Royal Canadian Pacific
The Royal Canadian Pacific is a luxury excursion passenger train operated by Mount Stephen Properties, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway. It made its first run on June 7, 2000, after the CPR received the royal designation for the service from Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada.
The train operates seasonally from June to September, on CPR trackage through the Rocky Mountains in Alberta and British Columbia, and is available for private bookings only. All trains are based out of Calgary, Alberta, and use a new facility built at the Ogden Headquarters with all the heritage equipment on display. A typical excursion would be a 1,050 km route from Calgary through the Columbia River Valley and Crowsnest Pass, passing through Banff, Lake Louise, Kicking Horse Pass and before returning to Calgary. Such a trip would take six days and five nights with no operating at night in order to preserve the sight-seeing of mountain scenery during the daylight hours. The train consists of up to eight luxury passenger cars built between 1916 and 1931, and is powered by restored first-generation diesel locomotives. It was the first passenger service of any sort along this portion of the CPR's right of way since Via Rail rerouted The Canadian away from Calgary in 1990.
