Epic Train Journeys

[narrator] This is Canada's famous VIA Rail train, carrying passengers on an epic journey from Winnipeg way up to Hudson Bay.

The route is also vital for freight.

It's a lifeline, bringing goods to remote First Nations communities.

Keeping it open requires vigilance, brute force, and sometimes even fire.

The destination, Churchill, is known for amazing wildlife.

In summer, beluga whales, in winter, polar bears, and in spring, natural wonders.

Filmed from above, this series showcases some of the most incredible railways on Earth.

We'll gain a unique aerial insight into these remarkable trains and the extraordinary landscapes they pass through, revealing the technology that built them, and the dedicated people who keep them running.

We'll uncover the culture, the history, and the engineering that makes these truly Epic Train Journeys From Above.

The VIA Rail passenger train is preparing to leave on a 1,700-kilometer journey from the heart of Canada, up north towards the Arctic Circle.

Canada is huge.

At almost ten million square kilometers, it's the world's second-largest country, but also one of the least densely populated.

Very few people live in its remote north.

In the west of Canada rise the famed Rocky Mountains.

In the east, fishermen used to supply the world with cod.

And in the middle, the prairies, the country's breadbasket.

Canada is by far the biggest exporter of durum wheat in the world.

And it's from one of the prairie provinces, Manitoba, that VIA Rail train 693 begins its journey here in the capital, Winnipeg.

Once part of Canada's 19th-century fur trade, Winnipeg is now a modern metropolis, and a major rail hub for trains going east, west, and north.

At the historic Beaux-Arts Union Station, passengers are arriving for the two-day trip to Churchill.

[man] All right, so it's on your left.

Do you need a hand with your bags?

-[woman] I think I'm good.

-Just on your left.

Andrew Paterson has three years' experience driving on the route.

There's a lot of planning involved and a lot of quick decision-making skills that are required as well, so it's, yes, technically pushing buttons, pulling levers, but there's a lot of forethought to it as well.

All aboard!

The weather is the biggest thing, when you get into the really cold months through minus 40s and wind chills into the minus 50 temperatures.

[bell clanging in distance] At exactly 12.05, the train eases out of Winnipeg Station.

At this time of year, Andrew's biggest challenge is the state of the rails themselves.

[Andrew] The roadbed's never really solid.

It does float quite a bit up north, so you have challenges with a lot of frost heaves in the winter months.

Severe winter frosts can shift the track, making it uneven, and further north, the ground can be swampy whenever the weather turns warmer.

Today, the weather en route is forecast to be minus 29, blistering cold.

[train whistle blares] On behalf of your service manager in VIA Rail Canada, it's our pleasure to welcome you on board train number 693, en route to Churchill.

It's more than 1,600 kilometers to Churchill on the Hudson Bay.

Along the route are 71 stations.

Passengers can also arrange to be picked up between stations in remote areas, flashing their headlights, or simply waving at the slow-moving train as a signal for the driver to stop.

The first leg of the journey travels across ice-covered flatlands, once grasslands home to vast herds of bison.

In the early 19th century, European immigrant farmers discovered that wheat could be grown here.

The bison were slaughtered and the grasslands became Manitoba's prairies.

Within two months, this area will transform into fields of grain, a crucial lynchpin in the Canadian economy.

The railroad to Churchill started construction in the early 1900s, after a long campaign by crop farmers who wanted a quicker route to export their grain to Europe.

It took nearly 30 years to complete.

From the prairies, the train weaves north to one of the most beautiful parts of the province, Lake Manitoba.

It's one of the world's largest freshwater lakes.

[uplifting music] Among the coaches is a panoramic car, with opportunities for great views.

But the twice-weekly train is not primarily for tourists, certainly not at the height of winter.

So I'm, like, a Masters student.

I'm doing my research at the Churchill Marine Observatory.

I'm focusing on detecting oil and diesel fuel under sea ice, so my research is gonna help with reducing the impacts of a diesel spill or an oil spill.

Leah's professor, Dustin Isleifson, is leading the research in Churchill.

It's a bit of a slower trip than you'd take from a flight, but you get to see the terrain.

You actually get to see Manitoba and the land all around you.

