Kayak by rail

In Canada, the passenger rail companies (VIA, Ontario Northland, possibly others) still provide a service that is almost as old as rail travel itself. If you are a passenger on the train, you can carry your canoe or sea kayak in the baggage car for a small additional fee. In some cases, you can also arrange for a drop in the wilderness and a pickup at a later time. Getting to and from the train is your problem and you can only go where the train goes, but this is one option that paddlers still use. The downside, of course, is that if you are travelling a significant distance (as in from one coast to the other), the price of the passenger ticket is quite high compared to, say, flying. However, it is the most civilized way to travel and your ticket basically includes travel and accomodations. You can get up and walk around and sit in a dining car to eat. There's even a bar car for evening get-togethers. If you, like me, have romantic notions about rail, train travel is a viable option to get to a distant kayak destination with your own kayak in comfort - if you have the time and money to enjoy it.

For one well-travelled train route, there is a special canoe car. This is a flatbed rail car covered with canoe racks. You can carry a sea kayak on these easily. Ontario Northland runs this car on Little Bear, the train route between Moosonee and Moose Factory at the northern end to Cochrane in the south. This provides access to Moose River and the south end of James Bay for an interesting sea kayak adventure. In the photo (right) you can see a sea kayak at the far right, lower rack.