Engineering the Impossible: The Rocky Mountaineer

Added: 2026-05-22

[00:00:02]I'm jumping aboard Rocky Mountaineer.

[00:00:04]You >> can just sit back, relax, nobody has to navigate >> for a fivestar rail adventure.

[00:00:10]>> We have some of the best stuff in the world.

[00:00:13]>> A thrilling ride through untamed wilderness.

[00:00:16]>> It's absolutely beautiful.

[00:00:17]>> Across triumphs of engineering.

[00:00:19]>> I've died and gone to engineers heaven.

[00:00:23]>> On the move >> and into the heart of the Rocky Mountains.

[00:00:27]>> And we're in the spiral tunnels. Pretty good day for a train ride.

[00:00:33]>> Join me as I discover the inner workings of this luxury passenger train and what goes on behind the scenes when it's rolling down the track.

[00:00:51]Canada's Rockies, an adventure hot spot for more than 9 million tourists every year. Today, I'm joining more than 500 of them. Only, we're not braving the wilds in hiking boots. We're gliding into the mountains aboard the Rolls-Royce of trains.

[00:01:06]>> So, we've got a great day ahead.

[00:01:09]>> Rocky Mountaineer has run rail tours through Western Canada since 1990, and I'll experience two of its most iconic expeditions.

[00:01:24]The first trip begins in British Columbia. It takes me from Vancouver up the Fraser River Valley to Cam Loops and on through the mountains to Bamp, Alberta.

[00:01:35]The second trip kicks off in Jasper, Alberta in the heart of the Rockies.

[00:01:40]Heads back through the mountains and down along the Thompson River to Cam Loops before returning to Vancouver.

[00:01:49]Hello. How are you? Will you make me a couple photo copies of that?

[00:01:54]>> It's well before dawn at Rocky Mountaineers terminal in Vancouver.

[00:01:58]>> Wendy to Cynthia. Can you also meet me on platform?

[00:02:02]>> Train manager Wendy Mcichael and Rocky Mountaineers 76 staff members swing into high gear several hours before the train's 8 a.m. departure. 3 2 1 >> At $2500 for a seat in the premium gold leaf coach, the pressure to deliver is on.

[00:02:23]>> Is this a typical morning for you here?

[00:02:25]>> It is. Yeah, it can be quite busy before we get started and get right into action.

[00:02:30]>> How big a train are we looking at today?

[00:02:31]>> So, we've got over 500 guests. It's 540 [music] guests on board. And then our train is 20 pieces of equipment. So, it's pretty long for us when we're traveling out there.

[00:02:41]>> That's big. A lot of work, right?

[00:02:42]>> A lot of work >> and a lot of responsibility for the guy in charge of technical operations.

[00:02:49]>> My role on the train is actually as an onboard mechanic. And at Rocky Mount Air, we call it a TOC. So, train operations coordinator.

[00:02:57]>> Before every journey, Jason doublech checkcks the undercarriage of the train's two locomotives and 18 coaches.

[00:03:04]>> You oversee logistics and tech for for this entire train. Yeah. Logistics, tech, everything mechanical. That's uh that's all on our shoulders as a train operations coordinator.

[00:03:13]>> It's a massive massive one, isn't it? It >> is a big train today. Yeah.

[00:03:17]>> Feeding electricity to this monster are two generator sets, each in their own car.

[00:03:23]>> And I'm going to actually uh start the generator and make sure we can get some power down the rest of the train.

[00:03:34]A mechanic inspects all components of the train's generator system.

[00:03:39]>> It's a Caterpillar diesel generator, twin turbo, 12cylinder, puts out about uh 650 horsepower.

[00:03:47]>> Each generator is connected to two tanks. Together, they hold 7,400 L of diesel fuel.

[00:03:54]>> They pretty much give us the ability to run for 48 hours straight. Fuel powers an engine, which rotates the generator that produces electricity. Radiators are built larger than usual and have oversized fans to bring in more air and keep the engines cool.

[00:04:11]>> We do a a full inspection on all the generators, make sure everything's good for the next day or two.

[00:04:19]>> Stepping up.

[00:04:20]>> Now that the power's on, Wendy does a walk through to make sure everything and everyone is ready for departure.

[00:04:27]Ladies, how is everything looking?

[00:04:28]>> Good. How are you?

[00:04:29]>> Good. Nick, how are you?

[00:04:31]>> Not bad.

[00:04:32]>> Excellent.

[00:04:36]>> So, coming through, checking to make sure that all of our vestibial gates, everything is locked up. We want to make sure everything is secured before we depart.

[00:04:49]>> Morning, guys.

[00:04:50]>> Morning.

[00:04:51]>> How is everything this morning?

[00:04:52]>> Good, thanks.

[00:04:53]>> That was good.

