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From Moose to MousseRelaxing on the Acadian RailwayBy Sharon McDonnellSnacking on Brie, smoked salmon and strawberries between sips of wine, I watched the endless evergreens and lakes of Maine's remote Great North Woods roll by while in a parlour car. Not that I was starving. For lunch, I'd polished off pheasant in red wine sauce and orange sorbet and chocolate sauce for dessert, washed down with white wine, a mere hour before. My lunch was served in the glass-domed dining car, with 360-degree views, at a table set with vases of fresh flowers and china. Downstairs was the main dining car, adorned with Art Deco-style glass sconces and tapestry-like seat covers. No, it wasn't your average U.S. train ride, where I've gnawed despairingly on fast-food fare like pretzels and sandwiches. I was on The Acadian Railway, a new luxury train which debuted in June on restored railroad cars from the 1940's and 50's, trimmed with brass and wood to recall the grand era of train travel. I had lots of room to stretch my legs --each passenger has at least two seats even if the train is fully booked.
"There are trains that are entertainment, and trains that are transportation. This is entertainment. We're about looking out the window, at 30 miles per hour for an average speed," said John Randolph Parten, president of The Acadian Railway Company. In Greenville, in the ruggedly beautiful region called the Great North Woods, we faced a choice of lodgings and activities--from a "moose safari," whitewater rafting on a nearby river, a lake cruise on a restored 19th century steamship to seaplane tours. Since mousse is a predictable standby where I live--but moose are not--I picked the safari.
Henry David Thoreau, who canoed and camped here in the 1850's and wrote The Maine Woods, penned the words, "A lake is landscape's most beautiful and expansive feature. It is the earth's eye." But less than 10 minutes driving down Rockwood Road after our cruise ended, we started shrieking. There, by the side of the road--busy munching on shrubbery and oblivious to trucks whizzing by--stood a moose, who patiently endured our approaching footsteps.
Blair Hill Inn is a white 1891 Victorian mansion with a drop-dead view of Moosehead Lake from its living room, dining room, deck and all but one of its eight rooms. Stained glass, woodburning fireplaces, antiques, exquisite bed linens, and fresh flowers make this one of the loveliest inns I've ever seen. At The Lodge at Moosehead Lake, across the street, three amazing suites have handcarved wood totems, moose, bears, and loons on bedposts, headboards and mirrors. Birch tree trunks, antlers, oars and wooden duck decoys lend atmosphere. All eight rooms, except one, offer lake views. In town, we saw the gallery/studio of the "chain-saw artist," Joe Bolf, who carves life-sized animals and humans from wood with this tool--and uses blow-torches for a nifty burned look--whose wood-carvings can be seen in The Lodge's suites. We browsed the Indian Hill Trading Post, a general store/clothing/hunting gear/grocery/bookstore to fulfill every imagined need, and found a bar, Whisky Cove, whose owner was so astonished to see a big group from The Acadian appear late on a week-night she frantically dialed a phone for reinforcements, then offered a free plate of sandwiches. At the end of our 12-hour journey from tiny Greenville, Canada's biggest city, Montreal, where French is the official language and two million people live in its metro area, was quite a contrast. Our hotel was Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth, a deluxe hotel where John Lennon and Yoko Ono conducted their famous bed-in from their 17th floor room in the 1960's. We toured Old Montreal, a charming section of cobblestone streets, restaurants and shops I would have loved to spend more time in, and the Cathedral of Notre Dame, which featured colorful handcarved, painted woodwork, stained glass windows which told the history of Montreal, and a bright chapel with a striking bronze abstract sculpture by local artisans. (Celine Dion was married here, and Pavarotti once sang at Christmas time.) Montreal has a huge underground city, where 18 miles of pathways connect restaurants, shops and train stations with hotels, office and apartment buildings to protect residents from the long winter, which basically lasts from November to March. We also saw the Lachine Canal, built in 1825 and for over 100 years the mainstay of industrial Montreal, which recently re-opened fo pleasure boats after a five-year renovation. The canal became outmoded after the St. Lawrence Seaway opened in 1959. The Acadian Railway Company runs luxury trains on 27 routes between northern New England and eastern Canada. While the train I took, The Acadian, runs late June to early September, Fall foliage trips between Portland, Maine and Montreal are running mid-September to late October. These include optional three- and four-night bus tours from Bethel, Maine to New Hampshire and grand resorts like The Balsams, located on a 15,000-acre estate in the White Mountains. Another train travels from New York City to Montreal via Saratoga Springs, The Lake Champlain.
