Travel writers John and Sandra Nowlan recount their journey through the Rocky Mountains from Vancouver, British Columbia to Calgary, Alberta aboard the Rocky Mountaineer
It’s clearly one of the world’s most spectacular and luxurious train trips but, surprisingly, Australians are its most frequent guests. The Rocky Mountaineer, with several route variations that run the rails between British Columbia and Alberta, combines daytime mountain passages with a level of comfort and cuisine that’s better than the first class sections of most airlines. The increasingly popular GoldLeaf service uses double deck cars with 68 guests in comfortable seats along the full length glass dome. The dining room below accommodates guests in two sittings with gourmet cuisine including fresh Pacific salmon, prime Alberta beef and excellent BC wines. Tables are set with white linen and fresh flowers. There’s also an open viewing platform on the lower deck for wind-in-your-hair photo opportunities.
Walter and Sue James of Perth, Australia, are typical passengers. “We heard good reports about the train and they were all correct,” they told us. “The scenery is truly spectacular and everything is remarkably well organized.”
That scenery is the prime reason why so much international attention is focused on Canada and the Rocky Mountaineer. From our starting point in Vancouver, British Columbia the train climbed upriver along the Fraser and Thompson systems passing pastoral lakes, quiet salmon pools and dramatic surging water cascading through narrow, rocky gorges like Hell’s Gate and Jaws of Death. The rails cut through Avalanche Alley with sheer, often crumbling cliffs interspersed with special electronic rockfall and snowfall detectors. The thick forests of the BC coast gave way to arid landscapes in the BC interior while wildlife – numerous eagles, osprey, Bighorn Sheep and an occasional bear – were spotted along the route. Each car has a knowledgeable guide to provide a running commentary.
At Kamloops, our 22-car train stopped for the night and guests were transported to one of several hotels in the pleasant mining, paper and university community (all hotel accommodation is included in the price). In the morning, eight cars were transferred to a train headed for Jasper while the rest of us enjoyed a full-service hot breakfast and continued east towards the Alberta border.
This second day of the journey was even more spectacular than the first. The Rocky Mountaineer made its way on historic Canadian Pacific tracks carved along mountain passes and through long tunnels, including two that spiraled through solid rock for close to a kilometre. These were built 100 years ago to cut the incline from a dangerous 4.5% to a more manageable 2.2% grade. Emerging from the tunnels, we were greeted with snowcapped mountain vistas above the dome cars and a series of a series of lakes, canyons, wild waterfalls and occasional glimpses of the Trans-Canada highway alongside or below.
The train slowed as we passed historic Craigellachie where the Last Spike in the transcontinental rail line was driven in 1885. We glided through mountain-ringed towns like Revelstoke, Golden and Field. Several times we had to stop on a siding to allow long freight trains, some with four engines and 200 cars filled with wheat, coal and sulfur, to pass on the single track.
At Banff, a resort community surrounded by rugged mountains including the sharply pointed Three Sisters, a number of passengers left the train while, with dusk approaching, the rest of us continued on to Calgary and a night at the historic railway hotel, the Fairmont Palliser.
While all of our fellow passengers were in awe of the majestic mountain scenery during our two-day adventure, many told us that the train is a splendid destination in itself. “Well beyond expectations,” is the way David and Carolyn Henderson of Manchester, England, summed it up. “You just can’t fault the service and the commentary. And the food is amazing. It approaches the level of top restaurants. We never expected that.”
Scott Fuqua from Texas was surprised that so few Canadians were aboard the Rocky Mountaineer. “You have a national treasure here in Canada,” he said. “More of you should enjoy it.”
Lloyd Spalding and Judy Munro from Hamilton, Ontario agreed. They traveled on Via Rail from Toronto to reach Vancouver. “Part of our Via trip through the mountains was at night,” they said. “This is so much better. Unfortunately it is expensive to travel across Canada. You can go to Cuba for just a few hundred dollars and that’s not right. Canadians should enjoy their own country first.”
