The two day stop in Lake Louise was both a nostalgic and been there and done that moment for all of us. We all have been to this area within the last decade or so, therefore, we knew what to expect and wanted to do or not do again. The Fairmont Lake Louise overlooks the iconic Lake and glacier…it is classic RM but more than that, it was the first and only trip Ed’s mom and dad made outside of the country. Ed’s father, George, had been with the railroads since the war (WWII) running troop trains which morphed into a passenger ticket agent job (read PR/Group trains). Maxine had been with Army in a secretarial support role. Not sure what the exact purpose was, but in 1947 they came to Lake Louise on a business trip…on the Canadian Pacific and stayed in the Chateau Lake Louise, I am sure it was to stimulate tourism groups post WWII. Maxine and George would have been in their mid 20’s, childless…from rural Mississippi. Few-people from their world had traveled much farther than the state capital in Jackson (65 miles away)…let alone New Orleans or Chicago. Maxine and George were a rare pair indeed. I always like to reflect on what people think in various situations. Knowing Ed’s Mom, I am sure she thought she had arrived! She had never loved rural farm life, she was drawn to the fashion, the excitement, the glamour of big city life and travel to far off places.
Cameras for the non professional were rectangular affairs with Kodak film that was not only expensive to purchase but expensive to developed. There were about 24 pictures loving placed in a leather small photo album. Remember the corner holders we would put on the four corner, then lick the glue and place on the black album paper? Well, these pictures have survived the 76 years and could be removed intact. Old technology for the win….come on, you know you used the plastic peel and stick pages and tape in your pre phone albums…how did that work out?
I digitized all of our (and their) photos and slides in 2006. I know my children. One would hold on to them and not know what to do with them, but would never consider tossing them…the other would have tossed the 12 boxes of photo albums out, day one. Guess which adult child is which? Public Service Announcement …yes, it is tedious, but the over 100 years of pictures have been accessed numerous times by both adult children….in a digital format…speak their language. It was time well spent. Yes, I know there are companies and apps for all of that now. Use them, your adult kids will thank you…you don’t realize how important these items are until you get to a certain age.
When we have been here before, we re-enacted the various shots around Lake Louise that are in the 24 now natural sepia colored photos. Fun to watch the changes in the Chateau. One hotel is now 5 separate wings of a large sprawling complex. The architecture integrity has remained the same. Another thing, despite threat of global warming, the glacier has not additionally retreated since 1947…we have pictures. The overall density and reseeding varies, but it is essentially the same as it was in 1947, 2008, 2018 and 2023. Trees are a little bigger, but the rest seems like time stood still. It makes me nostalgic for a kinder gentler time…George, too. Maxine…only sometimes.
I guess the one surprise of this leg of our journey for Eddie was departing from the Lake Louise Train Station…remember we bussed here from the Icefields, so we were delivered directly to the hotel. The building (train station) was built around 1915…it has not changed in the 100+ years. It is one of those Heritage buildings, frozen in time, with wood fireplace, no internet…leaded diamond windows and a wood log/stone based building…as this part of the world has lots of logs and rocks, not so many bricks.. We arrived at the Train Station around 8:15 under rainy damp skies. Yesterday’s 2” of snow has melted, so the Christmas card scene is gone. The train station was warmed by a fire, and we got coffee and pastries and had an hour before the train arrived from Banff. Eddie was like a kid in the candy store…there were rooms to explore full of the telegraph machines and the various train tools that he grew up with, the Canadian Pacific China, silver and silver serving pieces were on display…we have some from the Panama Limited Railroad. Pictures on the wall were very similar to those in his memory. There are several old maroon/brown Canadian Pacific rail cars in the side lot…two had been restored and were being used as a dining car restaurant. The exterior mirrored a picture of Ed’s dad standing beside the rail car. It was a full circle moment for us both. Because I am so anal, I could actually access the phones and show Ed the train station pictures and train pictures. Neat moment.
While the daytime scenery was probably the finest 8 hours of the ride…meaning most spectacular and most photographed (Lake Louise to Kamloops), the 70 minutes at the Heritage Lake Louise Train Station was like walking back in time. At this stage of the game, we like both flavors of travel. Eddie had a moment, for sure.
Okay, I have done the sentimental moment…no funny stories…so I have to end on a funny story. When chatting with one of our train hostesses (19 year old sweet gal) and sharing our train stories on the way up, she said the best story in her first year with RM was a lady who actually brought her dog’s ashes along on the train trip. Somewhere along the way, she decided to take her dog’s ashes out onto the vestibule platform and release them into the wind…she was not the only passenger on the vestibule…remember the old adage about spitting into the wind…same holds true for Rover’s ashes. The rest of the train passengers on the vestibule were covered in doggy ashes. I guess this is when all the train managers have to be called in, along with the poor cleaning lady. So, now when they give you the safety speech everyday before the train takes off, fire extinguishers locations, emergency window exits, medical emergency, and you must wear shoes when in the aisles and restrooms, no smoking or throwing anything off the vestibule platform. I thought paper, never thought of ashes….but this is Canada…is that a thing?
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