[00:04:54]Veteran locomotive engineers Gordon Bell and Ron During share the driving and conducting duties on the first leg of the journey from Vancouver to Cam Loops.

[00:05:03]>> I'll work the point and uh line the switches.

[00:05:07]>> All right.

[00:05:08]>> They'll be at the helm of the lead locomotive.

[00:05:13]At 18 m long, 4.7 m high, and 3.2 2 m wide. This 16cylinder General Motors diesel locomotive generates 3,000 horsepower. It can reach a top speed of 105 km per hour.

[00:05:33]It's almost time for our adventure to begin.

[00:05:37]>> Good morning. Welcome.

[00:05:40]>> Wendy invites one of my fellow passengers, Doris Lond, to help kick off the journey. We always here at the station do a train whistle and all aboard announcement. Three, two, one.

[00:05:57]>> Allelcome. [applause and cheering] >> Rocky Mountaineer Day. Beautiful day.

[00:06:06]>> We take a photo.

[00:06:07]>> Thank you.

[00:06:10]Up in the lead locomotive, the engineer gets the green light from Jason to fire up the engines. Going ahead, >> we're looking for an ontime departure here. How's it look to uh make our move onto the VI line and Jardo?

[00:06:27]>> We've pulled out of Rocky Mountaineers Vancouver station. We have officially begun our journey into the Rockies. I'm so excited. Bye.

[00:06:37]Our first journey covers nearly a thousand kilometers from Vancouver through the lush Fraser River Valley, then across semi- desert to the city of Cam Loops.

[00:06:51]After an overnight stay, the train continues on to Revel Stoke, through the Selkerk Mountains, and into the Rocky Mountains, past Lake Louise to our final destination, Bamp, Alberta.

[00:07:09]So, you have a wonderful team taking care of you. They'll be pointing out all the highlights as we travel.

[00:07:16]>> Today's train is pulling seven double-decker gold leaf coaches and four single level silver leaf coaches. We're in this beautiful dome car. Do you get a really good response to this?

[00:07:27]>> We do. Absolutely. There is a bit of romance to train travel.

[00:07:33]>> In the premium gold leaf class, guests can enjoy the panoramic vistas through domed wraparound windows or a gourmet meal with a view in the dining car below.

[00:07:43]>> While the peaceful scenery is rolling by outside, it's really busy here in the kitchen. It's like pandemonium. A lot going on.

[00:07:52]Every Gold Leaf Coach has its own galley kitchen, only slightly longer than a small shipping container.

[00:07:58]>> Here we actually do everything from scratch.

[00:08:01]>> From scratch.

[00:08:02]>> Everything from scratch.

[00:08:04]>> Award-winning executive chef Jean Pierre Gar creates the locally sourced meals that are freshly prepared aboard Rocky Mountaineer.

[00:08:12]>> And this is what we do. It's amazing how you've optimized the space, but what are some of the specific features of of this kitchen that allow you to do what you do in this in this area? Everything is customized to meet the Rocky Mountain air specification including all the uh the hood systems, the refrigeration system. We have several engine. So if we had a failure on one of the compressor, we had other compressor that will kick in very much like you'd find on the aircraft.

[00:08:38]>> I love it. And I see here you've got this as well. So the plates still come out because we're always rocking and rolling.

[00:08:43]>> The plates will not be able to come out.

[00:08:45]So if if there was any suit and movement, this actually will stay where it is. So, you got to design the kitchen for a small space, but then also take into account that it's like a roller coaster.

[00:08:54]>> That's right. We also have to take care of our employees so they don't get hurt.

[00:08:57]>> Yeah.

[00:09:05]>> After our first taste of Rocky Mountaineer cuisine and several hours into our journey, passengers take in the extraordinary landscape along the Fraser River.

[00:09:15]>> Scenery is unbelievable. It's mind-blowing. It's so beautiful.

[00:09:19]>> What's also mind-blowing is how tough it was to build a railroad through this incredible canyon. To find out how it was done, I'm turning to civil engineer Gordon Love.

[00:09:31]>> What is it about this train and this line that's most remarkable? Well, the engineering behind it obviously is where I come from. the feet of what they worked through, the conditions, the surveying that it took to actually find a route that worked for trains. In the early 1880s, the Canadian Pacific Railway began building the line that would unite the young nation of Canada.

[00:09:56]But the mountains in the west nearly stopped this national dream in its tracks.

[00:10:04]5 miles a day could be built across the prairies, no problem. But then they get to the Rockies to go 78 miles. It took them almost a year because of the conditions, the weather, the civil engineering drilling without basically having access to anything but a steam shovel. If you could get it up, it was done by hand. After that brutal year in the Rockies, they hit another wall right here in the Fraser River Canyon.

[00:10:28]Well, I think Simon Fraser said it best when he came through. This is a place not fit for any man. Hell's Gate. He named it.

