Cancel

Open app

Search

Via Rail Canada

4.0 (2 reviews)
Closed • Closed

Via Rail Canada Photos

More like Via Rail Canada

Recommended Reviews - Via Rail Canada

Your trust is our priority, so businesses can't pay to alter or remove their reviews. Learn more about reviews.
Yelp app icon
Browse more easily on the app
Review Feed Illustration

3 years ago

Helpful 6
Thanks 0
Love this 5
Oh no 0

13 years ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 1
Oh no 0

Verify this business for free

Get access to customer & competitor insights.

Verify this business

Prairie Dog Central - Grape Mr Freeze. I could barely get the whole thing in this photo!

Prairie Dog Central

5.0(1 review)
29.6 km

Tips: - Print out your train ticket…read more - Bring cash with you, as vendors only accept cash at Grosse Isle. This review is for the Grosse Isle station for Prairie Dog Central's train excursion between Rosser and Grosse Isle. It departs from Inkster Junction Station in Rosser, just north of Winnipeg. The train ride takes an hour. 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 bought my ticket online. Although the wording is poor and doesn't state that it's mandatory to print out your ticket, just do it. Otherwise, get a physical ticket at Inkster Junction station before you board the train. 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. My ride up was a bit rough, thanks to an evil young female kid who who kept on kicking my knees. I did not reciprocate. Thank goodness for willpower! 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 was much happier once we got to 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. It didn't have any Diet Coke, so I settled for Coke Zero. The food was yummy. The condiments were plentiful, but someone simply put all the bottles together. I separated the bottles of ketchup so that we could form at least a few lines instead of a blob. A magician was headlining our experience as we stuffed our faces. He was great. He kept both kids and adults entertained and content. There was a huge area to sit down. It thankfully had a roof, which kept us cool. I returned to the canteen to get a rather large grape freezie. 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... or do they? 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. Everyone here was super nice and helpful. I liked that you could buy a necklace, candy, and more. It was an enjoyable time here. 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'd do this train ride again just to come back to Grosse Isle. I enjoyed the food and a change of pace. Here's hoping that I don't have an evil knee-kicking kid across from me. (278)

Photos
Prairie Dog Central - Nice area to keep cool and watch the magician

Nice area to keep cool and watch the magician

Prairie Dog Central - Patrick the magician interacting with the crowd

Patrick the magician interacting with the crowd

Prairie Dog Central - Grosse Isle station

See all

Grosse Isle station

Inkster Junction Station - Our train

Inkster Junction Station

4.0(1 review)
12.0 km

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)

Photos
Inkster Junction Station - My ticket. You get a QR code when you book. It didn't say that printing a ticket was mandatory. I got one at ticketing.

My ticket. You get a QR code when you book. It didn't say that printing a ticket was mandatory. I got one at ticketing.

Inkster Junction Station - Train museum

Train museum

Inkster Junction Station - Conductor

See all

Conductor

Prairie Dog Central Railway - Grape Mr Freeze from Jessie's Canteen

Prairie Dog Central Railway

4.0(1 review)
12.0 km

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)

Photos
Prairie Dog Central Railway - Shaded seating at Grosse Isle

Shaded seating at Grosse Isle

Prairie Dog Central Railway - Patrick the magician interacting with the crowd

Patrick the magician interacting with the crowd

Prairie Dog Central Railway - Grosse Isle gift shop

See all

Grosse Isle gift shop

Via Rail Canada - trainstations - Updated June 2026

Loading...
Loading...
Loading...