We boarded in Toronto
One cold December day
The VIA Rail Canadian
Would take us all the way
From here to Banff in the Rockies
Three days and two nights aboard
The last train to take the southern route
In the best cabin we could afford
Our noses pressed to the window
We watched the city slip away
Saw suburbs become farm fields
As night swallowed day
By the time we passed North Bay
We were both ready for bed
We tossed a coin for the lower bunk
And into the north we sped
They say the clicking of the wheels
And the swaying of the car
Are a delightful way to go to sleep
And I can swear they are
Midnight in Wawa
Snow in the air
Dawn at Nipigon
Loading live trout there
The trout were for breakfast
And as we passed Thunder Bay
The train became fragrant with
The roast that would feed us all day
Midnight in Winnipeg
The train sheathed in ice
We walked the platform for air
Frozen spit hit the ground like dice
Dawn came across the prairies
Lunch around Medicine Hat
Late afternoon saw Calgary
Just an hour more after that
We got off the train in Banff
In the snow and the sparkling cold
There were elk feeding on the tracks
I’d never seen ungulates so bold
Every Canadian should take The Canadian
Across this great country of ours
And see for themselves first hand
Its beauty, majesty and power