[00:10:37]>> I'm aboard the luxurious Rocky Mountaineer, 200 km north of Vancouver and heading into central British Columbia. We're deep in Fraser Canyon right now and we're coming to the most narrow part of the Fraser River just below us. That spot right there, it's called Hell's Gate and it's called that [music] because these narrow cliff walls create a funneling effect. So hundreds of millions of liters of water go through every minute. It's actually double the volume of Niagara Falls. So, it's absolutely beautiful, but [music] also treacherous and aptly named. The Fraser Canyon was one of the greatest obstacles to completing the railway across Canada.

[00:11:16]>> You've got the rushing waters, you've got this narrow road, and it was the only supply road in and out of the interior from Vancouver. Anything happened, rock slide, bad weather, everything came to a standstill. To conquer Hell's Gate and the Fraser Canyon, the Canadian government hired Andrew Anderdon, an American engineer with a reputation for getting tough jobs done. He brought in Chinese workers from overseas and from the Union Pacific Railroad in the United States.

[00:11:45]>> 5,000 came up north from the Union Pacific, 10,000 from Cantor. The Chinese workers in British Columbia were paid less than other laborers despite doing the risky jobs like handling explosives and tunnel blasting.

[00:12:00]>> Estimates in just the BC section alone range from 600 to a,000 died over the 5 years of the construction project.

[00:12:08]>> The bravery and sacrifice of the Chinese workers makes it possible for us to journey through this rugged landscape today.

[00:12:18]Two and a half hours southwest of Cam Loops, guests take in stunning vistas through Rocky Mountaineer's signature wraparound windows.

[00:12:26]>> So, this allows you to have it all. You can socialize with the friends that you're going to make while traveling, but still get to see that kind of complete surround view and and make sure you don't miss any of those pictures.

[00:12:36]>> Wow.

[00:12:44]So these are the panorama windows for the upper deck of the gold leaf car >> in the Stadler factory in Berlin, Germany. They're hard at work on the next generation of Rocky Mountaineer coaches.

[00:12:56]>> It took 50 engineers to design the train.

[00:12:59]>> The new train cars boast the finest in Swiss and German [music] engineering.

[00:13:04]That includes windows with the latest light absorbing technology. This dimmable windows what we have in this car allows guests to set the tint of the window depending on the weather.

[00:13:18]>> The windows contain millions of suspended particles that absorb light which are controlled by an electrical current. With the turn of a dial, voltage can be increased so the particles line up to allow light in. to darken the windows, voltage is decreased, forcing the particles to compress and absorb the light.

[00:13:40]>> So if it's sunny, you can make it darker. If it's cloudy, you can make it lighter just to enjoy the perfect view outside. And it can all be done within milliseconds. Is a technological wonder.

[00:13:54]Back aboard the train, passengers enjoy the gorgeous views as we cross the Fraser River at Cisco.

[00:14:04]Look at this guy up here.

[00:14:06]>> Yeah, he's looking for fish.

[00:14:09]>> As we move into dry, desert-like territory, it's getting hot outside. The air conditioning kicks in, but with a bit too much of a bite. Jason heads to the generator car to tweak the controls.

[00:14:22]So what I can do is actually find the set point, turn the temperature up in the car or the requested temperature up until the air conditioning actually goes into a static state. So now it won't be heating or cooling and then that'll actually make it a little more comfortable for the guests.

[00:14:38]>> An hour after we cross the Fraser River, we roll toward the town of Ashcraftoft, 94 km west of Cam Loops.

[00:14:48]So Wendy, we're passing through this beautiful area, but I noticed some burnt out trees on the side. Is that is that from the BC wildfires?

[00:14:54]>> It is. There's a location just north of Ashcraftoft and the fires started there, made their way down slope, and got right down to the water's edge. Had to do evacuations.

[00:15:08]>> In the summer of 2017, British Columbia experienced the worst forest fires on record. They threatened sections of the rail line across the province.

[00:15:19]We had a large fire that was coming down the mountain at a place called Mountain Creek.

[00:15:23]>> Warren Danaluck is a fire crew leader with Mount Rebel Stoke and Glacier National Parks.

[00:15:29]>> Well over a thousand hectares in size and was the wind was blowing it out of this valley right toward the CP rail mainline. A lot of uh aircraft like we had large tankers doing tanker drops, helicopter drops.

[00:15:43]These efforts helped spare Rocky Mountaineer from the worst effects of the fires.

[00:15:48]>> We had crews on the ground cutting line, putting out fires on the ground that happened day after day after day to try to stop this fire. We managed to hold it above the rail line.

[00:16:03]>> Clear signal.

[00:16:05]>> Clear.

[00:16:06]>> Clear.

[00:16:06]>> As we approach cam loops, the air conditioning is still not cooperating.

[00:16:11]it isn't distributing evenly. So Jason heads to the generator car to troubleshoot.

