OK I don’t know if this is a dumb question or not. But on the way home tonight from work I had to wait for the CP train heading into Spokane. Now there is a pretty regular string of CP trains heading down from Canada. I am curious do the Engineer and Conductor have to clear customs? Do they require passports? I assume they don’t have to stop at the border, or do they? How does that work for trains?
I think there are stops in isolated ares where the train is walked and inspected. There is probably a crew list to cover passports, although they probably carry them.
John
It’s a lengthy process, but the simple answer is yes…
I used to work the pool from Everett, WA to Vancouver, BC off the extra board. We would contact customs before leaving the yard office, stop at Swift for a train inspect (into Canada), and then go through the VACS machine (big X ray). On the way south, we would contact customs again, and go through the VACS machine. Set out cars on both ends that weren’t cleared for customs.
It was a pain to take a truck back and fourth across the border. And them customs agents don’t have a sense of humor. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-frown.gif)I can only imagine the pain it would be to take a train across the border. But the up side was, in Canada, when I pulled out American dollars, all of a sudden, the price of everything was reduced.
OK so it wasn’t a dumb question and it really is a pain in the butt. I figured there was a more streamlined process by maybe clearing everything ahead of time but it really does require a process to get across the boarder. Not sure how many trains a day do his on this line but I know it’s at least one and I would think more. I don’t think that set of tracks goes anywhere but Canada and they are all big trains with either CP or combination CP / UP locos. I want to say two to 3 times a day.
Devon,
I think it was a marvelous question. It is something I never even considered. Thanks for asking it. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)
Devon, streamlined? Its a government thing. Actually 2 governments. So its about as streamlined as the DMV.
I sat in customs for 4 hours one night, just to bring a flatbed load of stainless steel into the states. And that was with the paperwork already submitted to customs before I got there. And the customs agents really don’t have a sense of humor.
Customs and Passport Agents are not only not friendly, they treat you like you are guilty of something. They are actively truculent and morose. They must have an Anti Customer Service school somewhere where all countries send their people to be “de-niced”.
It funny because with my sons Hockey I cross into and return from Canada several times a year. I do this at three different crossings all of which are very small. By far and away the Canadians are the most unfriendly. Not rude or mean or impolite just have zero personality. You can tell its a trained thing. I have stopped just passed the crossing to stretch or go to the bathroom and if they are out there they all of a sudden turn into nice friendly people. So I do believe they are “schooled” to be this way. Even the ones that I see often and they recognize me it always the same attitude.
Now coming the other way is what I find funny. Some US border agents are just down right rude, others are uniformly personalitiless and others are downright friendly. One lady in particular is even funny, especially to us because we go through almost always during her shift so we see her darn near every time at this one border crossing. One of the standard questions that they asked is are you carrying cash in excess of $10,000.00 dollars. I asked her why they cared and she told me. So I told her that I had $9,999.99. She told me I had better watch my attitude or she would tare my car apart to find the 2 cents that are in the seats. All with a big grin on her face.
I have gotten quite used to border crossings.
Well I used to go into Canada with a empty flatbed tractor trailer. When a flatbed truck is empty its kind of obvious. But when I drove up to the booth, they would always ask “empty or loaded?” I would hang out of the window, look back at the empty trailer, and then turn to them and say “Ah, empty.” They just don’t have a sense of humor.
Imagine the paperwork involved in clearing customs of a 100 car train!
The last time I went to Canada I walked over the bridge at Niagra Falls. The pretty customs agent on the Canadian side saw me coming and went back in her booth. She was very nice, we joked and off I went to take some photos about 45 minutes later I went back and what a difference getting into America. Barbed wired fences, security cameras, signs and I had to be buzzed in. When I walked in 5 agents looked me up and down. The guy at the desk asked me where I was coming from and I said I just walked across the bridge from Canada. He glared at me. What a bunch of grumps. NO sense of humour at all. I’m sure not all border agents are like that but what a welcome.
Interesting stories.
We hear about a lot of negative encounters with u.s. agents either at the land crossings or at the airports (did ya know we are the only country that has allowed the us to have their customs dept. embedded within our major airports ?)
It was kind ah funny when a u.s. based manufacturer attending our train show for the first time, shared with me he was totally unimpressed with Canada customs who in his opinion treated him like a very questionable person. I enlightened him to the (reported) fact of how thousands of ‘foreign’ travellers heading into the usofa experienced that style/quality of border inspections daily via usbservices.
