courtesy VIA Rail Canada summer 2015 bCA A .Com 17
B.C. trains destinations
Get on board for an old-fashioned
train ride through some of b.C.'s
most spectacular sights
BY JOHN Lee
Spirit
Northern
W
hen the Canadian Pacific Railway drove
the final spike on the country's first
transcontinental railroad line at Craigellachie,
B.C., in 1885, it launched a golden age of
train travel. And 130 years later, our province is still luring
scenery-loving rail fans from around the world.
While B.C. remains a highlight of VIA Rail's epic
three-day Canadian train that trundles between Toronto
and Vancouver, it's a lesser-known northern route that many
regard as our province's hidden gem.
Completed by the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway in 1914,
VIA's two-day, 1,160-kilometre run between Jasper and
Prince Rupert – known locally as the Skeena or Rupert
Rocket – weaves past silvery lakes, snowy peaks, dense
evergreen forest and historic, pocket-sized communities
that use the train like a local bus service.
