At this point in our VIA Canadian Train #1 Journey, we were a bit disappointed. Thanks to delays…read moredue to freight trains (VIA leases the tracks and CN trains have priority), we rolled into Winnipeg late in the evening. Our stay time was drastically reduced which pretty much meant that any plans to see "The Forks" or otherwise wander around were limited to walking around the block or through the back parking lot. Here are some positives: - The classic part of Union Station looks as good as ever. - The Canadian Museum of Human Rights building looks great all lit up. Gayle thinks I'm crazy, but I need to come back to Winnipeg and make up for lost time.

Came here to catch a train from Winnipeg to Churchill. Arrived a couple of hrs early to check in my…read morebags with no problems and then went for a wander through the Forks which is just next door. After getting some snacks from the Forks Market I returned to the station to await my train. It is a nice building although it is under restoration at the moment so you don't have access to much. There are a couple of waiting areas and wi-fi is available in the front lobby but not the waiting area back towards the platforms. The station doesn't have much to do or any food for sale so if you are waiting for a train for a little bit its well worth going exploring.

Tips: - Print out your train ticket…read more - There's a washroom in the train station by the ticketing area. There are more washrooms behind the train station, closer to the parking area. - The train museum is worth dropping by, especially to see Thomas the train. I recently did a train experience from Prairie Dog Central Railway. It provides train excursions between Inkster Junction Station, which is in Rosser, just north of Winnipeg, and Grosse Isle, an hour north of Rosser. The train ride to and from both places is on a heritage train. Each excursion takes a few hours, and only occurs on Saturdays and Sundays, with the occasional holiday Monday trip here and there. I booked a ticket online for a Saturday in early July. I was able to select the train car and seat that I wanted. The departure time was 11 am. However, it recommends that you get there thirty minutes early to park and check in. The online ticket had a QR code. It also recommended that you print your ticket out. I thought that I'd be fine with the QR code. I later found out that it wasn't. Getting to this station was straightforward. The backroads to get to this station are dirt roads. Expect your vehicle to look dusty and dirty, depending on whether rain has fallen hours earlier. A friendly male staffer gave me a tip on where to park. He was helpful. I backed into a spot and headed over to the station. There are washrooms behind the station. I used the sole washroom in the station next to ticketing. It was clean. I used it after the excursion, too. There's a gift shop. I used it to get a cold drink after I returned to Rosser. It hit the spot. It accepts cash, and credit and debit cards. You can also get souvenirs, from toy trains, to t-shirts. You board the train roughly fifteen minutes before the departure time. I found the car number that I needed to board. I presented my ticket's QR code on my phone to the woman helping with boarding. She said to go to ticketing and get a physical ticket. Nowhere on my online ticket did it say that you must have a physical ticket. It recommended to print it out, but it didn't indicate that a conductor comes around to each passenger to punch your physical ticket. It was a bit archaic, but more clarity beforehand would have been better. The lineup at ticketing took a while. I wasn't the only one who needed a paper one. I eventually got one. During the trip up to Grosse Isle, the conductor punched it. Maybe it was for the full old-school experience. I headed back to board the train. The woman placed a square box to make boarding easier. It would be a challenge to board this train if you require a walker or wheelchair. It's an old train, which has cons: - If you're tall, there isn't a whole lot of leg room when you are seated. - You will die if it's a scorching-hot day. There is no air conditioning. You open the windows with the two clamps on either side of each window. - There are washrooms on the train, but they are only for emergencies. The train ride isn't fast. It takes an hour between Rosser and Grosse Isle. I got to see a lot of canola and cars stopped as we crossed. It was fun waving to folks who didn't seem annoyed. The windows being open helped keep everyone cool. There was entertainment on the train. A man played his guitar and sang. We also got some facts about where we were going from another man. The train museum at Inkster wasn't open when I got there. It was when we returned to this station. I loved it. The WinNtrak Model Railway Group runs the train museum. It was cool seeing model trains in action. I got to see a train setup in Dauphin, with the grain elevator and everything. The most popular train was Thomas. It was a treat seeing Thomas the train travel around a prairie farm setting. I also enjoyed chatting with a few folks from the railway group who were so friendly and knowledgeable. I'm glad that I gave this train excursion a try. There's some room for improvement as far as ticketing goes. I would return to check out the museum again. I liked it more than the train ride to and from Grosse Isle! (277)

Not bad. I had an hour in between trains and the train attendant told me about this mall close to…read morethe station. It was a short walk from the station but I made it. I didn't plan to eat here but after being on the train for days I craved variety from the train food. (It's good food on the train but the same thing on the train over and over again gets dull.) I saw a limited selection of restaurants and I wanted something different than the chain restaurants in every mall across Canada so this was the place. I saw they had a chicken ball special for $6 which wasn't bad but then saw they had deep fried shrimp. So I got the 2 item special to go on deep fried noodles to go. Walked back to the train station to eat it and I have to say not bad! I'm from Vancouver which is one of the gold standards for Asian food and I have to say that for the limited number of items they have on the menu this place made a pretty decent deep fried ginger chicken and deep fried prawn. The noodles were pretty good too. Oriental Wok, you've earned my 3 stars. Keep up the good work.

