Rocky Mountaineer is a Canadian rail-tour company based in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...

that operates luxury scenic trains on four rail routes in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

, and

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

History

Via Rail Canada

The Rocky Mountaineer concept was created by Harry Holmes, (CN Locomotive Engineer) and Pat Crowley (tourism entrepreneur) both of Jasper, Alberta, together they developed a business plan which they presented to

Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via, is a Canadian Crown corporation that is mandated to operate intercity passenger rail service in Canada. It receives an annual subsidy from Transport Canada to offset the cost of operating ...

prior to Expo 86. Designed as an all daylight sightseeing train in the Canadian Rockies. Originally in 1988 it began as a once-weekly

Via Rail Canada Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via, is a Canadian Crown corporation that is mandated to operate intercity passenger rail service in Canada. It receives an annual subsidy from Transport Canada to offset the cost of operating ...

daytime service between Vancouver and both

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

and Jasper. First departure was on May 22 1988 with a special train for the travel industry and for the traveling public on June 9, 1988, called the ''Canadian Rockies by Daylight''. To maximize scenic views, this service operated only during the day, with an overnight stop in

Kamloops Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the South flowing North Thompson River and the West flowing Thompson River, east of Kamloops Lake. It is located in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, w ...

. These were express services, with no intermediate stops. On June 4, 1989, Via began its second season of the service, renaming the service the ''Rocky Mountaineer''. The final summer Rocky Mountaineer under Via branding departed Calgary and Jasper on October 12, 1989, and arrived in Vancouver on October 13th. Rocky Mountaineer was removed from schedules and marketing in May 1990. After two financially unsuccessful seasons there had to be a change in approach. The Federal Government decided to see if the private sector could do a better job. The then Minister of Transport and the Minister of Finance Michael Wilson decided to sell of the route, equipment, branding and book of business in the fall of 1989. Early in November 1989 ads were taken out in a number of newspapers soliciting interest in the Rocky Mountaineer.

Private operation

Federal Government curtailed the subsidies to Via Rail in 1989, dramatically reducing services, especially the transcontinental service. The Rocky Mountaineer was a tourist service, and as such the government felt the funds could be better spent on other priorities. They asked then Via Rail and CN Rail CEO Ron Lawless to organize the sale of the route, equipment and book of business to the Private Sector. The marketing of the Rocky Mountaineer sale started November 12, 1989. The sale process was run by recently retired CN Executive Charles Armstrong. Submissions of interest demonstrating financial and operational capabilities were required by January 15, 1990. Initially there were 20 interested parties, after phase one of the bidding process, that group was reduced to three parties left to make a financial bid. One bidder was Westours Holland America, subsidiary of Carnival cruise line. The other two were a group of Via Rail Executives and a Western Canadian Entrepreneur. After the end of The bidding process, in March 1990, the route's equipment, book of business and branding was sold to Vancouver businessman Peter R.B. Armstrong's Armstrong Hospitality Group Ltd. It ran its first train on May 27, 1990.

Awards

Rocky Mountaineer has been awarded the "World's Leading Travel Experience by Train" at the World Travel Awards seven times for its GoldLeaf service as well as the "World's Leading Luxury Train" award 3 times 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

Rocky Mountaineer operates over 75 railcars in its fleet- * GP40-2L locomotives, ex-

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN i ...

* SD70M locomotives, leased from Union Pacific because the GP40-2L locomotives are non-compliant with positive train control * 32 "RedLeaf"

Canada Car and Foundry Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

single-deck coaches, ex-Canadian National Railway. * 6 "SilverLeaf" single-level dome coaches, rebuilt from RedLeaf coaches. * 16 "GoldLeaf" Colorado Railcar bi-level Ultra Dome coaches, with wrap-over view windows on the top level. * 10 "GoldLeaf" Stadler bi-level glass domed coaches, with restaurant and kitchen in the lower level. Previous equipment included GE B36-7 locomotives leased from

BC Rail BC Rail is a railway in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Chartered as a private company in 1912 as the Pacific Great Eastern Railway (PGE), it was acquired by the provincial government in 1918. In 1972 it was renamed to the British ...

Routes

Rocky Mountaineer currently operates train journeys on four routes, with three in Canada and one in the United States. Two additional routes (one in Canada and one international) are no longer operated. * ''First Passage to the West:'' This route travels between

and Banff, with an overnight stop in

and an intermediate stop in Lake Louise. It operates primarily on

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canad ...

trackage, although

directional running A double-track railway usually involves running one track in each direction, compared to a single-track railway where trains in both directions share the same track. Overview In the earliest days of railways in the United Kingdom, most lin ...

through the Fraser Canyon means that westbound trains use

tracks in that area. * ''Journey Through the Clouds:'' This route travels between Vancouver and

Jasper Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases,Kostov, R. I. 2010. Review on the mineralogical systematics of jasper and related rocks. – Archaeometry Workshop, 7, 3, 209-213PDF/ref ...

with an overnight stop in Kamloops. It operates primarily on Canadian National Railway trackage, although directional running through the Fraser Canyon means that eastbound trains use Canadian Pacific Railway tracks in that area. * ''Rainforest to Gold Rush:'' This route travels between North Vancouver and Jasper, with overnight stops in Whistler and

Quesnel Quesnel or Quesnell means "little oak" in the Picard language, Picard dialect of French language, French. It is used as a proper name and may refer to: Places * Le Quesnel, a commune the Somme department in France * Quesnel, British Columbia, a c ...