[00:16:16]>> So it becomes a little bit of a challenge to make sure that all the guests stay comfortable. This one's a little bit finicky. So we'll get the uh the experts that know a lot more about this uh to work on it tonight in Cambos.

[00:16:31]>> Lucky for the passengers, we're not far from today's final destination.

[00:16:42]You [music] have clearance to come on platform. Thank you.

[00:16:47]>> Here in Cam Loops, passengers hop off the train for a night on the town while the Rocky Mountaineer gets ready for a date of its own.

[00:17:01]At the train's maintenance yard, the overnight technical crew springs into action. They have a lot to accomplish in 7 hours.

[00:17:11]>> These are the HEP cables that power the train off of uh hydro.

[00:17:17]>> Electrician Matt Akers Viller tackles the troublesome HVAC unit.

[00:17:22]>> Inputs that we were sending wasn't making the output what we want. We're just going to be changing out an orange box. It's kind of the brains of the HVAC system.

[00:17:34]Each passenger coach is equipped with a computer that regulates the car's heating and air conditioning. It's housed inside an orange box.

[00:17:46]This will go turn it on.

[00:17:52]There we can hear the fan starting up.

[00:17:54]Back in service. Guests will be happy in the morning.

[00:17:57]>> In the meantime, electrician Wayne Delbridge tests another vital piece of technology.

[00:18:04]This box here is our black box.

[00:18:07]>> Transport Canada requires locomotives to carry an event recorder that registers the train's operational functions such as speed, distance, and brake use.

[00:18:18]>> This module here is our camera. It monitors what's going on through this one inside the cab. It's got a microphone in it. Then we've got the forward- facing microphone that sees everything out front of the loco as we're traveling. records everything that the engineer does.

[00:18:36]Think everything's ready to go here.

[00:18:38]>> Farther down the train, mechanic Kevin Soopich spots a worn brake shoe.

[00:18:44]>> We're changing out brake shoes, taking out the old ones that are condemned, putting in new ones. We have a lot.

[00:18:49]Yeah, we have uh eight sets per car.

[00:18:54]>> Easy as pie.

[00:18:56]>> [laughter] >> Maintenance is critical on a train that travels every day through remote, steep terrain. But even the best mechanics can't control what happens when Rocky Mountaineer is out in the middle of nowhere.

[00:19:12]>> How much of a danger are avalanches around here?

[00:19:16]After an overnight stay in Cam Loops, British Columbia.

[00:19:21]>> Great first day on the Rocky Mountaineer.

[00:19:23]>> We're back aboard for day two of our trip into the Canadian Rockies.

[00:19:28]>> RX812 East. Go [music] ahead, Jason.

[00:19:30]>> Now, we're all locked up, ready to depart the chem.

[00:19:33]>> Okay, you're locked up, ready to proceed.

[00:19:36]>> A third locomotive is added to ensure the train can make it up the steep alpine grades.

[00:19:46]Today we're traveling nearly 500 kilometers past Rebel Stoke, through Rogers Pass, over the Colombia and Kicking Horse Rivers to Lake Louise, and finally Bamp Alberta.

[00:20:03]>> Last car is just coming onto the south track now. Yeah, we're in [music] the clear.

[00:20:11]>> At the helm of this mighty train are locomotive engineers Terry Seville and Mike Degan. They both have 35 [music] years experience with CP Rail.

[00:20:21]>> Hired on in Rebel Stoke in 77 and uh finished up in Cam Loops in in uh 2012 and I started here in 2013 and I've been here for 5 years. Taking travelers on their dream trip is a nice change from hauling freight and takes Mike back to his roots.

[00:20:40]>> Come from a big railroad family. My father actually uh fired for my grandfather who retired 6 months shy of 50 years with CP and my dad spent 42 years out here. I've got three brothers that were all engineers back in Ontario.

[00:20:54]We're doing what we love, I guess.

[00:20:57]Claire The bar for this luxury train is set high and that includes who's behind the wheel. It's all about the guest experience out here. They come first and everything is geared to make it as pleasant as possible for them.

[00:21:17]>> Only veteran locomotive engineers are hired to drive Rocky Mountaineer.

[00:21:22]>> Well, this is almost like a sports car compared to the thick heavy freight trains. We can maintain track speed going up the steep grades. We're a nice short little train. We can get out of the way uh the big trains.

[00:21:42]>> An hour and a half into today's journey, we skirt the shores of Shushwap Lake.

[00:21:48]>> And your house is coming up, right?

[00:21:50]>> There'll still be a couple minutes.

[00:21:52]>> Okay. My new friend Doris Lond and her husband Brian live in Canoe, a small lumber town along the CPR.

[00:22:00]>> My father always worked on the railroad.

[00:22:02]>> Oh, really?

[00:22:02]>> So that's how I was brought up from station to station.

