Canada: Rivers and rainbows on a rail trip through the Rockies

Elizabeth Ross, who teaches at Duke, watches as the train travels from British Columbia to Alberta.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Hostess Ainsleigh Dawiskiba, one of four guide/hosts in a car of 60 people, hands out a late-afternoon snack.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Marty Lesh, a retired engineer and avid photographer, gets close to window to reduce reflections and glare.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

High waters along the Kicking Horse River. Day 2 includes dozens of streams, rivers and lakes.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Passengers follow maps of the route, snooze, read and mingle, during two long days of rail travel. But the trip is seldom boring. The guides, called “hosts,” are attentive.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

The cars are roomy, with glass ceilings. This is good, till midafternoon when the cars heat up. Like the railway’s version of global warming. Heat comes in, is trapped and can’t escape. Some passengers escaped to traditional cars that were cooler and comfortable.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

The trains follow the canyons and trails discovered by First Nations (native) inhabitants as much as 11,000 years ago.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Another photo op, but be careful. Branches frequently brush the side of train and tunnels (even worse) are common.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

On Day 2, we crossed seven rivers, some of them multiple times. The waterways of British Columbia are running very full, thanks to recent heavy rains. River colors vary from browns to blues to almost milky as a result of glacial sediment.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

The greens and granites of the Canadian Rockies, as the train travels across the Continental Divide.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Along the transcontinental railway, sidings like this are common. They allow one train to pull to the side to allow an oncoming train to pass.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

One of the best photo perches imaginable: the vestibule between cars of the Rocky Mountaineer. The space grows crowded during particularly scenic stretches. But on Day 2, almost every stretch is scenic.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

The train’s staff feeds you constantly and well. Here, a dessert of apple confit, ice cream and strawberries.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

At the end of a 13-hour day, we were greeted by rain, then this, as we entered Banff, the perfect summer archway to the national park.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times))