Our Canada Rail Vacation Aboard the Rocky Mountaineer Vancouver to Kamloops

Finally, our DREAM did become reality!

For years we've been talking about the Rocky Mountaineer and now, with a better economy thanks to President Trump, we got enough dividend for going ahead!

We booked our trip via Canada Rail Vacations.

Photos courtesy of Rocky Mountaineer - wish we could have seen it like this!

We left our luxurious Fairmont Hotel Vancouver by motor coach to be transported to the Rocky Mountaineer Station where we all would board the train.

We, that is 710 passengers for that morning of September 25, 2018.
A life pianist entertained us while we got served some juice or water.
A professional bagpiper did play while boarding began, seen in photo below just to the left, near the train.

Both of us were pleasantly surprised at the speed and efficiency this boarding took place at 7:38 AM.

We were seated in this GoldLeaf bi-level dome coach of CB05, seen above.
The lower part we could reach by stairs for entering our dining room for breakfast and lunch.

Thus, our FIRST PASSAGE TO THE WEST
VANCOUVER-KAMLOOPS-LAKE LOUISE/BANFF started...

A long line of Rocky Mountaineer employees stood lined up along the track and waved us farewell!
Source: at 1:17 min of All Aboard the Train! Rocky Mountaineer is leaving Vancouver

Enjoying this fruity delight at 8:26, with Physalis peruviana (Cape gooseberry in its husk, before breakfast à la carte got served.

We left via the impressive Fraser River Swing Bridge at 8:42
This is at New Westminster - Columbia and taken from the GoldLeaf Dining Room...

At 8:47 this photo got taken from my Blueberry Pancakes, garnished with strawberry and Physalis peruviana (Cape gooseberry) and served with Maple Syrup.
Love this special fruit in a husk and for one year we did grow our own!
On my plate you can see it was a sunny breakfast taken in the elegant dining room.
Our Gold-Leaf bi-level domed coach got split up in two groups for going down to the dining room.
For the first day, we were in the 1st group and on the 2nd day this got reversed.
Meanwhile others got served some hot food from the trolley cart, anticipating their breakfast...
EXCELLENT service and our Chef was from the Philippines!

At 10:43 Alongside the Fraser River with the majestic Coast Mountains...

Lanscape is changing now at 12:17 as it looks more rugged as we leave the fertile Rainforest behind.

At 12:22 we reach HELL'S GATE

THE FRASER RIVER and HELL'S GATE at 12:24
Under the red poles of the suspension bridge you see a white spot in the center, where it marks the water surface of the Fraser River of May 28, 1948...
The water can be 27.4 m or 90 ft deep to 64 m or 210 ft deep!
Compared to the Niagara Falls, TWICE as much water flows through Hell's Gate!!!

Hell's Gate, the narrowest part of the Fraser River. As much as 750 million liters/200 million gallons of water pound and surge each minute through a 33.5 m/110 foot wide gorge. The height of the Fraser can vary as much as 24.3 m/80 feet throughout the year at this point.

The Fraser River, the major river in the province of British Columbia, journeys almost 1,369 km/850 miles from its headwaters in the Rockies to its release into the Strait of Georgia, near Vancouver.
In 1808 it was navigated by Simon Fraser.
Fraser River is also home to BC's largest salmon run.

The construction of the Canadian Pacific rail line through Hell's Gate in 1882 became a particularly dangerous challenge for contractor Andrew Onderdonk and his crew of thousands of men.
Andrew Onderdonk also built the San Francisco Seawall. He was born in New York, from a Dutch family.

At 13:32 the scenery is getting more and more ROCKY! Near Boston Bar on the Fraser River

At 13:55 through my window (swapped for a moment with husband Pieter)...
The top of the shatter proof glass dome is tinted, hence this line.
Thompson-Nicola

At 13:56 Rainbow Canyon

The minerals in the rocks reflect a rainbow of colors giving the canyon a painted look. Copper turns green and purple when oxidized, while iron turns orange and red. The yellow is due to sulfur deposits.

Also a short tunnel is visible in this photo, where the other rail road track is running.

VANCOUVER & KAMLOOPS 460 KM / 285 MILES

The different mileposts and names

Now looking more ahead, at 13:56 you see the same mountain peak from two photos previous but with the river down. How incredible the Province of British Columbia is!

At 13:57 these photos I've taken from the dining room as we enjoyed a delicious lunch à la carte!
No food photos...

Enlarged section from photo above, to show you the rail road track on the other side of the river with rock sheds over the track for avalanche protection.
See printed info above about AVALANCHE ALLEY

At 15:05 where the front of our long train is visible along the Thompson River
From the left is a freight train coming on the other track.
Since the Rocky Mountaineer is the ONLY passenger train for having the right to travel through the different Parks, they have to YIELD to freight trains if we have to share a single track!

This is where we were in the above photo, along the river.

At 15:46 Ashcroft, British Columbia

At 15:51 Ashcroft you can see the front of our train following the river bend and also another freight train on the other track, below the bridge.
105 Mile Post 2

At 15:54 only 3 minutes later than the above photo with now another freight train on the other side of the river.
Those freight trains can be as long as 300 cars!
They transport coal, copper, grain, and all sorts of goods.

Funny that the side river we crossed in the above photo is called Bonaparte River... Maybe because of the shape of Bonaparte's hat, where it merges?

At 15:55 here we cross the Thompson-Nicola and you can see our 2 locomotives ahead followed by the SilverLeaf cars...

The head of the train already on this bridge...

At 15:56 Thompson River near Ashcroft, looking back you now can see the tail of our train following us...
It was getting dark slowly.
We were seated on 7 + 8 and there was only one row behind us in our section.
In front of us was the staircase down to the dining room, restrooms and open balcony (in-between two cars).

Our train section is almost across the river where I took the above photo.

This photo I took from our coach, at 17:56 when we disembarked the train at Kamloops Station.
There were coaches lined up, each right in front of a train section to just walk across the red carpet into your coach.
The planning in detail was incredible and before we got off the train we were handed our room key for the hotel at Kamloops. Our luggage got sent by truck and was already inside our room!

This is where the Kamloops Station is.

Yep, we completed our FIRST day on the ROCKY MOUNTAINEER, from Vancouver to Kamloops...

LOTS OF IMPRESSIONS...

We stayed at a rather new Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott
~
Back in the hotel with WiFi I did upload my capture of the entire day on Relive.
Yes, there were remote areas without ANY signal and I guess Google Earth just did connect the dots so in the remote areas the line is not always the real railroad track. The total length of the journey should have been 460 km so it sure did cut off certain sections where we followed the rivers!
But it gives a very clear idea of the landscape from above, where we traveled through, alongside rivers and through lots of short tunnels.

Enjoy the 1:59 min. video of the  9 h 56m trip over 382.3 km including the final stretch by coach to our hotel. Click below:

Relive 'ROCKY MOUNTAINEER VANCOUVER TO KAMLOOPS'

        

Thanks for your visit and comment and stay tuned for our 2nd day on the Rocky Mountaineer...

Related links:
Vancouver British Columbia, Canada in 1996 and back again in 2018 | previous post by me
Fraser Canyon - Rocky Mountaineer Tourist Train on the Cisco Bridges (June 10, 2016) - short video showing the Rocky Mountaineer passing Cisco Crossing

Rocky Mountaineer Vancouver to Kamloops with Pieter J.C. Vedder ←click for video