[00:22:07]>> On this trip, Doris and Brian are Rocky Mountaineers invited guests.

[00:22:11]>> If I see the train coming or whatever, I notify her and say, "Hey, the train."

[00:22:15]And she's running and clear her out because she's got to go out there. This ride is a salute to Doris and to all those times she's faithfully waved as the train passes her house.

[00:22:26]>> Why do you like waving to the train?

[00:22:27]>> Well, cuz I'm close and you feel the warmth and the love coming from this train. Are you kidding me?

[00:22:35]>> It's coming right now.

[00:22:36]>> There's people at my house.

[00:22:38]>> Yellow house.

[00:22:39]>> Oh no.

[00:22:41]>> Oh, look at ALL THE PEOPLE.

[00:22:43]>> OH MY GOD.

[00:22:45]>> Oh my goodness. Rocky Mountaineers staff arranged this surprise, rallying Doris's friends and family to show up at her house for a big wave by.

[00:22:55]>> Unreal.

[00:22:56]>> Wow.

[00:22:57]>> Oh my.

[00:22:59]Thank you everyone. That was so awesome.

[00:23:03]>> Year.

[00:23:05][laughter] >> As the CP tracks were built across Canada, some 800 communities sprung up along the line.

[00:23:16]We're in Sycamoose right now and we're headed to Rubble Stoke and we're just coming over this draw bridge here and then track speed goes to 50 from 25. So hang on.

[00:23:34]last spike here which is a photo opportunity.

[00:23:41]>> So that car that stone monument right there is actually the spot where the last spike of this rail line was driven in November 1885. It's an incredibly important spot not only for this rail line but for all of Canadian history because it really linked the country together. When they pounded that last spike, it joined up the newly laid tracks from the east and the west. For the first time, Canada was connected from coast to coast by rail. This railway transports people to the west to open up the west, but it also transported back all their goods, all their produce back to the markets in the east as well. So, it was going two ways.

[00:24:22]Besides that, this railway actually established in Canada railway time.

[00:24:28]>> Before the railroad came through, town clocks all across the country were set to the position of the sun. That meant every village, town, and city would be on a slightly different time. So instead of people in different towns across eastern townships being 5 10 15 25 minutes out at the same time of day it made everybody until we had time zones of course on the t same time.

[00:24:55]By early afternoon Rocky Mountaineer pulls into Glacier National Park in the Selkerk Mountain Range 220 km west of Bam.

[00:25:05]And what better way to see how tough it is to get trains up into these jagged peaks.

[00:25:12]Wow.

[00:25:13]>> Yeah. Seeing it from this vantage point is incredible. Then from the air when there's trouble on this steep section of the line, CP Rail turns to helicopter pilots like Mark Adams for a big picture view.

[00:25:26]>> What are the specific challenges for the Rocky Mountaineer running right through this area?

[00:25:30]>> Well, natural hazards would be the first one. uh landslide that can affect the the track.

[00:25:35]>> After a mudslide or avalanche, Mark's aerial perspective provides critical intel. He can see where tracks need to be cleared and if more trouble is brewing at higher elevations.

[00:25:47]>> This is the CPR mainline for all the freight that moves east west through this part of the country. And you have to move a passenger train through this area while moving freight trains through as well. I can't imagine building the rail line through here, especially all those years ago. That must have been an almost impossible task, right?

[00:26:06]>> I would say almost impossible. There was no roads, >> right? Western Canada has more bridges and tunnels per kilometer of track than anywhere else in North America. Flying overhead, I'm blown away by the skill and guts it took to build these structures. It would have been all done by horse, horse train, moving men and supplies into the area and then trying to use the natural resources to harvest timber for ties and then moving the steel in.

[00:26:36]>> How much of a danger are avalanches around here?

[00:26:38]>> In the winter time, avalanche hazard uh is very significant to the rail line and to everything else that the highway, everything that runs through this area.

[00:26:48]But for the rail line, it's big.

[00:26:51]>> All right.

[00:26:53]Back on the train, we head toward the Kicking Horse Pass and another engineering marvel.

[00:27:00]>> We're about to hit the world famous spiral tunnels and we're going to go through two loops deep inside the mountains. It's all been designed so that we can achieve a major ascent and then descent but avoid dangerously steep grades. Here we go.

[00:27:17]The tracks cross the Kicking Horse River and enter the tunnel under Mount Ogden.

[00:27:23]They spiral left for nearly a kilometer and emerge 15 m higher. Then the trains enter Cathedral Mountain, spiral right, and surface 17 m higher at the top of the pass.

[00:27:37]They literally doubled the length. So down the hill, they added another 8 miles. The grade went from 4.5 to 2.2%.

[00:27:45]Now we're high in the Rocky Mountains about an hour and a half from BA, Alberta.

[00:27:51]>> Turning in to be a pretty good day for a train ride.

