Canadian Tourist train featured in EPCOT film?

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Hi, everyone,

I was at EPCOT in Disney World last week, and we were watching the film “O Canada” in the little Canada part of the park. The film was pretty old (1982 - the year the exhibit probably opened), but the scenery in it was magnificent, and made me want to go straight to the travel agency and book my trip to Canada right then and there!

Anyway, during the film, they showed what looked like a tourist passenger train going through the Canadian Rockies, being pulled by a couple of F-units and a GP (I think). It looked like a great trip to take, but I had no idea where this train was or anything. Has anyone seen this film and knows what I’m talking about? If so, does anyone know where this train is and if it’s still running?

Thanks in advance!

Cheers,

2

The train was probably Canadian National or Candian Pacific, neither of which have passenger trains these days. VIA Rail Canada took over the business a long time ago and I believe they run through one of the routes at least three times a week.

A private company, Rocky Mountain Rail tours operates special trains through the Rockies in daylight, called the Rocky Mountaineer. Check them out here:
http://www.rockymountaineer.com/

Bob Boudreau
Living on the opposite coast!

3

Thanks, Bob! I can’t tell from the website if this is the same route or not, but it looks very nice, and very accessible from where I live (about 2 hrs south of Vancouver). I’ll definitely look into this sometime!

Cheers,

4

At that time, it was probably The Canadian. VIA runs the same equipment (well, coaches, the locos have been replaced) under the same name, but routes it a bit farther north. It runs out of Vancouver 3 times a week all the way to Toronto, but you can book to any station along the line. Jasper or Edmonton would be appropriate places to stop.
The Rocky Mountaineer is a tad more expensive. Check the VIA web site.

5

The setting would almost certainly have been the Rockies, as opposed to other ranges on the west coast, and an hour or two west of either Calgary or Edmonton, the two large cities in Alberta. If it was the Canadian, it would be the CPR line, and that went on the southern route. It would have brought pax to the famous Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, about 90 minutes west of Calgary, and to points west. Inlcuded would have been the Thompson River Valley, Hell’s Gate, and the Fraser River.