Cranbrook on the rails

Saddling up, we made our way from Cranbrook to Kimberley, B.C. on the 26km long trail. Perfectly paved, we covered lots of ground quickly. The entertaining trail revealed stunning vistas in all directions, including views of the St. Mary’s River, and the famous Fisher Peak. Our eyes didn’t tire, but our legs finally did! A brief break in Kimberley called for a cold treat before we made our way back to Cranbrook, which was mostly downhill.

“What an experience it was to ride from one town to the next on what was previously a railway. It really connected us to a different way of life lived in the valley,” exclaimed John Pappas, after getting a taste for the trail himself.

Learn more about Cranbrook by reading these stories:
 - Cranbrook is for learners
 - How spending a night in a teepee makes you a better Canadian

Bob offered insight to each spot and look out, including how the train manoeuvred the steep crossings. Signage dots the trail for further insights to your journey as you bike the Rails to Trails path and are worth stopping to read.

Sleeping in a train

Earning a shower no doubt, we checked in the Cranbrook Prestige Hotel, ready for a bit of down time. Little did we know just how luxurious our accommodations would be. Rather than a room card, we were given a key and directions to head out behind the hotel, we’d be staying in a train car, not your average hotel room.

The exterior of the train looked perfectly restored to its original time period, with the only clue that it wasn’t in operation were the flowers adoring its porch. Peeping through the door, the restored glam, luxury and comfort screamed to us, WOW! Feeling more like we were in a big city penthouse than in a mountain town train car, the contrast was fun and more than welcome. The Prestige Hotel offers two different train car sleeping experiences, one glam (featured in photos) and more traditional train inspired, each with all the same extras including a tiled shower, soaker tub, fridge, king sized bed and big screen TV.

Train Museum

Needless to say we had an excellent sleep and were ready to see more of Cranbrook in the morning. A short walk from our accommodations is The Canadian Museum of Rail Travel. Don, our tour guide at the museum filled our minds with the rail history of the region. An impressive model railway system showcased the paths still taken from town to town and some of the older versions. Plenty of quirky stories of it creation and reasoning adorn the walls for entertaining reads. The museum also boasts some imported historical train architectural aspects, photographs and artifacts.

With 28 historical train cars, Don toured us through a selection explaining each cars purpose and design. Grinning, John soaked up unique experience of wondering through history and explained afterwards, “The biggest thrill of the museum was wandering the train cars outside. Ranging from fully restored to completely empty and some preserved, it was neat to see the many lives these rail cars have lived.”