[00:27:54]>> Absolutely.

[00:27:56]>> Like everyone else, I've got my fingers crossed for some wildlife sightings.

[00:28:02]>> Yeah. So, as you can see, uh, behind me here, we have a wellused wildlife passage. So, it's passages like this that bears and other wildlife can use to get down to the railway. Our odds of spotting some iconic creatures are good, but some get too close. Right into the danger zone.

[00:28:26]We're climbing through the magnificent [music] Rocky Mountains toward the province of Alberta when our train comes to a stop.

[00:28:33]>> Armorx 8012 East has an advanced clear to stop signal.

[00:28:41]Wendy.

[00:28:42]>> Yeah, >> I just got a message. We're going to be waiting here for two trains.

[00:28:46]>> An unexpected delay. Two long freight trains are coming from the opposite direction. They have to pass before we can continue on to B.

[00:28:55]>> Might start looking at some extra meal services for our guests.

[00:29:00]>> Thanks, sir.

[00:29:01]>> The kitchen staff shifts into overdrive.

[00:29:06]>> Oh, that's more than enough. So, this means a bit of a change. We're going to have another meal service. We're going to do a light dinner for everyone on the train.

[00:29:14]>> 540 extra meals weren't part of today's game plan, but this crew is ready for the unexpected.

[00:29:22]210 km to the south at CP Traffic Control in Calgary, controller Michael Crow works on a balancing act of his own.

[00:29:31]>> That's signal 565 565 Red Grave East.

[00:29:34]Michael manages all the passenger and freight trains on the line between Revel Stoke and Field, British Columbia.

[00:29:41]>> Number 171 on signal siding track between signal 991B and signal 97.

[00:29:45]>> I'd like to get going and cover some ground.

[00:29:48]>> When freight traffic is heavy, it's tricky to keep Rocky Mountaineer on schedule.

[00:29:53]>> The Rocky Mountaineer, it's supposed to take priority. There's 700 people.

[00:29:56]There's um passengers and stuff on there. Sometimes there's just so much traffic out there that there's nothing that you can do and they'll follow one freight train for, you know, 15, 30 miles.

[00:30:08]>> It takes an hour and a half for those freight trains to pass. Beard to stop.

[00:30:19]>> We're on our way as we hug the southshore of Wapa Lake. Nobody's complaining about the delay.

[00:30:26]This lake will be traveling along the next few kilometers or about 5 miles.

[00:30:32]>> At this time of day, there's a good chance of spotting wildlife and bears top every passenger's bucket list. These amazing animals do come close to the tracks, sometimes dangerously so.

[00:30:47]Animals is definitely an issue out here.

[00:30:49]You don't want to hit anything. There's a lot of grizzlies out on the track and if there's any kind of a grain spill out there, they like to congregate around that and feed off it and they're not too quick to get out of your way sometimes.

[00:31:05]>> A lot of grizzlies are uh you know attracted down to the railway in this particular area is there's horsetail, buffalo berries, some really um critical bear foods that are in abundance here.

[00:31:15]For the grizzly population near Bamp and Yoho national parks, foraging close to the tracks has become problematic.

[00:31:23]>> There's been 17 bears struck on the rail in the last 17 years. That's a rate that this population [music] probably can't sustain.

[00:31:30]>> Biologist Colleen Cassidy St. Clair and her team have spent 5 years figuring out how to stop bears from getting hit by trains.

[00:31:39]>> We think what happens is that animals are foraging near the rail. A train is coming, but they don't detect it.

[00:31:44]Perhaps because there's a curve or it's dark or it's raining. To understand why the bears weren't getting out of the way of the heavy freight trains, Colleen and her team set up motion sensing cameras along the tracks.

[00:31:57]>> So, these cameras we have take images about two per second and they go for about 45 seconds every time a train goes by whether there's an animal there or not. And so, we've collected over the past 9 months about 2 and a half million photos >> from all these camera images. We know how long animals stay on the track.

[00:32:17]>> All those photos revealed something amazing. The scientists discovered that a grizzly bear needed another 30 seconds to get off the tracks in time to avoid a train.

[00:32:28]>> We reached the point of realizing we wanted a detection system >> to give animals those extra life-saving 30 seconds. Colleen's team created a warning system. It consists of two devices attached directly to the rails.

[00:32:41]The speaker is on the bottom.

[00:32:44]>> The first box contains magnetic and vibration sensors. When a train passes over, a radio signal is sent to another box about 700 m down the track. That device emits visual and audio warnings to alert animals on the tracks. The results are encouraging. When the warning device goes off, they leave the tracks 5 seconds on average earlier. We think that 5 seconds could make the difference between being struck by a train and not the mood on the train is really good.

[00:33:27]There's not always a negative to actually coming in a little bit later.

[00:33:30]The mountains, the scenery, sometimes the bears, whether it's in the sunlight or the moonlight, it all looks great.

