Rocky Mountaineer Railroad
 

Help! Has anyone taken this trip? The gold leaf prices look high, but the red leaf may be reasonable. I was thinking of renting a car in Calgary, dropping off in Jasper and going by this train to Vancouver (2 days).
What does anyone think?
Thanks'
Philbill

We did the Banff to Vancouver route last year and it was fantastic.
We did travel in gold leaf and the service and the meals we thought were excellent for the price.

We spoke to an australian girl who was in red leaf, prior to boarding and again on arrival in Vancouver, she had also had a brilliant time. I think the red leaf was probably a livelier atmosphere!

The advantage of gold leaf was as you are higher you get to see more even when passing through trees etc.

I'm sure you will enjoy it - I took a book with me and never opened it - too busy looking at the scenery and spotting wildlife.

Thanks! The gold leaf looked to be a lot more expensive, that is why I was considering the red leaf. I also looked at VIA trains but they go overnight so it seems a bit pointless. Just one last quesiton. I am a little nervous about heights and wondered if it was a little 'scary' in terms of drop offs etc.. I would appreciate the feedback. thanks.

Philbill, my family and I (eight of us) took the Rocky Mountaineer two years ago - Red Leaf Service - from Banff to Vancouver. We chose red leaf because my mum is disabled and could not climb the stairs for the Gold Leaf car, and we all wanted to travel together.

There are some differences between the red/gold leaf services, such as luggage handling, quality of lodging in Kamloops (motel vs hotel), and some differences in meals and snacks. If these things are important to you, you might want to consider gold leaf service. Otherwise, red leaf was a lot of fun.

The service person for our car took special care of my mum making sure she had her meals and snacks first, and seeing to her every need. I don't think this would have been possible in gold leaf because the cars were full. We had the entire car to ourselves on the second day of the trip and could get up and move freely between seats, something that wasn't likely to happen in the gold leaf car. Although red leaf lacks a dome car, we could actually stand on the open-air platform between the cars and get great photos; something you cannot do with the Gold Leaf service. We were able to experience the fresh air of BC wilderness, hear the clickety-clack of the wheels on the rails, and get great scenic views from both sides of the train. I would not hesitate to go red leaf again. We a wonderful time.

I don't recall any drop-offs, but then I'm not afraid of heights.

I'm not overly fond of heights myself but there weren't any problems at all.

You can stand outside on the Goldleaf coaches - there is a platform downstairs at the back on each coach. I got quite a few pictures whilst going round curves of the front of the train from leaning over the side of the platform (after checking for tunnels of course).
As we were in the last car there was nothing behind so you could get some fabulous views.

I thank you for all your responses. They were so helpful. Gold leaf is sold out so we are going red. The reservation guy did say that they tend to leave vacant seats in the red leaf coaches but that all the gold leaf would be taken. Now it's on to getting a hotel in Vancouver!!
Philbill