For most of us in the UK, rail travel these days is
something to be avoided unless absolutely essential. So why would
anyone plan their holiday around a six-day train
journey?
Well, if you take Royal Canadian Pacific’s Rocky
Experience tour, you don’t have to worry about melting track,
essential engineering work or leaves on the line. Canadian Pacific
not only owns all its rolling stock but also all of the track. That
means the train goes pretty much wherever it pleases, whenever it
wants, and is never thwarted by the wrong kind of leaves or a dust
of snow.
From the moment the chauffeured limo picks you up at Calgary
Airport, you know this trip will not be like the 8.40am to
Waterloo. The limo deposits you at that most venerable of Canadian
hotels, the Fairmont Palliser – good enough for the Queen and
certainly good enough for me.
The Palliser is one of the great railway hotels of Canada,
conveniently situated next to the station. I retired early to my
Fairmont Gold room on the executive floor in anticipation of an
early start the next morning.
I had joined the five-night Royal Canadian Rockies Experience,
one of several different themed trips offered by Canadian Pacific
on a journey through the heart of the Rocky Mountains. The Royal
Canadian Pacific offers the ultimate experience in luxury rail
travel. The railcars, built between 1917 and 1930, were used by
Canadian Pacific executives and important guests and are truly
sumptuous, decked out in walnut, velvet and solid brass fittings.
It’s like stepping back into a bygone romantic era.
I sat in the Mount Stephen observation car as our train headed
out from Calgary across the vast Alberta prairies towards the
Rockies. Our first stop was at the aptly named
Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo-Jump-Point where, for centuries, cunning
First Nation tribes (or the Blackfoot) tricked herds of buffalo to
run over the edge of a large cliff and turned them into buffalo
burgers.
We were soon heading up into the heart of the Rockies through
some truly spectacular scenery. After travelling through Crowsnest
Pass, we crossed the Continental Divide where, in theory at least,
a single raindrop could split, one half ending up in the Pacific
and the other in the Atlantic.
The next stop was Lake Louise, 5,680ft up in the Rockies. There
can be few places in the world as stunning as this and the view
from the Fairmont’s Château Lake Louise is without
parallel. From the opulence of the tearooms you look out over the
lake’s turquoise water to the summit of Mount Victoria
towering at 11,600ft. The hanging glacier – a permanent band
of ice more than 500ft thick and resembling a wedge of icing on a
cake – squats ominously over the lake.
One of the many beauties of this trip is that Canadian Pacific
provides top-class guides and experts at the various stops, and few
guides anywhere could match the enthusiasm and expertise of Bruce
Bembridge at Lake Louise. A character mix of David Attenborough and
David Bellamy, his favourite expression was “Oh jiggers” as he
regaled us with tales of “negative bear experiences” –
that’s a bear attack to you and me.
Some luxury train journeys cover such great distances that they
have to travel through the night. Canadian Pacific has avoided
this, choosing to have the train remain stationary throughout the
night, usually beside a stunning lake. This ensures a sound
night’s sleep, cocooned from the dreaded negative bear
experience, in beautifully appointed berths.
On the food front Canadian Pacific has something far more
dangerous than the British Rail sandwich in Pierre Meloche, its
French Canadian chef. In the wood-panelled Craigallachie dining
car, he conjured exquisite meals, morning, noon and night. We soon
abandoned any ideas of girth control. His baked lemon cheesecake is
forever etched on my mind and, I fear, my waistline. His enthusiasm
is inspired by the surroundings. As he put it: “Few kitchens have a
view and I have one of the best views in the world.”
Another highlight of the journey is a stop at Banff, developed
by Canadian Pacific entirely as a resort for rich Victorian
tourists. The stop offers stunning views of the imposing Mount
Cascade which looms over the town. Cornelius Van Horne, the first
Canadian Pacific president, famously commented: “If we can’t
export the scenery, we’ll import the tourists.” Our stop
there included a conducted tour of the legendary and wonderfully
eccentric Banff Springs Hotel where those Victorians certainly knew
how to holiday in style.
During the trip we huffed and puffed our way up and down
mountains (including the spectacular spiral tunnels), zig-zagged
through passes, past lakes and forests, and gorged ourselves on
delicious food. But although the journey is undertaken in
considerable style and comfort, the wilderness isn’t far
away.
Bears are regularly spotted from the train and cougars and
wolves are never far away.
