I do not know how to answer those sorts of questions apart from finding
someone's tour diary or other unlikely finds. I do have scans of menus
indicating tour groups travelled. Since the menu was emblazoned to indicate
the train was, for example, a Shriner's tour, I assume that means the whole
train, or at least the part of the train given access to the diner was
occupied entirely by Shriners. But menus don't add no info hinting which
direction the tour train proceeded. I have no other suggestions but will
think about it.
Rob Kirkham
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From: "soolinehistory" <destorzek@xxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, August 31, 2010 6:09 AM
To: <cpsig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [cpsig] [PCL] Re: "The Mountaineer" photo, more questions
The list of Pullman cars assigned to the CP and Soo I posted last night got me to thinking (always dangerous). The first three cars of the train in the photo, the "composite" baggage-buffet and the two sixteen section cars, don't appear on that list, which leads me to believe that this is a tour group that contracted directly with Pullman, rather than with the railroads, for the cars. This little ensemble would be perfect for about five dozen people, with self contained baggage space and food service. In fact, it could even serve as accommodations while the group was staying in Banff, so that leads to the question; was such a thing possible to arrange? Were there occupied cars on the "garden tracks" at Banff on a regular basis?
I also note that the photo is eastbound, still west of Banff, which leads to another question; How much of this tour traffic came up from California and the western US? We often think of the Mountaineer as a conduit for tourists from the eastern and midwestern US, but the train also had good connections with the US roads at Vancouver, and there must have been some traffic from the west coast.
Dennis
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