This week’s dream: by train through the wilds of Canada

Travelling through the “extreme depths” of Canada’s western wilderness, the Skeena train plies one of the most spectacular railways in the world, says Monisha Rajesh in The Guardian. It runs between Jasper, a small mountain town in the Canadian Rockies, and the port city of Prince Rupert, on the northwest coast of British Columbia – making for a 720-mile, two-day journey. Along the way, you pass “teal-green” lakes, logging towns and old sawmill settlements; there’s plenty of wildlife to spot, and staggering views of the “ice-capped crags” of Mount Robson.

The train’s name derives from the dialect of the Gitxsan First Nations people, and means river of the clouds; it is also known officially as Train Five, and affectionately by the commuters who tend to comprise its passengers as the Rupert Rocket. It used to operate as an overnight service, but in the 1990s it started taking a break in Prince George, a large town at the midpoint of the journey, where passengers stay in hotels and reboard in time for breakfast. There are more than 30 other stops along the way, in places with such evocative names such as Telkwa, Kitwanga and Vanderhoof. The hamlet of Penny is home to nine people and four dogs, and has a station no bigger than “a Cotswolds cottage”. Elsewhere, passengers simply appear from deep within the woods “as though flagging down a bus”.

There’s a panoramic dome car at the back, with comfortable seats, books and complimentary coffee, affording wonderful mountainscape views. Here and there, black bears, “majestic” elk or moose “scarper” away into the trees, and bald eagles swoop overhead. And from Prince Rupert, it’s worth visiting the remains of ancient First Nations villages on nearby Pike Island, and taking a whalewatching boat tour. A single journey from Jasper to Prince Rupert costs from C$142 (£83); visit viarail.ca. Around the World in 80 Trains by Monisha Rajesh is published by Bloomsbury at £20.