Train car
Terry on the train
We had to get up early to catch the train. Way too early for a vacation. On the other hand, the people who boarded the train in Calgary had to get up even earlier, so I suppose I shouldn't complain.
We got our bags packed, and went downstairs to catch a cab to the train station. In the hotel lobby, we met up with some other people who were also going to be taking the train (we had met them the previous day, on the Lake Louise tour). They told us that we didn't have to catch a cab - there was a bus that was going to come to the hotel to transport all of the hotel guests who were going to be on the train.
So we joined the group of people waiting for the bus. Which was late. And when the bus finally showed up, we discovered that the bus was for people who had made previous arrangements - and presumably bought tickets - to take the bus. Which we hadn't. But the woman from the train company said not to worry, there was plenty of room on the bus, and they'd take us. So it all worked out OK.
We waited... and waited... and waited... and I really wondered if the bus was ever going to come. I thought the people who had told us about it were must making it all up. But, it finally came.
The first thing I noticed about the train was that it was very long, but that most of the cars appeared to be empty. It turned out that the train was making a return run - it had made the run from Vancouver to Banff a few days earlier, with over 800 passengers. Now, it was going from Banff back to Vancouver, with only about 150 passengers. So the rest of the cars were just deadheading back.
Here's a picture of our train car:
Train car
Terry on the train
Like I said, it was early. It was still dark out when we boarded the train. The car we rode in was a double- decker. The upper deck was where we rode most of the time, and it had a large glass dome running the length of the car, for maximum visibility. The lower deck was the dining area, where we were served breakfast and lunch each day.
The dining car
The kitchen
After we got settled, we were introduced to our onboard attendants...
Claude...
...and Randy
Claude was French Canadian, and pronounced his name "Clode" rather than "Clawed." Claude and Randy served drinks, waited tables, and kept up a running commentary about the scenery, the towns we went through, bits of Canadian history and folklore, etc., etc. Also on board was the Customer Service Manager...
...Chris
These men were incredible, each in their own unique way. I learned later that Claude was quite a character, though he hid it well. They were very attentive, and initially very concerned about North being all right. I assured them that he would be fine, to the point that after a while, they stopped asking. That was OK, though.
One car over from our car was the bar car...
Terry in the bar car
presided over by...
...Matthew the bartender
...who served up a steady stream of drinks for the passengers, including mulled wine and hot buttered rum (which Terry drank) and Diet Coke (which I drank). Entertainment was provided by a pair of musicians:
The musicians
Remember the Australian woman from our sleigh ride? Well, she was also on the train. Her name was Nicole, and she was a frequent resident of the bar car. Here she is with a couple of her friends:
Nicole and friends
(She's the one in the middle.)
Nicole was quite something. She hated the sleigh ride, calling it "bloody awful," and did great imitations of a Southern accent. (Grinnell's interjection: which Terry has previously described as "inimitable.") We spent quite a time together in the bar with the mulled wine. The wine wasn't ready when I first came in, so I debated about having the hot buttered rum instead. Nicole replied: "Grog is grog, mate!" so I decided to go ahead and go for broke. No, I did not get drunk. The music was good, the company great, all the people pet the dog, whose harness was removed, and the atmosphere was very festive indeed.
The world is indeed very small. While sitting in the bar, there was a man from Miami who said he was an interpreter. When I asked what kind, he said he was a Spanish interpreter for the federal courts. (Grinnell's interjection: Terry was a Spanish interpreter for the Los Angeles County courts for many years.) We had some people in common, believe it or not. That was amazing. Here we are from two distinct parts of the U S of A, and we're taking a train trip in Canada, and we are both Spanish interpreters (at least I was once), having known some of the same people!
As I said, breakfast and lunch were served on the train both days. The food was quite good, and very elegantly served. On the first day, Terry and I sat alone at breakfast. But then at lunch, some fellow passengers asked if they could join us, and they ended up eating with us for the rest of the trip. Their names were Dimity and Drew Dixon, a father and daughter, also from Australia:
Dimity and Drew
When I first met Dimity (her father calls her Dim, though she is not), I thought she might be smashed, because she sort of slurs. She wasn't. This is OK, Dimity, you are a very nice person. They were both very concerned that I got all the good stuff off of my plate. Though at first it annoyed me (again, folks, don't be offended), I realized it was because they didn't want me to miss it, and I loved them for it.
The focus of this trip was not on getting where we were going, but on sightseeing along the way. Consequently, the train moved at the stately pace of 35 to 40 miles per hour. Although Claude, Randy and Chris are employees of the Rocky Mountaineer train company, the engineer, and other people who actually run the train, are employees of the Canadian Pacific Railway. I was also interested to learn that the tracks the train runs on are actually a freight line - the Rocky Mountaineer is the only passenger train that runs on that line.
Shortly afer we pulled out of Banff, we had our first wildlife sighting - a group of three elk. Alas, I didn't have time to get a picture. Later, I saw an eagle, and some bighorn sheep, but again alas, no picture. You'll just have to take my word for it.
In the course of the two days we spent on the train, we saw a lot of scenery, and heard a lot of narration from Claude and Randy. There's no way I can remember it all, much less put it all in this log. I'll just have to hit the highlights.
