Where was I? - it's Western Canada

[ac6000cw]

Just a bit of end-of-the year fun - I shot the video below a few months ago from a hotel room, facing south towards downtown. This small city has the historic trans-continental mainlines of two major railway companies running through it, one on each side of the river, and also has passenger trains on both mainlines.

So where was I?

(For the diesel nuts, just turn up the volume and feel the bass from those big GEs as they rumble out of town )

(For those who can't wait, all is revealed in post #4 - https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/where-was-i-its-western-canada.158736/#post-3282374 )

 

[ac6000cw]

OK, I'll make it a lot easier

The mainline we're looking at is the orginal Canadian Pacific (CP) route in western Canada (completed in 1885), the one across the other side of the river is Canadian National (CN), completed about 30 years later.

The CP route runs east-west through town, the CN route runs north to west (it turns through 90 degrees as it passes through), then both routes run roughly parallel west of here using the same river canyons until they reach the Pacific coast at Vancouver, BC.

Here is some video in daylight at the same location - at the beginning we're looking west, with the hotel car park on the right, standing on the fancy-looking footbridge (with the CP offices and crew hotel behind the camera - on the right after the camera turns around to face east):

CP 5019 in the middle part of the video, pulling the short train into the yard, is a recent Progress Rail SD30C-ECO rebuild (using an old EMD SD40-2 as a core)- it's like taking a class 59 and replacing the engine, cooling system, and traction control system with the versions from the latest class 66. Otherwise CP in this part of Canada is an almost entirely GE-powered railway, using ES44AC and older AC4400CW locos. The yellow Union Pacific locos at the end are 'run-throughs' from the US (2 x ES44AC).

 

[ac6000cw]

One of the passenger train that runs through town (and is an overnight stop for the passengers on it) is this one, seen on the western side of Roger Pass:

Rocky_Mountaineer_west_of_Rogers_Pass by ac6044cw, on Flickr

Love that paint scheme (the locos are EMD GP40-2LW + GP40-2)

 

[ac6000cw]

The answer to the 'Where was I?' question for the posts above is Kamloops, BC, western Canada - to be precise the location is here: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.6774904,-120.3348283,19z
We were staying at the Sandman Signature hotel, and the content in the two videos above were taken from either our hotel room window or the 3rd Avenue footbridge.

As a reward for your patience , here is more video (taken somewhat further east) of the Rocky Mountaineer plus two freight trains, on the western side of Rogers Pass:

This is an edited version of about 15 minutes of near continuous train activity at 'Ross Peak' (89.9 railway miles west of Field, BC) on the Canadian Pacific Railway 'Mountain Subdivision'. This is the point where the separate tracks through the Connaught and Mount MacDonald tunnels split/join on the western side of Rogers Pass. It's a 2.2% gradient against eastbound trains (like the one starting from a standstill in the middle of the video).

Recording this was pure 'right place, right time' luck - we had been exploring the Rockgarden Trail nearby when I heard the eastbound freight arrive, so we drove a short distance up the road and I got the camera out...

 

[ac6000cw]

Time for some more video from the trip - this time further east along the Canadian Pacific Railway mainline in Golden, BC (about 55 miles east of Ross Peak, https://*******.com/y96tbg8o ) and Field, BC (another 35 miles east, https://*******.com/y7mzkbur ).

A couple of grain trains rolling into Golden from the east, and an eastbound potash train departing from Field at the start of it's climb up the 2.2% gradient on the west side of Kicking Horse Pass.

The pastel blue colour of the river is caused by the minerals dissolved and suspended in the water, and is fairly common in this part of Canada.

 

[ac6000cw]

Continuing east for 24 miles or so, after climbing over Kicking Horse Pass and passing through the tourist hotspot of Lake Louise (more video from there later), we arrive at the well known railway photography location of Morant's Curve (named after Nicholas Morant, a CPR staff photographer who used it often for publicity shots - you can see why in the video).

So it's time for a few trains at Morant's Curve ( https://*******.com/yb9nfmov ), Castle Mountain ( https://*******.com/ybrbnhyd ) and Banff ( https://*******.com/ya5f7o82 ) on the Canadian Pacific Railway 'Laggan' subdivision in Alberta, Canada.

(If you haven't experienced a double-stack container train 'in the metal', the first Banff clip should give you a good impression of how 'intimidating' a 20 foot high train can be...)

 

[ac6000cw]

Jumping back to the early part of the trip, I was lucky enough to see a few trains at Whistler and, further north, Lillooet on the Canadian National (originally BC Rail) route heading north from Vancouver. This is a secondary route with maybe 1-2 freights a day each way plus a Rocky Mountaineer train on some days.

