Each Rocky Mountaineer dome car offers a strategic viewpoint to photograph that passing bear, eagle’s nest or snowy mountain peak.  Rocky Mountaineer

By Alison Gardner, Editor, Travel with a Challenge

In a sleepy early morning stupor, I thought my taxi driver must have dropped me at an airport, not a train station. Efficiently checked in and shown to my GoldLeaf dome car seat aboard the Rocky Mountaineer as the sun’s first rays crept over one of Jasper’s many mountain slopes, all the trappings of a First Class airplane seat greeted me.

There was the full recliner with enough leg room to delight a lanky basket ball player, a pillow, drop-down foot rest, and a net seat pocket stocked with emergency instruction card, sales catalogue for purchasing a range of attractive souvenirs, and an inflght – oops! – on board magazine packed with articles about the history, wildlife and geography along our route. There was even a sack to take care of motion sickness which, I know from personal experience as a child traveling many a train, is not beyond the bounds of possibility.

Jasper’s historic railway station is a five-minute walk from the town’s lively, visitor-friendly main street. Rocky Mountaineer

Before leaving the Jasper station, our cheerful onboard attendants for the two-day Journey Through the Clouds itinerary, Charity and Susan, swept down the aisle counting heads to make sure all their charges were aboard. They then launched into a classic airlines safety briefing that included identification of all emergency exits, location of the train car’s bathrooms, a description of the meal and drinks service, and a reminder of the strict no smoking policy. As if on cue, the train’s Guest Services Manager emerged up the spiral staircase into our observation car to offer free Nicorette gum to any smokers and give his own speech of welcome.

Just as I was searching around for the non-existent call button and my private movie screen, Charity and Susan returned from our personal dining room below with trays of orange juice mixed with sparkling Okanagan peach juice to salute the anticipated journey together. We were off, heading west in the majestic shadow of Canada’s northern Rocky Mountains.

Whisked downstairs for our first hot breakfast complete with white cloth napkins and traditional silver service, it seemed I had barely managed the fresh fruit plate, warm croissants and half my ham omelette before Susan announced we had entered the historic Yellowhead Pass. That meant we were already leaving Alberta and entering British Columbia. By the time I had finished my second cup of tea, we had also glimpsed two black bears, several mountain sheep and an elk with her calf, all at eye level.

Clearly this was not going to be one of those sleepy journeys where vacationers find themselves with plenty of spare time to polish off a weighty novel or indulge in back to back movies at 35,000 feet!

GoldLeaf dining service from Jasper to Vancouver includes two breakfasts and two three-course lunches aboard the train.  Rocky Mountaineer

Rocky Mountaineer operates a fleet of over 90 rail coaches including nine locomotives, all of which are used on its routes in Alberta, B.C. and to Seattle, Washington. The nine locomotives were originally used by Canadian National Railway (CNR) until 2001 then were refitted for current use. Of the passenger coaches, 18 are SilverLeaf Service coaches and 26 are GoldLeaf Service dome coaches custom-built for Rocky Mountaineer in Colordo. Each dome coach takes more than a year to build.

Rocky Mountaineer offers two levels of service: SilverLeaf and GoldLeaf. Both feature friendly hosts, gourmet breakfasts and lunches, and endless amazing views. SilverLeaf comes with oversized glass dome windows in a single level coach-style with hot breakfast and lunch served at your seat; GoldLeaf has a bi-level design with full-glass dome seating above and private fine dining room below.

GoldLeaf Service includes comfortable dome car seating above and a fine dining experience directly below. SilverLeaf Service includes single-level dome viewing and hot meals served at your seat. Rocky Mountaineer

At 3,954 meters/12,972 feet, Mount Robson is the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies, so tall that it hosts its own constantly-changing weather system. Rocky Mountaineer

As the morning unfolded, we soon discovered we had not only two attendants to answer our every need, but Charity and Susan were also our invaluable guides keeping us informed of upcoming points of interest so we could have cameras ready if we wished. Tales of remarkable aboriginal and settler history as well as nuggets of information about the wildlife, botany, ever-changing geology and geography along the route were both entertaining and educational.

An invaluable silent partner on the journey proved to be the train engineers spotting wildlife many cars ahead of us, alerting the attendants in each car via headsets, so they could announce on which side of the train we should keep a sharp look out. By the time our dome car near the end of the train reached the right spot, sometimes the animal had already slipped away, but more often, there it was, unperturbed by the frequently-seen train passing through its territory. Because the Rocky Mountaineer exclusively carries vacationers who have traveled from many continents to experience western Canada’s wildlife, the engineer is happy to slow the train for the best possible view. Of course, the occupants of each car want that best possible view for themselves so he does have to keep moving to provide equal opportunity for all.

Outdoor viewing platforms encourage shutterbugs to take plenty of photos on either side of the car. Rocky Mountaineer

Six black bears, including three cubs, were among many wildlife spottings before our call to lunch. As though trained to show its best profile, one mature cinnamon-colored bear stood sideways, balancing all four paws on a small rock no more than 20 feet from our dome car. On another occasion a jet-black adult bear a similar distance away rose to full-height on its hind legs and calmly watched our train slide by. I would not have been terribly surprised to see this strikingly handsome animal wave!