Doesn't work well in the cold Winter months as chilly winds blow thru this $30 million station for…read moreBRT buses. There are push buttons to activate the heat, but because of the size of Osborne Stn. it really doesn't have any effect on the temperature. Long waits for a bus on weekend (Sunday) evenings. Better to use Harkness Stn. or one of the others just to keep warm as it has a proper indoor shelter. The good thing is that one day Osborne Stn. will have LRT trains running on it. The platform is long enough for a 4-car consist.

Tip: Print out your train ticket…read more A friend of mine used ChatGPT to generate a travel itinerary for his upcoming trip. At my workplace, we have our standard AI tool and I'm currently testing a potential AI tool to replace our intranet site's global search tool. With my trip to Winnipeg, I decided to use both tools to create a travel itinerary. Seeing the output would be cool, as I know the city well, minus whatever is new that I'm not aware of. I asked my work AI tool to create a Winnipeg itinerary for the dates that I'd be in the city. I liked that there was a lot of flexibility with the suggestions made. It had everything that I have already visited, except for taking a train from Rosser to Grosse Isle. It was new to me. Prairie Dog Central Railway provided the train ride to and from both places on a heritage train, and more. The excursion would take a few hours, and only occurs on Saturdays and Sundays, with the occasional holiday Monday trip here and there. I decided to give it a try. I went on its online site and booked a ticket for a Saturday in early July. I was able to select the train car and seat that I wanted. The departure time was 11 am. However, it recommends that you get there thirty minutes early to park and check in. The online ticket had a QR code. It also recommended that you print your ticket out. I thought that I'd be fine with the QR code. I later found out that it wasn't. The train departs from Inkster Junction Station, which is in Rosser, north of Winnipeg. The backroads to get to this station are dirt roads. Expect your vehicle to look dusty and dirty, depending on whether rain has fallen hours earlier. A friendly male staffer gave me a tip on where to park. He was helpful. I backed into a spot and headed over to the station. There are washrooms behind the station. I used the sole washroom in the station next to ticketing. It was clean. I used it after the excursion, too. There's a gift shop. I used it to get a cold drink after I returned to Rosser. It hit the spot. It accepts cash, and credit and debit cards. You board the train roughly fifteen minutes before the departure time. I found the car number that I needed to board. I presented my ticket's QR code on my phone to the woman helping with boarding. She said to go to ticketing and get a physical ticket. Nowhere on my online ticket did it say that you must have a physical ticket. It recommended to print it out, but it didn't indicate that a conductor comes around to each passenger to punch your physical ticket. It was a bit archaic, but more clarity beforehand would have been better. The lineup at ticketing took a while. I wasn't the only one who needed a paper one. I eventually got one. During the trip up to Grosse Isle, the conductor punched it. Maybe it was for the full old-school experience. I headed back to board the train. The woman placed a square box to make boarding easier. It would be a challenge to board this train if you require a walker or wheelchair. It's an old train, which has cons: - If you're tall, there isn't a whole lot of leg room when you are seated. - You will die if it's a scorching-hot day. There is no air conditioning. You open the windows with the two clamps on either side of each window. - There are washrooms on the train, but they are only for emergencies. I did my good deed by swapping my seat with someone so she could sit with her three family members. The downside was that I ended up sitting across from a young kid who kept on kicking my knees. Part of me wanted to kick her right back, but I didn't want screaming. Her parents were teachers, but didn't do a whole lot to stop the kick-fest. The mom spoke in German. The husband talked in English about problem-solving. Weird. The train ride isn't fast. It takes an hour between Rosser and Grosse Isle. I got to see a lot of canola and cars stopped as we crossed. It was fun waving to folks who didn't seem annoyed. I liked Grosse Isle. It was cash-only to get hot dogs, smokies, and pretty much everything. There were vendors selling art and more. I got a hot dog and a smokie. I then had to go to the canteen to get a drink. A magician was headlining our experience as we stuffed our faces. He was great. I returned to the canteen to get a rather large grape Mr Freeze. The woman asked me if I wanted her to cut the top of it. I said yes because no one wants to see me savagely rip the top off with my teeth. It was nice making this woman and her colleague laugh. The washrooms were a trailer setup, but extremely clean and nice. One male kid in front of one of them said that he wanted to live in it. Yep, it was that nice. We got word that boarding the train back to Rosser had started. With all the windows down as the train moved was delightful on a 22°C day. I endured the evil kid in front of me kicking. I was so happy when the ride was over and I was free. It was fun, minus evil kid. The train museum at Inkster was fun! (276)