Dine
online, literally, with
Canadian Pacific Railway
Michael
Hepworth was on track for
a unique travel and dining
experience
The Royal
Canadian Pacific is one
of most famous train companies
in the world, and thanks to
the passion of the president
of the company, they have now
reinstated their luxury train
service to much acclaim. The
trains are now based in Calgary,
and 51 different tours were
organized last year - next
year they plan to add a further
three.
From
the time you step of the plane
in Calgary and are picked up
by limousine at the airport until
your return to the airport several
days later, you are guaranteed
unadulterated luxury and comfort.
The train takes no more than
22 guests each trip on the eight
railway cars, and it is now a
journey that many of the power
brokers in Hollywood are catching
up on. This year George Lucas
and Francis Ford Coppola took
one of the trips, and many more
are expected to follow. Guests
dine and sleep on board the exquisitely
restored 1920s rail cars that
have hosted such luminaries as
Queen Elizabeth, Sir Winston
Churchill, The Duke and Duchess
of Windsor, Princess Margaret
and Lord Snowdon and, more recently,
Mr Bill Gates. Private charters
are also available depending
on schedules, and there are also
special tours featuring culinary
and wine, cycling and hiking,
fly-fishing and golf.
Catch
up on your beauty sleep
The
rooms are of course small, as you
would expect on a train, but they
are almost twice the size of those
available on the Orient Express according
to a fellow guest who spends his
life taking train trips around the
world. There is also a separate shower
room, and the sleep is surprisingly
comfortable and quiet as the train
stops every night in a siding before
setting off again in the morning.
Every room has its own security and
there is a drawer inside the dressing
table for smaller items, which can
also be locked. It is advisable to
travel light on the train with just
one suitcase and a carry on bag,
although the staff will come up with
a storage facility if required, but
it may be quite a way from your room.
There are also several lounges for
relaxing or reading, or just playing
some cards or gazing out of the spacious
windows at the beautiful scenery
as it unfolds.
No
wallet bashing aftershocks!
The
Royal Canadian Pacific has only
been back in business for three
seasons,
with a season typically lasting
from May through late October.
I had the
opportunity to take the final 3 ½-day
journey this year, and can report
in glowing terms about the overall
experience. Drinks are served non-stop
throughout the journey, and the
small but efficient staff are always
on
hand to see that every guest is
being taken care of. This year
the staff
at CPR received the prestigious
Calgary White Hat Awards for outstanding
customer service, and were awarded
their own white hats in a ceremony
held in January. An important point
when you take these kinds of trips
as opposed to some cruises that
hit
you up for all kind of extras,
there are no hidden extra charges
for anything.
You could literally board the train
without a penny on you, and not
spend a thing. In short, no hidden
surprises.
After
pick up from the airport, you
are taken to the Fairmont Palliser
Hotel downtown to settle in and
straight to a cheese and wine
reception in one of the hotel
lounges. The hotel itself is
a throwback to the old Railway
Hotels of the past with 405 rooms,
a massive lobby and all the qualities
you would expect in a major downtown
hotel. Calgary is a prosperous
city today and sits on the edge
of the Rocky Mountains and Banff
National Park, and is host to
the Greatest Outdoor Show on
Earth-the Calgary Stampede, which
attracts over one million visitors
every July.
Dinner
in the hotel is a pleasant three-course
affair accompanied, naturally,
by Canadian wines. The always-excellent
Canadian soups such as Roasted
Yellow Tomato Soup or the Summer
Herb Soup start off the meal,
and Alberta Beef or Pork main
courses are the mainstay of the
special menu. Dinner is a good
opportunity to meet your traveling
companions for the next few days.
After a deluxe continental breakfast,
we embarked upon the 'Golden
Crowsnest Excursion', a leisurely
667 mile journey that includes
Banff National Park, the Columbia
River Valley, the Crowsnest Pass
and southern Alberta. It leaves
on a Friday morning and returns
on Monday, although you do tend
to lose track of time for the
duration of the journey.
The
first stop just after lunch on
the train is Lake Louise in Banff
National Park, a pristine lake
that is a major tourist attraction
in its own right. It is also
the site of another Fairmont
Hotel that seemed to be extremely
popular with Japanese tourists.
