DAY 5 - SUNDAY MAY 26:  Sunday morning, knowing that we would be enjoying a gourmet breakfast aboard the "Gold Leaf Service" Rockymountaineer Railroad shortly after boarding at about 9:00 o'clock, we did not rush to get up.

On Thursday, when we had visited the station to observe the loading process, it had been suggested that we arrive at the station at 8:20 so as to miss most of the bus arrivals so we arranged our taxi from the hotel to accomplish this. We were able to check our luggage in and obtain our trip documents without standing in any lines.

After checking in we helped ourselves to a cup of fresh coffee at the hospitality table and milled about talking to and meeting people who were also waiting for the arrival and loading of the train which was on it's way from Calgary.

At 8:50, right on time, the train arrived and the orderly process of loading began. Those of us traveling on the double decked glass domed cars of the "Gold Leaf Service" had to walk all the way to the end of the train as the "Red Leaf Service" cars were toward the front of the train.

Arriving at our assigned car, we noticed that a red carpet had been laid out for us. We were helped aboard by our Stewards and Stewardess and shown to our assigned seats for the trip.  

As soon as everyone was aboard and seated, we heard the "All Aboard" and the train started moving. We were all served a Champaign cocktail to celebrate the trip as the train pulled out of the station. From our seat, we had great views of the Mountain Peaks and other sights with the glass dome top on the car. 

During the first hour of the trip, we followed the Bow River northwest through the Bow River Valley until we passed the village of Lake Louise where we took a left turn to the west and started our climb into the mountains and across the continental divide which was the highest point of our trip and just a few miles west of Lake Louise.

We then continued west and through the spiral tunnels which actually took us through a mountain and made a 180 degree turn within the mountain bringing us out heading back to the northeast before taking us into another tunnel to bring us back around heading to the west again.  As it is totally dark inside the tunnels and there are no outside bearings, there was no sensation of either making the turns or heading downhill while in the tunnel.

We passed the town of Field, BC and continued into the valley between the Van Horn and Otter Tail Mountain Ranges.  At our lowest point, we made a turn to the northwest and followed the Kicking Horse River from the point where it begins as a small stream being fed from the melting snow in the mountains. The Kicking Horse grew in size from streams flowing in from both sides until at a point just northwest of Glenogle it joined up with the head waters of the Mighty Columbia River and headed South to join up with several other rivers in the Western U.S. and eventually pass through Portland, Oregon and out into the Pacific Ocean.

During this time, we had been treated to a marvelous Gourmet breakfast of Juice, Fresh Fruit, Eggs Benedict, Fresh baked Pastries and our choice of Beverages. Our seats were in the first meal seating on the first day and we were in the second seating on the second day. 

We continued northwest through Redgrave and Beavermouth until we passed over the Columbia River and turned directly South for about 30 miles and then more to the Southwest for the rest of the day.

At about 12:30 Ren and Stuart our Steward and Stewardess served snacks and refreshments before the call for 1st seating lunch. Lunch was delightful as were all of the meals we had on board. Ron and Garrett the two food service waiters saw to it that everyone was served elegantly and promptly. The lunch menu was varied and included both hot and cold selections with excellent appetizers and deserts to complement the entrees including white or red wines.

We passed through several small towns and villages with names like Stoney Creek, Connaught, and Rogers.  We went through the Connaught Tunnel  and down through Albert Canyon to the larger town and primary Railroad staging yard town of Revelstoke.

After passing through Revelstoke, we passed through Craigellachie where the last spike was driven on the Canadian Pacific Line and then through Clanwilliam, Kay Falls, Taft and Cambie while following the valley alongside the Eagle River to the town of Sicamous where the Eagle River flows into the huge Shuswap Lake.

As we traveled along the bank of Shuswap Lake, we could see people out in their boars enjoying the wonderful clear Sunday afternoon weather. At the western end of the lake is the town of Canoe where we saw one of the largest logging and lumber operations in Canada.  Logs are floated to this area from miles away down rivers and across the lake where they are processed into lumber and shipped out by rail.

We then continued to the southwest until we arrived at the city of Kamloops where our train stopped for the night.

We were taken by busses to various hotels and motels in Kamloops where we got a good nights rest and were bussed back to the train at 6:30 the next morning to continue our journey to Vancouver, BC. 

(Note: from the time it was announced that we were coming into Kamloops and to get our personal items together until the next morning when we were back on board, I took no pictures. Believe me there was nothing outstanding to take pictures of. One Ramada Inn looks like another and so forth.) 

DAY 6 - MONDAY, MAY 27:   We awoke at 05:15 to the sound of our requested wake up call. Thank goodness for the in room coffee maker as we really had to hurry to get dressed and get our luggage down stairs for the 6:00 am bus pickup to get us back on the train and going by 6:30.

Our luggage actually preceded us both to Kamloops and also Vancouver.  It was carried, by truck, along the Cross Canada Highway at normal traffic speeds while we took our time and traveled at an average of 35 mph on the train. This was nice as our luggage was already in our rooms when we arrived at the Kamloops Ramada Inn and also there was no delay for luggage when we arrived in Vancouver on Monday afternoon.

Our journey on Monday began on time at 6:30 and we proceeded westward towards Vancouver. On Sunday between Banff and Kamloops we had traveled on the Canadian Pacific tracks with a Canadian Pacific engine crew aboard. On Monday, from Kamloops to Vancouver we traveled on Canadian National tracks with a Canadian National engine crew aboard. The reason was that several years ago the two railroads got together and agreed that, since both of their tracks paralleled all the way from Vancouver to Kamloops, it would be in both companies interests if they ran all trains going east on the Canadian Pacific tracks and all trains going west on the Canadian National tracks. This cut down on the delays of both companies because trains did not have to wait at sidings while being passed by trains going in the opposite direction. It was pointed out, (Not by the railroad workers) that if two companies in The States met to discuss such a proposal, it would be collusion and the executives could be sent to jail.

As we were just poking along at about 35 mph we did have to pull over a couple of times to allow a faster train to pass but this only happened once or twice so it was not a bother and seemed to hit at meal times.

For the first part of the trip we traveled along Kamloops Lake and the terrain was almost desert as there were were almost no trees.  The hills in some places had been washed out and there were interesting "Hoo Doos" much like those we had seen in Bryce Canyon and Southern Utah on other trips.

At the western end of Kamloops Lake, the Thompson River began first as a controlled fast moving waterway and then into a natural river until it joined up with the Fraser River in the area of Cisco. The Thompson River really got wild in some places where there were great whirlpools and wild rapids. This wild water combined with the sheer cliffs and beautiful landscapes made this stretch of the trip very interesting. 

Once the Thompson and Fraser Rivers joined and became one river, the power of the rushing water increased tremendously. Just below the town of Boston Bar, the river passes through an area called "Hells Gate" which is an area where the waterway narrows to only 200' wide and over 2 million gallons of water per minute passes through. The train slowed down to a crawl while we passed this area and we really had the opportunity to appreciate the tremendous power generated by this huge amount of water passing through such a tiny opening.

Shortly after we passed the "Hells Gate" area, we started our decent towards the Pacific Coast. While we still could observe the beauty of the Coastal Mountains with their snow capped peaks and then the Cascades, we basically traveled through a series of valleys alongside the Fraser River all the way into Vancouver.

Once we cleared the mountains and began to enter more settled areas, the train picked up speed to around 45 mph which got us into Vancouver at about 4:00 pm.