train called the Canadian between Toronto and Vancouver. From Montreal, you would have to take a ViaRail train to Toronto and then catch the Canadian.

If you do decide to make any of these connections, both AMTRAK and ViaRail often run late so don't make your connections too close together (the last time I was on the Canadian, it was 8 hours late into Edmonton where I boarded and over 9 hours late into Jasper where I disembarked).

If you have a bedroom and like trains, the Canadian is a wonderful trip.

We took the VIA trail trip from Toronto to Vancouver that others have described, two summers ago. September should be just as nice. You can easily get information at www.viarail.com. It was a wonderful trip but sleeping was quiet and comfortable (for us 50+ year olds)only if with a sleeper room, which makes it costly, though well worth it. That is obvously a matter of personal preference.The nice thing is while it is only 3 days if you go straight through from Toronto to Vancouver, we got a VIA rail pass, so we could get off at various stops along the way (Winnipeg, Jasper, Edmonton, etc.) and made lots of side trips. We took the trip in about 12 days and then spent another few days in Vancouver which is worth visiting in and of itself. I would recommend allowing that kind of time in you can. We especially loved Jasper and Vancouver.If you haven't seen much of Canada and/or like trains, I would highly recommend this trip.

Professors

"Message: As a previous poster said, your choices between the US and Canada are very limited. AMTRAK (www.amtrak.com) runs a couple of trains between the northeast US and Montreal ...... From Montreal, you would have to take a ViaRail train to Toronto and then catch the Canadian."

A minor error here -

Amtrak/ViaRail run one train daily to Toronto(Maple Leaf Service). In addition there are two trains to Montreal. One the Vermonter goes as far as St. ALban's in Vermont and Thruway Bus Service is provided the rest of the way. The other is the Adirondack which provides thru service to Montreal.

From Chicago you have the International which crosses at Port Huron.