Named after the Skeena River, the Skeena was VIA’s name for the train that went between Jasper and Prince Rupert. This route formed one of the legs of Canadian National’s Triangle Route from Vancouver to Jasper to Prince Rupert and then back to Vancouver by steamship. By the time VIA took over passenger service, ferries had replaced steamships between Prince Rupert and Vancouver, and Canadian National had stopped advertising the Triangle Route, probably because it didn’t own the ferries.
Click image to download a 1.9-MB PDF of this placemat.
There’s no date on this placemat, but I probably collected it when I rode VIA trains in 1978 or 1979. I rode the train in 1978, but due to a landslide I didn’t make it past Smithers, British Columbia (whose station is pictured in the photo). That was a disappointment, especially because the best scenery is supposed to be west of Smithers.