May 23, Day 14, Kamloops to Vancouver
- randolf50
- May 25
- 3 min read

Having slept overnight in Kamloops, today we were boarding the train for the final time. At the end of this day, we would reach Vancouver. However, before chronicling this last rail journey, let’s tell you a few things about Kamloops. To begin with, what kind of name is “Kamloops”? The name comes from Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc, which was the name of the local indigenous people, the Kamloops tribe of the Shuswap Nation. “Kamloops” itself means “joining of the waters.” At this location the North Thompson River and South Thompson River come together to form the Thompson River. The Thompson River is the second longest river in British Columbia, and it would run alongside us for most of the rest of our journey to Vancouver. The Thompson has strong, swift-moving currents, and so it is very photogenic. Therefore, you will see a lot of photos Doug took of it throughout the trip.
Kamloops has a population exceeding 103,000. It is considered the tournament capital of Canada, because it hosts over 100 tournaments each year: hockey, cricket, other sports, and at various age levels. It is also considered a “connection city,” since it is a geographical midpoint between Calgary and Vancouver and a converging point for the Canadian Northern (CN) and Canadian Pacific (CNP) railroads. Kamloops is also the endpoint of a sockeye salmon run. Every year, millions of sockeye salmon, who were born in this area, return to the rivers near the city to spawn, give birth to the next generation of sockeye salmon, and then die. The city has an annual Sockeye Salmon Festival to commemorate the importance of this natural species to the history, ecology, and economy of the area.
We boarded the Rocky Mountaineer train in Kamloops, but at a different location than where we disembarked the night before. Also, our original set of train cars was now joined by another set of cars, and so the total number of cars and people traveling to Vancouver has grown considerably larger.
Here are some photos of Kamloops and the Rocky Mountaineer maintenance station where we began the journey.
Photos of Kamloops and Rocky Mountaineer Facilities
The Rocky Mountaineer station staff bid us goodbye from Kamloops.

Some of the host staff aboard our railcar and our breakfast companions
Matt, the senior host and tour guide (l), Karen and Roger from Nottingham, UK (c), Kent (r), the junior attendant.
This journey was scheduled to take about 10-1/2 hours, leaving at 9am and arriving in Vancouver about 7:30pm. However, it would actually take us over 13 hours, 13-1/2 to be more precise. The passenger trains in Canada, the VIA and the Rocky Mountaineer, lease track space/time from the freight railroads. And so, our train frequently has to go slower or stop altogether, to wait for freight trains to pass. This means, all of the passenger trains will run late and cannot accurately predict when they will really arrive.
Countryside west of Kamloops to the Fraser River
Osprey nests seen along the way. Ospreys are partial to the color red and incorporate red-colored items into their nests when building them. They will return to the same nest each year.
On the way to Rainbow Canyon
Strong currents are everywhere in the Thompson River

Rainbow Canyon
The Thompson flows into the Fraser, the landforms change noticeably.

Running along the Fraser River
We passed through several towns along the way, from Kamloops to Vancouver, they grew increasingly in population, the closer we got to Vancouver. The terrain changed considerably. Kamloops and portions of central British Columbia are semiarid. At the beginning of our journey, the hills had a lot of exposed rocks with sparse flora. The closer we came to Vancouver, the terrain changed to have more and more foliage, more forest, ferns, and moss on the trees and rocks. The elevation decreased, heading toward sea level and we encountered more farms.
The changing nature of our views...
At last, pulling into Vancouver Metro and then the City
The crew that took care of our train car...

Matt, senior host and guide, two chefs, Caiohme (Gaelic pronounced "Kee-vah"), and Kent. They helped to make pleasurable, the two days of train journey: from Banff to Lake Louise to Kamloops to Vancouver.

Hopefully this background will help you better understand the photos, we have shared above. The rest of our journey will take place in and around Vancouver.
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