great canadian rail adventure

all prices & options are per person

about this tour

Via Rail's Canadian in the Rockies

Via Rail Canada's Canadian and Skeena are two trains of only a few left in the world, still using the classic Budd built streamliner passenger cars built between 1953-1955. Most of these passenger cars were built for the the Canadian Pacific Railway. CP ordered 173 stainless steel cars from Budd and on April 24, 1955 they introduced it's new transcontinental train The Canadian operating between Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. Now the current route is largely that used by the Canadian National Railway. After 70 years in operation the long distance Via Rail Budd fleet is down to 107 cars and time is now running short for these classic passenger cars.

Today the Canadian operates using an assortment of cars used on the original Canadian and cars of the same era purchased from US railways. The cars, mostly built in the 1950s, have been rebuilt several times and while quaint, are functional and have been modernized to a limited degree. During the summer months, when demand is higher, the train will be longer than 20 cars. While the train is dominated by tourists, especially in the summer, one of its purposes is to provide transportation services to the remote communities across Canada.

Via Rail's Canadian in British Columbia

VIA Rail Canada has made arrangements to replace the passenger equipment on its long-distance and regional trains. Yes, the classic Budd Built streamliner cars from the 1950's is on short time before retirement. This could be your last opportunity to ride on these cars. Via Rail has just announced that the money to replace it's long distance fleet has been set aside so the clock is now ticking for the last Budd built long distance passenger train in the world.

Our tour will present to you a taste of riding these classic passenger cars between Vancouver, Kamloops, and Jasper, plus Jasper to Prince Rupert. Additionally we will take an 18 hour cruise on BC Ferry through part of the spectacular inside passage way from the mainland to Vancouver Island and the high speed Victoria Clipper using catamaran's between Victoria and Seattle. Also we will travel by highway over the famous Icefield Parkway through the heart of the Canadian Rockies and on Vancouver Island. Other points of interest on this tour that we wll be visiting include Railway Museum of British Columbia, Britannia Mine Museum, Vancouver, Jasper, Jasper National Park, and Victoria. Additional train rides will include Amtrak's Cascade passenger train Seattle to Vancouver, Railway Museum of British Columbia RDC Budd car, Vancouver's SkyTrain, Fraser Valley Heritage Railway, Burnaby Central Railway, and the West Coast Express passenger trains.

We invite you to join us on our exciting tour of Western Canada and Vancouver Island including the spectacular Canadian Rockies. This will be a small group so space is limited. Don't be disapointed and reserve your space now.

Via Rail's Skeena Passenger Train running
along the Fraser River

The Via Rail Canada Passenger Equipment

Sleeper Plus Class Cabin Car

Our group will be in the comfortable private cabins, where you can stretch out and watch the sunset (or sunrise, if you're an early bird). You'll have your own toilet and sink, plus a shower that is only shared with a handful of other people.

The perks of Sleeper Plus include:

*Three gourmet fine dining meals per day.
* Complimentary fruit and cookies between meals.
* Priority boarding and access to the station lounges in Vancouver and Toronto
* Access to the Panorama and Skyline viewing cars.
* Non alcoholic beverages included; alcoholic beverages available for sale.
* Cabins includes a toilet and sink, with access to a shared shower.

Double bedroom-one upper bed
and one lower bed

Skyline dome Car

There's a skyline lounge/dome car for Sleeper Plus passengers next to the restaurant car, or next to each restaurant car when the train runs with two of them. The skyline car has a lounge at the forward end, tables & chairs at the rear end, an observation dome in the center with attendant's galley underneath. At one end of the tables area is a complimentary tea & coffee station, you'll also find juice, biscuits and pastries here in the morning. In the skyline you can buy Canadian red & white wine by the glass, spirits, beer, snacks & soft drinks, just ask the attendant.

