Banff to Kamloops

Having got to Banff station – it was bloody cold – I received my boarding card (Coach CB09 Seat 72) and waited for the train. Standing about outside having a smoke I was joined by another of my fellow lepers – Steph, an Aussie lady from Adelaide. We were chatting about various things, travels, Banff and the Japanese, when her travelling companion Kate joined us. Kate was a Pohm but has now become an Aussie and lives on the other side of Adelaide from Steph. She very kindly went and got us all coffees whilst we boosted nicotine levels for the journey. The ladies had booked the Red Leaf service for the journey whilst I had opted for the Gold Leaf service – which basically meant I got a seat in the observation car (big windows and glass roof) and a hot freshly prepared silver service meal in the dining car. After a bit of piss taking about the “upper class” we separated to board our respective coaches. Mine just happened to be the last of the train – which meant I got some pretty good views from the vestibule at the back of the rails we had just used, plus an uninterrupted panoramic view of the scenery when there wasn’t a big fat American head in the way.

The dining car was the lower deck of the coach we were seated in but couldn’t accommodate everyone at once. This was no problem as they just did it in two sittings. Having had a light breakfast at the hotel before leaving I was very grateful to be in the second sitting for breakfast, which was served almost as soon as we started to move. (Tomorrow the sitting order will be reversed – so I’ll be in first sitting.)

Breakfast was rather good and I spent it with a couple from Yorkshire (sorry, names forgotten because I didn’t write them down) who thought my world trip was just fantastic. I had a feeling I might have made a wise decision in doing it; I am certainly enjoying it so far.

Lunch was taken with Robert & Sherrill from USA. Robert seemed most interested in what I’d been doing for a job and asked me several questions about systems design & testing, I thought I was having an interview. I must have passed it though because he kept talking to me and his wife, Sherrill, was thrilled at what I was doing and kept saying things like “wow, it must be so good to be that free” and “oh gee, to have given up all that material baggage must have been amazing”, I took these to be compliments of sorts – because I’ll take any I can get.

The train journey from Banff to Kamloops was rather spectacular, especially as we passed through the Spiralling Tunnels or “a hole in the rock” which means we actually passed underneath two mountains! (Mount Cathedral & Mount Ogden if you can’t remember – there will be a test later.)
We had stops at Field and Revelstoke to change engineers. The engineers on the trains are drivers and the equivalent of land pilots (as in piloting ships through difficult waters, not flying planes) as they only work a 125 mile stretch of track. This track though they know like the back of their hand and are kept updated of any hazards or difficulties on the tracks ahead.

I could rattle off loads of names of the places & viewpoints we passed through, but that would just be name dropping and meaningless to the reader unless equipped with a map. I have got a map of the route we followed but with no means to scan it I can’t post it on the blog – also in shrinking & converting it, it would probably be illegible. I will just have to get out of it by saying: “map available by request.”
One point of note was when we passed through Craigellachie which was the place where the last spike was driven home to complete the Canadian Pacific Railway. Another point of interest was at the 114.5 mile marker (yes although Canada is fully metric, sensible people, the railway markers are still in miles because it would cost a few million dollars to replace them all with kilometre markers) where the last train robbery in Canada was conducted. Bill Miner and his gang, (Mr. Useless would be apt) got away with the equivalent of £1.50, a pen and a cough sweet. They were captured within a few days! Great Train Robbers eat your heart out. (The actual amount was $15 and a handful of liver pills!)

Another point of note was all the telegraph poles alongside the track. These extended from Toronto (well, beyond that but I didn’t see them) right through to Vancouver. They are all disused now as they have just run fibre optic cables alongside the track and have very good radios. In the easily accessible places they have been removed & recycled, but, at a cost of $500 per pole to remove this too would run to millions if they did the whole route. For simplicity we will skate over the question of accessibility for the ones in canyons & alongside steep drops – of which there were lots!

We arrived in Kamloops just before 19:00 – having gained an hour when we crossed from Alberta into British Columbia – at the end of what was quite a long day. Kamloops derives its name from the Shuswap Indian meaning “meeting of the waters” as it is where the North and South Thompson rivers meet. It also houses the tribal headquarters of the Shuswap people.

I can’t comment too much on Kamloops as, in fairness, it was only an overnight stop and by the time we arrived there it was dusk. All I really saw was a sprawling town on the drive from the station to my hotel. The town sprawls because it can, it has abundant space all around it and so it has spread out and not up. Also as I was staying in a Holiday Inn one can deduce that it was not in the best part of town as it was situated in an industrial park and surrounded by a big version of the tacky horrible “trading estates” one gets in the UK. A prime example is the one at Southend Airport – you know they all contain McMurders, Carpet Right, Bed Land (or some equivalent) and a handful of other obligatory shite-shops like Pet Land, Staples & PC World. The only difference with this one was that it was larger and contained more of them. One can certainly see what the anti-globalisation campaigners are getting at: soon there will be the format high street which conforms to a worldwide template of: McMurders, Starfucks, Klan Fried Cat, Sub(standard)Way, Burger Krap, Tacky Bell, Pizza-Piss, and a few others I can’t be bothered with. The only thing needed now is to agree what the layout will be and Robert is your mother or father’s brother. Something for the next G8 summit perhaps?

