Today was the main day of the whole journey. The world famous crossing across the Rockies mountain range. The crossing itself is an engineering marvel. Add to that the spectacular views and I was super excited for the day to unfold. By 6 30 am I was snugly ensconced in one of the seats of the Dome car. Today was the most important day of the journey and I was not taking any chances. I had plans to sit here for the duration of the day so I bought all my accessories with me.
Around 7 am the train halted at Jasper, Alberta. It had a stop of 3 hrs here. I was not going to get down here because I visited on two occasions before and also I did not want to lose a seat in the dome car. Jasper, at 1060 MSL is located in the Athabasca valley and forms the one of two main towns in the Rockies. The other being Banff. The nearby located Jasper National Park is a World Heritage Site. It was still as dark as the train pulled into the town of Jasper but the faint beginnings of sunrise slowly started and by 9 am the day was bright. As the light grew better I could make better sense of my surrounding. There were multiple parallel tracks covered in the white snow. Just two lines of rail peeking out above the surface. There were other trains parked on these tracks. These were all CN(Canadian National) trains. A fun fact here. The tracks are owned by Canadian National and VIA Rail only runs their trains on these and they do not own them.
With the background of snow clad mountains and the trains nearby the scene was stunning. At some sections clouds obscured the views giving the whole landscape a surreal look. Meanwhile a trickle of passengers started streaming in the dome car among which I could spot a lot of new faces. This was no doubt due to the fact that the Jasper-Kamloops is the most famous stretch of the Toronto-Vancouver run.
At around 10 am it was time to leave. A ripple of excitement passed through the crowd in the dome car as the train jolted to a start. Already DSLRs and video cameras were out. A train coming from the opposite direction blocked our views for a while immediately after we left the station but for me even the train was part of the landscape. After some time our train was alone and the spectacular scenery presented itself. The train snaked through small hills immediately surrounding the rails. Far away mountains loomed all covered in snow, a silent spectator to this train of metallic containers rolling away. The passengers soon fell into a sense of awe at this enthralling display of the wonders of nature.
The seat next to me which had largely been empty was soon by a guy. We soon jumped into a conversation and I found out that he was originally from Brazil and was now studying in the University of Alberta. Our conversation drifted from Brazil to India to travel in general all the while making sure we did not miss any of the beautiful scenery drifting by. At some points vast expanses of snow covered flats could be seen. There was no way to determine if these were plain grounds or lakes except by looking at gmaps. The trees surrounding were all covered in snow. Everything was covered in snow and as I looked outside the windows the world looked black and white to me so stark were the surroundings.
At some sections some portions of the water in a river were visible. They were like sheets of glass laid out on the frozen ground. These stunning views continued till Kamloops. We all watched this enchanting work of nature in awe. I only left the dome for lunch for which my friend from Brazil was good enough to join in. After lunch I went back to my regular place in settled down there.
Around 6 pm we reached Kamloops. This was going to be the last stop before we reached Vancouver the next day. A lot of passengers left here. I strolled around the station, again taking a quick look at the locomotive which has been pulling us from Toronto since the last three days.
After darkness descended there was nothing much to do. The breathtaking scenery had lived upto the hype and I was feeling overwhelmed by it all. So after a quick dinner I just drifted off to sleep with the reel of the days scenery playing in my mind.
Day 5
The next day I woke up leisurely and by 7 am we reached Vancouver. This was incredible. We were an hour earlier than our scheduled time. 'The Canadian' is famous for its delays and I was mentally prepared for such an eventuality but now thankfully we were on time. While taking a stroll towards the dome car for one final look around I saw a man reading a book on Mughals. Intrigued I struck up a conversation with him. I found he was very much interested in History and asked me about Kashmir and about a few recent controversial recent bills passed in India. I suggested a few books about the Mughals to him and also noted down his suggestions. We promised to stay in touch before we departed.
The train ends its epic 4 day 4500 kms journey at the Pacific Station in Vancouver. Built in 1919 the station is a heritage building. As I got down from the train the past 4 days swirled in my mind. It was truly an epic journey.
4500 km.
Across 5 provinces each roughly the size of France.
Crossing 4 time zones.
One of the most ambitious railway engineering feats ever.
And I completed it.
I went home and dropped down on my comforting bed. Finally it was time to stretch my legs on the sweet flat bed.
A video of the trip.
This trip reminds me of the one I took way back in England, between Bournemouth and Poole. Although it was a tiny distance covered, but the story is quite fantastic. Amazing read this is. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks sagar!
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