Trip Reports: April 30 to May 24, 2004

by Ted & Sylvia Blishak

From Mexico to Canada by Rail and Sea

VIA Rail’s new Totem Deluxe Class on the
“Skeena,” Prince Rupert to Prince George

Wednesday, May 19, 2004, the Crest Hotel, Prince Rupert  Many years ago, when the “Skeena” was a three-car overnight train which passed through half of British Columbia’s best scenery at night, we stayed at the Crest Hotel in Prince Rupert, British Columbia. Located on a bluff overlooking the harbour, it is a cozy, homey hotel and we are sorry we are only here long enough for a very short night’s sleep on this trip. When we plan this itinerary for our clients, we’ll recommend two overnights in Prince Rupert – one to recover from the late arrival of the “Queen of the North”, and then a day to explore some of the wildlife viewing or museum options here. Whale watching, fishing charters, and visits to areas where one might see Grizzly or white Spirit bears, are major activities here.

After a refreshing four hours of sleep, Skeena Taxi arrives at the Crest Hotel at 7:15am for the transfer to the VIA Rail Station, which now shares the BC Ferry terminal at which we arrived. On our prior visit, we walked to the old VIA Rail Station just down the hill from the Crest Hotel, getting caught in an unforgettable Prince Rupert cloudburst. The new VIA Station is about three miles south of downtown.

The VIA baggage agent accepts two of our bags that we won’t need until Jasper. The rest, against his advice, we will schlep on board our Totem Deluxe coach, VIA’s official name for the 1700 Series Panorama cars.

Travel Tip: Don’t plan on taking luggage aboard the Skeena except for the small overnight bag you’ll need in Prince George. Panorama cars don’t have overhead storage racks, and space under the seats is limited. There are only ten passengers in the car today, so we are able to store our excess luggage at empty seats.

These smooth riding, single level glass-topped Panorama dome cars were originally used on the short-lived “Florida Fun Train”, then reappeared on BC Rail’s “Whistler Northwind”. VIA purchased the equipment a couple of years ago.

The “Queen of the North” is pulling away as we arrive at the terminal, and the grand little white ship sails away under blue skies and a snapping Maple Leaf flag, bound for Port Hardy. Several bald eagles fly over the harbor.

	A train whistle sounds. The “Skeena” pulls in with an unusual consist. The GM F-40 VIA locomotive pulls: 1. A stainless-steel Budd-built baggage car. 2. A VIA 1 first class Budd stainless steel coach borrowed from the corridor east of Toronto, for coach -- or in VIA’s terminology-- Comfort Class riders. Comfort Class is the low-cost service, offering coach seating and a snack bar.
	3. The Panorama Dome car painted with green swirls on a white background, for Totem Deluxe travelers. Totem Deluxe is the premium service, offering seating in the glass sided-and-roofed Panorama car, with meals served at your seat and access to the Park car. The view from the Panorama coach is excellent, through clear tinted glass, though lacking the elevated forward view over the rest of the train that only a traditional dome can offer. It gets an A+ for smooth ride, wonderful viewing, and comfortable seats. It is probably the best equipment operating anywhere in North America.

4. Another VIA 1 coach, for Totem Class passengers (VIA now has three classes of service on the Skeena, and be sure you are in Totem Deluxe for the full-length dome seating)

5. Round-end Vista Domed “Strathcona Park” lounge/sleeper. (The sleeping compartments are not available to passengers; the train service manager needs one for his office and the others are used for storage of materials needed to service the train.) The VistaDome glass in the “Strathcona Park” is scratched and dirty so the viewing is not as good as in the Panorama car.

Our day in the Panorama car begins with a light breakfast served at our seats: cold cereal, milk, fruit, yogurt, a choice of juice, coffee or tea, and muffins and Danish pastries. There is a coffee pot and water pitcher located forward from which you can serve yourself anytime during the day.

Our stewardess, Sandy, completes meal service in the Panorama car, then moves to the VIA 1 Totem Class car to present the meal service there.

As we depart Prince Rupert, a derelict lumber mill is being reclaimed by the rain forest. Sandy points out a former fish cannery which is now a museum. These are examples of why Prince Rupert is re-inventing itself as a cruise port and tourist destination. Cruise ships returning from Alaska now stop here. One activity for passengers is the three-hour tourist train ride (see photo of the streamlined former CP engine on our home page for details).

Once out of Prince Rupert, we’ve left civilization behind. But we do see some bears, loons, and beavers. Following the Skeena River and the Yellow Head Highway, the rail route passes through the snow-capped Coast Range for three hours, with mountains ever higher, culminating in Hudson Bay Mountain, (2560 metres) with its enormous Kathlyn Glacier (right). Then we pass on into the flat interior country, running along the shores of Rose Lake, Burns Lake, and Fraser Lake.

While there are few people in this remote corner of Canada, the Skeena does a mail delivery stop at a hamlet called Penny, with a population of nine individuals. The crew delivers a large stack of mail, including several large packages.

Our only disappointment on this trip is the meals, which are airline style. We’d recommend bringing along some power bars and other high-protein snacks to supplement the food.

We are running an hour behind schedule, so arrival into Prince George is at 9:15pm. At this latitude it is still daylight. We have a taxi transfer voucher to our hotel, but there is a crowd waiting outside of the station, and no taxies arriving. Then one appears and stops to pick up people at the end of the queue, which naturally upsets those at the beginning of the queue. Then another taxi arrives and does the same thing, which throws the crowd into a state of confusion. We begin to reform a line to where the taxies have been stopping, then a cab stops at what was the original beginning.

We are on the Skeena’s first tourist run of the season, and this may explain the confusion. But, at this point, we give up and walk our wheeled luggage to the Ramada. We can see Ramada’s red neon sign, the friendly VIA Rail agents inside the station tell us it is only 7 short blocks, and we need the exercise after spending over 13 hours on the train. We are panhandled once, so we recommend waiting for the taxis.

Tomorrow, we’ll reboard the Skeena for the Prince George to Jasper trip.

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