Late in the afternoon, we arrived at our overnight destination of Kamloops in south central British Columbia, cautioned by our ever-attentive ladies to watch for “train legs”, being a bit wobbly or dizzy after stepping onto terra firma for the first time since 8 a.m. Before disembarking, room keys were distributed, with the briefing that, after our 10-minute bus ride from the train depot to the Rocky Mountaineer-owned hotel in Kamloops, we should bypass the front desk check-in altogether and go straight to our rooms where our luggage would be awaiting us. Always sceptical as to how my luggage can be at my destination in such a timely fashion, I learned that train passenger bags don’t come by train. They travel by road on an 18-wheeler truck which takes significantly less time to navigate between points than the leisurely meandering train.

Next morning we were directed to one of several busses outside the hotel (while leaving our luggage in the room to find its way to Vancouver by truck), returned to our assigned train cars and found ourselves seamlessly rolling along the rails by the time we could consult the gourmet breakfast menu. Luxury travel seems to involve an acceptance that all will unfold as it should with only minor attention to detail on the part of the guest.

From their compact stainless steel kitchen, a team of culinary wizards produces delicious hot meals. Rocky Mountaineer

Before lunch, the train slowed to pay homage to the deep-canyon marriage of the Thompson and Fraser river systems which had been our companions off and on since the Rocky Mountains. At the village of Lytton, the crystal clear green Thompson River disappears into the muddy brown waters of the Fraser. Why the distinct difference in color? While the Thompson River passes through Kamloops Lake where its sediments have plenty of slow-down time to drop to the bottom of the lake, the Fraser is an unusually long river to have absolutely no lakes on its 1,375 km/870 mile route to filter away the sediments. Hence it must remain fast-flowing and muddy from start to finish.

The train crosses the Fraser River, BC’s longest river from headwaters near Mount Robson to its mouth at Vancouver. Rocky Mountaineer

As the sprawling suburbs of Vancouver gave way to the city itself, a gift of oatmeal-raisin cookies still fragrant from the kitchen oven heralded the imminent disembarkation of guests from the Rocky Mountaineer Jasper to Vancouver train. Clearly, we all felt that the end had come sooner than anticipated. In just two days, bonds had been created, highlights shared and travel stories exchanged. However, it is always best to end a journey with a sense of regret that it is over, surely the sign of a successful adventure.

Spring, summer and autumn each have their compelling vistas, but autumn with its brilliant-colored backdrop of turning leaves is my favorite season to take this train journey. Rocky Mountaineer

Proudly celebrating its 32th anniversary in 2022, Rocky Mountaineer www.rockymountaineer.com, is a family-owned Canadian company, with its rail operations located in Kamloops and its global headquarters in Vancouver. Since it was founded in 1990, the company has welcomed more than two million guests and become the largest privately-owned luxury tourist train operator in the world. Roughly 80% of guests are over 45 years, with the majority of international guests hailing from the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.
Each of the four routes below includes a comfortable Rocky Mountaineer-owned overnight hotel stay and dinner mid-way through each two-day journey:
Journey Through the Clouds = Vancouver > Kamloops > Jasper.
First Passage to the West = Vancouver > Kamloops > Banff/Lake Louise.
Rainforest to Gold Rush = Vancouver > Whistler > Quesnel > Jasper.
Rockies to the Red Rocks = Denver > Glenwood Springs > Moab (starting in 2021).
Rocky Mountaineer Accolades: Named the “World’s Leading Travel Experience by Train” by World Travel Awards; named “One of the World’s Greatest Trips” by National Geographic; and named “One of the World’s Ultimate Experiences” by Lonely Planet. LP has also singled out Rocky Mountaineer for its Best Sustainable Train Journey award for 2021.
Jasper and Jasper National Park, Alberta: Whether leaving from or arriving in Jasper as part of your Rocky Mountaineer Journey Through the Clouds or Rainforest to Gold Rush experience, plan to spend a few days in this colorful year-round vacation town and take advantage of outdoor explorations within the UNESCO World Heritage Jasper National Park. We invite you to read our web magazine’s richly-illustrated feature article about this Canadian Rockies gem to see why.
Provincial Tourism Websites
Travel Alberta: www.travelalberta.com.
Tourism British Columbia: www.hellobc.com.

Lovers of railway vacationing will enjoy browsing the magazine’s full collection of train travel experiences, in our Travel Article Library. Here are three feature articles to get you started:

Travel on a Trans-Siberian rail journey from China through Mongolia across Siberia to Russia, all first class on a Road Scholar educational holiday with expert-led excursions and lectures along the way.

Explore Mexico’s vast Copper Canyon region in a richly illustrated three part spotlight that features the geology, natural history and indigenous culture of the region.

Author of Adventures of a Railway Nomad shares how she and her husband explored 13 countries of Continental Europe for three months with a Eurail Pass, mainly in lesser-known countries of Eastern Europe.

Alison Gardner is a travel journalist, magazine editor, guidebook author, and consultant. She specializes in researching vacations throughout the world, suitable for people over 50 and for women of all ages. She is also the publisher and editor of Travel with a Challenge Web magazine, www.travelwithachallenge.com. Email: alison@travelwithachallenge.com.