The Rocky Mountaineer Train

We had heard so many good things about the train ride through the Canadian Rockies that it moved to the top of our list for travel planning.  We originally planned to go in 2024 but the wildfires in Canada caused us to cancel and reschedule.

Wednesday April 16, 2025

We began our trip by flying from Tucson, AZ to Los Angeles, CA to Vancouver, British Columbia.  Our flight out of Tucson left at 6:30 am so it required a VERY early wakeup.  We arrived in Vancouver two days before beginning our train trip so we could do some sightseeing. 

We stayed at the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel.  The view was a busy seaport offloading container ships.

After unpacking, we took a walk along the waterfront.  We were near a seaplane base and watched the commuter planes take-off and land on the water with considerable frequency.

There were four planes at the dock.

…and prices seemed pretty reasonable.

A local fisher was on the lookout for an evening meal.

We came across this very strange building up on stilts.  We have no idea of its purpose.

We walked for about an hour and stopped to enjoy a cocktail before returning to our hotel.

We enjoyed dinner at Kamei Royale Japanese Restaurant before crashing after a long day.

Thursday April 17, 2025

This was our day to explore Vancouver.  After breakfast we took a brief 20 minute taxi ride to Stanley Park.  This is a beautiful downtown park that also features a small ‘Pitch & Putt’ golf course.

Tulips were in full bloom.

The local rowing club had several signs trying to encourage rowers to sign up.

The Cherry trees were in full blossom.

And the magnolia trees were still blooming as well.

There were several patches of the strange fern we had never seen before.

We were more or less lost the whole time as we walked through the park but it was so beautiful and we knew we would eventually find our way out.  And we did.

We walked to the English Bay side of the park.  We shared the walkway with bicyclists, rollerbladers, and baby strollers.  We could see container ships anchored further out waiting their turn at the cranes outside our hotel window. 

There was a large stone monument.  This shape is very common throughout British Columbia.

This shape is called ‘Inukshuk’.  It is an ancient symbol of the Inuit culture traditionally used as a landmark and navigational aid and also represents northern hospitality and friendship.

We wanted to get to the other side of the bay where there was some higher-end shops.  We noticed a convenient ‘hop on/hop off’ water taxi that would take us over.

It was a quick ride to Granville Island on the other side of the bay.  Here we grabbed lunch and then explored.

This “island” is not actually an island but has an eclectic mix of businesses.  Mostly there are shops for arts and artists.  But right in the middle is a huge cement plant with mixer trucks entering and exiting continuously.  Keeping with the creative vibe of the island, these silos were transformed into a street art masterpiece.  1,700 cans of spray paint created these very colorful faces.  There was a plaque outside that explained how many thousands of cans of spray paint the artist used to paint those faces.

Among the shops was a glass blowing studio where one could watch the artist at work.

Another shop, BCBlacksmith, had an amazing assortment of metal crafted shapes.

After a long afternoon, we returned to our hotel on the other side of the bay.  We cleaned up and walked to the Cactus Club Café for dinner.

Friday April 18, 2025

This morning we assembled in the lobby with a large group of fellow travelers.  We found our seats on busses that took us to the train station where we boarded the Rocky Mountaineer train for its first trip of the 2025 season.

Our seats were on the upper level with all glass views.

And we were off!!

It took a while to get out of the city and suburbs.  But soon, the terrain turned interesting.  Not always, but generally, the train tracks followed rivers on our way East.  On second day, we followed 5 different rivers.

There is a plaque on this bridge support that shows the high water mark from May 28, 1949.

Tunnels were a regular occurrence on this trip.  We were in and out of mountains often.

We also passed a bridge with an Osprey nest.  We were told the nest had been there for 12 years.

The train ride was for two days and the train only travels during the day.  The first day we rode until about 9 pm and stopped in Kamloops.  They gave us a 6 AM departure time the next day so we crashed immediately.

Saturday April 19, 2025

Sure enough, we were picked up at 6:00 AM and bused to the waiting train.  We departed right on time.

However, we were no more than 20 minutes into the trip and not yet out of the city when we stopped, apparently for other train traffic.  It was 20 minutes before we were back underway.  We could have used some extra sleep.

There were some spectacular views that just can’t be captured by camera.  We were told this was the highest bridge in Canada.  This picture is looking straight down from the train window so you lose the depth perspective.

This was the travel day when we would see five different rivers.