The train is travelling slowly.

Even though the locomotives are powerful, their speed rarely exceeds 50km an hour in the north, because of potential problems on the track.

It's so cold that the metal rails contract, and ice beneath the tracks can make them uneven.

The further north the railroad, the greater the need for constant inspection and repairs.

Maintenance crews drive specially adapted trucks able to travel on road or rail.

Small, flanged wheels can be lowered onto the rails.

It makes it possible to inspect the tracks even in the remotest areas up north, where there are no roads.

[loud clattering] It's a tough... ...tough territory we work in.

Today, roadmaster Dustin Head is inspecting the track for damage caused by severe winter weather.

The extreme cold is especially challenging, but in the spring too, the thaw can make the track unstable.

He uses a sensor array attached to the front of the truck, linked to a computer inside the cab, to spot problems in real time.

It looks like we are just going through a cross level splotch here right now.

It just showed up.

Cross level means uneven rails.

One side of the rail is lower than the other, and that's not good for the train.

[grunts softly] Right now, our east rail is... [sighs] [whistles softly] ...two and a quarter inch lower than the west rail.

If we were to leave this, this is gonna grow to an even bigger defect.

The east rail will get lower, it will continue to sink, and we'll have a chance for a derailment of a train, so we cannot let this sit any longer.

We will have to fix this immediately.

[sighs] Good evening.

We've got a defect we need lifted urgently.

We've got a southbound passenger train and a way freight coming this evening, So can we get you guys here as soon as possible?

Over.

[man] As the supervisor just said, we'll be on our way there to respond.

Dusk comes early at this time of the year, and as the sky turns from gold to dark blue, VIA Rail 693 will make a stop before the night falls for a crew change.

Ryan Allman is the driver taking the train into the night.

There's always inherent challenges, uh, but you've gotta understand, the headlights on these things are about as bright as the sun, so our vision is actually surprisingly pretty good.

We can see down the track for a good extended distance.

[pensive music] As the train leaves the station heading north, the temperature during the night is predicted to drop to minus 30 with heavy snow.

Snowdrifts could cover the line and even make it impassable.

In the winter time there's safety concerns out here, especially when it's 50 below.

Definitely could be challenging.

And as you see here, you can't even see the track.

You don't even know where it is, so we've gotta make our own trail, and hopefully not get stuck doing it.

[train clattering on tracks] Manitoba reaches right up to the Arctic, and the railway serves the many small First Nations communities along the line.

The Pas, one third of the way between Winnipeg and Churchill, is where freight trains begin their journey, taking goods up north.

From here, right up to Churchill, both freight train and passenger train use the same track.

The wagons today are carrying fuel, food, and construction materials for the communities en route, and jet fuel for the airport at Churchill.

[man] That'll do.

Because the goods are vital and the journey remote, nothing is left to chance.

Before hauling a train, locomotives are thoroughly checked over here in the maintenance shop of the Hudson Bay Railway.

The company is majority owned by the First Nations communities of Northern Manitoba.

Keeping the trains moving is the responsibility of mechanical supervisor Jason Lord and his team.

Especially in the winter months when everything's cold, that's when the metal and steel start to break apart more.

Extreme cold temperatures increase the wear on wheels.

If they're worn or chipped, they can cause major damage to the track.

The team has discovered a serious fault on one of the locomotives' wheels.

[Jason] We're doing a wheel change up.

It had a couple of shells in it so we have to take that out, or we could potentially crack the wheel, even worse, or have a derailment.

It could happen.

It's possible.

A shell is a dent in the metal.

The wheel that's damaged is attached to the drive motor, so to change the wheel, they're going to have to change the whole motor assembly.

The guys are, right now, just dropping out the motor.

We've got one built in the traction motor room that we're gonna be installing too this morning.

-[mechanic] Sparky going in.

-Sparky going in.

[clanking] [drilling] They need to check that the replacement wheel and motor assembly is perfectly aligned and secure.

[tools clattering and clanging] We're just tying up a couple of loose ends on this wheel, and it'll be ready for back in service.

[mechanic] Up a hair.

[cranking] With new drive wheels, the locomotive is cleared for the journey north.