. It operates on Canadian National Railway trackage, including ex-

tracks between North Vancouver and Prince George. *''Rockies to the Red Rocks:'' This route travels between

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

and

Moab Moab ''Mōáb''; Assyrian: 𒈬𒀪𒁀𒀀𒀀 ''Mu'abâ'', 𒈠𒀪𒁀𒀀𒀀 ''Ma'bâ'', 𒈠𒀪𒀊 ''Ma'ab''; Egyptian: 𓈗𓇋𓃀𓅱𓈉 ''Mū'ībū'', name=, group= () is the name of an ancient Levantine kingdom whose territ ...

with an overnight stop in

Glenwood Springs Glenwood Springs is a home rule municipality that is the county seat of Garfield County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 9,963 at the 2020 United States Census. Glenwood Springs is located at the confluence of the Roaring Fork ...

. It operates on

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

trackage. Announced in November 2020, this route was initially set to begin service in fall 2021, but this was pushed up, and the first train ran on August 15, 2021.

Former routes

* ''Whistler Mountaineer/

Whistler Sea to Sky Climb The ''Whistler Sea to Sky Climb'', previously known as the ''Whistler Mountaineer'', was a sight-seeing railway service. It was operated by Rocky Mountaineer Vacations (RMV) tour company, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada who operate v ...

:'' This route was a day trip operating between North Vancouver and Whistler on Canadian National Railway trackage. It was discontinued after the 2015 season and incorporated into the overlapping ''Rainforest to Gold Rush'' route. * ''Coastal Passage:'' This route was a day trip operating between

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

and Vancouver on

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...

trackage, intended to provide travellers from the United States with easier access to the other Vancouver-based routes. It was discontinued after the 2019 season due to low demand.

Service levels

GoldLeaf

Operating on all routes except the ''Rockies to the Red Rocks'', Rocky Mountaineer's GoldLeaf service is a custom-designed, bi-level, glass-domed coach with full-length windows and reclining seats that can be rotated to accommodate groups of four. Guests are offered hot meals prepared on board the train, served to them in the lower level dining car. GoldLeaf service is not offered on the ''Rockies to the Red Rocks'' route because the coaches exceed the

loading gauge A loading gauge is a diagram or physical structure that defines the maximum height and width dimensions in railway vehicles and their loads. Their purpose is to ensure that rail vehicles can pass safely through tunnels and under bridges, and ke ...

; this mainly has to do with the coaches being taller than the Amtrak Superliners and double-stack container trains that frequent the route. Rocky Mountaineer SilverLeaf

SilverLeaf

Operating on the same routes as GoldLeaf (and being the only service offered on the ''Rockies of the Red Rocks'' route), Rocky Mountaineer's SilverLeaf service is a custom-designed, single-level glass domed coach with oversized windows and reclining seats. Guests are offered breakfast and lunch served at their seat.

Trip structure

Rocky Mountaineer trains operate exclusively during the day; no sleeper service is offered. All trips include overnight stops at which passengers disembark and stay in hotels. As Rocky Mountaineer is primarily a rail-tour service, all journeys are end-to-end. Between their origin and destination, trains only stop for overnight layovers, and no passengers may begin or end their journeys at these stations. The one exception to these provisions is the ''First Passage to the West'' route, which has an intermediate stop at Lake Louise station, where westbound passengers may board and eastbound passengers may disembark. No tickets are sold solely for the Banff–Lake Louise portion of the trip. Trains only operate in the tourist season of April to October.

Connecting services

Rocky Mountaineer train journeys often include bus connections between stations and hotels. Packages may also include bus connections to nearby cities (such as from Banff to

). While several cities—including Vancouver, Jasper, and Denver—are served by both Rocky Mountaineer and other passenger rail services (such as Via Rail Canada and

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...

), no single-ticket rail connections are available.

References

External links

*
Rocky Mountaineer UK Agent
{{Authority control Named passenger trains of Canada Passenger railways in Alberta Passenger railways in British Columbia Railway companies established in 1990 Passenger rail transportation in Colorado Passenger rail transportation in Utah Colorado railroads Utah railroads Named passenger trains of the United States