RussellEbertHandball
Flick pass expert
The Ghan needs to do what the Rocky Mountaineer train in the Rocky Mountains in Canada does and have domed carriages up above the train level roof, ie either double carriages or carriages where the glass dome sits above the top of the average carriage level.
In 1988 I caught the overnight train between Vancouver and Calgary. It was a 22 hour trip run by Via Rail a government run passenger train business which operated over Canada and used the tracks of Canadian Pacific (CP) - a private train company and Canadian National (CN) - a government train company. The big tower in Toronto is the CN Tower built by Canadian National on their land next to their tracks at the bottom of downtown Toronto.
My mate flew to Vancouver from Calgary as I had spent a week with a mutual friend 150km north of Vancouver and we had a couple days in Vancouver together. He bought me a ticket on Via Rail for $74 CAN. It was a heavily discounted special as it was late May and not peak season yet. We left about 4pm it was light until about 8pm. $74 bought us 2 bench seats that sat 4 but which folded out to make a bed, and a bunk bed type that dropped from the ceiling. Next day the sun came up about 6am and we went up to the dome carriage at about 6.30am, started ordering food and beers and didn't leave our seats until just before we got into Calgary at 3pm. The beers and food prices were reasonable and I was introduced in North American service standards. I had no problems tipping the waiters for this service. We were sitting effectively at the level of the top of the other carriages and had amazing views for the next 8 hours or so as the dome allowed us to see ahead of the train as well as either side.
Via Rail went broke in 1990 and a family company won the government tender to operate the passenger service and by Via's equipment. Over the next 3 years they researched heavily into what customers wanted, invested into new rail equipment and built the double decker domed carriages. They introduced the GoldLeaf service and the SilverLeaf service. The trip I did in 1988, with the views of where I was sitting now cost $2,500 CAN with food and beverages included and rather than leave at 4pm, you leave in the morning and you sleep over night in Kamloops. The SilverLeaf service is about $1,700 CAN. They have trips all around the Rockies upto to 7 days and most trips are in the $5,000 to $10,000 CAN range. They have won a shit load of train, travel and tourism awards since it introduced its GoldLeaf service in 1994. One day I will go back and do a week tour through the Rockies. If you like train travel you can find out more at https://www.rockymountaineer.com/
GoldLeaf service carriage you are sitting on the upper deck domed carriage
SilverLeaf service you are in normal one level carriage but have decent panoramic windows
In 1988 I caught the overnight train between Vancouver and Calgary. It was a 22 hour trip run by Via Rail a government run passenger train business which operated over Canada and used the tracks of Canadian Pacific (CP) - a private train company and Canadian National (CN) - a government train company. The big tower in Toronto is the CN Tower built by Canadian National on their land next to their tracks at the bottom of downtown Toronto.
My mate flew to Vancouver from Calgary as I had spent a week with a mutual friend 150km north of Vancouver and we had a couple days in Vancouver together. He bought me a ticket on Via Rail for $74 CAN. It was a heavily discounted special as it was late May and not peak season yet. We left about 4pm it was light until about 8pm. $74 bought us 2 bench seats that sat 4 but which folded out to make a bed, and a bunk bed type that dropped from the ceiling. Next day the sun came up about 6am and we went up to the dome carriage at about 6.30am, started ordering food and beers and didn't leave our seats until just before we got into Calgary at 3pm. The beers and food prices were reasonable and I was introduced in North American service standards. I had no problems tipping the waiters for this service. We were sitting effectively at the level of the top of the other carriages and had amazing views for the next 8 hours or so as the dome allowed us to see ahead of the train as well as either side.
Via Rail went broke in 1990 and a family company won the government tender to operate the passenger service and by Via's equipment. Over the next 3 years they researched heavily into what customers wanted, invested into new rail equipment and built the double decker domed carriages. They introduced the GoldLeaf service and the SilverLeaf service. The trip I did in 1988, with the views of where I was sitting now cost $2,500 CAN with food and beverages included and rather than leave at 4pm, you leave in the morning and you sleep over night in Kamloops. The SilverLeaf service is about $1,700 CAN. They have trips all around the Rockies upto to 7 days and most trips are in the $5,000 to $10,000 CAN range. They have won a shit load of train, travel and tourism awards since it introduced its GoldLeaf service in 1994. One day I will go back and do a week tour through the Rockies. If you like train travel you can find out more at https://www.rockymountaineer.com/
GoldLeaf service carriage you are sitting on the upper deck domed carriage
SilverLeaf service you are in normal one level carriage but have decent panoramic windows
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