west coast railway heritage park

west coast railway heritage park印象

• 

  cwatson123

  I visited the heritage park on a whim with my girlfriend on an impromptu jaunt to Squamish. We didn't know what to expect for sure, but thought it would be good as we relied upon Tripadvisor reviews, which are generally decently reliable. There was an event in the roundhouse which mean that it was off limits and therefore this review is exclusive of that space.Descriptions that I read on the website made me think that this was a park of restored rail cars for train enthusiasts. Train enthusiasts must love trains, right? Not at this park, it seems. Instead of a collection of authentically restored train cars (like the museum in Cranbrook is trying to be), this is instead a collection of train cars renovated to be museum spaces for what seems to be for committee members to display their trinkets and describe the history of rail in British Columbia. There is a mishmash of nicely restored buildings, large volume of train cars displaying trinkets, a few 1990's cleaned up passenger cars (not much different from today, believe me), a few unrestored cars, and one single restored mail car that you can venture into.This park screams of design-by-committee, as it is not at all cohesive or organized, and most cars can barely be described as restored .If you are interested in a bunch of rotting trains and trains renovated to be long exhibits of railway trinkets, come check it out. If you want to instead experience railway transportation as it once was, there are better places to visit within 750km.

• 

  janices151

  I purchased a Groupon for admission for four into the West Coast Railway attraction. My husband and I drove to Squamish with the grand kids in tow. However, when we arrived, we were told that the usual attraction was not available and that the site was taken over by the special event of the Polar Express. Their website does not state this and indicates that the attraction is available every day except New Years and Christmas. It would be extremely helpful to have a monthly calendar available on the website. When I asked when the "regular" attraction would be available, the person at the ticket counter could not provide a specific date. This facility is maintained and operated by volunteers. Consequently, they deserve praise for keeping it running. However, there are glitches, as stated above. We opted not to purchase the Polar Express tickets, which at $27 and $35 per seat can add up for a family of four or more. All seats are priced the same. It would be better to provide a child's price, I believe. Most of the children I saw were quite young. There was some gouging going on - $5.00 to park and, ridiculously, $2 to walk through the coal compartment of the Royal Hudson. We were allowed to go into the Roundhouse which had been beautifully decorated with lights and miniature trains. Obviously a lot of work for the volunteers to create. The young grand kids got to visit with Santa and Mrs. Clause and the seniors dressed as elves, staffing the event, were very pleasant. Because we did not opt to purchase the Polar Express tickets, we could not go on the miniature train in the Roundhouse. Visiting the Roundhouse was enjoyable and, definitely worth what I paid for the Groupon, but I wish that communication about what is occurring at the Railway was clearer and that the Polar Express option was less expensive.

• 

  948dall

  This is a great place to look at old trains and train equipment. The replica round house contains the engine of the Royal Hudson Steam train and several vintage cars and train cars. They have some Bud Cars which were self-propelled passenger cars that used to go from North Vancouver to Lilloett in the old days. They also have a miniature train that circles the park.

• 

  580terrys

  Even if trains are not your thing, this is attraction provides lots of interesting facts about the region and the railway.Some excellent exhibits and even interactive (you can be a train driver).Easy to locate with good facilities.

• 

  inesez696

  Went there on a whim and what an awesome, interesting museum! I`m a fan of staged museums with plenty of artefacts in their relevant historic setting, and this is one of those! So much to see, you`ll easily spend good 2-3hrs there.

• 

  Cuhpe

  My wife and I went on this trip with some friends and found it to be a very pleasant way to share a holiday experience. The staff were very nice and helpful with questions about the trip and the history of the train. The commemorative Polar Express mugs were a nice surprise and a reminder of the experience. Hopefully in the future the trip will be expanded to include more Christmas or polar themed features.

• 

  dldcw2

  We spent a couple of hours at the museum in August. It had a small collection of locomotives and train cars from about the mid 1900s. We would have liked it better if there were a locomotive or two from a much earlier time, and if more of the train cars were refurbished inside instead of just the exterior. But, considering this is primarily a labour of love, we thought they were doing an outstanding job.

• 

  Sbadger

  I took my kids on this adventure.I opted to pay the extra money and get the First Class seats for us. We arrived and were escorted into the First class waiting area which was nicely decorated then we proceeded to Coach 1 where we were greeted by the conductor who looked just like Tom Hanks in the movie. We were escorted to our seats promptly. During the duration of the ride we were served hot chocolate and some chocolate cookies while the Hot chocolate song was playing. We were also given some collector mugs to take home. The ride itself was quite slow as they had to stop and flip a few switches which wasn't a huge deal. The train itself is great but my only complaint is this. I came from over 2 hours away for the 1 hour ride which was shortened y some inconsiderate people who there late and whoever decided to wait for them.Making a whole train full of people expecting a 1hr long ride, wait an extra 15 minutes for someone who cant be decent enough to show up on time seems rude itself.

• 

  abdnz

  While staying at Whistler we made the hour long bus trip down to Squamish to visit this railway heritage park. We were not disappointed.A number of carriages were open for viewing the exhibits set up inside. This park features a roundhouse housing a big locomotive and two carriages.Outside is a number of locomotives, carriages and other railway equipment including a snow plough. There is a mini railway to ride for the kids and the older ones as well.We spent over three hours in the park but could have spent longer.If travelling by Greyhound bus to Squamish to visit the park you need to get a taxi from the Squamish Greyhound depot. Staff at the depot will ring for a taxi. The cost is between $8 and $10. The park is open from 10am to 5pm dailyThe Rocky Mountaineer train does not stop at Squamish.

• 

  Arena1937

  The guide we had was excellent and gave us a real history lesson in what the conditions the miners had to work under from years past to the present. We saw the equipment that was used and a film of the miners at work and also showed us samples of the ore. You could also pan for gold.