Mike Olymer will be its driver on the first leg, about a third of the way to Churchill.

He's 75 years old, and has been working on railroads for 57 years.

[Mike] I have to retire sometime, and hate the thought of retiring.

It's just because it's such an interesting job.

I mean, 75 is a long time to be running engines.

Mike's years of experience mean he has the advantage of knowing how to deal with the very worst of winter conditions.

[bell dings] I've been in situations where the weather's been as cold as minus 45, and instead of being just snow, it becomes like sand or gravel.

It resists you rolling over it with great, you know...

It resists tremendously.

That's a big part of why it's so difficult operating trains here.

With the remoteness of much of the journey, the company takes special precautions to keep the train running, no matter what.

We always have two engines, because if one breaks down, you've got the other to get to where you're going.

Very seldom both will break down at the same time.

Very seldom.

Are we ready to go, guys?

It's getting cold out here.

Loaded and ready to leave, there's suddenly a problem.

We've got an issue with the engine, with that breaker kicking all the time.

We also have an issue with the SVU or the tail-end brake not braking properly, or not working properly.

[indistinct radio transmission] The emergency brake on a wagon near the back of a train has failed.

The wagon won't move.

[indistinct radio transmission] [Mike] He's working on the tail end.

He says something's not setting up properly back there.

Fixing the wagon is taking too long.

Mark Graham, the train's conductor, and driver Mike eventually decide to leave it behind.

[clanking] After a stalled start, the train is at last moving.

On our way to Thompson now.

Just sorted out all the problems and we're on our way now.

With the delay, they're trying to make up time.

Crew working hours are capped at a maximum of 12 hours on duty.

They want to get to Thompson, where a relief crew will be waiting, before their hours run out.

To stay on schedule, they must ensure they have two hours still on the clock when they pass through the interim station of Wabowden.

[train whistle blares] We gotta make it to our terminal in Wabowden under ten hours, or we cannot go anymore, so we've got an hour to play with, really.

So, uh, it puts a lot of pressure on us.

[indistinct radio transmission] [train clattering on tracks] As the freight train moves north, the train's conductor, Mark, knows the challenges of running a train in freezing conditions.

The more northerly the line, the colder it gets.

[Mark] In the winter time, there are safety concerns.

especially when it's 50 below.

Definitely can be challenging.

And as you see here, you can't even see the track.

You don't even know where it is, right?

We're ploughing the track as we go.

They have maintenance and the equipment to do it, but because it had snowed last night, they're not here yet, so we've gotta make our own trail.

Mark's fear is getting stuck in snowdrifts that build up on the rails.

It's man and machine against nature in the north, and to keep things safe in this extreme environment, every 95 kilometers they stop the train to inspect it, making sure there's no damage to wheels or bearings, and that no brakes are locked up.

We're gonna set the brakes on the train, come to a stop.

We're just gonna get off and then pull the train by, and inspect one side of it, visually inspect it by sight, because he's experienced and knows what he's looking for.

He's looking for smoking brakes, sticking brakes, or bearings that are burnt off.

[man] I'm off.

See, we're nine miles an hour right now.

You're off.

Done.

[train whistle blares] I like to blow the whistle, ring the bell.

Whenever this engine moves, I always do that.

I am backing up the train so he can inspect the bearings and all the equipment that may have fallen down on t his train.

If there was a handbrake on here, you would more or less hear it squealing, really loud squeal.

Brakes would be steaming, they would be blue.

Same thing if a piston was stuck out that didn't release when you released the brakes.

There'd be a loud squealing as well.

Mike, everything looks great.

-[Mike] Let's go!

-[chuckles] -Come ahead and get us now.

-[Mike] OK. Looks good.

He never said anything about any problems.

He'll tell us that as soon as he enters the train, or the engine.

-We're good to go.

-There you go.

Away we go, guys.

[pensive music] Back underway, time is tight, but there's optimism in the cab.

They're determined to reach the station at Wabowden in time to be allowed to continue through to Thompson.

[Mark] It's gonna be very close.

Five minutes, if lucky.

Yeah.

It's...

It's...

It's a little close for my likings, but we're gonna do it, we'll make it.