For some peoples with matching names on the no-fly list, it can be worse. Totally ridiculous when it involves children not even in their teens !
“….But when I drove up to the booth, they would always ask “empty or loaded?” I would hang out of the window, look back at the empty trailer, and then turn to them and say “Ah, empty.” They just don’t have a sense of humor. …”
They were asking about the hidden compartments that you’re not yet aware of installed by the neighbours during your last vacation. 
doug c
Doug,
I have a very close hockey dad friend that has the exact same name as name as a female felon. He has a terrible time almost every time he tries to return home. I bet 1 in 3 trips it even requires him being detained until they can clear it up. Now here are the funny parts. First His name is Troy Morrow not exactly a common female name and second he has been detained in back to back weekends by the exact same border patrolman. The second time the guy even admitted he knew the story but “rules is rules”
No I have to give the Canadians props at least in my neck of the woods. The may not be friendly but they are always professional and polite and it takes about half the time for me to get into a Canada than it does to return into my home country. I am never searched going to Canada, but every single time they open the back of our car and unzip my sons hockey bag coming in. If you don’t think the Americans are dedicated to protecting our country then you have never smelled the inside of a teenage boys hockey bag.
@Doug On Monday I flew back from The Bahamas, At the Airport in Nassau, we went thru US customs in the airport. Having the customs at the originating airport, allows the flights to goto any US airport, Not just an “international” airport with customs at the arriving end. At Dallas-FortWorth we just de-planed into the regular terminal.
Now having a “New MEXICO” plate on my motorhome, has caused great grief on all three times going into Canada. I will NEVER again drive it into our neighbors to the North country. On one occasion the guard demanded to see my Visa that allowed me to get into the US. And then wanted to know how many days I had been in the US before coming to Canada. Duh…
Santa Fe was founded in 1607, making it one of the oldest continually habituated cities in North America ( non Native). And even older then Quebec.
I must look like a Mexican drug cartel smuggler. They found nooks and crannies in my motorhome that I never knew existed, But it did take them about two hours to look. I thought they were going to drain my sewer tank, Even the dog didn’t like the smell of that.
Mexico, New Mexico, its all the same thing, right?
Doug, it was a company owned tractor trailer, I only brought it home once. And I knew there were no secret compartments in the thing, because I pretripped it (inspected it) almost every day. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-embarassed.gif)I know, I should have pretripped it before each time I drove it, but…
“I have trouble going into Mexico, I have trouble going into Canada”…well I have trouble going into Texas so all you cry babies shut it!
and for the record David Maynard we have both electric lights and indoor plumbing here in New Mexico…at least in some of it. (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif)
In the late '70s and early '80s I used to drive down to Mexico now and then. One night I was coming back into the US from Tecate, and still had some haunted house props I’d made for Halloween in my trunk. These were mostly latex “severed heads”. The Customs agent got a huge kick out of them, and ended up buying one from me.
Lol now I had to laugh at boomers lelectric lights and indoor plumbing comment. On a trip to California in the 80s to visit relatives we stopped at a pizza joint in Sacramento. The nice young teenage girl asked us where we were from. When we told her Idaho she asked where that was you see she had never heard of that country. So she proceeded to ask us about it. I don’t remember all the things she asked if we had but clearly she figured we were a third world country. My dad being the ass that he usually is just played along. He then told her that we were the first in our town to get indoor plumbing earlier that year. She stood in complete amazement.
Well, on that train of thought. When I was a truck driver, one of the other drivers was from West Virginia. We were talking and he he told me that just a year before, they finally had wood floors put in their house. I asked what he had before the wood floors, and he said that he had dirt floors. I didn’t ask about plumbing or electricity.
Took a trip from Sand Eggo to Rosarito, just south of Tijuana for the day. Now, Rosarito is famous for its terracotta pottery.
On the way back, the Customs Agent did no want to talk to me, just to my six year old son in the back.
Customs Agent: Where ya been, Jeremiah?
Jeremiah: Roserita(sp)
CA: Did you have fun?
Jer: No.
CA: What did you do?
Jer: Walked a lot.
CA: Are you bringing anything back?
Jer: Nuttin’ 'cept for the pot in the back.
Me: Sinks into the seat.
CA: Shines flashlight into the back of the station wagon, sees the back full of terracotta pottery. Starts laughing with a laugh that echos all across the San Yisidro Border Crossing. “Go ahead, Sir. That makes my day. Have a nice night.”
Don’t tell me that Customs Agents don’t have a sense of humor.