[00:33:40]Rocky Mountaineer pulls into Bamp an hour and a half behind schedule, but that extra time on board actually felt like a bonus.

[00:33:50]>> Jason Wendy, you've got a full set.

[00:33:53]>> Thank you, Jason. Wendy to the train.

[00:33:56]That is a full set break. Once again, full set break. Set up your platform.

[00:34:00]Welcome to B.

[00:34:01]>> Thank you very much.

[00:34:02]>> You're very welcome. So far, the Rocky Mountaineer has taken us on an amazing trip across rivers, through gorges, and past the Rocky Mountains. And tomorrow, we head out on a trip through the clouds.

[00:34:15]We'll go past the highest peaks in the Rockies, where I'll find out how today's technology prevents catastrophes on remote stretches of track.

[00:34:26]>> If we can prevent a failed bearing, we potentially can prevent a derailment.

[00:34:35]After an amazing train trip from Vancouver to BA on the CP line, it's absolutely beautiful. I'm climbing back aboard Rocky Mountaineer for another exciting two-day expedition along a whole new stretch [music] of track.

[00:34:50]Brendan, here we are. Jasper Station, right?

[00:34:52]>> Oh, yeah. It's nice and fresh and also quite chilly this morning, isn't it?

[00:34:55]>> It is a little bit chilly. [laughter] Jasper Station came to life in 1911 with the construction of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. This northern route was built to expand trade from the prairies.

[00:35:10]>> All aboard.

[00:35:12]>> Good morning everyone.

[00:35:13]>> Welcome aboard.

[00:35:15]>> My first trip on the Rocky Mountaineer was spectacular and I can't wait to see what this second journey has in store.

[00:35:21]We're starting off in the Rockies and rolling west.

[00:35:26]All right. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. How's everyone doing today?

[00:35:36]>> From Jasper, we'll enter Yellowhead Pass to travel a thousand kilometers past Mount Robson, the Pyramid Falls, and along the Thompson River to Cam Loops.

[00:35:46]We'll continue west on the banks of the Fraser River until finally returning to Vancouver.

[00:35:55]Let's raise our glasses and drink to new faces, new places, and a wondrous [music] journey. Cheers, everyone.

[00:36:01]>> Cheers.

[00:36:03]>> 90 minutes into our journey and we've got a terrific view of the highest peak in the Rocky Mountains. That massive, beautiful snowcap mountain behind us is Mount Robson. It's the tallest mountain in the entire Canadian Rockies, almost 4,000 meters high. And just the fact that we can see the summit right at the top there, that north face is incredibly rare. Apparently, there's only about 12 days a year where it's clear at the top.

[00:36:27]So, we're very, very lucky today. The northern rail line gave unprecedented access to the Canadian Rockies, especially for mountaineers eager to explore pristine wilderness.

[00:36:40]>> It's so clear.

[00:36:41]>> No.

[00:36:43]After 105 kilometers winding through the mountains, our train reaches Tet Janu, we now veer south toward cam loops.

[00:36:53]Locomotive engineer Ron During downshifts to half speed.

[00:36:58]>> Okay, if you want to uh put the little one on eight, I'll go to one. You want to tell Jason what's going on?

[00:37:03]>> Something's happening up ahead. Track maintenance workers are on their way.

[00:37:10]So, Chad and Robin, just uh little bit of a situation unfolding out there in front of us. We've got some track maintenance going on. If we can get out in front of it and just talk to our guests, make sure they're informed.

[00:37:21]>> Hello again, ladies and gentlemen. We are going fairly slow right now. We have a broken rail ahead.

[00:37:27]>> Broken rails don't happen that often, but when they do, the delay can really vary. If the crew hasn't got there and there's a lot of welding to do and cutting and that sort of thing, it may take much longer.

[00:37:41]>> Meanwhile, 300 km east on the line, CP Rail is implementing some high techch safety measures.

[00:37:50]This is some really cool technology.

[00:37:51][music] This is a wheel impact load detector, and we actually weigh the train and measure wheel defects on each wheel as it's passing.

[00:38:03]Each crib is instrumented with these strain gauges that measure the deflection of the steel. We can tell how heavy the train is and if there's any defects on it. If a train is overloaded or its wheel has a flat spot, the strain on the tracks could crack the rail.

[00:38:19]>> And we're weighing a train right now and we're looking at the defects on the wheel. So every THUMP THUMP THUMP THAT GOES BY IS A FLAT SPOT on the wheel that we can measure the deflection of the steel with strain gauges and we can tell how big that flat spot is.

[00:38:36]>> The data is processed and analyzed for defects on site in nearby sheds.

[00:38:41]>> We have uh radio frequency identification technology attached to the rail car. So as the train goes by that RFID tag is scanned. We know exactly which wheel needs service.