[dramatic music] In a race against the clock, the crew push the locomotive, keeping the train right at the speed limit.

[Mike] OK. Tail end is inside the...

Right now, we're all clear of the [indistinct].

[air pressure releasing] We have six minutes left, guys.

Six minutes.

Having made it to Wabowden just in time, they're allowed to push on to Thompson.

Mike's long experience has helped bring the train in safely and on time.

[Mike] You've gotta know your track.

Half of being a good locomotive engineer is knowing your track.

The other half is skills from the team you work over the years with.

But half of it is, you've gotta know your track.

-Good trip.

-See you guys.

-Good trip, Mark.

See you soon.

-Yeah!

-See you next time round, bud.

-You bet.

After a break during the night, tomorrow the freight train will continue north.

But there's a problem on the track ahead, and with other trains due to pass, the maintenance crew, working in extreme conditions, is under pressure.

[Dustin] We have a south-bound train leaving, so it's imperative we get this fixed this evening.

In Northern Canada, the VIA Rail passenger train is heading through Manitoba, towards the Arctic Circle.

-Good morning.

-Morning.

-How are you?

-I'm great.

-How did you sleep last night?

-Very well.

As morning breaks, from above it's clear the terrain has changed dramatically.

The train has entered Manitoba's Boreal Forest.

The trees here are pine, spruce and birch.

The area's home to caribou reindeer.

Among the train's passengers is Heather Botelho.

She's on a big adventure.

Her plan is to get off at Thompson, collect the snowmobile she's shipped on the train, and then drive it the 300km north to Churchill.

[Heather] I'm expecting it to be not easy, and that's OK. And it's, uh, gonna be quite warm.

With warm weather in Churchill around this time of year, usually means blizzards.

So, it's kind of on the back of my mind.

Heather's idea of warm weather is minus 18.

A lifelong resident of Churchill, and a member of the Cree Nation, she knows what the VIA passenger train means to her people.

The most important thing is its affordability for people to come and go, and, uh... We have a lot of local people who, who need that line.

And not for the big adventure that many of us go on, but to go see family down the line, to go grocery shop in Thompson, to go seek medical services.

So, yeah, it's a big deal.

It's huge.

[pensive music] Further up the line, roadmaster Dustin Head and his crew urgently need to fix the track.

The rail on one side has sunk.

It's dangerously lower than the other rail.

OK, it's imperative we get this section of track fixed.

We've got southbound trains leaving Churchill this evening, and a way freight coming this evening.

[engineer] Let's get at it.

The land around here is swampy and unstable.

As temperatures rise and fall, so does the ground below the rails.

[Shane] This part of track is always consistently shifting, and with the conditions we have up here, it's so tough to build a railway.

[grunting] We just need the ties to lift, and if they do, we can just add the tap.

If not, we're gonna have to pull spikes, shim it, so we're hoping for the best.

The crew is using a jack to lift the rail, trying to level up the two sides.

The plan is to support it with stone ballast.

There, she's coming up now.

They call 72-year-old John Spence the "track whisperer."

Move that up, move that jack ten ties that way.

With more than 35 years of experience, he can pinpoint precisely where the track needs to be lifted.

Right here, there's a bubble right in the center.

It's level right here.

John uses a wooden board with a bubble in a glass tube on top as a spirit level.

It's not easy to lift such a massive section of continuous rail.

Brute force is an essential tool.

-Half a bubble.

-Half a bubble?

Ready?

[grunting] That's good?

[indistinct] OK, now we've got this defect lifted, the track is now open for the train to proceed.

We're good to go.

A day after leaving Winnipeg, VIA Rail 693 is approaching the halfway point of its journey.

The next major stop is Thompson.

On board, Ron Estler, from the US, is looking forward to getting to Churchill.

He's returning after a memorable trip as a young man.

Forty-seven years ago, right now, I was a 25-year-old third-year graduate student at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

And my research director had a rocket experiment measuring electrons in the aurora, and he asked me to come to Churchill to oversee the experiment.

Um, it was a life-changing experience for me and I always told myself I'd come back someday, and 47 years, I'm fulfilling that dream!

I just love trains, and...

This is a unique experience on this train.

