Great Train Trip With Dad

All of his life my dad has been fascinated by trains. This started with a ride a conductor gave him when he was ten. The conductor must have seen him by the tracks watching the trains all the time. He broke regulations and drove my dad about a mile to the station. Then when he was part of the air cadets he took a train trip to Abbotsford for cadet camp. He has never stopped talking about that trip. We decided to recreate the trip as best as we could before he loses more of his mental capacities.

This is my dad waiting for the train in Jasper. You can see the train in the background. It is actually going backwards to get on the proper switch for the tracks to the passenger station.

Potato selfie

Exuberance!

My challenge for the trip was to figure out a camera that I borrowed. This is a common view from the train of the cliffs that were carved out for the rail tracks.

British Columbia has had its worst year in forest fires in recorded history. This was a typical view of our four day trip. The smoke was so thick that often we could not see the tops of the mountains even though we were travelling right through the valleys and canyons of the Rocky Mountains.

One of my better pics. This is a monument to the last spike.

The Last Spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway was the ceremonial final spike driven into the Canadian Pacific Railway at Craigellachie, British Columbia at 9:22 am on November 7, 1885. It was driven in by CPR railroad financier Donald Smith, marking the end of a saga of natural disasters, financial crises, and even rebellion that plagued Canada's early history.- Wikipedia

Our railcar had an open platform that was great for getting a sense of the landscape and became a great spot to meet fellow travelers and take many potato pics.

Another selfie? Sacrilege!

This was my dad's expression pretty much the whole trip. His favourite words were "Astonishing!" and "Holy Snuff!!"

You can see what I mean about the haze. I was surprised to know that Kamloops was the northern tip of a desert system. The running joke on the train was to keep an eye out for Clint Eastwood.

My dad with his new conductor hat.

A great potato of us and you can see the dome roof of our railcar. The railcar was a double decker and featured a dining room and amazing food on the main deck.

duck potato lips

Dome life.

I want to mention the great hospitality of the Rocky Mountaineer Train Company. I would highly encourage you to look them up if you desire a great world class tour of the Rocky Mountains.

Cat tax. This is Pearl