After an all too brief stopover
that included a very light hike
up in the mountains with a guide,
we returned to the train for
afternoon tea. I did learn however,
a new name for bear droppings
from the guide, "scat," and will
hopefully use it quite frequently
in conversation to avoid getting
into any trouble. We also went
through the world famous Spiral
Tunnel in the afternoon that
careers through the Continental
Divide that separates the Atlantic
and Pacific watersheds, and also
the State of Alberta from British
Columbia. On reaching Golden,
B.C., the train takes the "coal
route" traveling through the
wetlands known as the Rocky Mountain
Trench, before coming to an overnight
stop at Invermere, B.C.
Gourmet
Dining on the move
That
provided the opportunity for the
first of three dinners on the train
prepared by chef Denis Sirois from
Quebec. An important point about
dinner is that no seats are reserved
or saved for people, so you get
the chance to chat with different
guests
which helps to eliminate the "clique" mentality
that can easily happen on such tours.
Next year, Denis is going to get
a new state of the art kitchen as
the train capacity expands to 36
guests, giving him a chance to further
implement his already creative menu.
Like all the top Canadian chefs I
have met, Denis uses only local Canadian
ingredients to good advantage, following
the seasons for his selection of
fish dishes. One of his signature
dishes is the grilled wild sockeye
salmon (keeping it moist & pink
inside) with dried apricots and
a green peppercorn
relish. Other specialty items include
Dover sole, duck confit spring
rolls and quail with soy sauce
and a balsamic
reduction glaze.. He has complete
creative freedom with the menu,
and prefers cooking for small groups;
specialized, vegetarian or dietary
requirements are easily taken care
of. Denis is ably assisted by his
assistant, Pierre Meloche, who
arrived
from the Four Seasons Hotel in
Toronto where he specialized in
California,
French and international cuisine.
An
early start next day saw us take
an unscheduled coach trip to
the Cranbrook Railway Museum,
a work in progress and a must
see if you are a train buff.
The Canadian Museum of Rail Travel
has 12 restored luxury railcars
on display, and is currently
expanding at a new site. Work
has begun on the "Royal Alexandra
Hall" which was originally constructed
in 1906 as the café of the Royal
Alexandra Hotel in Winnipeg.
The 2800 square foot room features
a 23-foot high ceiling and eight
massive chandeliers, and is paneled
in quarter-sawn white oak with
oak columns, tall windows and
elegant curved French doors,
where tea and scones served in
the summer.
A
group of Minnesotan guests took
the opportunity to go fly-fishing
and returned to the train exhausted
with lots of stories just in
time for dinner. Much more interesting
to me was a visit and private
tour to Fort Steele, formerly
known as "Galbraith Ferry" during
the 1864 Kootenay Gold Rush.
The ex-mining and pioneer town
is now a heritage site and costumed
performers take you on a tour
of the town that is capped off
with a beef stew luncheon and
an impromptu cabaret show featuring
songs from the period. A Vancouver
actress known as Mrs. Pugh does
a convincing job portraying an
English working class woman from
the East End of London, unless
of course you are a genuine Cockney
and know a good fake when you
see one!
On
leaving the centre, we proceeded
to Lethbridge to watch the train
cross the world famous high-level
bridge before returning to the
train for a gourmet lunch. The
afternoon excursion was to Spruce
Meadows, an excellent equestrian
centre where we were treated
to a fine display of show jumping.
After
a farewell dinner on the train
and an impromptu jam session
that will be talked about by
all the guests for a long time,
the train stopped for an overnight
stay in Okotaka. Next morning
a leisurely cruise into Calgary
saw us disembarking at the terminal
in the hotel where we returned
to spend another night of relaxation
and a farewell dinner with new
friends. The rooms seem so big
compared to those on the train,
but I still missed the rolling
action of the train, and cannot
wait to return, as do many of
the guests who have taken the
journey three or four times already.
It is strangely addictive, as
you will find if you are lucky
enough to get in on a trip in
2003.
Michael
Hepworth, December
2002
Fact
Sheet
Royal
Canadian Pacific, 133 9th
Avenue, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
T2P 2M3
Tel 403.508.1400 Fax 403.508.1409
Toll free reservations in North
America 1.877.665.3044
info@cprtours.com www.cprtours.com
Costs-Golden
Crowsnest Excursion all-inclusive.
Early reservations strongly advised
as most tours sell out fast.
$4,995 per person double occupancy $5,325 per person single occupancy
Fairmont
Palliser Hotel 133-9th
Avenue S.W. Calgary, Alberta
T
el 403.262.1234 Fax 403.260.1260 www.fairmont.com
Canadian
Museum of Rail Travel Tel:
250.489.3918
www.trainsdeluxe.com
Historic
Fort Steele Tel 250.426.7352
www.fortsteele.bc.ca
