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Cover story A luxury North American rail adventure begins today. Simon Calder got a preview of the coastal journey from Vancouver to Seattle
Destination, Seattle; scenery, desolation. The views that unfold from the world's latest great tourist train ride, which begins today, reveal the bleakest, best and worst of the Pacific North West.
The two leading cities of north-western North America get connected for the first time by a luxury train. The Rocky Mountaineer has until now contented itself with threading through the most scenic swathes of western Canada, conveying tourists from its home base in Vancouver to mountain jewels such as Jasper and Banff. Today, the train ventures south of the border for the first time. The new Coastal Passage tour encompasses Jasper, Kamloops, Vancouver and Seattle. It's a smart move that taps into Seattle's wealthy market, a city that is home to both Microsoft and Amazon. And the venture also adds a fascinating dimension of grand coastal scenery and forlorn backwaters that only the railroad can reveal.
On the waterside at Bellingham, for example, the debris of decline drifts past the window as though all life has been crushed from the community. A forlorn foreground of derelict warehouses and factories shows the passing traveller how time can destroy ambition. Yet a few miles on, the line reveals the mountain-strewn islands of Puget Sound in all their glorious solitude. Framed between the Pacific sky and the steely ocean that reflects it, ancient rock is draped with evergreen forest.
In contrast to the poor souls driving between Vancouver and Seattle along Interstate 5, the mainly landlocked parallel freeway, you can enjoy the drama with a glass of British Columbia's finest wines. A three-day journey encompassing Seattle, Vancouver, Kamloops and Jasper or Banff will cost C$2,869 (1,913) including meals and hotels. But last weekend I previewed the route, paying a mere $30 (20) for the 157-mile run on the existing scheduled Cascades train, which shuttles twice a day between Vancouver and Seattle along the same tracks.
The luxury train has its own terminal in Vancouver, but US border rules mean the new link must run from the city's main station. The former grand entrance and exit to Vancouver is fading, but you can still make...