Rocky Mountaineer is a Canadian tour company offering
Western CanadianWestern Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces and commonly as the West, is a region of Canada that includes the four provinces west of the province of Ontario.- Provinces :...
vacation packages that operates trains on four rail routes through
British ColumbiaBritish Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
and
AlbertaAlberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
.
Background
The company was founded by the Armstrong Group in 1990, and is based in
VancouverVancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
,
British ColumbiaBritish Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
. It is the busiest privately owned passenger rail service in
North AmericaNorth America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, having transported over one million passengers since 1990.
Rocky Mountaineer was awarded the "World's Leading Travel Experience by Train" in 2005, 2006 and 2007 at the World Travel Awards, has been listed among the "World's Top 25 Trains" since 2005 by The Society of International Railway Travelers, and was recognized by National Geographic Magazine as one of the "World’s Best Journeys" in 2007. The Society of American Travel Writers, the world’s largest organization of professional travel journalists and photographers, rated the Rocky Mountaineer as the world's top train ride in 2009.
Equipment
RMV operates 60 railcars in their fleet:
- GP40-2L locomotives
An EMD GP40-2 is a 4-axle diesel road switcher locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division as part of its Dash 2 line between April 1972 and December 1986. Power was provided by an EMD 645E3 16-cylinder engine which generated 3000 horsepower .- Production :Standard GP40-2 production...
, ex-Canadian National RailwayThe Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....
, rebuilt by GEC - Alstom
- 35 Canada Car and Foundry single deck coaches, ex-Canadian National Railway.
- 10 Colorado Railcar
Colorado Railcar was a manufacturer of railroad rolling stock, railcars and diesel multiple unit commuter vehicles. Both products come in single- and double-level versions. It shut down in 2008, with its assets being purchased by US Railcar.-History:...
(now US Railcar) bi-level Ultra Dome coaches, with wrap-over view windows on the top level.
- An unknown number of Colorado Railcar
Colorado Railcar was a manufacturer of railroad rolling stock, railcars and diesel multiple unit commuter vehicles. Both products come in single- and double-level versions. It shut down in 2008, with its assets being purchased by US Railcar.-History:...
single-level dome cars
Previous equipment:
GE B36-7The GE B36-7 is a 4-axle diesel locomotive built by GE Transportation Systems between 1980 and 1985. 222 examples of this locomotive were built for North American railroads and eight units were built for a Columbian coal mining operation. The units were designed as successors to GE's U36B's...
locomotives leased from
BC Rail.
Routes
Rocky Mountaineer operates trains over four principal routes:
- Over the Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
(CP) on the First Passage to the West route from Vancouver, British ColumbiaVancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
via Kamloops to BanffBanff is a town within Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. It is located in Alberta's Rockies along the Trans-Canada Highway, approximately west of Calgary and east of Lake Louise....
or CalgaryCalgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
, Alberta.
- Over the Canadian National Railway (CN) on the Journey through the Clouds route from Vancouver via Kamloops to Jasper, Alberta
Jasper is a specialized municipality in western Alberta, Canada. It is the commercial centre of Jasper National Park, located in the Canadian Rockies in the Athabasca River valley....
- The Rainforest to Gold Rush route over the CN operated portion from North Vancouver
There are two municipalities in the Greater Vancouver region of British Columbia, Canada, that use the name North Vancouver. These are:*The City of North Vancouver...
via WhistlerWhistler is a Canadian resort town in the southern Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in the province of British Columbia, Canada, approximately north of Vancouver...
and Quesnel-Demographics:Quesnel had a population of 9,326 people in 2006, which was a decrease of 7.1% from the 2001 census count. The median household income in 2005 for Quesnel was $54,044, which is slightly above the British Columbia provincial average of $52,709....
through Prince GeorgePrince George, with a population of 71,030 , is the largest city in northern British Columbia, Canada, and is known as "BC's Northern Capital"...
to Jasper
- The Whistler Sea to Sky Climb return day trip from North Vancouver to Whistler.
The
First Passage to the West and
Journey through the Clouds route trains depart from Rocky Mountaineer's station at 1755 Cottrell Street just off Terminal Avenue in Vancouver. The
Whistler Sea to Sky Climb route trains depart from a platform at the corner of Philip Avenue and West 1st Street in North Vancouver. The
Whistler Sea to Sky Climb route connects to the
Rainforest to Gold Rush route, which departs from Rocky Mountaineer's platform at the Nita Lake Lodge in the Creekside area of Whistler.
Trip structure
To allow for the best views, trains operate exclusively during the day. On the Calgary/Banff-Vancouver and on the Jasper-Vancouver routes an overnight stop is made in Kamloops, whilst on the Jasper to Whistler route, an overnight stop is made in
Quesnel-Places:* Quesnel, British Columbia* Quesnel Forks, British Columbia* Quesnell, Alberta-People:* Chantal Quesnel, Canadian actress* François Quesnel, 16th century French artist.* Frédéric-Auguste Quesnel, Canadian lawyer and politician...
.
The services do not operate during the winter months of October to April.
Connecting services
The nearest international airports to the Rocky Mountaineer are
Calgary International AirportCalgary International Airport, , is the international airport that serves Calgary, Alberta, Canada and the surrounding region; it is situated approximately northeast of downtown Calgary...
and
Vancouver International AirportVancouver International Airport is located on Sea Island in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, about from Downtown Vancouver. In 2010 it was the second busiest airport in Canada by aircraft movements and passengers , behind Toronto Pearson International Airport, with non-stop flights daily to...
.
In Vancouver, Rocky Mountaineer trains depart from the
Rocky Mountaineer StationRocky Mountaineer Station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada is a railway station which acts as the western terminus of the Rocky Mountaineer train service to Jasper, Banff and Calgary. Prior to 2005, the Vancouver terminus for the Rocky Mountaineer was the Pacific Central Station.The station...
while other rail services operate out of either Pacific Central Station (Amtrak and Via Rail) or Waterfront Station (WestCoast Express).
At the
Jasper railway stationJasper railway station is on the Canadian National Railway mainline in Jasper, Alberta. The station is served by Via Rail's The Canadian three times per week in each direction and is the eastern terminus for the Via Rail's Jasper – Prince Rupert train...
passengers can transfer directly to
Via RailVia Rail Canada is an independent crown corporation offering intercity passenger rail services in Canada. It is headquartered near Montreal Central Station at 3 Place Ville-Marie in Montreal, Quebec....
's
Canadian and Jasper – Prince Rupert train services.
Rocky Mountaineer Travel Guidebooks
External links