The Rocky Mountaineer train company operate tourist trains along four routes mostly from Vancouver. This is train travel for its own sake. It is not a good way to get around because it is expensive and does not run to schedule. The passenger trains have to give way to freight trains so on each leg of the journey you can never be quite sure when you will arrive. It is intended to be a train where you can relax and enjoy the scenery while being wined and dined. There are two classes of comfort. In Gold you get an upstairs viewing area where you spend most of your time in your seat watching the world go past and being served drinks. Downstairs is a dining area where lunch and diner are served. The Silver class is more basic and food is served at the seat.
This all sounded quite fun, so at 6am we were sat in the lobby of a Vancouver hotel waiting for a transfer to the station. One thing they did not tell us about this two day trip to Banff was that it would involve some very early mornings. Our luggage was whisked away on a truck while we travelled by bus to the station. Here we were literally given the red carpet treatment as we boarded the train. The train trundled out of Vancouver. Then we were served breakfast and at around 10am the free bar opened.
The first part of the journey, out though the suburbs of Vancouver was only mildly interesting. As the morning rolled on the scenery began to open out and we passed through forests and hills. An early highlight was a black bear trotting through a field by the track. Free drinks all day sounds like a recipe for a wild party but the reality was that drinks were served at your seat and the service was very slow. We did of course thoroughly enjoy having another glass of wine put in front of us every so often. The food was heavily meat/fish orientated. The vegetarian fare felt like an afterthought. Too many times there appears to be an assumption that vegetarians prefer their food completely bland and lacking in texture. There was plenty enough to eat and snacks so we did not go hungry.
A big selling point of this trip is the scenery. The route through the Rocky Mountains is certainly interesting but in a gentle, peaceful way. None of the excitement that you can get with some of the world’s great train journeys. There were a lot of trees. If you don’t like tress then don’t come to Canada. The crew in the car told us stories about the different places we were passing through. This was done in quite an informative and interesting way. Definitely added to the trip. The seats were very good too. Large and comfortable. To Diane’s delight she found that the seats were heated via a little control panel by the arm.
We arrived in Kamloops quite late. By the time we were dropped of at our hotel it was well after 9pm. We had to be up again at 5pm. It is hard work being a tourist sometimes. We skipped dinner and went straight to bed. A nice touch was that our luggage had been delivered to our room We could leave it there for collection in the morning as well.
Next morning I probably did not wake up until halfway through breakfast on the train. That was only just before the bar opened. The countryside was becoming more mountainous. Occasionally we could see snowy peaks. We also saw several freight trains. Seriously long trains of tankers, shipping containers stacked two high or open cars containing loose gravel, sand, cement or sulphur. Apparently the top surface of these is sprayed with some sort of plastic which seals them against the weather and stops the contents simply blowing away. Day two was a lot like day one. Pleasant rather than exciting. A brown bear and two bald eagles later we arrived in Banff. This was the end of the line for us. We got to the Banff Inn quite late again and then set about preparing for the next phase of our Canadian trip
Rocky mountaineer. Thirty two cars long.