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Re: Most exotic place you ever visited?
Author: Exchequer
Date: 04-03-2010 - 16:18
In a rail context, my answer to that would be Gaspe, the eastern terminus of VIA's Chaleur route.
1. When I rode the train in 1988, it still had an FPA, one of the last VIA trains to be assigned these units. With its smooth side passenger cars, the Chaleur differed from a typical American 1950s or 1960s passenger train only in paint.
2. Also contributing to the time warp feel was seeing the traditional coastal villages along the route which may have been common in New England coastal areas before tourism became a major industry.
3. While perhaps not exotic in the same way that tropical destinations are typically viewed, the Gaspe Peninsula is a beautiful area.
4. On the train and in Gaspe, very little English was spoken. I found myself wishing I remembered more of my high school French.
5. Gaspe was truly the end of the line. The train pulled up to the bumping post and beyond that was the Atlantic Ocean.
1. When I rode the train in 1988, it still had an FPA, one of the last VIA trains to be assigned these units. With its smooth side passenger cars, the Chaleur differed from a typical American 1950s or 1960s passenger train only in paint.
2. Also contributing to the time warp feel was seeing the traditional coastal villages along the route which may have been common in New England coastal areas before tourism became a major industry.
3. While perhaps not exotic in the same way that tropical destinations are typically viewed, the Gaspe Peninsula is a beautiful area.
4. On the train and in Gaspe, very little English was spoken. I found myself wishing I remembered more of my high school French.
5. Gaspe was truly the end of the line. The train pulled up to the bumping post and beyond that was the Atlantic Ocean.