I mean, to be here for 48 hours or so, travelling from Winnipeg to Churchill on something that's very unique.

Who doesn't wanna do that?

The train's travelling through territory settled for around 15,000 years by the Assiniboine, Dakota, Cree and Dene peoples.

The next stop is at the heart of their lands.

[conductor] Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

May I have your attention, please?

We'll be arriving into Thompson station.

For your safety, please remain in your seat and/or your cabin until the train comes to a complete stop in the terminal.

OK for doors.

[rattling] Thompson is home to the second-largest nickel deposit in the world.

After this discovery, a mine was built, bringing prosperity to the area, and increasing opportunities for employment.

Today, it's a growing town, and with a hospital and shopping mall, it's a key destination for many of the First Nations people living in small villages around here.

[Andrew] Yeah, loud and clear.

Before it leaves the station, locomotive driver Andrew Paterson carries out a safety check on the train.

Up north, there's often a thin layer of ice on the rails.

To avoid slipping, drivers apply their brakes to heat the wheels and melt the ice.

But this can sometimes cause wheel bearings to overheat and seize up, so he pays careful attention to wheels and bearings.

I'm making sure the air hoses are done up, that we don't have any air leaks for our braking system.

I'm also checking the bearing temperatures.

The gauge that I have is actually a heat gun, and we use this to monitor bearing temperatures.

This'll give us an indication if our bearing temperatures are warmer than usual, and they're within tolerance.

Andrew's family has a long tradition of working on the railroad.

My father worked for VIA Rail, and then my grandfather, he worked for one of the freight railways, and his, my great, great grandfather also worked for one of the freight railways out of Winnipeg.

For me, personally, growing up with my father, I was around trains my whole life, having the ability to ride on the trains and see them and experience them and, kind of, got hooked on them.

And for me to pursue that as a career afterwards was an absolute dream come true.

With passengers boarding, refueling complete, and all pre-departure checks completed, the train can get underway.

All aboard!

For the next 12 hours, the train will battle through the night, heading towards a section of rail where major flooding destroyed the tracks, severing the route to Churchill.

Picture about 100 feet of rail hanging in the air eight feet... ...in 13 different locations.

[exhilarating music] In Thompson, Northern Manitoba, a relief crew is taking over.

Engineer Bruce McMaster will be in the driving seat.

Gotta check to make sure all those pins are in place and check these wheels.

With no road access in much of the region north of Thompson, the freight train is a vital lifeline, delivering goods to isolated communities and businesses along the route.

Today's essentials include a weekly delivery of food for Churchill.

And crews have loaded a large snowblower and an excavator, each to be dropped off at different places up the line.

Joining Bruce on his trip are Roy Spence and apprentice driver Josh, Bruce's son.

He's been on the job for only three months.

[Josh] It's good.

It's awesome.

I love working under my dad.

You know, and him showing me the ropes around here.

Yeah, it's a good step forward for him.

Future in it.

I wanna be like my dad, you know.

Like, I guess, like, that's all I could say.

And it's a career, too.

It's not just a job.

To become a fully-qualified driver like his father, Josh will have to work as a conductor for two years, then complete driver training for up to two further years.

OK, thanks.

We'll talk to you later.

2605 out.

[dramatic music] [train clattering on tracks] Three hours out of Thompson, close to where the snow blower is to be dropped, the freight train makes its first crossing of the magnificent Nelson River at Manitou Rapids.

In summer, the rapids flowing under the bridge are immensely dangerous.

[Roy] It's approximately about 90 feet down to the river.

The river probably travels at about 27 knots an hour, so it moves pretty quick, and generates a lot of hydroelectricity.

The Nelson River powers the nearby Manitoba Hydro Plant, an important source of hydroelectricity for the large nickel mines north of Thompson.

[dramatic music] A few kilometers past the bridge, the train stops to deliver the snow blower.

[Roy] You can pretty much order anything and have it dropped off somewhere.

Just gotta have the proper paperwork and proper billing.

[operator] 2605, you can take him ahead a couple of feet.

[pensive music] From above, the delivery looks well-practiced.

The loco and the flatbed carrying the snow blower are separated from the rest of the train.