A CN freight heading south through the Rocky Mountaineer station at Whistler, pulled by an ES44AC-SD60-ES44AC combo:

CN #2935 at Whistler by ac6044cw, on Flickr

The northbound Rocky Mountaineer just north of the station:

Whistler - Rocky Mountaineer by ac6044cw, on Flickr

Pedestrian, cycle and ski path crossing protection, Canadian style (and a nice view while you're waiting):

Whistler_crossing_1 by ac6044cw, on Flickr

The next day we drove north through a rather wet Pemberton, BC (no trains, but a very nice bakery & cafe in the station building):

Pemberton_station_1 by ac6044cw, on Flickr

...then we arrived in Lillooet, BC to find the yard fairly empty, but the 'Kaoham Shuttle' train standing in the station (on the right):

Lillooet CN yard and station by ac6044cw, on Flickr

The 'Kaoham Shuttle' connects communities along the 25 km long Seton Lake (with poor or no road access) to Lillooet:

Lillooet - Kaoham Shuttle close-up by ac6044cw, on Flickr

Seton Lake (note the railway along the lake shore on the right):

Seton Lake (near Lillooet) by ac6044cw, on Flickr

We were having lunch across the other side of the valley from Lillooet town when train headlights slowly came round the curve into the yard - a northbound freight :

Lillooet northbound arrival by ac6044cw, on Flickr

The locos were cut off the train and proceeded to shunt the rear loco into a yard track. This was the same set of three (CN ES44AC #2805, SD60 #5456 and ES44AC #2935) that I had seen two days earlier heading south in Whistler:

Lillooet CN ES44AC #2805 by ac6044cw, on Flickr

The remaining two locos (SD60 + ES44AC) rolling back towards the train:

Lillooet CN SD60 #5456 by ac6044cw, on Flickr

 

[ac6000cw]

A video taken at the same time as the stills in the post above, in Whistler and Lillooet, BC, Canada is here:

I do rather like the black, red and white CN livery - simple but effective (even better if they keep it clean...)

 

[ac6000cw]

After that Canadian National diversion, it's time to get back to the Canadian Pacific mainline - this time at Lake Louise, Alberta (yes, that expensive, overrun-with-tourists place nestled in the mountains to the east of Kicking Horse Pass). This was the location of one of the original surveying and construction camps when the line was built in the 1880's, and the railway company turned it into a tourist hotspot by building a large hotel alongside the lake (which is in the mountains 1.7 miles to the west of the railway) in 1899. The ex-CPR hotel is now the 552 room Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, fully equipped with eye-watering room rates... (we didn't stay there).

When I was looking through the video from the trip, I realised that I had recorded the entire passage of a unit potash train though here. So in a change from my usual 'just keep the noisy bits' editing style, this is the whole eight and a half minutes it took this long, heavy train to climb past Lake Louise village. From when it emerged from the trees to the east until the sound of the tail-end DPU locomotive faded away on its way up Kicking Horse Pass to the west. Makes a change from short 125 mph trains whizzing past in seconds in the UK...

My best guess is that there is about 17,000 to 20,000 tonnes of train here (each loaded hopper car weighs about 130 tonnes), hauled and pushed by four 4400 hp, AC traction drive GE diesel locos (AC4400CW's). You would need about 6 class 70's, 9 class 59's or 11 class 66's to match the continuous low-speed tractive effort of those four locos (or 16 class 37's - can I book my grandstand seat now please? ). Note the loud squealing/screeching noises as the locos go past, on dry rails they are already into controlled wheelslip, doing 11 mph as the tail of train goes past the camera - this is 'on the limit' freight railroading...

 

[ac6000cw]

Moving west over to the other side of Kicking Horse Pass, we arrive in the village of Field, British Columbia ( https://*******.com/y98wgbqh ). This is a crew-change point and the boundary between the 'Laggan' and 'Mountain' subdivisions of the CPR mainline. The scenery around here is stunning - mere photos and video don't do it justice...

When the line was originally built in the 1880's, they didn't have the money to dig long tunnels etc., so it had (operating and safety nightmare) 4.5% gradients on the west slope of the pass. Twenty years later they'd had enough of that, so in 1909 they dug two spiral tunnels inside the mountains to allow the railway to double back on itself twice during the ascent, doubling the distance but lowering the gradient to a manageable 2.2%.

This video follows an eastbound intermodal train as it arrives in Field, changes crew and departs on it's climb up the pass, then we see it again (an hour later) at the summit ( https://*******.com/ybs5apcs ), 12 miles from and 1200 feet higher than when it left Field.

 

[ac6000cw]

A few stills from around Field, BC.

Looking west, an intermodal double-stack arrives in the yard (with a set of 'Autorack' car carriers on the tail - they are visible in distance as the train curves around the river)

An intermodal train at Field, BC by ac6044cw, on Flickr

On another morning, an engineering train is being shunted in the yard:

Work train at Field - 1 by ac6044cw, on Flickr

A close up of the 37 year old, very faded and travel weary EMD SD40-2 (left) and relatively pristine GE AC4400CW (right).

