Saturday 14th July 2012 ­ Rocky Mountaineer ­ Day 2 Kamloops to Banff

Spot on 7.15am and the train now split into two 9-car trains – one bound for Jasper and the other Banff – rolled out of Kamloops.  Over breakfast and with a long straight stretch ahead the train crew decided to see what “their babies” could do as David put it and we certainly did rolling along at 55 to 60mph!  They clearly wanted a good start to the day’s journey of 309 miles and knowing that the last stretch into Banff involved climbing to over 5,300feet through the Rockies.

The first part of the route this morning took us to the mouth of the Adams River – noted as the site of the world’s largest salmon run – and then along the Shuswap Lake and Salmon Arm.  Today this town has a population of 16,000 and its name refers to the days when spawning salmon were so abundant that the settlers could pitchfork them out of the water to use as fertiliser on their fields. 

On past the Mara Lake known as the “Houseboat Capital of Canada”, today heavily flooded along its banks, and then across the Shuswap River on a spectacular trestle bridge.  Another 20 miles brought us to Craigmichelle the site of the “Last Spike of CP Rail”. Donald Smith on the 7^th November 1885 drove in the last spike of the Canadian Pacific Railroad finally linking Canada by rail from coast to coast.  Lots of locals at this famous site to wave us through.

For the next 30 miles the train follows the Eagle River – a gushing torrent like all the rivers the previous day – before joining the Columbia River and beyond Revelstoke criss-crossing the Illecillewaet River - a First Nation word meaning ‘running’ or ‘swift’ water, a word to which today you could add the word ‘super’ so swollen were the rivers with the recent rains. This area is known for its very heavy snowfalls and frequent avalanches as we pass through numerous tunnels and snow sheds built along this 65-mile riverroute.

Stoney Creek Bridge was the next spectacle on our route. The original bridge was built in wood but was replaced in 1893 with a steel, arch shaped structure. By 1929 the weight of locomotives had doubled and CP Rail was forced to replace this structure.  Because of the terrain the original foundations had to be used so the new bridge was built directly over the old one but without placing any pressure on it.  This beautiful bridge spans 484 feet and towers 325 feet above the creek bed.

Another major bridge on this part of the journey took us 416 feet across the unexpected Surprise Creek.  Some 40 miles on we began to travel through the Kicking Horse Canyon – so named because the geologist who mapped this area was kicked in the chest by a packhorse he was trying to rescue that had slipped into the river.  Again the traincrisscrossed this river some 7 times but very difficult to get good photos even in the open-air vestibules between the carriages especially with a few selfish people hogging the prime positions.