On the day we spent in Banff, the weather was perfect (except for the temperature, of course). A bright blue sky, perfect visibility. Unfortunately, it was overcast when we pulled out of Banff on Saturday morning, and it snowed for a good part of the day. Still, even though the snow inhibited visibility somewhat, it lent its own beauty to the scene. It was a light snow, and it made it look as if the world was being dusted with powdered sugar.
FrostedMountains
Frosted Trees
Another thing I saw quite often was frozen water cascading down rock faces as we passed by. Well, of course, the water wasn't cascading when I saw it, because it was frozen. But you know what I mean. Alas, no pictures of that, either.
Our route basically followed the Trans-Canada Highway - or more accurately (as Claude and Randy pointed out more than once), the highway follows the route of the railroad, which was there many years before the highway. We began by following the Bow River north out of Banff, until we were just past Lake Louise. Then we turned west, and crossed the Continental Divide at Kicking Horse Pass (w) . The pass gets its name (so we were informed by either Claude or Randy) from an early explorer, who was kicked in the chest by his horse, and lived to tell the tale.
Coming down from the pass, we went through the Spiral Tunnels (w) . We actually went through many tunnels in our two days on the road, but these were unique. Each tunnel curved around in a 270° bend (that's three quarters of a circle). We followed the Kicking Horse River...
Kicking Horse River
...which, Randy told us, looks quiet now, but is a torrent in the spring, when the snow melts. We then made a brief stop in the town of Field, for a crew change. This town (so we were informed by either Randy or Claude), is well known among geologists for being the site of a major paleontological find (i.e., fossils).
Continuing downstream, we came to where the Kicking Horse River meets the Columbia River, at the town of Golden. Either C or R then told us that we had now left the Rockies. I was surprised - I thought we'd be going through the Rockies for the whole trip. No, actually the Rocky Mountains are only one (the easternmost) of a series of mountain ranges between the Pacific Ocean and the Great Plains. We were now in the Columbia River Valley, between the Rocky Mountains and the Selkirk Mountains.
Either R or C told us some interesting information about the Columbia River (w) :
Columbia River
Kinbasket Lake
Wetlands along the river
After crossing the Columbia River Valley, we climed up into the Selkirks, through Glacier National Park, and through the town of Revelstoke, where we crossed the Columbia River again. The train stopped again in Revelstoke for another crew change, and I took advantage of the opportunity to take North out.
While stopped in Revelstoke, we also picked up a hitchhiker - Santa Claus. He came ho-ho-ing through the car, handing out red scarves to everyone, and posing for photo ops. At this time, my camera wasn't working, because its batteries had died. So I don't have a photo of us with Santa.
After Revelstoke, we started coming down out of the mountains, and passing through a succession of small towns: Three Valley Gap, Craigellachie, Malakwa, Sicamous, Canoe, Salmon Arm, Tappen, Sorrento, Squilax, Chase, Pritchard, Monte Creek, and finally Kamloops. We also went by Shuswap Lake, a large, long lake in sort of an "H" shape. By this time, it was getting dark. The train, being a sightseeing train, usually only runs during daylight hours. But of course, at this time of year, night comes early. So the last couple of hours of the day's run were in the dark. I started to get a little antsy - without the ability to watch the scenery, the trip started to get a little boring.
I spent some time in the bar car, where one of the passengers, a young woman in her twenties, was singing with the musicians. She was quite good, and I got the impression that she was a professional singer. I also spent some time standing in the vestibule between cars, watching the world go by. Even though it was dark, there was a full moon, so there was plenty of light.
Somewhere along the way - I think it was between the towns of Salmon Arm and Tappen - as I looked out the window, I saw a man and woman standing in their doorway. They waved as the train went by, and I waved back. I don't know if they saw me - I hope they did.
Well, we had gotten off to a late start that morning in Banff, and we had been running late all day, and for some reason that I never quite understood, we had to wait on the outskirts of town for more than half an hour before we could finally pull into the station.
Oh my gosh, what a pain that was (guess who's talking now)! Anyway, I was getting restless, and felt like a six-year-old who was getting antsy. I wanted to scream that I wanted to get off. But, of course, I didn't. I sat there... and sat there... and SAT THERE......!
So it was about 9:00 by the time we finally pulled into Kamloops (w) . While we idled outside of town, we were near a tire factory, with numerous stacks of large truck tires in the yard. Of course, they were covered with snow, and in the moonlight, they looked for all the world like stacks of iced donuts! I guess I was getting hungry.
We got off the train, and got on a bus which took us to our hotel. It was a small hotel, not nearly as opulent as the Fairmont, but still several steps above Motel 6. The train package included dinner at the hotel, so we all trooped into the hotel dining room for a buffet dinner. I felt sorry for the waitresses, because it was past the restaurant's normal closing time. The dinner was basic, but good. After dinner I stepped next door to a liquor store, and bought fresh batteries for my camera.
We then went up to our room, where we found our bags waiting for us, as had been promised. The Rocky Mountaineer staff had placed some maple candies in each guest's room. In our room, they also placed a bag of doggie treats for North!
Here's a map of this day's route:
