Ride the Rocky Mountaineer train, Canada
50 Things to do before you die
| WHAT: | Rocky Mountaineer Railtours two-day, all
daylight rail journey follows the historical train route constructed
over 100 years ago through Canada’s West and the Canadian Rockies. The
entire trip takes place during daylight hours to ensure travellers enjoy
all the scenery. Guests overnight midway in accommodation in historic
Kamloops, British Columbia. Built around the two-day train trip are
more than 40 package tours which explore the breathtaking scenery of
British Columbia and Alberta by land, sea and rail. Operating since 1990, the company is the largest privately owned passenger rail service in North America with sales representation in 18 countries and 350 employees during the operating season. In 2001, Rocky Mountaineer Railtours welcomed over 73,000 guests and celebrated its 500,000th guest in 2002. The mix of passengers from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Mexico and many more countries evidences the organization’s international reach. |
| WHERE: | Travelling eastbound and westbound between
Vancouver, British Columbia, and Jasper or Banff and Calgary, Alberta,
the Rocky Mountaineer retraces the legendary western Canadian routes of
the first transcontinental railway. |
| WHEN: | Rocky Mountaineer Railtours operates from
mid-April to mid-October and features a special festive holiday season
train with six departures over December and January. |
| HOW: | Rocky Mountaineer offers two choices of
service: RedLeaf Service provides guests with assigned, spacious, comfortable reclining seats, large picture windows, and at-your-seat meal service, in a non-smoking, air-conditioned traditional rail coach environment. The trip is highlighted by the individual attention and colourful, interpretive, commentary provided by an Onboard Attendant. Open-air vestibules are available at the end of all coaches. GoldLeaf Service guests enjoy reserved seating in bi-level domed coaches, featuring panoramic views on the upper level and an elegant dining room on the main level where a la carte breakfasts and lunches are served. The spectacular sights are only outdone by the outstanding service and informative commentary provided by the four Onboard Attendants assigned to each coach. |
| SIGHTS: | Breathtaking views of the
majestic, snow-covered Canadian Rockies, rugged canyons and seemingly
endless rivers and valleys are only interrupted by sightings of big horn
sheep, moose, deer and elk. Destination Cities:
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| ROLLING STOCK: | Rocky Mountaineer Railtours operates five
GP-40-2 locomotives were originally used by Canadian National Rail until
2001 when they were reconditioned by Alstom.
The 35 RedLeaf coaches are classically styled railcars built in the mid 1950's in Montreal by Canadian Car and Foundry and have now been upgraded a number of times. The two styles now operated by Rocky Mountaineer are in the 5700 and 3200 series. Some of the coaches in the 5700 series were originally built as roomette sleeping cars before being converted for daytime use in 1972. Rocky Mountaineer also operates a total of 10 GoldLeaf dome coaches, which were custom-built for the company by Colorado Railcar in Fort Lupton, Colorado. The first dome coach, #9501, was introduced in 1995, and the newest additions to the fleet #9506 and #9508, began service in May 2001. The delivery of our eleventh dome coach is due in August 2003. These coaches are constructed with shatter-proof glass on the overhead dome. The company has four power generating units, which supply power for
lighting and air conditioning to the coaches. In addition, there are two
baggage cars, two lounge cars and four supply/staff cars, all of which
were constructed in the 1950s for Canadian National. Each coach is 26
metres/86.5 ft. long and weighs approximately 63 metric tonnes/70,000
lbs. |
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