Cascadia
OBS Chief
Yesterday I was at Pacific Central Station in Vancouver, BC, Canada to catch the 517 Cascades home to Bellingham, WA. The Rocky Mountaineer train was parked right next to ours, I got to walk down the platform and check the whole train out through the chain link fence.
That is some amazing equipment. The cars are so tall! I didn't count anything but there were about eight big double level dome or observation cars, and two single level coach cars. It was really cool to see that string of observation cars!
The paint job and detailing on all the equipment is so beautiful. They are colorful with big graphics on some of them and all the chrome was gleaming. It seems you pass between cars on the lower level, and there are outside open air areas there, between cars you go outside on a platform with railings around, really neat! The railings were polished shiny steel.
I have watched videos on Youtube showing the train traveling through the mountains and views inside all the cars with passengers eating and enjoying the scenery, promotional videos for the company. But I never had a sense of how massive those cars are or how many of them there are and with so many windows.
I was surprised to see it parked at Pacific Central, the Rocky Mountaineer has their own station not far from there where they did all their boarding in the past? I am glad I got to see it, wonder why it was there?
To round out my trip report, my trip home was quiet and peaceful. It was a nice change to be on a train that was mostly empty and to wait in a short line to board it. Been on a few sold out trains lately but this wasn't one of them. I didn't mind not waiting in line at the bistro car, and having the lounge car more or less to myself to eat my salad.
The only downside was we got hung up by freight traffic and were late into Bellingham, so that I just missed my bus and the next one wasn't for almost an hour, they just recently reduced the service in the evening. So I called a cab, which didn't show up, I called them back after 25 minutes and they said it would be ten or fifteen minutes, so I said well I might as well just wait for the bus then! and save twelve bucks. Grrrrrr. Oh well! What can you do. It was quiet and peaceful at the station too and the weather is good so things could be worse, but i got home awfully late after killing so much time at the station.
Can't complain really. Sometimes I go down there just to hang out for no reason anyway
That is some amazing equipment. The cars are so tall! I didn't count anything but there were about eight big double level dome or observation cars, and two single level coach cars. It was really cool to see that string of observation cars!
The paint job and detailing on all the equipment is so beautiful. They are colorful with big graphics on some of them and all the chrome was gleaming. It seems you pass between cars on the lower level, and there are outside open air areas there, between cars you go outside on a platform with railings around, really neat! The railings were polished shiny steel.
I have watched videos on Youtube showing the train traveling through the mountains and views inside all the cars with passengers eating and enjoying the scenery, promotional videos for the company. But I never had a sense of how massive those cars are or how many of them there are and with so many windows.
I was surprised to see it parked at Pacific Central, the Rocky Mountaineer has their own station not far from there where they did all their boarding in the past? I am glad I got to see it, wonder why it was there?
To round out my trip report, my trip home was quiet and peaceful. It was a nice change to be on a train that was mostly empty and to wait in a short line to board it. Been on a few sold out trains lately but this wasn't one of them. I didn't mind not waiting in line at the bistro car, and having the lounge car more or less to myself to eat my salad.
The only downside was we got hung up by freight traffic and were late into Bellingham, so that I just missed my bus and the next one wasn't for almost an hour, they just recently reduced the service in the evening. So I called a cab, which didn't show up, I called them back after 25 minutes and they said it would be ten or fifteen minutes, so I said well I might as well just wait for the bus then! and save twelve bucks. Grrrrrr. Oh well! What can you do. It was quiet and peaceful at the station too and the weather is good so things could be worse, but i got home awfully late after killing so much time at the station.
Can't complain really. Sometimes I go down there just to hang out for no reason anyway
