What you are looking at is the McBride Train Station. It sits smack-dab at the end of Main Street and is the central focus of the town, which began as a stop on the railroad. Today, the building features “The Beanery”--a bistro/coffee shop, The Whistle Stop Gallery--a sales outlet for local artists, and McBride’s Tourist Information Centre.
I went to the train station yesterday, for its original purpose--catching a train. Actually, it wasn’t me who was going to get on the train, but Joan. She was traveling to Jasper, Alberta to visit our friend, Di, and to have herself a mini-holiday--something she has been trying to do for a month now.
During the winter, the number of travelers on the two train cars is extremely low, sometimes just one or two people. She was all set to do the trip and when she went online to buy her ticket, she was gobsmacked to discover that the train was full. This sounded extremely unlikely, but she had to put off the trip.
Last week she tried again. This time she booked her ticket ahead of time. She was to leave Monday afternoon. I went off in the morning to help move some hay, and when I got home, Joan was bummed out because she had gotten a call from Via Rail, saying that the train had broken down in Smithers, BC but they had a mini-bus to take her to Jasper. Since riding on the train trip was one of the charms of the trip, and avoiding the drive on the dangerous winter highway was another reason for taking the train, Joan declined the mini-bus and once again put off the trip.
Yesterday, her trip to Jasper finally happened. I dropped her off at the station early, since you never quite know when the train is actually going to arrive in McBride to pick you up. She sent me a text message last night confirming the fact that she had arrived in Jasper and was looking forward to the activities she had planned for today.
I paint every day--See my photo-like paintings at: www.davidmarchant.ca
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