I checked in, booked my dining reservation for 21:00, dumped my bits and promptly got on the Internet as there was a free connection. Had to tear myself away in order to get to the restaurant – a Tandouri Express would you believe? Whilst I was eating my meal Robert, the guy I’d met at lunch on the train was just leaving and we got chatting. He seemed quite keen to chat to me and was asking me about my previous job and what sort of experience or qualifications I had. We chatted about software development principles and the American economy, its threat from the growth of the Chinese economy and a few other things. He eventually bade me goodnight and I then had my desert. By this time I was the last one left in the restaurant. After finishing my meal I then got back on the Interweb to catch up on emails, Rugby World Cup (don’t ask me why – it can only bring pain), football (Southend won again – hoorah) and bring the blog vaguely up to date (at the time).

After another late night I was up and ready on time for the coach pick up to take us to the station for our final leg into Vancouver. Another advantage with the Gold Leaf service is that my rucksack is delivered to and collected from my room for me so I didn’t need to lug that about. I grabbed a coffee for breakfast and didn’t bother with the continental breakfast on offer as it consists mainly of horrible sweet sickly things and I was going to get real food on the train (first sitting this time remember).

[Here’s a question: As I’m on a different continent, why isn’t the “continental breakfast” different? Is “continental breakfast” really a misnomer for “stupid croissant and loads of rancid sugar laden sweet things”? If this is the same worldwide why isn’t it called “trans-continental” or “worldwide” breakfast? Answers on a postcard, please.]

At breakfast I met Phil & Ann, a couple from Bermuda. Phil was a really interesting guy as he was an official with the Bermudan Sports Commission and attached to the IOC (International Olympic Committee in case you didn’t know) and in that capacity had been all over the world checking out “things Olympic”. After the train journey he was going to stay in Vancouver “on business” as Vancouver and Whistler are hosting the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. We had a right laugh and Ann left us to carry on chatting after she had finished breakfast. We eventually got thrown out in order to make way for the next sitting. We resumed at lunch and Phil was saying how envious he was of my opportunity to do what I am doing – unfortunately for him Ann is not that adventurous. Anyway, we got thrown out again as we were the last ones of our sitting left! We still had a laugh though – especially as we both got lovely photographs of concrete pillars as we were going through the rock sheds opposite Hell’s Gate. I think we managed to get some pictures of Hell’s Gate too.

I will explain a bit about snow & rock sheds. These are large “lean-tos” which butt up to the rock face and have a sloped roof over the rails. These basically do what they say on the tin and shield the tracks from rock or snow slides. They are built at the places of least resistance where the rock faces are loose and where falling rock or snow will find its natural path. Some of them are like small tunnels. They were very easy to see at work when we passed though Black Canyon as the roofs were still covered with black powder rock. Black Canyon by the way is exactly that: a canyon of black desolate rock. It looked like a landscape from a different planet – amazing to see.

As we passed through these rock sheds in “Avalanche Alley” we came to the point where the Thompson and Fraser Rivers meet. The Thompson River is glacial fed and therefore has the characteristic blue/green colour from the rock flour in it. The Fraser is a runoff river which is very strong and carries large quantities of clay-like silt and is brown in colour. When the two of them meet there is a dividing line between them and it takes approximately 4 kilometres for the two waters to mix as the Fraser River continues into Vancouver.

When we got into Vancouver a small fleet of coaches were waiting to take various people to their respective hotels. I found the one I required, got on and as I was wandering up the isle got a “Hello Phil, how was upper class then?” It was Steph. Her & Kate were staying in the same hotel so we had a chat on the way and then arranged to meet up for some dinner. Steph had lived in Vancouver for six months, but that was thirty years ago, and, “bloody hell, everything’s changed but the street names!”

Having got checked in we agreed a time to meet and set off to our respective rooms. My good old trusty rucksack was waiting for me when I opened the door to my small maisonette. It had a cooker, microwave, kitchen sink & cutlery – I could have prepared my own meals if I was bothered.

We met up at the appointed time and we set off in search of food. Having hit Robson Street we settled on a lovely restaurant advertising “salmon five different ways” for $20.

We had a lovely meal and some good conversation and laughs. The ladies gave me their email addresses and asked me to keep them up to date on my travels. Also when I hit Aus, if I am in Adelaide I have places to stay (Steph: “as long as you don’t mind my dog”) and the offer of guided tours.
After eating our fill, plus desert, we headed back to the hotel in order to turn in.
The hotel had Internet access (they even supplied the cable) so I set about using it until I almost fell asleep on the keyboard – then I went to bed.