After finally getting to sleep at 6:30 or so, I find myself waking at 7:53. Not a whole lot of sleep, but I guess I need to get my schedule readjusted some time, and now's as good of a time as any. Besides, I don't want to miss breakfast, and I expect that more and more people will be up and moving around soon, so there's not much point in trying to sleep through the day. The berth I've got is just a curtained alcove right on the hallway (and located halfway between the shower and bathroom for this car), so I pretty much hear everyone who walks past me. It's an okay situation when everyone else is asleep, but when people are moving about, it's nearly impossible to sleep.
As the day progresses, things just drag on. Every time the train seems to have made up some time, we end up stopping or slowing so we can let a freight pass while we're on a siding. They're on schedule, and we're already so far behind, there's no way we're going to make up all the time. But none of the crew seem to have a good answer for when we'll actually reach Vancouver. You'd think someone could figure that out.
At lunch, I do get to sit with a couple widows currently living in Florida, one originally from New York, who's pretty fun. We spend lunch flirting, and it's a lot of fun. There's also a group forming in the bar car, many of whom are talking revolt if the railroad's plans actually happen.
Speaking of plans, it sounds as though VIA is planning to terminate the train in Kamloops (or Jasper, depending on who you listen to), and then bus us to Vancouver while they turn the train around there to get back onto schedule. The prospect doesn't really make anyone happy, since not only are we only getting a view of prairie all day (rather than sleeping through it and seeing the mountains), but summing up the mood, I commented, If I wanted to ride a bus, I could've booked a ticket on Greyhound for a lot less,
and quite a few people seem to share that view. We understand that if they don't turn the train around early, the eastbound folks will end up being late, and since there are only three trains a week, it'd be a big deal, but nobody wants to get on the bus, either.
But for the moment, that's still at least a day away, and everyone's fairly tired. All of the crew also got on at Winnipeg, and few got much sleep, so they've been awake about as long as I have.
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