The second day took us to Jasper, a mountain resort town, where there are 2 nights in Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge resort. All our hotel stays except Kamloops are in Fairmont hotels, which is partnering Rocky Mountaineer. So The Empress, the Vancouver Waterfront, the Lodge, the Chateau Louise, Banff Springs and Calgary Palliser, all have the same livery.
We parted company with the train at Jasper, as our direction is eastwards, and the track from here circles north west. The rest of the land trip will be by Rocky Mountaineer coach.
Day 2 was a little less smoky, but the haze persisted in misting up the far mountainscapes, including Canada's highest, Mount Robson. Nevertheless looking at the mostly green trees has been a pleasant pastime. Mostly green - many pines are dead brown, having succumbed to a deadly insect plague.
The common sight has been the endless freight trains in both directions. The number of bogeys, often double deck containers, exceeds anything I have ever seen before. We're told that someone counted a convoy of 188 yesterday, which is well short of the record that I understand is 253, and length can frequently approach 4 kilometres. They track priority over us and we had several long siding waits.
I found your comment about freight trains interesting. Rail gunzels often comment that Europe's rail system is "better" than North America's because the passenger service in Europe is better than in North America, but they overlook that the North American rail systems are much better at handling freight than are Europe's. Just look at all the lorries on the roads in Europe! Obviously geography is a factor in this, as is also the fragmented country-by-country ownership of the European rail network. "Horses for courses" I suppose.
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