We now have a transfer day, travelling back to Vancouver, to join our train tomorrow. This involves a very scenic coach journey from Seward to Anchorage through a very recently glaciated landscape, full of hanging valleys and lakes. Then lots of waiting around at the airport
Arrive late and tired at our hotel in Vancouver and quickly organise the bags we need for the train tomorrow and those that will join us in Banff in two days time. We then crash into bed as we have an early 7am pickup in the morning
The morning arrives all too soon, it is wet and overcast. Go downstairs to find where we are being picked up, there is a long line of people joining the Rocky Mountaineer. I now re-discover that we are only taking one bag onto the train, so we swiftly reorganise two bags into a train bag and an evening bag that will join us in Kamloops. Then it's onto the coach for the trip to the station
The Rocky Mountaineer has its own station in Vancouver and we are ceremonially piped onto the train, in the rain. Our coach is organised into an upstairs seating deck, with big windows and a curved glass roof. Downstairs is a kitchen and dining area.
We are in the back half of our coach, which means that we are on the second breakfast sitting. But to alleviate any anxiety we are treated to coffee/tea and cake. The train moves very slowly through Vancouver, following the Fraser River. This is something that I will come to learn over the next two days: we are on a predominantly freight line and unlike European rail networks speed is not a priority
I find the start of the journey fascinating, as we lumber slowly past wood processing yards next to the river. Rafts of logs are being towed, stored in pens on the river banks, and turned into timber or timber products before loading onto rail cars. There are vast marshaling yards where the cars are formed into trains: going west for export via the Pacific or east towards the rest of Canada, the US and Europe
Over the course of our journey we will see many freight trains heading east or westwards on the trans-Canadian rail lines. These trains are unimaginably long, I estimate up to two miles with engines front, middle, and back. Shipping containers are stacked two-high, but there are also tanker units, bulk aggregate, double height car transporters, timber transporters, the quantity and variety is immense
These long trains snake their way slowly across the continent, so our passenger train follows slowly in their wake. Occasionally the goods train will pull over into a side track and we spend 5 or 10 minutes overtaking them, but all in all it makes for slow travel, great for taking in the scenery
As mentioned above we are on the second breakfast sitting, which does have the advantage of allowing us to enjoy some sparkling wine with our meal. The licensing laws in British Columbia prohibit the serving of alcohol before 9.30 am. The food on the train is of the highest quality and all made using local ingredients
Each coach has its own kitchen, very busy with staff preparing and serving food to order. We get both breakfast and lunch, and on the second day an emergency evening meal. Bearing in mind that there are 10 or 12 coaches like ours then you begin to appreciate the scale of this operation. With each meal comes the opportunity to meet, talk with, and get to know two other people sat on the opposite side of the dining table
In between the meals we are looked after by Joey and Brendon who, within the confines of the BC licencing regulations provide a continual supply of wines, beers, and other beverages - again all locally sourced. They also provide a commentary on the sights, the history of the railway, and generally keep us entertained. I am impressed that they feel empowered to opine on the impending industrial action by Air Canada cabin crew in their pursuit of better pay and fairer working conditions. I cannot imagine that happening on a UK tour
So basically we are on a two day luxury food and wine experience
With some scenery thrown in for good measure
For the first day we are following the course of the Fraser and Thompson rivers as they slowly climb eastwards. This makes sense, the water has created a well graded route so why not follow it
From Vancouver we traverse a series of landscapes: urban; industrial; arable; forest; then arid desert, the bedrock sculpted into gullies and ravines by occasional rainfall
The desert gives way to pine forests, much of it charred and blackened by forest fires. These are a natural part of the forest life cycle serving to control pests and clear the build-up of too much dead wood which would then be more catastrophic when fire eventually hit.
The pine forest gives way to scrubland. There is an outside platform at the front end of the carriage, which is a good place to get some fresh air and also photos without reflections from the train windows
Kamloops Lake tells us we have climbed 600 feet on day one and we stop for the night. Everyone on the train has already been checked into their various hotels, are given room keys, will find a motor coach waiting to transfer them to the hotel, where they will find their luggage waiting for them in their room. As a piece of logistical organisation I cannot but help be impressed
Because we haven't quite had enough to drink on the train we head off to a local pub, joining Jim and Barbara from the train. It's Friday night so quite lively. But we retire early as we have a 6am start in the morning
The hotel room presents a few challenges of its own. First turning off the noisy aircon, a switch on the wall so fairly easy. Second turning off the empty but noisy fridge. I manage to locate a hidden switch hidden on top and at the back of the unit. Making a cup of tea in the morning defeats us
There is no kettle, just a coffee machine. However, the microwave should do the trick, right? But whatever combination of buttons we try the cups of water steadfastly remain cold
Having been on the second breakfast sitting yesterday means we are on first today, which is good as we're both ready for it
And so the journey trundles slowly on into the heart of the Rocky Mountains. Again we are following rivers and again a progression of landscapes
The agriculture today includes cattle and a few goats
We pass lakes, some amazingly blue
But mainly pine forests
With mountain views peeping through
Towards the top of our route the train goes through a pair of spiral tunnels, gaining height within the mountain.
The Continental Divide, the watershed between the Pacific and the Hudson Bay is simply marked by a very low key sign
And then it's downhill all the way to Banff. The train rattles away as it picks up speed, it has never gone so fast over the two day journey. The mountains are bigger, snow-capped and more spectacular than on the western side of the divide. We are late arriving in Banff. This is because of emergency engineering works in the area of the corkscrew tunnels. This does mean we get an extra meal, served upstairs as there isn't time to organise two sit-down meals in the dining section
We arrive in Banff and are taken to our hotel. We are exhausted from all of the eating and drinking and collapse into bed
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