I get asked a lot about where the crew stay. We stay in hotels in Kamloops, Jasper or Calgary. When we are on the Banff train, we don't actually stay in Banff. The crew stay in Canmore, which is not far from Banff.
In Canmore there is no station. We detrain and board at a rail crossing. We arrive at the crossing before the train, so that we're ready as soon as it arrives. We can hear the train before we can see it.
The locomotives start to slow down, the head crew will usually wave to us, the redleaf coaches go by, and if there are guests from Calgary, and if they're awake they'll wave too.
Then the TOC (Train Operations Coordinator) lines up the crew car with the crossing, the train comes to a stop and we board. Quickly. The train can only block the crossing for a certain amount of time.
And then we're away.