Between the community of Field and Kicking Horse Pass was a steep mountain with a 4.5 percent grade to cross the Pass.  In the early days the tracks were so steep that passengers exited at the top and went down by burrow or horse-drawn buggy.  The solution called for two spiral tunnels driven in three-quarter circles into the valley walls.  Each tunnel makes a 270 degree climbing circle inside the mountain; the Lower Spiral Tunnel and the Upper Spiral Tunnel. The Spiral Tunnels are a feat of engineering in Yoho National Park, British Columbia.     

We crossed a suspension bridge that was quite beautiful.

The scenery was just beautiful.

We were reaching higher elevations and there was much more snow on the ground and in the mountains.

The scenery just got more and more spectacular.

We made a brief stop at Lake Louise to drop off a few passengers.

Then we were back on our way.  The scenery only got better as we climbed further into the Rockies.

It wasn’t too much longer before we pulled into the Banff station.  We had been very well served by the crew and they posed for a group picture.

We said our goodbyes, boarded our busses and traveled to the Fairmont Hotel in Banff Springs.  This was a very large and very attractive facility.  It was also historic. 

It was dark and very late by the time we checked into our room.  It was only then we discovered that we had no electric power anywhere in our room except the bathroom.  It was late and we were tired.  We tried to call the desk but the room phone was battery-powered and was dead.

A phone by the elevators was working however and soon we had power restored.  The hotel graciously gave us a $100 CN discount for this inconvenience.

Sunday April 20, 2025

This hotel in is Banff Springs and the town of Banff is about a mile away.  Fortunately, we were given 3 day passes to use on the local busses which made 3 stops an hour at various locations throughout the area.

We decided to ride the Banff Gondola cable car to the top of a local mountain.  After breakfast we boarded a bus for the brief trip downtown.  There we switched busses for a ride to the cable car base. 

The fare to ride the gondola was $115 for the two of us.

As we waited in line for our turn, the family in front of us had a screaming little girl who was just out of control because they wouldn’t let her have her cell phone.  Fortunately, we got a separate cable car to ourselves.

The town of Banff is about 4,600 feet above sea level.  The cable car station at the top of this mountain is…

That’s 3,000 feet up in a small cable car, strung from a wire rope, swinging in the breeze, in about 5 minutes.  It does take one’s breath away.

The views from the top were spectacular.  We were very fortunate to have good weather and clear skies.

Way down in the valley, almost imperceptible, is the hotel at which we were staying.

There were four levels to this observation deck and a wooden walkway to stroll along the top.

That path, by the way, went all the way to that weather station way up on top of that next mountain.  We chose not to make that trek.

This was very family friendly facility.  There were outdoor fireplaces/heaters.  They handed out marshmallows inside for families to roast on the fireplaces.

One of the displays showed the scat from various animals in the area.

The view from the top.

We watched a brief movie about the area.  We spent about an hour looking at the various exhibits.  We then boarded the cable car for our return to the bottom.

Somewhat terrifying, we got about 200 feet on our way when the whole cable system abruptly stopped.  We dangled there for about 5 minutes before it restarted and returned us to the bottom.

At the bottom we got on the next bus and returned to the downtown to shop around.  The shopping was dominated by outdoor exercise supply shops; skiing, hiking, skating, etc.

There were some interesting stores:

We tried to stop at McDonald’s for lunch, but the line was about 20 people deep and we quickly decided to pass.

We walked back to our bus stop and returned to our hotel.

We had dinner at a Bavarian Restaurant affiliated with the hotel.

Monday April 21, 2025

When we awoke this morning, it was snowing quite heavily.  We looked in the direction of the cable lift we had enjoyed the day before and could see next to nothing.

We were Sooo lucky have had clear skies for our cable ride.

It was about a 2 hour ride from our hotel in Banff to the airport in Calgary.  It snowed the whole time but the trip was uneventful.

Our flights to Dallas and then to Tucson were on time and uneventful.  Interestingly, we were actually provided a full meal on a tray in first class on the first leg to Dallas.  …not a basket with snacks.  …not a box with a strange assortment of snacks.  …an actual first class meal.  

This was a great trip to see a part of North America we had read and heard about but never seen.  The experience on the Rocky Mountaineer train was very good.  They provided great food prepared in a separate car and served to tables of four.  This gave us a chance to get to know fellow travelers.  All meals were served with an assortment of beverages and good wines.  The staff was very attentive.  The only frustration was the amount of time the train sat motionless on a siding when freight trains took the right of way.  This only happened infrequently and didn’t interfere with out enjoyment of the experience.