eenusa

I posted this yesterday, but it never showed. I'm wondering if anyone can point me to a site to check train schedules. We plan to stop at the Spiral Mountain view overlook and it would be nice to time our stop for a time when a train is going through.

Thanks in advance.

Judy_in_Calgary

At the very outside, it's an hour between trains. But the more typical interval is between 15 minutes and 30 minutes.

There are a couple of viewing points. One is just off the TransCanada Highway, when you're on the way from Lake Louise to Field, before you reach the turn off to Takakkaw Falls. Another one is on Yoho Valley Road, the side road that leads to Tak Falls.

If I were you, I would stop at the viewing point off the TransCanada Highway. Then I would go to Tak Falls (this is something you probably would want to do anyway). If I hadn't seen a train from the TransCanada Highway viewing point, I would stop at the viewing point on Yoho Valley Road. If I still hadn't seen a train, I would stop at the viewing point on Yoho Valley Road on the way back from Tak Falls. Finally, if I STILL hadn't seen a train, I would stop at the viewing point off the TransCanada Highway on the way back to Lake Louise.

I think there's a pretty good chance that you'll see a train during one of these four viewing point stops.

Except for the Rocky Mountaineer train, which travels 3 times a week in each direction, the vast majority of the traffic on that rail line is freight. I am not aware of a published schedule for freight trains.

If you want to make further enquiries, you could call Canadian Pacific Railway. Their head office is in Calgary at (403) 319 7000. Their head office has a toll free number. Some toll free numbers in Canada are accessible from the USA and some are not. For what it's worth, the toll free number is (888) 333-6370. The Customer Service Department in Calgary is toll free (888) 333-8111.

Although I have not specifically been on the lookout for train frequency, my gut feeling was that trains came along approximately every half hour or so.

I phoned the Yoho National Park office in Field, British Columbia (250-343-6783). The man who answered the phone was the one who told me what I told you at the beginning of this message, namely that one frequently sees a train within 15 - 30 minutes, and that an hour is the very longest wait one can expect.

eenusa

Judy thanks for the information. You're a gem. We're looking forward to our visit to the Canadian Rockies - have 10 days left before we leave.

krp329

There is no train schedule. Freight trains do not travel on a schedule as passenger trains do. The spiral tunnel is on the CP (Canadian Pacific) main line, which is one of two very busy transcontinental rail lines in Canada (my husband drives trains on the other), so as Judy has pointed out, if you have some time to wait, you will be assured of seeing a train.

eenusa

Thx krp329; at the time I posted I did not realize it was freight trains -- not that it matters. I think if I am going to check out the tunnels, I might as well do it with a train going through. We'll make the time to wait if necessary.

Cruiseryyc

I don't think I've ever driven past there when there wasn't a train. You most likely won't have to wait long to see one.

SusanC

We were there about 10-15 minutes last week and didn't see one

We of course saw plenty as we were driving on the Trans Canada though. And we had to wait to exit Field b/c a huge train came though!

krp329

IMO, you don't really get a sense of the "spiral" in the tunnel unless you do see a freight train on its way through. Passenger trains are not long enough usually, but with the freights, you can see the head end of the train coming out of the tunnel and the tail end going in - one right above the other.

eenusa

Just back from our week-long trip. We invested about an hour in the morning and another hour in the afternoon for a train to come through. Our persistence paid off and we did see a train go through - it took all of 8 minutes from the time the engine entered the tunnel to when the last car came out. At one point, we had three levels of train cars in front of us. I'm glad we invested the time; without the train, you really don't get the effect.

Kerryman

We saw three (freight) trains in 30 minutes. The trees are beginning to occlud the view but you can still see everything from the one on the TransCanada Highway, however you can see very very little from the Yoho Valley road view point.