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British Columbia And Alberta: Canada Winter Adventures
Ah winter! The bane of one’s existence if you live in the northeast -- rain, fog, hail, wind…and snow. All the ingredients for slipping, sliding, and making those dark winter days and darker nights seemingly worse than they are. Just the perfect reason and season to head to more equatorial climes; beaches with sun and sand, oceans, cabanas, all the trappings of a victory over the elements...or is it?
Having succumbed to such notions during a previous February with a cruise to the Southern Caribbean, this time around, I decided to tilt the elements northward to a rendezvous with exotic activities such as snowshoeing and ice-canyon climbing. Traveling on a rolling hotel with perfect temperatures in duvet-covered beds, with food and drink to keep old and young ones alike sated seemed a perfect adventure.
It was the ideal assignment -- Western Canada in the winter. Warm beaches were to remain a long way from where I was going. After connecting flights from a sunny 65° F New Orleans, I arrived in Vancouver, where the skies were gray, but the airport was pulsing with mid-winter activity. After the usual scramble through immigration and baggage claim, a cab took me downtown to one of my favorite cities in North America, teeming with life, art and culture.
All Aboard in Vancouver
This was to be the start of one of the most incredible rail voyages in the world. The train? The Canadian, operated by VIA Rail, Canada's National Rail Passenger System. One of a fleet that ably serves Canada from coast to coast, The Canadian is the premier train in the network, whose equipment was built in the heyday of streamlined passenger trains during the 1950s. Unlike its cousins in the United States which are no longer in regular service, the rebuilt Canadian soldiers on nobly, defiant of age and mechanical ups and downs, assisted by a complete rebuilding a few years ago.
The station in Vancouver seemed tired, and perhaps not as tidy as Canada’s usual enterprises. But the lounge was convivial, with snacks and hot beverages awaiting the First Class passengers on the train, making it the perfect meeting ground for a pre-voyage toast to the efficiency of the Dominion of Canada. Although our departure was scheduled for the late afternoon, The Canadian's schedule has since been adjusted for an 8:30pm departure from Vancouver, perfect for an extra few hours to sample all available to you (and maybe a boon for parents trying to get their children to sleep en route). With a slight and effortless releasing of the brakes, we were off!
With two diesels and eight cars, this self-contained world had it all. There were sleeping accommodations with shower facilities, dining cars, snack cars, coaches, and the unique dome-observation car where all could sit in luxury and see where we were coming from and going to (at the same time) certainly a unique feeling in the annals of transportation.
En Route to Jasper
While I would love to say that the train approached a 120-mile-per-hour mark, The Canadian is a comfortable train, not a speedy one. There is no comparison to leaving the urban metropolises of Montreal and Toronto. Departing Vancouver, The Canadian scenically hugs the Fraser River for quite a while. About an hour out, we sped up, but had to slow down again through the steep grades up and down the mountains until Jasper, a considerable distance of about 530 miles.
Coupled with fighting gravity uphill, the right-of-way follows the meandering riverbeds, so there are many curves to navigate. Observing from the dome cars (a regular dome car for coach passengers, and the dome-observation for sleeping car occupants), makes you appreciative of the engineers who laid out this route many years ago.
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