IF YOU GO:
The Rocky Mountaineer is offered at three levels – GoldLeaf, SilverLeaf and RedLeaf. Details at www.rockymountaineer.com
Accommodation for train passengers in Vancouver and Calgary is provided at Fairmont Hotels
While in Vancouver don’t miss two extraordinary museums on the UBC campus – the Beaty Biodiversity Museum and the Vancouver Museum of Anthropology.
Photo Credits
All other photos courtesy of John and Sandra Nowlan
Well, I suppose I should do my homework before I make comments in a public medium.
I am very sorry to learn that RM and its employees are involved in a labour dispute and that individuals and families may be suffering as a result. I am not aware of the details of the dispute but I do hope that it gets resolved fairly and to the satisfaction of each side.
It is easy to understand how you wouldn’t know about the lockout Mr. Lonergran as the company has tried to hide the details from guests, media, et al. The onboard attendants appreciate the support of people like yourself and also wish for a resolution to the satisfaction of each side.
Just to let you know that I worked on this train for 12 years and did a pretty good job, but this lock-out by RM has so discussed me that I’ve had to quit just for my own sanity. I learned the job and loved it. I question if the new staff (scabs) will ever achive the quality that the lockout staff had. Maybe the company just does not care.
Regardless of your experience onboard the Rocky Mountaineer, one should be aware of the fact that on June 22nd the company locked out over 100 dedicated onboard attendants.
RM has boasted that they are a 200 million dollar company but refuses to give it’s employees a reasonable wage increase after 3 years at the same pay rate. They have never followed the federal labour code when it comes to overtime yet the company hides behind that same labour code by using replacement workers (scabs), which is illegal in the province of British Columbia. The use of scab labour undermines the right to fair bargaining by the employees.
The company feels no pressure to negotiate and claims to be running the business as usual. The over 100 locked out onboard attendants do not see this as business as usual, it is not usual to be standing on the other side of a fence watching someone else do their jobs. It is not usual to have overstaffed coaches to make up for the inexperience of the new workers. It is not usual to have “managers” staffing the coaches and serving the guests. And it certainly is not “business as usual” to have to cross a picket line at the beginning or end of a trip.
The company is doing their best to make the locked out employees look like the bad guys; they will say that they had no choice but to lock their employees out, however the negotiating team had asked for an extension to avoid giving strike notice, and in order for the staff to keep working while negotiating, and it was denied. Instead the company chose lock the staff out and to put into place an expensive contingency plan in an obvious effort to break the union.
They have enlisted an abundance of security to constantly film and intimidate the peaceful picketers, have spent countless dollars trying serve court injunctions against employees that are only trying to get their jobs back. They’ve put tarpaulins along the fences so that the guests cant see the faces of the award winning staff that should be on that train.
These are not greedy people, these are people who love their jobs and have years of experience on the train. These are the real attendants whose faces can be seen in the literature on the train, advertisements and commercials. They are people with families, mortgages and babies on the way. These are people that dedicate their lives to the company and work tremendously long hours to build a nest egg in order to make the money they earn stretch an entire year as they are not easily employable in the winter time.
This company should be ashamed of themselves! I have taken the train and quite enjoyed myself, but part of what made the trip so exceptional was the amazing staff on board. Knowing the difference of how the service should be and what it is now, I would never take the train again, and I would certainly never ever cross a picket line.
You can do your part by voicing your displeasure to the company, writing to the company, asking for a refund or to postpone your trip until the dispute is over. There is also a site that you can find by searching for rocky lockout . com
This is a great article, wonderfully informative and delectably descriptive. I have long wanted to take this trip but it is far too rich for my blood. Thanks for the vicarious experience!
Hello there Ross. You should be aware that the company has put their onboards behind picket lines since June 22. Despite their claims of bargaining in good faith, they have gone back to the table only once since they locked their attendants out for 11 minutes.
Also you will be video taped as you cross the picket line which will be there. That is to say, the company has been video taping the picketers so crossing the picket line means you will be video taped.
http://www.rockylockout.com