Skyline Dome Car upper and lower levels

Dome Observation Park Car

The lower level lounge seating at the rear of the train
in the Observation Park Car

The upstairs dome seating in the
Observation Park Car

The lower level bar in the Observation Park Car

Via Rail Canada's Observation Park Car
brings up the rear of the train

The Dining Car

There are two dining cars on The Canadian.
We will be assigned to one of these cars
for all of our onboard meals.

day by day - Itinerary

Day 1 - fri may 29

Day 2 - sat may 30

Departing the hotel at 9:00am we will go north of North Vancouver for 40 miles to the town of Squamish to visit the Railway Museum of British Columbia. This museum is located on 12 acres and is home to the famous Royal Hudson steam locomotive and houses the largest collection of railway rolling stock and engines in Western Canada. Besides the Royal Hudson this museum has both Canadian National and Canadian Pacific F units, a Pacific Great Eastern Alco RS 3, Canadian Pacific Alco S 3, a Pacific Great Eastern Baldwin 2-6-2ST and a former British Columbia Railway RDC Budd rail car. We plan to take a ride on the former BCR RDC Budd rail car.

🍽 lunch, dinner

The Royal Hudson at the Railway Museum of
British Columbia

Pacific Great Eastern Railway 2-6-2ST

Pacific Great Eastern Railway Alco RS 3

Canadian Pacific F7A at Squamish

Canadian National F7A at the Railway Of British Columbia

Canadian Pacific Alco S3

British Columbia Railway Caboose at Squimish

One of last operating Budd RDC railcars former
British Columbia Railway BC-21. We will take a
ride on this railcar. A request to Canadian
National to run our charter excursion up into
the rugged Cheakamus River Canyon has been made.

After our museum visit then we will head back south towards North Vancouver first making a stop to view Shannon Falls then near-by is the Britannia Mine Museum. This was a functioning mine from 1904 until 1974. Ore was first discovered here in 1888 and at one point, more than 60,000 people lived nearby and worked in what was once the largest copper mine in the former British Empire. Over seven decades, workers extracted more than 50 million tons of ore that produced copper, zinc, lead, cadmium, silver, and gold. This mine tour will take us underground for a short distance.

The Britannia Mine Museum just south of Squmish,
British Columbia

The Britannia Mine Museum
just south of Squmish,
British Columbia

The Britannia Mine Museum just south of Squmish,
British Columbia

Returning to North Vancouver we go directly to our hotel to relax and freshen up for our Welcome to Canada Dinner. We will take you on a luxurious dinner cruise this evening. We will first board lovely boat for our evening cruise. We will cruise through Vancouver’s scenic harbor and Burrard Inlet as the sun sets on the Pacific Ocean. Relax and admire glowing views of the city skyline including Canada Place and the West Vancouver Shoreline, set against the dramatic backdrop of North Shore Mountains. We will then visit the dinner buffet and sample a variety of regional dishes from fresh salads and sides to British Columbia salmon and beef bordelaise. As you eat, admire striking views, enjoy local live music, and visit and get to know your new travel friends.

Day 3 - sun may 31

Day 4 - mon jun 1

Day 5 - tue jun 2

Day 6 - wed jun 3

Day 7 - thur jun 4

Day 8 - fri jun 5

Day 9 - sat jun 6

You can stay in bed alittle longer this morning if you like since the group got their rooms very late Friday night. After breakfast we board our charter motorcoach and depart Port Hardy at 10:00am and head south through Northern Vancouver Island to Parksville. We will be passing through lush forests, lakes and mountains. As we head south we will take a side trip to Beaver Cove where Canadian Forest Products dumps the logs into the water to prepair them for the long journey south to the Vancouver area for milling. Also the now closed Englewood logging railway once ran log trains into Beaver Cove. You will be able to see the right-of-Way and some of the bridges as the tracks entered the cove. The Englewood Railway was owned by Canadian Forest Products. We then continue on to Woss Camp where we will see the remains of this railroad which was the last logging railroad in North America to operate. The railway workshops and operations was based in Woss Camp. The last day of operations was November 7, 2017. We will have our picnic lunch here before continuing southbound. After lunch we continue our journey through the lush forests and mountains of North Vancouver Island. Before we arrive in Parksville we will make a stop at the famous Combs Market. This market is an old country store, market and gift shop. We then continue for a short distance to Parksville and check-in at 3 Star Bayside Oceanfront Resort.which is right on the beach.