Then, conductor Roy Spence switches the points so that Bruce can shunt the snow blower onto a siderail.

OK, we're going northward now.

[pensive music] Yeah, they've got an airstrip in there.

Manitoba Hydro has an airstrip where they fly employees in and out.

There's probably a snow blower to clean the airstrip off.

Once the flatbed carrying the snow blower is unhooked, Bruce returns to the main track.

The locomotives are re-joined to the rest of the load, and the journey continues.

[dramatic music] The crew drive on into the dusk.

At nightfall, they pull into Gillam.

After a 12-hour, 200-kilometer journey from Thompson, it's time for the crew to take an overnight break.

[tranquil music] [wind gusting] The next morning, Bruce, Roy and Josh are back underway.

From Gillam, there are no roads at all going north.

The railway is the only land connection to Churchill, 250 kilometers away.

Here, it's essential the train doesn't run into trouble.

If a breakdown occurs, getting help to the crew is difficult.

North of Gillam, the landscape changes.

The train enters the barren lands, stark and desolate.

This is what's called tundra, where only stunted trees grow, and the subsoil is frozen all year round.

With global warming, extreme weather events are happening more frequently.

In 2017, it was in this area that a natural catastrophe severed the tracks.

[Roy] We had a big snowfall that winter and, uh, there was one snowbank was 11 feet high.

And when the snow melted, all the water, it just formed on the track, and washed it out in different places.

[foreboding music] Picture about 100 feet of rail hanging in the air eight feet... ...in 13 different locations.

The water couldn't get to the culverts, and the one thing about water, it'll find the weak areas, and if they're not going through the culverts, they're going through the track, and that washed them out.

With no road access, repairing the track was tough.

A freight train had to make repeated 80-kilometer trips to bring in materials and earthmoving equipment.

Churchill was cut off for months.

Their lifeline is their railway.

All their groceries come up at a reasonable cost.

They flew 'em in, but, like, the prices were outrageous.

And, uh, just not having a train or being able to get out, it was really stressful for the people of Churchill, for sure.

To repair the line, engineers came up with a pioneering solution, a webbed material with the individual cells that they filled with sand.

It made a base for the track that wouldn't be easily washed away in future floods.

The line was reopened after a year and a half.

[dramatic music] The freight train passes safely over the repaired track, but there's no chance for complacency.

The maintenance team has spotted another problem up ahead.

To fix it will require urgent and extreme measures.

Looks like a potential pull-apart here.

We've got our bolts are starting to bend.

I think we'll probably have to deal with it today before it gets any wider.

This is gonna end up stopping trains if we don't get it done.

[dramatic music] [pensive music] For the VIA Rail passenger train, it's the final stage of its journey.

Overnight, there's been a heavy snowfall.

Snowplow driver Charles Godwin has the responsibility for keeping the track clear.

[Charles] Right now, I'm uh, widening up the next track, getting the snow off here.

Just keeping it clear, really.

The snow piles up too much and makes it hard for trains to get through.

We wanna prevent snowdrifts from happening.

The machine Charles is driving is called "The Snowfighter."

I travel from Gillam, which is mile 326, to Churchill, mile 510.

I do that in a day.

The 12-meter-long machine is specially designed to deal with heavy snow.

With its extended wings, it can push snow more than four-and-a-half meters from the track's center.

It's a brute of a plow, powered by a 260-horsepower engine.

Keeping the track clear for trains, high rails, um, to these remote communities that really rely on, uh... the train for freight, passenger services to these remote communities, I think it's very important.

Snowdrifts happen, snow piles up.

You've gotta keep the tracks clear.

If it doesn't, you're delaying people that are really relying on, uh, things to get delivered to them.

The track ahead of the VIA Rail passenger train is now clear and it can pick up speed.

But today, the VIA Rail train is making an unscheduled stop.

A group of wildlife photographers have arranged to be picked up beside the line, nowhere near a station.

So, that lodge is way out there somewhere.

With trains travelling at no more than 15 kilometers per hour in these remote areas, it's easy for the drivers to spot people waiting by the track, and stop in time.

I can pass that up to you.

You go all the way to the top and I'll get... You got it?

