Canada's train that takes hitchhikers -
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20221212-canadas-train-that-takes-hitchhikers. (not sure if that link will work in the
UK▸ , but I'm sure some members can find one that does
Compared with Canada's more celebrated routes, the Skeena is far lesser known. But it's one of the world's most beautiful rail journeys – and remains vital for local communities.
It was a glorious autumn afternoon when I boarded the Skeena: the sky was electric blue, the Rockies sparkling in the sun as we rolled out of Jasper and rapidly picked up pace. In the carriage vestibule, the top half of the door latched like a stable door, so I swung it open as a tornado of cotton wool spun past – dandelion heads carried off by the wind. Curling around the Fraser River – home to coho, chinook, pink and sockeye salmon – we caught the attention of a lone angler in waders who waved up from the beach-like bank. Over the first hour, turquoise rapids roared trackside, golden eagles soared and the sharp scent of balsam fir and pine whipped through the open doorways.
Late in the afternoon, while passengers were dozing or scanning for moose and caribou, the train began to slow, coming to an abrupt halt by a forest. There was murmuring down the carriage and a few passengers craned their necks to see if there had been a wildlife sighting when the train eased off again. As a flag-stop service, the Skeena had stopped to collect a mushroom picker who wandered out from the trees and flagged down the train.
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