I’ve embarked on a mad, wonderful adventure, but to see it through, I’m going to need your help.
Over the course of this year, I’ve pledged to ride every passenger train in Canada. That’s right—all of them, from the White Pass & Yukon out of Carcross, to The Ocean, calling at Halifax.
It’s not just a lark: I’m working on a book, to be published by the House of Anansi, tentatively subtitled: “Twelve Trains that Explain Canada.”
I figure I’m about 60 percent of the way through my mission. I’ve still got to ride the Tshiuetin to Schefferville, the Via Rail train from Winnipeg to Churchill, the Algoma Central out of Sault Ste. Marie, and other crucial lines, without which this would be a lesser book.
The problem is, I’m about to run out of funds to keep the research going! Book advances in Canada aren’t what they used to be: what I received to fund the work is the equivalent of about two months in living expenses. And this is an awfully big country…
I really want to make this happen! The more I travel, the more I discover how railways have been responsible for determining the character of this country. They kept invaders and annexers at bay, drove the settlement of the west, and helped the Group of Seven paint the beauty of the north country. And while they were the harbingers of colonialists responsible for undermining traditional Indigenous cultures, they have lately been adopted by First Nations in Manitoba and Labrador as a lifeline to keep remote communities alive. Canada’s railways clearly have a lot to answer for. But—as I’m discovering as my travels progress—they have even more to explain to us.
So—will you help this steel-rider complete his mission?
If you’re a free subscriber to this newsletter, I’m hoping you’ll consider becoming a paid subscriber. Upgrading to paid (at $7 a month, or $70 a year) will mean you'll get the full version of every newsletter in your inbox, every week, the run of the archives, as well as the ability to join the conversation in the comments. And if you become a Founding Member ($10 a month, or $100 a year), your name will appear, along with my sincere thanks, in the acknowledgments of the book.
All paid members will be the first to hear about when my articles on riding trains (in National Geographic, The Times of London, The Globe and Mail, Travel + Leisure, Canadian Geographic) appear, and you’ll get behind-the-scenes peeks at the research, writing, and—in the not-too-distant future—news on when my whistle-stop book tour might be bringing me to your neck of the woods.
If just 100 of you upgrade to paid, I can finish this journey.
As they say on the Canadian rails, “All Aboard—En Voiture!”