The group have spent a week based in a remote lodge, photographing polar bears close to their dens.

Then I'll come and look at your tickets once you get on board.

After they board, the train resumes its journey to Churchill.

Ahead, roadmaster Dustin Head has been called to a problem on the track his crew's discovered.

Good day, gentlemen.

What do we have here?

Oh, looks like a potential pull-apart here.

We've got our bolts are starting to bend.

We'll probably have to deal with it today and then, before it gets any wider.

This is gonna end up stopping trains if we don't get it done.

OK, well, we'll do that and we'll back these trucks up, go about nine feet back and we'll light both sides on fire.

Right, OK, sounds like a good plan.

OK, John...

When two adjacent rails contract in extreme cold, they can separate from one another.

It's called a pull-apart.

If it causes the bolts on the plate holding the rails together to bend and fracture, it could result in a derailment.

[Dustin] Luckily, we've caught this in time where we could bring the joint back together with some fire and bring it together.

Now what we're gonna do is we're gonna lay our sawdust and our igniter down, all along the rails.

Heat 'em up so that they expand, pulls that, this gap here.

Pulls that together enough so that we can get a new bolt in and we should be good to go from there.

[Dustin] It's brutally cold, Mother Nature's not on our side, so let's get it together.

Dustin Head's crew is fixing a potentially dangerous gap in the tracks.

They plan to use intense heat to expand the rails.

OK. Fire in the hole, guys!

Stand all clear!

[pensive music] [flames crackling] [music intensifies] Oh, yeah.

Yeah, perfect.

She lined up nice.

Bolts are going in the way they should.

They slide right in, like that.

With the gap closed, and new bolts holding the rails in place, the crew reopen the line.

Trains can proceed safely.

[train carriages rattling] The freight train's on its final run into the depot at Churchill.

It's been a long shift for driver Bruce, his son, Josh, and conductor Roy Spence.

We'll get to Churchill around 2.30 in the afternoon, and that gives them half of daylight time to unload the material that they have to unload, the trailers of food.

And then, uh, we'll stay there overnight, then the next day they've got enough daylight and time to load everything up so we can bring our train back.

[pensive music] The crew still have a couple of hours of work to do.

Wagons need to be unhooked and shunted to where they can be unloaded.

After they drop a final container, they can call it a day.

VIA Rail 693 is just an hour out of Churchill.

So, we get to Churchill at nine, and then what's the game plan?

We'll drive to the Churchill Marine Observatory.

-Take a look around.

-Nice.

I'm excited.

-See it for the first time.

-I'm excited for that.

From above, it's clear just how different the small town of Churchill is from the train's starting point in Winnipeg.

Churchill sits on the edge of Hudson Bay.

Its port is a northern gateway to Europe.

Early settlers came for the fur trade.

Later, the railway was built to ship grain.

Today, the economy is built around tourism and it's been called the polar bear capital of the world.

[woman] Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please?

We will be arriving into Churchill.

For your safety, please stay clear of the vestibule doors until the train comes to a complete... As he nears his final destination, Ron Estler reflects on his visit to Churchill almost a half a century ago.

Once my wife learned that I had spent time up here, we always wanted to go back and see the Northern Lights.

I tell people it's the closest thing that I've had to a religious experience.

As the train reverses into the station, it's the end of a two-day journey covering almost 1,700 kilometers.

Churchill is home to a First Nations community.

-[woman] Woo-hoo!

-[man] Thanks for a great trip.

Yes, thank you so much!

[conductor] Enjoy your stay.

Once they disembark, university of Manitoba researchers Leah and Dustin waste no time in starting their research.

[man] Welcome to the Churchill Marine Observatory.

At this time of year, many of the tourists have come to see the Northern Lights.

It's one of the best places in the world to witness the aurora borealis, and tonight, Churchill doesn't let its residents, or its tourists, down.

[tranquil music] Tomorrow, the train will be returning to Winnipeg, back through the barren lands, the Boreal Forest, the frozen lakes and prairies.

Together with the frontier spirit of the crews who keep this wilderness railroad open, the changing landscape is what makes the VIA Rail one of the greatest Epic Train Journeys From Above.