🍽 lunch

At Port Alberni we will take a ride on the Alberni Pacific Railway running along the Port Alberni waterfront towards the papermill and the McLean Mill Historic Site. We will also take a tour of the railway roundhouse and railyards where a variety of steam and diesel engines are maintained. We will see steam locomotive No. 7, a Baldwin 2-8-2T, No. 2 a Lima Shay, and a unique Alco diesel which once pulled logs for the Crown Zellerback Railroad on the island. After our tour of the workshops we will return to the east side of Vancouver Island to the town of Parksville and hotel check-in at the ***The Bayside Oceanfront Resort. This hotel is right on the ocean and has restaurant for dinner and breakfast the next morning.

Wild, Beautiful, and breathtaking
Vancouver Island

Wild, Beautiful, and breathtaking Vancouver Island

Day 10 - sun jun 7

We have a relaxed start to our day. After breakfast we will travel to the western side of Vancouver Island to Port Alberni passing through the Cathedral Grove of Cedar Trees, much like the Redwoods of California. You will see the old Canadian Pacific Railway's big wooden trestles, across the valley, now out of service. In Port Alberni we will visit the Alberni Pacific Railway which runs along the Port Alberni waterfront towards the papermill and the McLean Mill Historic Site. We will also take a tour of the railway roundhouse and railyards where a variety of steam and diesel engines are maintained. We will see steam locomotive No. 7, a Baldwin 2-8-2T, No. 2 a Lima Shay, and a unique Alco diesel which once pulled logs for the Crown Zellerback Railroad on the island. After our tour of the workshops you will have sometime to explroe downtown Port Albani and get some lunch. In the afternoon we will return back to the east side of Vancouver Island and visit the town and old railroad depot of Nanamo. The Southern Railway of Vancouver Island is headquartered here. They have three EMD GP9's and one SW8 diesels. Finally we end our day back at the Bayside Oceanfront Resort for a 2nd night.

🍽 lunch

In Port Alberni we will take a ride on the Alberni Pacific Railway and tour their workshops
which includes a Lima built Shay and a Baldwin 2-8-2T plus their very unique Alco switcher

We visit the Southern Railway of Vancouver Island at Nanaimo.
This is the last commercially operated railway on Vancouver Island.
They even still use a caboose.

A hand full of miles south of Chemainus is the town of Duncan. Before we visit the BC Forest Discovery Center we will stop for lunch.

below are 5 of the 53 beautiful murals of painted on buildings at Chemainus

After lunch we pay a visit to the BC Forest Discouvery Center. Trains are operating today around their 100 acre museum and logging displays including the large Somenos Lake Trestle. They have an impressive collection of railroad logging locomotives and equipment. After our train ride we will visit the railroad workshops. Their collection includes No. 1 a 42 ton Lima Shay, 2nd No. 1 a 28 ton Lima Shay, No. 3 a 50 ton Lima Shay, No. 2 a 25 ton Climax, No. 9 a 50 ton 2 truck Climax, No. 25 a 18 ton 0-4-0T Vulcan, No. 24 a 12 ton 0-4-0T by Vulcan, No. 23 a 8 ton Plymouth, No. 26 a 10 ton Plymouth, and finally No. 22 a 8 ton Plymouth. Quite an impressive collection of motive power. We have made a request to have one of the steam locomotives fired-up and operating for our visit.

Northwest of Duncan is the small village of Lake Cowichan and the Kaatza Station Museum which is housed in the former Canadian Pacific train station built in 1913. This museum's archives place special emphisas on the forest industry that helped develop the village of Lake Cowichan. Exhitbits include a Plymouth switcher, Canadian National passenger car, a logging car, box car, caboose and Shay steam locomotive.

Finally it is time to continue south into Victoria located on the southen end of Vancouver Island. Victoria is the charming capital city of British Columbia, Canada. This is one of the most picturesque cities on the Pacific Coast. Hosting the mildest climate in Canada, this fair weather city has many things to do year-round within walking distance of the downtown area, which straddles the Victoria harbor. One of the oldest cities in the northwest, Victoria has many charming brick buildings, colorful gardens and fantastic culinary experiences from all over the world. Being on the coast, seafood is both prevalent and incredibly fresh. The harbor-front walkway hosts local artists and draws crowds to watch the talented street entertainers perform during the afternoon and evening. Nighttime casts a magical glow as the water and walkway are lit up by the 3,300+ lightbulbs that adorn the Parliament buildings . Hotel check-in at the *** Best Western Plus Inner Harbour Hotel. The rest of the afternoon and evening at your own leisure to explore Victoria.