For example, cruises from New York to Saint John on Regal or Carnival Cruises; Portland, Maine to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia on Scotia Prince Cruises; or Boston to Montreal on Holland America are available. The brains behind The Acadian Railway is from neither New England or Canada, but Houston, Texas--a lifelong railroad buff from the oil and gas industry. "In the 1980's we began talking about doing a train as a cruise ship experience, as they do in Europe, Africa and South America," says Parten. After he started buying vintage stainless steel AMTRAK railroad cars at auctions and refurbishing them, "It was put-up or shut-up time," he notes. First, he launched a luxury train in Mexico's Copper Canyon area in Chihuahua province, the South Orient Express, nearly a decade ago. Since this train runs only in winter, he next searched for a route for the cars to travel during summer months His criteria: spectacular scenery, tracks in good condition, proximity to big metropolitan areas, and "friendly railroads" willing to do business. After three-and-a-half years of negotiation with governments in Maine and several Canadian provinces, plus hammering out an agreement to use part of the old Canadian Pacific main line--where no passenger trains had run since late 1994--The Acadian Railway's inaugural run was in June.Most of its cars were veterans of the Mexican Copper Canyon route. "We run trains in two countries with 27 tours under many government authorities --it's just about driven me crazy," Parten jokes. IF YOU GO:The Acadian Railway The Maine Highlands Quebec Tourism IMAGES BY MAINE OFFICE OF TOURISM AND ACADIAN RAILWAY COMPANY |
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Since there were no sleeping cars--the train is
daylight-only--our leisurely route from Saint John, New Brunswick straight
through Maine to Montreal took four nights, but included a two-night
stopover in Greenville, a town of 1,600 on Moosehead Lake, Maine's largest
lake, one night in Saint John, near the Bay of Fundy with the world's
highest tides, and a final night in Montreal.
So on a gloriously sunny day on a three-hour guided
boat ride on Moosehead Lake, our eyes were peeled for moose, who often munch
on tasty aquatic vegetation near the coastline or swim. Prime moose-watching
times are sunrise or cocktail hour--5 to 7 P.M.--but since this was
mid-afternoon, no moose were to be found. Just lovely views of some of the
300 tiny islands in the 32-mile-long lake, some occupied by only one house,
and the 800-foot face of Mount Kineo, located on a peninsula in the middle
of the lake. Its flint-like rock was prized by Native Americans for tools.
Our casual lodgings in Greenvile, at rustic Big Squaw
Mountain Resort next to a ski lift, were included in the base price of a
trip on The Acadian ($1,399 per person, double occupancy, including hotels,
meals and wine both on and off trains, sightseeing in all destinations, a
four-hour bus transfer from Halifax, Nova Scotia airport to Saint John, and
a transfer to Montreal.) But when I saw what an upgrade could buy in
Greenville--Victorian splendor at The Blair Hill Inn or a lavish lodge,
Architectural Digest-style, at The Lodge at Moosehead Lake, I nearly
drooled with envy. 
Some of the many side trips for passengers include Bar
Harbor in coastal Maine, Cape Breton Island in northern Nova Scotia with its
strong Gaelic heritage and Scottish music, and quaint Prince Edward Island,
home of the fictional Anne of Green Gables. Hotels, sightseeing,
meals, free-flowing wine, and transfers are included in all train trips, and
a cruise can be combined as well.