Canadian Railroads > Midwesterner at Morant’s Curve

Last week found me in Banff National Park for a family vacation (and by family, I mean 18 of us all with different ideas on what to do and see...). Some careful manipulation of the chess board bought me about one hour at Morant's curve. CP was kind enough to run the westbound Rocky Mountaineer past us abou 20 minutes into our stop. While I focused on still shots, my daughter got this nice video. 

More to follow as I work through all of the images that were captured. We really enjoyed the scenery at Banff NP. 
A couple of non-train pics just to share the awesome park. First is Lake Louise and the second is Moraine Lake. 

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I was surprised at the length (number of cars) of the Rocky Mountaineer. And is this just the Banff part of the train that will combine with the Jasper portion at Kamloops?

Posted from iPhone

Just wondering - is there a more elevated place to film from at Morant's, or have the trees just grown that much?  Looks like that shots going to be gone relatively soon.  :(

hopalongharry Wrote:
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> I was surprised at the length (number of cars) of
> the Rocky Mountaineer. And is this just the Banff
> part of the train that will combine with the
> Jasper portion at Kamloops?
>
> Posted from iPhone

Me too! That's a pretty lengthy train for Banff to Kamloops - 5 Silver Leaf Cars and 10 Gold Leaf Cars. They are raking that money in!!!! They started with just two Silver Leaf cars, but between the US Route, Jasper Route, and Banff Route, they certainly have been able to increase that number. The Rainforest to Gold Rush Route (North Vancouver-Whistler-Quesnel-Jasper) only operates with Gold Leaf Service now. When Rocky transitioned out of Red Lead and into Silver Leaf, they barely had any Silver Leaf cars. But now the Rocky consists are getting back to where they were when having the Red Leaf/Gold Leaf combo. 

Does anyone know how many Silver Leaf cars they have had built over the years and were they re fabricated from the Red Leaf coaches or other second hand coaches? I keep hearing multiple stories. 

Rocky Also has a pretty good amount of old gallery cars at the their shops in Kamloops. I am wondering if they will convert those to a lounge or some sort of cafe/lounge car like the Alaska Railroad did with their Wilderness Cafe Car (Large windows on the lower level and then smaller windows on the top level. Essentially bi-level coaches, but converted to all single-level while making the windows HUGE!

With expanding service to Salt Lake City in the US, I bet they get more of the Silver Leaf and lounge cars on the road. Rocky has more cars and capacity than Amtrak rolling on the tracks for a journey!!! LOL! 

It's too bad the single level VIA Panorama cars are sidelined - or are they? I keeping hearing mixed reports - corrosion issues galore so they were sidelined and won't be restored. Then I've also heard that the Vancouver shops are working on one of the Panorama cars to bring it back to life. I LOVED these cars when they operated on the Skeena (aka Rupert Rocket, Train to Prince Rupert). They were a perfect upgrade in service for this train in peak season. It made the journey "over the top." I took it at least four times when they operated it over the years on the Skeena. 

Curt Wrote:
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> Just wondering - is there a more elevated place to
> film from at Morant's, or have the trees just
> grown that much?  Looks like that shots going to
> be gone relatively soon.  :(
There was a short path from the parking lot on the other side of the road that went 10m or so to a small open area. I did not check it out. It did not look like it offered any advantage over the roadside viewing area.

Posted from iPhone

Yes, there is a place. There's a two lane "old highway" that is the "scenic route" above Canadian Route 1 that has a historical marker and areas where you can get pics of Morant's Curve. Was there last August and took a selfie with family travelling with me. It's actually one of my favorite pics of our Canadian Rocky adventure involving trains, planes, and automobiles!!!

jp1822 Wrote:
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> Yes, there is a place. There's a two lane "old
> highway" that is the "scenic route" above Canadian
> Route 1 that has a historical marker and areas
> where you can get pics of Morant's Curve.

You are describing the location I was at. The road is Alberta Route 1A aka Bow Valley Parkway.

Posted from iPhone

kevink Wrote:
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> jp1822 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Yes, there is a place. There's a two lane "old
> > highway" that is the "scenic route" above
> Canadian
> > Route 1 that has a historical marker and areas
> > where you can get pics of Morant's Curve.
>
> You are describing the location I was at. The road
> is Alberta Route 1A aka Bow Valley Parkway.
>
> Posted from iPhone

Yes, that's it. But I was able to get a picture like this - around 9 am or so. Trees have definitely grown in, but I thought this had more elevation from the other picture posted? No?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/18/25 09:11 by jp1822.

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Great place to catch some trains. I will be there in a couple of months. We have 2 groups going almost 100 people. Banff is a very popular place to go to. I got one day free to rent a car and chase some trains.
Joe

22 cars on that train.  And when my brother, sister-in-law, and I rode Via Rail's Canadian #1 last month from Winnipeg to Vancouver
we had 23 cars, plus a dead-heading Skyline dome ahead of the baggage car.

Hakk

Last year after Rocky suspended service to Jasper due to the fires, they had some massive train consists to/from Kamloops and Banff. 

hopalongharry Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I was surprised at the length (number of cars) of
> the Rocky Mountaineer. And is this just the Banff
> part of the train that will combine with the
> Jasper portion at Kamloops?

The eastbound that departs Vancouver on Mondays for Banff has been running at a 20-22 car length all year.  Return trip departs Banff on Wednesdays.  That train doesn't combine in Kamloops.  The other two weekly Banff trains run at 11-12 cars for Banff, and split/combine with Jasper sections in Kamloops.


Curt Wrote:
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>Just wondering - there a more elevated place to film from   
> Morant's, or have the trees just grown that much?
>Looks like that shots going to be gone relatively soon.  :(

If so inclined and able, one can stand on the bottom rung of the railing at the 'viewing platform' adjacent to the road for an extra ~18" of elevation.  I shot this way last spring, and could get a passable amount of the power and train included without tree interference.

There are opportunities for greater elevation if you scramble/bushwack up the cliff on the north side of the road and shoot from the edge of the treeline.  The bank edge is not stable, so excercise caution and use your judgement for safety.

very nice, looks like a great trip.
Wonder how long those two trees on the far bank have been hanging over the river like that.
t4p.