SD40-2 and AC4400CW at Field by ac6044cw, on Flickr

The SD40-2 was EMD's best-ever selling model, with nearly 4000 built (the UK class 59 is mechanically & electrically basically the same, but with a large exhaust silencer added). If you want to hear the original hard at work, here are four of them pushing a coal train in the eastern US mountains -

Some of the local wildlife made an appearance - a small herd of Elk cross the river:

Elk at Field, BC by ac6044cw, on Flickr

Looking east towards Kicking Horse Pass, the train on the right is rather insignificant against the majestic mountains. The Trans-Canada Highway is on the left side of the valley, the railway climbs on a 2.2% gradient up the right side of the valley (in the trees) on a ledge carved into mountainside.

Looking east from Field, BC - 1 by ac6044cw, on Flickr

An eastbound, presumably empty, potash train heads out of Field at the start of the climb up the pass, led by two ES44AC's (the second one from Union Pacific in the US). Although these two are nominally the same design, the CP one has self-steering bogies - note the linkages on the bogie sides - whereas the UP one has standard bogies:

Field_east_departure_5a by ac6044cw, on Flickr

You can see the upward slope of the train as AC4400CW #8500 pushes hard on the rear:

Field_east_departure_2 by ac6044cw, on Flickr

I saw the same loco (#8500) four days later pushing on the rear of another potash train (heading west this time) - see the 'Potash Train at Lake Louise' video earlier in the thread.

 

[ac6000cw]

The second part of the video from Field, BC and also at the summit of Kicking Horse Pass. The weather deteriorated noticeably during the day (this was recorded on the same day as the Lake Louise potash train video above), with strong gusts of wind at times. I retreated to the car to record the second train at the summit, as the wind was moving the tripod too much and blowing a lot of dust around - after that we retreated back to Lake Louise for some hot coffee .

It's the 3181m Mount Stephen in the background. The village of Field is at 1256m elevation, and the summit of the pass is around 1620m. For comparison, the Pass of Drumochter - highest point on the UK railway system - only 452m elevation.

 

[ac6000cw]

Moving further west, between Salmon Arm and Revelstoke, BC is the site of the 'last spike' ceremony at Craigellachie, BC which marked the the completion of the Canadian Pacific transcontinental railway line in November 1885.

A group of Far Eastern tourists around the commemorative monument:

The Last Spike Memorial at Craigellachie, BC by ac6044cw, on Flickr

The gift shop (with a short section of track outside to practise your 'spike driving' abilities on!):

Craigellachie - Last Spike by ac6044cw, on Flickr

The westbound Rocky Mountaineer train rolls past:

Rocky Mountaineer at Craigellachie, BC by ac6044cw, on Flickr

...and a short video of the roll-by:

And after we got to Revelstoke - the front and back of a loaded grain train climbing westwards out of the town, using the modern low-grade line (versus the 2%+ gradient of the original 1885 line, which is still used by eastbound, downhill, trains). I think it's the 2400m high Mount MacPherson in the background:

Climbing west out of Revelstoke - 1 by ac6044cw, on Flickr
Climbing west out of Revelstoke - 2 by ac6044cw, on Flickr

(The front pair are AC4400CW's, and that CSX ES44AC on the rear is a long way from its home rails in the eastern US...)

 

[ac6000cw]

Time for some video from around Revelstoke, BC - this first part is a selection of trains at three different spots west of the town (between there and Three Valleys Lake), all recorded one sunny morning:

 

[ac6000cw]

...and this is part 2 - an eastbound double-stack intermodal passing Greely - https://*******.com/ydedh7pu - at the start of the long, 40 mile, climb to Rogers Pass in the late morning, and a westbound loaded coal train grinding upgrade just west of Revelstoke as it climbs out of the river valley - https://*******.com/ydbc959s - in the twilight of early evening:

Interesting contrast in the loco 'music' for the two trains - the intermodal has mostly the older AC4400CW's (powered by V16 7FDL-series diesels), the coal train mostly the newer generation ES44AC's (powered by V12 GEVO-series diesels). The noise from the rear loco of the intermodal as it disappears into the distance has a nice aggressive edge to it...

 

[ac6000cw]

Moving on westwards, past the touristy town of Salmon Arm:

The pier at Salmon Arm, BC by ac6044cw, on Flickr

(The railway line follows the edge of the lake, from the mountains on the left to those on the right, around behind the camera)

...then on to the main event, the 9 mile climb over Notch Hill. I had to wait hours to get a westbound train here, but it was well worth it (at least the sun was shining!) - it's a pretty epic grind with a heavy train:

Interestingly, two of the three locos on the train were 'foreign' Union Pacific units (from south of the border).

 

[ac6000cw]

I've consolidated the content from the 'Kamloops' videos in the first two posts of this thread into one movie, and added a couple more trains (one from an earlier visit in June 2012, when the hotel we stayed at in 2017 was still under construction). So this is a selection of freight trains rolling through downtown Kamloops, British Columbia ( https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.6774904,-120.3348283,19z ):