Passenger Trains > Planning a train trip is difficult

We haven't traveled much the last couple of years and look forward to picking up the pace again soon. We've enjoyed trips to Canada and managed a trip on the Canadian in 2020. I was looking into a West coast trip and thought instead of the Canadian, perhaps the Skeena to Prince Rupert would be an interesting trip. With a timetable, I could instantly look at it and determine days, times and everything I need to decide if I want to plan that itinerary. Apparently, those at VIA have the same disease as those at Amtrak and they no longer allow potential passengers to plan trips with a timetable.
I spent 20 minutes on the website and still not sure of enough details to answer my questions. I pieced together a lot of it, but I gave up.

Apparently it is coach class only and no dome in certain months. They make you get off midway to spend the night in a hotel, but no useful info on the VIA website.

Has anyone here ridden it in recent years? Is it worth making it a central part of a vacation plan?

Posted from Android



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/16/22 20:14 by P.

Well although i have not ridden the Skeena for reasons of having to spend a night at Prince George in both directions and perhaps a night at Jasper, it is a great ride.  Told by people in the know it is perhaps the best scenery, better than on the Canadian route.  Suggest you wait until summer to see what they offer in dome car access and a possible first class summer only car.

Every time I go west on VIA 1, I consider and wonder if I should get off at Jasper and do VIA 5-6 to Prince Rupert but not done it for reasons you mentioned.  Besides, it is hard for me to leave the Canadian which I love to do a coach only train.  But I sort of regret not doing VIA 5 - 6.  But I only get one trip a year out of WPG and have to make hard decisions as I also have a liking for the Churchill train!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/16/22 20:59 by viatrainrider.

Thanks. As I'm looking further into it, I'm struggling with how to get to either end from the States. Apparently no air service so is transferring in Jasper from the Canadian the only realistic way to get to either end if you're not from the area?

Posted from Android

P Wrote:
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> Thanks. As I'm looking further into it, I'm
> struggling with how to get to either end from the
> States. Apparently no air service so is
> transferring in Jasper from the Canadian the only
> realistic way to get to either end if you're not
> from the area?
>
> Posted from Android

I did it on 2009. #2 from Vancouver to Jasper. Spent a couple days there, then Skeena to Prince Rupert with an overnight in Prince George. Rented a car at Prince Rupert, drove to Terrace and flew back to Vancouver on a 737. If we’d had longer I would have taken a ferry back to Vancouver or Seattle but that wasn’t practical.

Posted from iPhone

Both Amtrak and VIA have point-to-point corridor-only mentality, and everyone else is a railfan or elderly retiree on a cruise. Ironic part is, Transport Canada will yank corridor train operations away from them. 

Over the years there have been several threads on the Canadian board about the Skeena, aka Jasper to Prince Rupert train.  I have taken it three times and enjoyed it.  Each time I connected to or from the British Columbia Ferry that runs between Prince Rupert and Port Hardy on the north end of Vancouver Island, a beautiful trip.  Having the overnight stop in Prince George enables the trip to be done in daylight, at least in the summer.  The Skeena has had a Park Car for years and I wouldn't ride it if that weren't available, like a report concerning the start-up of the so-called buffer cars (I haven't heard a recent update on that).

Jim

There is also good air service from Port Rupert to Vancouver BC on Air Canada.  So I'm looking at flying for that leg in a trip I'm working on. At Jasper, you can connect either to the Canadian or (more expensively) the Rocky Mountaineer.  As Jimbo pointed out on 11/14, "the Rocky Mountaineer has been operating seasonal service, between North Vancouver and Jasper on the former BC, one round trip a week.  It's the Rainforest to Gold Rush route." 

Jimbo Wrote:
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>  The Skeena has had a Park Car for years and I
> wouldn't ride it if that weren't available, like a
> report concerning the start-up of the so-called
> buffer cars (I haven't heard a recent update on
> that).

I agree with you regarding the Park car. Unfortunately, the Park car is out of bounds as it is serving as the tail-end buffer. This also means no food service because that relies on the facilities in the Park car.

Therre's no reason to expect this to change anytime soon. VIA has until the end of 2023 to have a single car pass the required tests, after being repaired. With more than 100 cars involved, it could be a long time before the buffering order is lifted.

If multiple Siemens train sets start to go into service (one already has), could they then use surplus HEP-II and LRC coaches as buffer cars ? 

There is no skyline car operating to provide food service?  That makes this trip a no go for anyone.  In 2022 it is not acceptable to fail to provide food service on a day-long trip.  

