We were up at the crack of dawn the next morning. We were then bussed back to the Kamloops station, where our train had been switched over to the Canadian National Rail (CNR) rail. We then headed out.
There was a still lake and an old graveyard to look at as we eased out of town. The easing stopped while we had breakfast and waited another annoying 30-40 minutes while we were allowed to move off of a siding on to the main track.
The landscape was more like scrub west of Kamloops compared to the eastern side:
We were still following the Thompson River. The pumping station had a bit of work to do.
There were some First Nation camps on the side of the river.
Another interesting bend in the river.
Our train is going under an avalanche shelter.
Here is the bridge used by Canada Pacific Railroad (CPR).
Here is a gill net setup. They can only be used by First Nation people. The actually sites are handed down by family.
Another CPR scenic bridge
We are taking a little break from photography.
Stream into river
I think this was an old kiln.
Danger point for rafters.
Hells Gate can apparently only be passed by powered rafts.
We have started to enter some of the fertile farmland east of Vancouver.
Commerce wise, this is Vancouver’s bread and butter – timber:
We are again in a major switching/siding area on the outskirts of Vancouver. We are waiting as usual.
Paper products ready to ship by rail.
Sawmill close to the RR.
Our train is finally crossing the bridge to get into South Vancouver.
We get a pretty good view of part of the harbor.
Here is an underside view of the bed for the sky train (monorail).
More paper ready to be shipped.
Well, we have arrived
and been greeted
I must say that the 24 hour train trip (split over two days) was disappointing for me. Both Linda and I found the seats very uncomfortable. I realize we didn’t pay for the best seats, but at $900 a head, I thought the seating could have been a lot better. We also spent a lot of time at sidings awaiting more important traffic. This was very annoying after a few minutes. Finally, it was apparent that the transcontinental highway (Highway 1) was never more than a few hundred meters from our path. I think there was far greater value in travelling by automobile on Highway 1, stopping whenever one had the urge, and taking pictures that would be much less likely to be blurred because of motion.
More positively, I found the service, food, and attendant to be excellent. The fact that the carriages were only half full (I am hoping by design.) contributed greatly to a more satisfactory photographic experience.
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