I hardly consider myself a train buff.
Other than taking a few city-to-city rail jaunts in Europe and an
occasional commuter haul out of central New Jersey, I'll opt for a
plane, car or cruise ship any day. Recently, however, I was a
happy-go-lucky passenger on a segment of the Snow Train to Jasper,
a transcontinental Via Rail itinerary that connects Canada's
eastern and western coasts with the cold-weather glories of Jasper
National Park in Alberta.
If U.S. train
trips were more like this one, Amtrak might not operate at a
loss.
The Snow Train,
it turns out, is a particularly marketable segment of what Via Rail
calls its Canadian Service, which links Toronto and Vancouver with
Jasper Station, which is located at the northern end of Jasper
National Park, at the nexus of the Athabasca and Miette
rivers.
A journey from
Toronto to Jasper is completed in an effortless two days, seven
hours and 15 minutes, and includes 38 picturesque stops (passengers
can book by segment and board and disembark at any stop). This
east-to-west leg of the Snow Train includes short layovers in Sioux
Lookout, a fishing and canoeing center; Winnipeg, Manitoba, once a
fur-trading hub and now a modern city; the inaptly named Biggar
(pop. 2,400), whose slogan is "New York is big, but this is
Biggar"; and the thriving metropolis of Edmonton,
Alberta.
Premium service
on the Snow Train to Jasper is provided in the Silver and Blue
Class option, which entitled my wife and I to share a
just-roomy-enough double bedroom, one of three traveling options
that also include single bedrooms and berths (upper and
lower).
The double, which
is a veritable box measuring just over 7 feet on each side,
constitutes a private room for two by day, with armchairs, a large
picture window through which to enjoy the spectacular, wintry
tableaux of frost-tipped pine and snow-capped mountains, a small
closet, a hand basin and an enclosed toilet. A vanity and foldout
table converts into upper and lower berths.
But make no
mistake about it. Even two people who continue to love each other
through thick and thin found the accommodations confining after a
few daylight hours together and often chose to single-file their
way through the train to the relative freedom of the Park and
Skyline cars, rolling stock perks exclusive to Silver and Blue
passengers.
The Park Car, on
the tail end of the Snow Train, is a great place to take in the
passing scenery, with its armchairs, available refreshments,
observation dome and 360-degree wraparound windows.
The Skyline Car,
which also has an observation dome, is something of an activity
center, with games, videos, refreshments and a book exchange. An
activities director runs the show.
It should not be
surprising that life aboard a long-distance rail trip centers about
the dining car. Three meals a day offer a lively and reliable break
when ennui threatens in such a captive environment.
It somehow seems
unimportant then that many of the elegantly named dishes served by
our waiter sounded better on the menu than they tasted because the
romance of "dinner in the diner, nothing could be finer" is a
truism that transcends a chewy steak or listless slice of
pie.
Meals are
included in the Silver and Blue service, which is being discounted
by up to 37% through the end of May. For example, a double bedroom
for the trip from Toronto to Vancouver, with a multiday stopover
that could include Jasper, is available for $798 when purchased at
least five days in advance.
Packages are
available from Via Rail and tour operators such as Cartan Tours,
John Steel Rail Tours, Fresh Tracks Canada, Exclusively Canada,
Brewster Tours and Anderson Tours.
For more
information, go to www.viarail.ca/packages.
To contact reporter Joe Rosen, send e-mail to [email protected].