Greetings from Jasper, Alberta where we finally arrived shortly before midnight yesterday by bus after the train broke down in Shelley, a railroad siding or tiny town (there were a few houses in the area) just outside of Prince George, British Columbia, where first got to at 11:35am and finally got off the train at 6:00pm after far too few announcements about what were going on, I just stopped by the station here in Jasper to tell the manager that Amtrak is better about keeping passengers informed.
I unfortunately left the power cord to my computer in our hotel room in Vancouver, they have it so I’ll pick it up on Thursday when we return there. I tried to buy another one at Wal-Mart in Quesnel two nights ago but they did not have one. This means I’m stuck with just my iPhone and this dying computer to write posts on until then, and no way to process and upload photos (unless I take them on my iPhone), so more formal TripLog posts about the experience of riding the train will have to wait until then.
Luckily me and my grandmother were inside Gold Leaf double-decker dome cars and I cannot think of a better place to be stuck for six hours. They are fantastic railroad cars with a dining room downstairs that serves everyone first class two course breakfasts and three course lunches included in their absurdly high fares, and forward facing seats upstairs with wrap-around windows like Superliner Sightseer lounges but actual curved glass. All boos was included in the fare too so I think that took some of the delay stress off as well. My favorite feature though and for this leg of the journey we got lucky and were in the vary last car was the back porch as the Britt behind me described it, an outdoor viewing platform whose often quite cold fresh air made the 12 hour days much more enjoyable since there are no fresh air stops on the Rocky Mountaineer.
The train did have to stop a few times to change crews, receive orders (there is no signaling system on the former, lightly used Pacific Great Eastern Railway) and we passed only two freight trains both carrying logging the first day (one was the norm, we were told) and two the second both when we were stuck on the siding in Shelley, after we had just barely entered the CN main line from Prince George which has a fully, modern signaling and switching system although there are no electrical lines running along the railroad in places so propane tanks are used to power them. Unfortunately none of the crew change stops are at in service platforms and we can’t get off to stretch our legs (some were at platforms no longer used).
The first day of the trip on Thursday we had an early 6:00am wake-up call for the 6:20 check in at the hotel. From there it was a short bus ride to the station and I was able to photograph our Rainforest to Goldrush train arriving from the yard in Squamish from an enclosed bridge above the line. As we got on we were greeted by our two lovely attendants, Leah and Sally, the two waitresses for the restaurant, and saw the culinary team of two chiefs of Asian Descent for the only time on the trip (there were a few others for cooking and dishwashing as well that we were never introduced too), and toasted our trip off by everyone except me (I cannot stand orange juice) with mimosas, when the train manager came by our car. As we pulled out of the Lakes of Whistler we were divided into first and second seatings by seat number for breakfast and lunch and were in the second seating the first day the first the next. The upstairs crew soon brought us scones and coffee to tide us over. The day was spent slowly winding our way, first by lakes and passing the Coastal Mountains before we joined the Fraser River in Lillooet and were even able to see the salmon and trout directly in the water wending their way up to span. The train line than made its way slowly uphill with the Fraser River coming in and out of view as we climbed up for the Cariboo plateau. Onboard I enjoyed a breakfast of eggs benedict around 10:00, a wine and cheese party (in amounts and emphasis of wine and not cheese there was little) to tide us over at noon before a 3:00 lunch (with more included wine) of a large boneless rib with potatoes and tons of amazing baked on board bread, and dessert of chocolate volcano cake and ice cream.
At 7:30pm, stuffed we arrived at our overnight town of Quesnel, BC a town in the Cariboo plateau and were bussed out to the outskirts by a Wal-Mart to the “fanciest” hotel in town, a branch of the Canadian chain the Sandman, that I found completely adequate but the folks used to staying Fairmonts were complaining about. Too full from the train for dinner we ended up riding back into town with one of the very chatty local bus drivers for a quick tour and souvenir stop while I went for a fast walk. I’ll elaborate on the train more once I get my cords back complete with lots of photos!
The day was another early start leaving the sandman at 6:30am on the first bus (3 trips were required) and I got some pictures, walked the platform, and didn’t board until shortly before we left Quesnel at 7:25am and saw our only sighting of wildlife consisting of three deer in town while Leah was reading us the required (I’ve never heard them in the US) safety announcements we had also heard the previous morning. Then we were down to the dining area for breakfast and I got the Goldleaf Breakfast of potatoes, scrambled eggs, and a dash of caviar, and managed to eat 3 croissants. The ride was through mostly flatland the Fraser River visible in places through trees by numerous lumber mills and a stop by a scrap yard outside of Prince George before we got to the siding in Shelley and broke down, something undiagnostically wrong with the locomotive, around 11:15 slowly moving slowly in fits and starts, enjoying an early cocktail (why not, its included) and then a lunch of an excellent piece of Salmon before we noticed buses around 4:00pm no announcements about why. They unloaded from front to back and we got the last two seats on the last bus at 6:00pm. After noticing the rescue locomotive arriving behind us at 5:00pm
On the bus I was uncomfortably next to large, aphasic man luckily in the very front of the Medical Bus chartered, (a new service designed to transport people from rural British Columbia to Prince George and Vancouver for medical appointments heavily subsidized). Sitting in the front meant I had enjoyable conversation with the bus driver, Bob and Sue one of the attendants from the other Gold Leaf Car. In McBride, population 200, at the train station that VIA’s Skeena (now just called the Jasper to Prince Rupert train) stops three times a week we got a bathroom break and simple Lettuce and Tomato sandwiches and at tiny fun sized candy bar. I got a photo essay of a charming rural station one more to add to my list now used as a coffee shop and visitor center in the darkness. I also chatted with the Rocky Mountaineer employees that this was the first time they had to use buses all season and last time it took them until 3 in the morning because the train was stuck in the spiral tunnels of the mountain passes will be riding back to Vancouver through on Wednesday. Everyone in town was excited to see us. We finally pulled into Jasper, loosing an hour crossing the continental divide at 11:30pm MDT and said our goodbyes passing out.