Isn't there a HEP-II coach or biz class car in the consist that they transfered from the Corridor ?
Don't some have a galley with an airplane snack wagon ? 

Done a loop tour at least four times in the past - 

- Toronto to Jasper on Canadian.
- Overnight in Jasper for a couple of nights (Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge).
- Out on Skeena to Prince George and then on to Prince Rupert (there are a couple of name brand nice hotels in Prince George for the evening).
- Overnight in Prince Rupert for a couple of nights (there was a nice hotel along the waterfront - Crest Hotel). Best fresh Halibut I ever had came from Prince Rupert
- Plane from Prince Rupert to Vancouver (a bit of an experience.....)

The "mountain related scenery" is superior to that of the Canadian, largely as one is nearly in the Rockies and eventually coastal mountains, for two days........It was a really great trip and very scenic with small train charm and hospitality. All pre-COVID travel though....Was on the first trip that VIA did after purchasing the Panorama Cars and outfitting them for the Skeena - four days a week originally when first launched with the Totem and Totem Deluxe Class - now just called Touring Class. The food in the first couple years was really GREAT and the trip in general was nearly on par with Rocky Mountaineer. I really felt VIA was trying to emulate the RMR service and routing. This was before RMR even had the North Vancouver to Jasper RMR train in place via Quesnel.  

I've only taken the Skeena (train to Prince Rupert) when it operated with the Panorama Dome car and Park Dome Car. The Panorama Dome is the "Touring" or First Class car with at-seat meal service etc. Touring Class hasn't been offered since pre-COVID. Same for the food. Not sure what will emerge, and now the Park Dome Car can't be occupied due to the "buffer" rule. 

Appreciate the input. Was trying to make this a somewhat short trip, but may need to ensure that we can get at least a week off work to allow for the time needed.
This could be a way to get a Canadian Rockies train trip without going all out on the budget.

Posted from Android

jp1822 Wrote:
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> I've only taken the Skeena (train to Prince
> Rupert) when it operated with the Panorama Dome
> car and Park Dome Car. The Panorama Dome is the
> "Touring" or First Class car with at-seat meal
> service etc. Touring Class hasn't been offered
> since pre-COVID. Same for the food. Not sure what
> will emerge, and now the Park Dome Car can't be
> occupied due to the "buffer" rule. 

Trains 5/6 with economy class only were reinstated fairly early in the pandemic -- July 5, 2020 -- whereas the Canadian was not restored until December 11 that year. That was because of the role of 5/6 in providing basic point-to-point transportation along the BC North Line.

At this point, VIA's website is not offering bookings in Touring Class next summer.

The Churchill trip and the Skeena are two of the VIA Rail routes I have yet to do. Some of the same issues you mention. Getting from Edmonton to Jasper isn't cheap or easy since Greyhound Canada ended it's Western routes in 2018. 

Agreed on the timetables. They make it so much easier to figure this stuff out.

Jim

I have a pdf version of the full via hard copy timetable on my iPad in iBooks. If I can figure how to send it to you and if you care to give me your email, I’d be happy to share a copy with you. It’s dated 2019 but I suspect it’s pretty close.

I’m not a strong computer user esp on an iPad, so if you do ask em, keep it simple please!

And if you take the trip, I’ll hate your forever! It’s been on my bucket list for years to start in Halifax and end up in Prince Rupert, with a detour to Churchill for the northern lights and polar bears, and some sort of combo of ferries and buses from PR to Victoria and then home!

Posted from iPhone

VIA used to be much more inter-connected. Even with what little they had left on the maps after the turn of the 21st Century it was still possible to take a same day connection between both #1/2 The Canadian between the Churchill train and #2 could connect with the Westbound Skeena. If #2 was running late, and there were people connecting to the westbound Skeena, VIA would arrange to have the trains meet west of Jasper so they could exchange passengers. 

In 2003 after BC Passenger Rail ended and the Skeena was semi-relaunched with the Panorama Car in tow and operating 4x per week for the peak season (they were aggressively trying to get the tourist traffic in on this train for peak period), VIA came SO close to having the Skeena extended to Edmonton directly. The goal was to have it terminate there with a greater population base and airport services etc. They also were trying to get the Canadian on a 6x per week schedule between Jasper and Vancouver and this would have helped with inter-connectivity with the Skeena as well. Both - came close to being, but ended up not getting approved. Course at one time the Skeena piggy-backed on the Canadian (and predecessor Super Continental) between Jasper and Edmonton.......at one time........Now very disjointed........