Snow Train To Jasper

On Friday 21 March we charted new territory, firstly by finding the Edmonton train station and secondly by heading off to Jasper on the Snow Train.

Given Edmonton is the capital of Alberta, it was quite amusing that the Snow Train passengers were the only people there, with no other trains scheduled to run at the same time. Not really Waterloo!

What is the Snow Train, I hear you ask? Well, 3 carriages are set up so that from the window point upwards it's pretty much all window. This gives a great visual opportunity as you're out and about. Except, of course, when you are going through the Prairies and it's flatter than East Anglia and not quite as pretty.

Commuter trains in Canada come a poor second to freight trains, or at least this one did. We travelled 8 miles in 1.5 hours, as a Freight train had broken down just ahead of us. So, sight seeing was a bit of a moot point as it was pitch black (and 10:30pm) by the time we got to Jasper. Luckily the hotel was in walking distance of the train station, and not the 1.1km that Google had threatened.

Given it was Easter weekend, most places had been booked up but we had secured a functional (chintzy) room at the Athabasca Hotel, which did the job nicely.