Trans-Canada Highway-TCH-04

The Trans-Canada Highway – Part 4  (TCH-04)
For Wed. April 15th,  2026

Moraine Lake

Our Trip

We have previously travelled a portion of the Trans-Canada highway from Victoria British Columbia eastward to Golden BC. In this trip we will continue following the route of the Trans-Canada highway eastward and by days end we will have crossed into Alberta, visited Calgary and reached the city of Brooks.

In this segment will highlight the following important locations or points of interest:

Kicking Horse Pass (1,627 metres; 5,338 ft) is a high mountain pass across the Continental Divide of the Americas of the Canadian Rockies on the Alberta–British Columbia border, and lying within Yoho and Banff national parks. Divide Creek forks onto both sides of the continental divide.

Spiral Tunnels: The "Big Hill"

The steep grade in Kicking Horse Pass posed a serious challenge. Under government pressure to complete the railway, and given the engineering challenges that came along with the geography, Canadian Pacific (CP) was not in a position to carve a gradual descent. A solution was reached, which temporarily allowed a grade of 4.5%. The first train to attempt the hill in 1884 derailed, tragically killing three workers. In an effort to improve safety, three spur lines were created to divert such runaway trains on what became known as the “Big Hill”. Switches were left set for the spurs and were not reset to the main line until switchmen knew the oncoming train was in control. Descending the Big Hill was challenging, but uphill trains had their problems too. Extra locomotives were needed to push the trains up the hill, causing delays and requiring extra workers. Although the mountains were a complication for CP, they were an inspiration to the many tourists who started to arrive by train. In an effort to preserve the landscape and encourage tourism, CP prompted the creation of Mount Stephen Dominion Reserve in 1886. The park was renamed Yoho in 1901. You Tubes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiShrhu8mgo  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wci2LRZyqSk

Lake Louise: Lake Louise, located in Banff National Park, Canada, is world-renowned for its stunning turquoise, glacier-fed water, surrounding towering mountain peaks, and the historic Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise. It is a premier year-round destination offering hiking, canoeing, and sightseeing in summer, and world-class skiing, skating, and ice climbing in winter. 

Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise: Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise is a year-round luxury hotel ideal for solo travelers, couples and families alike. (Located in Banff National Park). See https://www.fairmont.com/en/hotels/lake-louise/fairmont-chateau-lake-louise.html

Moraine Lake: Moraine Lake is a stunning, glacier-fed lake in Banff National Park, Alberta, famous for its intense turquoise water and surrounding Ten Peaks, accessible only by shuttle, tour bus, or biking from mid-June to mid-October. Located 14 km from Lake Louise, it is a premier spot for hiking, canoeing, and viewing from the Rockpile. https://www.banfflakelouise.com/experiences/moraine-lake

Banff: (Town in Alberta): Banff is a resort town in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada, in Alberta's Rockies along the Trans-Canada Highway, 126 km (78 mi) west of Calgary, 58 km (36 mi) east of Lake Louise, and 1,400 to 1,630 m (4,590 to 5,350 ft) above sea level. https://banff.ca/ 

Fairmont Banff Springs:  For reservations please visit: https://www.banff-springs-hotel.com/ 

Calgary: (City in Alberta). We’ll take a quick tour of the city and a few poi.  Calgary is the largest city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, making Calgary the third-largest city (after Toronto and Montreal) and the fifth-largest metropolitan area in Canada. We’ll visit downtown Calgary as well some of the other sites around the city such as the Calgary Stampede location, Olympic Oval (1988 Winter Olympics).City of Calgary YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzS586I-N7k

(After our tour of Calgary we’ll head eastward back on the Trans-Canada Highway route to the town of Bassano and to our destination in the city of Brooks Alberta).

Aircraft

Airports/Route: Departing CYGE CYBA CYBW CYYC CEH4 CEN2 CYBP. (331 nm) Recommend utilizing a fixed wing (or helicopter) to be able to cruise at @ 150+ kts. It might be nice to again try the latest Bksq Caravan, Bonanza or Aerostar in this trip. The Caravan is not too fast or too slow and has an unobstructed cockpit view to see the sites but as always please fly your aircraft of choice.

FP, itinerary, etc can be found HERE.

Add-on Scenery: 

(All airports are in the default sim except BANFF*! (Banff add-on is required). There are a few other scenery adds that provide some eye candy if you wish!!) (Payware is NOT required but if you have it, please feel free to use it!) 

CYGE-Golden: https://flightsim.to/addon/43796/golden-airport-cyge (by 55tom55)

CYBA-Banff*: https://flightsim.to/addon/99754/cbyw-banff-and-area (by Misfit79)  (Required)

CYBA-Scenery upgrade: https://flightsim.to/addon/4923/cyba-banff-scenery-upgrade (by Misfit79)  (Lots of libs)

Fairmont Lake Louise: https://flightsim.to/addon/4100/lake-louise-canada-fairmont-chateau  (by zrb)

CYYC Calgary: Default works fine, (No Freeware add-on found) (Payware is available: FsimStudios or Simaddons )

Time and Weather
Prefer to fly real weather if possible but if not, the few clouds, high clouds OR Jeff-Partly Cloudy-Jeff-1.wpr preset (included) would make a nice choice.  For takeoff: set the simulator time to @1630 (ish) local.  (This time simulates early dusk and sun will be behind us yet we should have enough daylight to make it to our destination at Golden under VFR conditions).

Multiplayer Particulars
Date and time: Wednesday, April 15th, 2026 – 1900 UTC

AVSIM Discord Server: https://discord.gg/K5Vy6UxWNm - AVSIM GROUP EVENTS-WED. COM1
Microsoft Flight Simulator Multiplayer: SOUTH-EAST-ASIA Server

If you want to help others enjoy the multiplayer experience, don't forget to enter your aircraft details on the multiplayer spreadsheet (linked here). Your courtesy will save others a lot of time and effort. Thanks!

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Town of Banff

Norm Richards

April 8, 2026

Edited April 8Apr 8 by nbrich1