Help with planning train trip thru Canada
 

I am trying to plan a 6-8 day train trip in October somewhere between Winnipeg and Calgary or Edmonton. We do not want to go on one of the train tours but want to plan our own with daily stops in charming towns, no big cities, and beautiful scenery. Has anyone on this forum done this and made an itinerary? or have any suggestions? thank you

Back in 2012 I took the Via Rail train from Vancouver to Jasper and then from Jasper to Toronto (and Ottowa and Montreal). No reason you can't make more stops. You need to consult the timetable, for instance: https://www.viarail.ca/en/plan/train...ate=2023-07-28

There is also the private, more expensive Rocky Mountaineer: https://www.rockymountaineer.com/routes_destinations

I think there are not many scenic stops in Saskatchewan but an interesting one could be Watrous. It is 3 miles from Manitou Lake which is a salt lake. There is a spa there where you can soak in the mineral waters, get massages etc. There are also lodge rooms. In the 20’s and 30’s it was a very popular destination spot. There is still an old dance hall there which I believe still holds dances. The dance floor has a layer of horse hair under it.
It’s not exactly charming, but definitely unique.
The native Americans used it as a healing spot to relieve fevers from small pox and is a spiritual place for them.

Thank you both. I had looked at viarail but it was hard for me to tell exactly where it stopped and a lot of the point to point areas i researched were sold out.
Sunburn, that is exactly the kind of info i most wanted, thank you.

I'm not entirely sure what you're seeking exists in western Canada, to be honest. Your only choice is Via Rail in October. The Rocky Mountaineer is a luxury two day tour from Vancouver to Jasper or Vancouver to Banff, with one overnight in the small city of Kamloops, but it's only a summer train and again, not one where you can choose where you want to get off.

From my understanding, Via Rail's trains depart once every 3 days or so, so you can't really do daily hop-on hop-off visiting towns but be at the mercy of the train's schedule. When you get off at a town, like Jasper, you're there for three days. I know the trains have scheduled stops at the major cities (i.e. Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, etc.) and they may have some stops at smaller communities, but I'm not sure they're frequent stops. I think most of the smaller towns aren't of the charming nature but are resource extraction towns - small farming towns, remote blue collar mill/forestry towns, oil refinery towns, etc. That's because Via Rail doesn't own its own tracks, it uses the freight train tracks. So a lot of the towns along those tracks are industrial by nature. The exception is Jasper, in Jasper National Park in the Rockies, and Smithers, the mountain town between Prince George and Prince Rupert. But you'd need a car to get around once you're off the train, especially if you're going to be there for three days until the next train. Public transit doesn't really exist.

I stayed in Jasper without a car. The town itself is walkable, and you can sign on to day tours. That said, if I were staying there again I would rent a car. https://mytimetotravel.wordpress.com...mmm-mountains/

When I looked at Via Rail timetables there did seem to be fewer trains.

The town of Jasper is certainly walkable, but I wouldn't want to be there for three days without a car. The whole purpose of going to Jasper isn't to stay in the town (which is definitely charming, but it's so tiny, and essentially exists to serve tourists) - it's to visit the wilderness in Jasper National Park, where most lookouts and points of interest are at least an hour drive away from the town. In October, I'm unsure of how many day tours operate, so you'd really have to dig deep and see what is feasible there if you were to step off the train there for 3 days.

Thank you. That explains my problem. I thought i just wasn't choosing the towns that had train service. Is that true of all of Canada? I want to take a trip like i have in England where you just hop on a train and get off off a few hours later and spend a night or two.

The situation is completely different. The distances are much greater in Canada, and the population density much lower. There are few passenger rail lines, and in much of the country, few trains using them.

Suggest reading this: https://www.seat61.com/Canada.htm

Thank you.

Start your 6- to 8-day rail journey in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and tour the city's historic landmarks. Visit Dauphin and explore Riding Mountain National Park to discover nature. After that, go west to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, a quaint city with a thriving art scene and river valley trails. For even more breathtaking natural sights, consider spending a day in Lake Louise or Banff. Then, travel to Edmonton or Calgary, both of which provide a combination of outdoor activities and culture. This itinerary was carefully chosen to guarantee lovely cities, breathtaking scenery, and an unforgettable Canadian journey.

Thank you! that is very helpful. I will research train times and try to follow this itinerary. it sounds pretty close to what we want to do. May see if i can add Watrous also

Where are you from, P_Texas? I assume Texas? If so, Canada's got more in common with the USA than it does with England. There are frequent trains connecting major cities in eastern Canada (i.e. Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, etc.) but out west, it's very sporadic departures. But in general, nowhere in Canada offers European-like train travel.

I do love Brian's itinerary above, but I'm a bit confused because you won't be able to do that itinerary fully from a train. You can get to Winnipeg, Saskatoon, and Edmonton by train by Via Rail, but you'd have to rent a car and drive to Calgary, Banff, Lake Louise, Riding Mountain National Park, etc. Like Texas, the Canadian prairies are a vast area developed for cars. It's the cities (Edmonton, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Dauphin) you visit by train with 3 days in each city between train departures.

Thank you for the info. I see so many ads for "scenic Canadian train tours" that i assumed they were ubiquitous. We just wanted to plan it ourselves instead of going on a tour.