[00:38:57]609 is just starting to pull right now.

[00:39:00]West clear to stop signal.

[00:39:02]>> After a short delay, Rocky Mountaineer gets rolling again.

[00:39:06]>> But now that we are on our way, let's see more of the Rockies, shall we?

[00:39:10]>> Yeah. There we go.

[00:39:15]>> Now we're headed straight toward the tiny community of Canoe River. So, right now we're on uh Canoe River Bridge, and this is actually the site of a deadly train collision that happened back in 1950.

[00:39:34]After a stunning ride through the Canadian Rockies, we continue our return journey southward through remote forested valleys.

[00:39:44]>> Every train crew that works here has a story about almost hitting a vehicle, >> though. The area is sparssely populated.

[00:39:51]Super heavy work trucks often cross the tracks.

[00:39:55]>> So you're coming around here at 50 mph.

[00:39:57]Tandem dump trucks, they're pulling across nice and slow. They just barely clear a lot of the time.

[00:40:04]>> With today's standardized rail signaling, accidents are rare. But this wasn't always the case.

[00:40:12]On November 21st, 1950, a train carrying 338 troops headed to the Korean War was traveling on the transcontinental mainline east of Canoe River. At the same time, another train was barreling toward it on the same track. The trains collided head on.

[00:40:33]17 troops and four engineers lost their lives. And just on the other side coming up, there's actually a stone memorial to the people who died.

[00:40:45]In the decades since the accident, rail signals have been standardized. Computer systems prevent controllers from placing opposing trains on the same track, and locomotive engineers always double check their signals. Here to medium.

[00:41:08]As we venture [music] farther south, we get up close to a breathtaking site.

[00:41:14]Right now, we're hitting Pyramid Falls, a huge glacierfed waterfall. It's 90 m or 300 ft high. And the only way to access this area and get this view of the falls is by train. Wow.

[00:41:30]Three and a half hours from our final destination of Vancouver, we wind our way through the Thompson River Canyon and onto a dangerous stretch of track.

[00:41:40]>> But have a look outside as we are making our way into Rainbow Canyon and Avalanche Alley.

[00:41:47]>> We have in the next 5 miles about 33 rock sheds. These are buildings and structures over the rail that allow the rocks to fall over the train tracks right down in the river. The rock sheds were built in the 1880s, and they're still essential more than a century later. Falling rock is one thing, but the rock bed under the train presents another kind of challenge.

[00:42:13]In the springtime, you get a lot of wet weather, which pushes up a lot of mud from down under the ground there, and that makes the track very unstable. And in the hot weather in the summer when you get our peak temperatures, it moves around as well. So you need very good rock at all times to control that.

[00:42:32]>> Ballast is the crushed stone that forms the track bed on a rail line. It bears the load of the ties and stabilizes the track as trains pass over.

[00:42:41]>> This is the backbone of your tracks.

[00:42:44]This is what holds it all together.

[00:42:46]>> The team uses the monster sized rail back to make sure the ballast is in top shape. So, what you're looking at right here is us getting rid of all the bad ballast that we picked up in the track.

[00:42:58]>> The railvac removes dirty, eroded rocks and cleans them before unloading the material onto the side of the track.

[00:43:06]Then the crew lays down new ballast.

[00:43:08]>> If we didn't do this kind of work here, the track would just eventually get worse and worse. It's just definitely not the same without that ballast.

[00:43:21]Back on board Rocky Mountaineer. There you go.

[00:43:25]>> We're 40 kilometers east of Vancouver and approaching one of the largest railway yards in North America.

[00:43:32]>> We want uh and hope for a clear track through Thornton Yard so we can get to the Fraser Swing Bridge and over to New Westminster. That's our hope.

[00:43:40]>> At the west end of Thornon Yard is a swing truss railway bridge that gives marine traffic priority over trains.

[00:43:48]Coming up to the bridge.

[00:43:51]>> We've got over our last hurdle for the day and uh it's all downhill now.

[00:43:57]>> It's smooth sailing for the next 30 minutes straight to the Vancouver platform.

[00:44:03]>> This time of year when the days are shorter. The last thing you want to do is run out of [music] daylight before we arrive. And we're going to be arriving well before that. So, everybody arrives happy, uh, including the crew. After riding high into the Rocky Mountains in the lap of luxury, I've gained a new appreciation for what it took to build the railway through some of the roughest, toughest terrain in North America.

[00:44:30]>> Bye. Thank you.

[00:44:31]>> Thank you.

[00:44:32]>> Thank you. It was awesome. Thank you.

[00:44:34]Thank you, Thomas. [music] >> Wow, what a great adventure. The staff on board really do make everyone feel like VIPs. And taking in the Rockies through those glass dome cars was amazing. And the fact that a train can even travel that route up through the mountains is pretty remarkable.

[00:45:09]Heat. Heat.