Canadian Railroads > Skeena in winter

Looks like I won't be able to make it to Canada for the fall, but how is the Skeena for the winter? I would do a round trip... are the cars warm too? Do they get severe delays?

Thx

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/30/22 01:53 by goduckies.

goduckies Wrote:
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> Looks like I won't be able to make it to Canada
> for the fall, but how is the Skeena for the
> winter? I would do a round trip... are the cars
> warm too? Do they get severe delays?

The train is quite reliable, much more so than by road in winter conditions between Prince George and Prince Rupert.

But at that northern latitude, you won't get much daylight. On February 1 this year, sunrise at Prince Rupert was at 08:26 and sunset at 17:23, so just nine hours of daylight. With arrival at 20:25, that means three hours of the trip will be in darkness, including the spectacular views at the mouth of the Skeena River (which would likely be muted by rain anyway).

That compares with 05:04 and 22:22 at the summer solstice, which gives more than 17 hours of daylight, including two hours after train arrival.

For Prince George (arrival from Jasper at 19:08), sunset on February 1 was at 16:54.  The train only starts from Jasper at 11:45 (adjusted for Pacfiic Time), so that's not a lot of on-train time in daylight. 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/30/22 04:59 by railsmith.

Back in 2009, I split the diffreence and did it in early April. That got us much more daylight (Would have been sunset at Prince Rupert but we were late due to train meets) but the views were spectacular as there was still a ton of snow on the ground. Great trip.

I always tried for the second "Touring" (formerly known as Totem Deluxe) class trip that was offered from Jasper to Prince Rupert. It's a spectacular trip. I've often thought that from say October to March this train would be better off heading straight on through from Jasper to Prince Rupert without the overnight at Prince George....... 

Thanks for this additional info as previously mentioned I am considering the trip also.
My question is where would I stay in Prince George on the lay over?

 

I'd get a good view thr opposite direction seing what I miss though right?

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goduckies Wrote:
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> I'd get a good view thr opposite direction seing
> what I miss though right?

Yes, in general, the eastbound trip's timing would offset the areas of darkness on the westbound trip on the Rupert-George segment. Also, the Prince George-Jasper segment has an earlier start eastbound, so the train should reach Jasper just at sunset.

Bear in mind, though, the coastal area around Prince Rupert gets heavy and regular rainfall, so even in daylight that could be quite miserable in winter, and farther inland you could get considerable snowfall. Don't assume you will get cold, but clear, sunny days.
 

viatrainrider Wrote:
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> Thanks for this additional info as previously
> mentioned I am considering the trip also.
> My question is where would I stay in Prince George
> on the lay over?

There are several hotels within walking distance of the VIA train station in Prince George.  I have stayed at the Travelodge and Ramada - I believe the Ramada now has another name.  

Jim

I live in North Idaho... I'll manage the cold lol... was minus 7 last year

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