Probably the highlight of this trip was the two day train ride from Jasper to
Prince Rupert. The landscape was stunning but varied, with mountains, rivers,
lakes, and forests everywhere - but interspersed with the towns,
villages, hamlets, and abandoned communities that are located near the railway. The train takes its
time, and is slow enough that people just stick out their thumb out if they
want to hop on board.
The train was also small enough that you got to know your fellow passengers
over the two days. So it's a good job they were a great bunch of lads and
ladies from all round the globe. And a special mention has to go to Alain,
the guy assigned to look after us. Not only did he help people onboard, run
the buffet car and act as a tour guide, he was apparently up with the sparrows
to clean the train ready for our arrival.
While it wasn't steam powered, the train was quite old-school. Alain's
response to one chap asking if he could pay by Google Pay was to whip out this
device which I hadn't seen since the 1990s.
Although it's targeted at tourists (and comes with a handy guide of things to watch out for on the trip) ... the train is still used by local residents and seems to perform a number of other tasks including stopping in the middle of nowhere to drop off a bag of shopping to someone. The train is also heavily subsidised by the government, so if you're a tax-payer in Canada, cheers for the cheap ride!
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There was an overnight stop in Prince George - a city which any self-respecting prince would do well to avoid. One of our fellow passengers was en route to the station for Day 2 of the journey and apparently got tasered and robbed, therefore missing his train and losing all his possessions. The rail company kindly paid over $200 to pay for his taxi to catch up with the train, while we waited in a siding for him. Then it was on to day 2 of the journey to Prince Rupert.
More nice scenery
And here is the video where Alain managed to talk himself out of a tip ...
The train is well known for its long delays as it has to make way for all freight trains. Amazingly, Day 1 we were bang on time, and even with the Day 2 Taserguy Drama, we were only half an hour late into Prince Rupert.
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