2015-06-29: Mild Excitement

The train stopped. While we were awake. This is a first.

ohhhh panaromic long train

This meant we could get out and stretch our legs. In theory we could also connect to the Canadian phone network. This would mean first internet connection in over 24 hrs. That didn't really work.
In practice it meant we could smoke. That worked.

Canada likes the Gehry thing quite a bit

We stopped again later in the day for an hour or two at a place which had a market. Booze was acquired. Draper Manor now has vodka. The second stop was at an actual Rail Terminal which featured a photographic essay on immigration to the area.

Even if, from above, it is obviously a Freddy Kruger claw. Sleep tight kiddies!

Once we had vodka and snacks for the trip I perused the photo essay and Alastair found an open wireless network which had very fast speeds, I think he downloaded a few seasons of something in the time we were there.

I suspect several of the blurry people were spies. When I am spying I always try to move quickly and erratically to avoid photographic evidence.

Normally I would frown on watching TV when on one of the highest rated scenic train rides in the world but he does have a point about the scenery not really changing that much along the way.
Two things have caught my attention along the recent part of the trip.

Seems wrong to me.

The freight trains have stacked containers. I don't think I have seen this before. I don't know how fast the trains go or what the carriages are rated for in terms of weight but this seems foolhardy to me.

Definitely wrong, at least stack them in order properly!

The other realisation was that, not so long ago, the phone lines beside the track were probably the only ones between Toronto and Vancouver.

The train would have provided a path for the repair men.

I am fairly certain that the total number of lines can't have been more than 30 or so.
I think old copper lines could carry only a couple of conversations at once maybe 8? even less earlier.

Short repair men means you want low to the ground poles.

This rough speculation leads me to conclude that 50 odd years ago only a couple of hundred Torontonians (I assume that is what they are called) could speak to Vancouverites (again not sure) at a time.

I assume the olde time canadians were very short

This lack of friendly communication probably explains the antipathy between the two sides of the country. I have always suspected the dry economic nature of Sumerian writing was part of the reason their empire fell apart. Who can make friends with economists?

Just high enough to prevent beaver attack

Fortunately now we have optic fibre and there is enough bandwidth that people do not keep their conversation brief and related to important topics.

I wonder if there was an evolutionary race between beaver height and repair guy height?

This has meant that Froggy Canadians were able to mention they were off to get some Poutine to the Angly Canadian and the Angly could ask what Poutine was.
The resulting discussion brought both sides together to forge a single identity.