The Canadian remembered
					This is three days later, Wednesday afternoon.  The sad occasion of the last arrival of Train No. 1 was to be observed with ceremony and music.  Because the train in the previous pictures had already made it to its twin terminals in the east, this day's events in Vancouver marked the Last of the Last indeed.  History does not record what the women were playing.
					A heart catching moment.  Engine 6453 pulls the last train into the station.  Next to the maintenance shed, engine 6439 stands ready at the front of a very long transcontinental train scheduled to leave later in the day.  The 6439 heads another FP40PH-2, an FP9B booster, and an FP9A cab, all out of frame.  The dome-buffet and coach in back await assignment.  Never the most rigorous of railfans, I didn't write down their numbers or take "roster shots" of them.
					A coach, with people waving from the vestibule, is followed by "Skyline" dome-lounge 567 and a "Chateau" sleeper.  The field mark of the Chateau car is the staggered windows of its duplex roomettes. So where's the diner?  VIA usually put the diner between the mid-train dome car and the sleeping cars, dividing the train into two classes.  Following the diner would be varying numbers of "Chateau" and "Manor" sleepers, and of course a "Park" dome-observation-sleeper bringing up the rear.  I rode Manor Park in 1988.
					Shades of the famous 1885 "Last Spike" photo at Craigellachie . . . . As the P.M. had other plans today, a stand-in represented him at this wistful ceremony, staged by VIA workers to mark the termination of their relationship with The Canadian.  He's facing the camera, above the man with the red backpack.
					Banff Park was the last Park Car to traverse its namesake park in regular VIA service.  I couldn't begin to describe the emotions that this photo invokes.  Expressing a deep disgust for the Mulroney government would be the logical starting point.  I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to ride VIA's The Canadian.
		First "Remembered" page