Day 11 - mon jun 8

After breakfast we check-out of our hotel and depart at around 9:00am and head south to near-by historic Ladysmith. We will visit the old Ladysmith Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway Depot. The E & N had 140 miles of track on the island and passenger service was suspended in 2011.

A few miles south of Ladysmith is the small town of Chemainus. Known for the town of many murals. This once logging town now has 53 outdoor murals painted on their buildings. Well worth a stop to enjoy the wonderful art work done by local artists. While in this town you will have time to get some lunch at one of the local restuaurants. A hand full of miles south of Chemainus is the town of Duncan. Here we pay a visit to the BC Forest Discouvery Center. Trains are operating today around their 100 acre museum and logging displays including the large Somenos Lake Trestle. They have an impressive collection of railroad logging locomotives and equipment. After our train ride we will visit the railroad workshops. Their collection includes No. 1 a 42 ton Lima Shay, 2nd No. 1 a 28 ton Lima Shay, No. 3 a 50 ton Lima Shay, No. 2 a 25 ton Climax, No. 9 a 50 ton 2 truck Climax, No. 25 a 18 ton 0-4-0T Vulcan, No. 24 a 12 ton 0-4-0T by Vulcan, No. 23 a 8 ton Plymouth, No. 26 a 10 ton Plymouth, and finally No. 22 a 8 ton Plymouth. Quite an impressive collection of motive power. We have made a request to have one of the steam locomotives fired-up and operating for our visit.

Finally it is time to continue south into Victoria located on the southen end of Vancouver Island. Victoria is the charming capital city of British Columbia, Canada. This is one of the most picturesque cities on the Pacific Coast. Hosting the mildest climate in Canada, this fair weather city has many things to do year-round within walking distance of the downtown area, which straddles the Victoria harbor. One of the oldest cities in the northwest, Victoria has many charming brick buildings, colorful gardens and fantastic culinary experiences from all over the world. Being on the coast, seafood is both prevalent and incredibly fresh. The harbor-front walkway hosts local artists and draws crowds to watch the talented street entertainers perform during the afternoon and evening. Nighttime casts a magical glow as the water and walkway are lit up by the 3,300+ lightbulbs that adorn the Parliament buildings . Check-in at the 3 Star Best Western Plus Inner Harbour Hotel. The rest of the afternoon and evening at your own leisure to explore colorful Victoria.

🍽 breakfast, dinner

steam locomotives at the BC Forest Discouvery Center

steam locomotives at the BC Forest
Discouvery Center

steam locomotives at the BC Forest Discouvery Center

Enjoy Downtown Victoria, British Columbia a night

After our visit to the Butchart Gardens we will make a stop to visit the near-by BC Aviation Museum where the famous Hawaii Mars bomber has just been added to the displays. Only five of these airplanes were built and they served the US Navy during World War II entering service on January 23, 1944 and ferrying cargo to Hawaii and the Pacific Islands. The Hawaii Mars made her final flight on August 11, 2024 with Its arrival at Patricia Bay near Victoria, accompanied by the Canadian Forces Snowbirds. You can view the Hawaii Mars final flight and landing in Patricia Bay on YouTube by clicking on the link below

Hawaii Mars final flight and landing

Mid afternoon we return to our hotel in Victoria and the rest of the afternoon at your own leisure exploring downtown and fisherman's wharf area. In the evening we will host our “Farewell to Canada Dinner” 2nd night at the *** Best Western Plus Inner Harbour Hotel.

Day 12 - tue jun 9

Day 13 - wed jun 10

TOUR CONDITIONS PRICING - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY

Tour Pricing:

All tour prices are subject to change without notice, at any time. All prices based on double room occupancy. Those people that use a credit card for payments a 4% conveyance fee will be added to the tour price. We reserve the right to change tour prices if necessary without prior notice.