The wheels seem to have just fallen off my 2007 travel plans for Canada.

I had set my heart on doing Insight's "Canadian Rockies & Vancouver Island - Gold Leaf" as it covered most of what I wanted to see, and particularly, it included the Rocky Mountaineer train trip from Jasper to Vancouver via Kamloops.
You can therefore imagine my disappointment when I looked at the latest 2007 tour dates and found that the RM has been scrapped from this tour with the VIA train being used instead.
I spoke to a friend today (who is also a TA) who has just been on the VIA (and the RM last year) and she says that the VIA is nowhere near as enjoyable and spectacular as the RM (including the fact that you sleep on the V while it travels through the scenery you have paid to see, whereas the RM stops at night and you stay in a hotel).

I then spotted Insight's "Majestic Canadian West", which I thought would be a suitable alternative as it does use the RM, but then found that it does not take the route from Jasper to Vancouver via Kamloops, but goes from Jasper to Whister via Quesnel. I 'googled' the Quesnel area and found discriptions such as 'arid plains' etc which did not fill me with anticipation.
As almost every tour company seems to use the Kamloops route, I am assuming that this is therefore the most scenic???

I would be very grateful for any informed comment on the above.
Canadian tours are extremely expensive and I don't want to waste my dollars on the wrong train and the wrong route.

Thanks in advance for any advice you may be able to offer.

I would share your disappointment! My wife and I did the Grand Canadian & Alaska Cruise in 2005

For me one of the eternal memories will be the Rocky Mountaineer and the scenery we passed through for the two day journey with the break and overnight in Kamloops. I agree if you're paying to see splendour then its pointless taking the overnight train...what's the point?

Why they dropped the Rocky Mountaineer is beyond me...somebody somewhere screwed up for the sake of a few dollars in the deal they were trying to make with the company...a mistake. I'm sure you'd pay a few dollars extra for the best. You never know they may join up with Rocky Mountaineer again when they realise nobody is booking their alternative.

Good Luck with whatever you decide.

Colleen Anne, I don't have the brochure, but I am confused. The Canadian website is very confusing showing 2 different routes.
I have never travelled by train, only by car, the road mostly follows the train tracks between Lake Louise and Kamloops and it is very scenic.
However, you see the higher and more stark, grey rocky peaks on the highway to Jasper from Banff. The road is in the valley between two mountain ranges and there is only one major climb up to the Columbia Glacier, the mountain is 3700 meters.
I travelled by car last year on the Yellowhead highway to Prince George and further. The road follows the train tracks here also, you pass Mt. Robson which is nearly 4000 m., then it is still mountainous and as you approach Prince George, the mountains are covered in spruce and fir trees, no craggy peaks. Prince George is about 100 km north of Quesnel, the train would go to PG and then head south to Quesnel and then towards Whistler.
Whistler is very scenic but the mountains are about 2500m high.
Personally I don't like Majestic Canada since it does not go through Kamloops and Yoho National Park. Kamloops in my opinion is nothing special, arid, but it becomes more scenic as you head east by the Shuswap lakes and Yoho Nat. Park.

As above, it is not Kamloops that is scenic. The reason the RM stopped there was so that you can see BOTH the Rockies and the Fraser Canyon [a very narrow gorge that the railway crawls along, going along side Hell's gate.] Both are spectacular, but if you go on the Canadian, you sleep through one of them [depending if you are going E to W or W to E]. I don't understand the change in itinerary, either.

FYI ... There are select dates on the "Canadian Rockies and Vancouver Island" tour where the Rocky Mountaineer will be used:

Canadian Rockies and Vancouver Island-VIA Rail

2007 Dates (where Rocky Mountaineer will be used):

September 3 (TG)

September 10

September 17

I am not sure your interpretation is correct, Patrick. Those listings are from the 2006 brochure [moved one day] and they say that the itinerary may be changed. I have the 2007 brochure and it does not list ANY RM dates for this tour. It does for the Majestic Canadian West, but that one goes through Quesnel, and misses the Fraser River Canyon completely.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: ZGordon,

No harm in contacting Insight to inquire whether tour code ACARA or ACAGA will be offered in 2007.

Thanks everyone for your replies;

I contacted Insight (what an effort to get through!!) as the internet info. was indeed confusing, and the girl said that it is all VIA on the 'Rockies and Vancouver Island' - no more RM. The explanation was "we are known for, and people like to experience, olde world travel like we used to do so we have changed to the different train". I must say that I thought this explanation somewhat absurd!!

At this point it looks like the "Majestic Canada" and the Quenel route or not go with Insight.
I am presently investigating other companies.

Hi Colleen Anne,
My husband and I did the tour that you originally chose a number of years ago with G..... and thoroughly enjoyed it. The Rocky Mountaineer gold leaf was fabulous and the scenery was wonderful.I feel the same as you and would not have wanted to spend my time on the train asleep as I wanted to absorb all the sights. I found the other company to be equally as good as Insight but of course the choice is yours. Hope everything works out for you and I am sure you will have a great trip whichever way you choose.
Regards Norma

Colleen,

Although our posts were g'zumped by John N, I figured out to whom you were referring and investigated further.

To my delight, I have found a marvellous trip that has RM 'Gold Leaf' via Kamloops (just what I wanted), guaranteed lake view room at Fairmont Chateau Lake Loiuse and much, much more - I'm really thrilled.

The dates also work in perfectly with my TT 'Western Discoverer' tour, so 2007 looks like being a marvellous travel year.

My dollars were lost to Insight due to the change of train - It will be interesting to see how long they stick with the VIA.