MOUNTAINS, CANYONS &
TUNNELS.
 BC Rail hauls a daily
freight from Prince George to Vancouver which carries a variety of wood products. In the
picture above it is seen leaving Squamish and in the photo on the left a mid-train helper
on another train is seen. Both units are GE models which BC Rail purchased new. BC Rail
was originally an all ALCO road but then some second-hand GM SD40-2s were purchased and
more recently both new and second-hand GE units have been added.
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Both Canadian Pacific and Canadian National travel the Fraser Canyon from Vancouver to
Lytton where they then travel up the Thompson River towards Kamloops. BC Rail also travels
along the Fraser River near Lillooet. The banks are very steep and often there are mud or
snow slides so it is dangerous territory. On the left we see a Canadian Pacific unit coal
train near Hell's Gate in the lower Fraser Canyon. While on the right a southbound BC Rail
freight crosses the Fraser River bridge near Lillooet in the late evening after a 15 mile
descent into the canyon with the dynamic brakes in full use.
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| Further inland
both Canadian National and Canadian Pacific haul heavy trains through the Rocky and
Selkirk Mountains. Many of the trains are unit trains with in excess of 100 cars and
weighing over 14,000 tons. Canadian Pacific, although it was the first railroad built, has
the steeper grades especially near Field (where the spiral tunnels were built to reduce
the grade on the Big Hill) and in the Rogers Pass (where the Mount Macdonald tunnel was
built recently). The latter tunnel has obviated the need for the pusher locomotives at
Beavermouth for westbound trains. However, many of the unit trains still have two
mid-train helpers and three or four locomotives on the head end. The introduction of the
new higher horsepower AC units from GE is reducing the number of units needed.  
On the left we see a westbound, loaded coal train weighing
about 14,000 tons exiting the new Mount Macdonald tunnel. The mid-train helpers usually
return with the empty cars from Vancouver to the mines in the Kootenay region although
they are not needed on the unloaded trains. The right picture shows a westbound potash
train from Saskatchewan also with mid-train helpers entering the lower spiral tunnel on
the right as it descends towards Field BC with dynamic brakes in full use.
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The final pictures of freight trains taken in this area of British Columbia are both taken
at Field BC on 9 May 1993. In the left photo, a westbound loaded potash train with four CP
GM SD40-2s lead by 5866 has just descended through the spiral tunnels. In the right scene,
crews from both trains are changing at this division point.
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PASSENGER SERVICES.
In addition to the VIA Canadian service which operates on
the Canadian National tracks three times a week, a private company, Great Canadian
Railtours, operates a daytime, summer train from Vancouver to Kamloops, where passengers
stay overnight before proceeding either to Jasper or to Banff and Calgary. 
Here we see the eastbound train at Revelstoke ready to
climb the Rogers Pass through to Golden and on up the Kicking Horse Valley to Field and
the spiral tunnels before descending along the Bow River to Banff. It now operates with
leased GM GP40 units but here we see an earlier GE unit which has since been sold to BC
Rail.
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BC Rail still operates a daily dayliner service from North Vancouver to Lillooet and three
times a week to Prince George. The Cariboo class food is excellent. The passenger subsidy
to BC Rail was cut a couple of years ago and the dayliners are aging and may not run for
much longer. Recent rumours indicate that replacement units are being sought.
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 A second dayliner service which may also not operate for much
longer - the Malahat dayliner is operated by VIA Rail with a 140 mile daily run from
Victoria to Courtenay on Vancouver Island. Like the BC Rail service it passes through some
magnificent scenery especially as it climbs to the Malahat summit and crosses two very
high trestles in the woods. The train is seen at Cowichan station - a flag stop near
Duncan. This train comprises two dayliners as is usual during the summer season.
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BRITISH COLUMBIA FOREST
MUSEUM.
(now BC Forest Discovery Centre)
 The Duncan area also has an
operating steam engine. This year it is an 0-4-0ST # 25 but in 1997 it was a narrow gauge
(3 foot) oil-fired Shay locomotive originally operated by Hillcrest Lumber Company in the
Lake Cowichan area. The locomotive now carries visitors around a 1.5 mile circuit at the
BC Forest Museum at Duncan. Some of the grades are as steep as 4% so it provides a good
demonstration of a geared locomotive specifically designed for slow speeds with heavy
loads on steeply graded track. The museum has an excellent series of indoor and outdoor
displays showing how the logging industry has developed on Vancouver Island.
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On the left we see volunteer engineer Brian Nicol oiling the
connecting rods of the three vertical cylinders of the Shay and on the right we see
engineer Bob Symington at the controls of the narrow gauge Shay.
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CANFOR'S ENGLEWOOD
LOGGING RAILWAY.
 Canada's last logging railroad
is also found in the north of Vancouver Island with its headquarters at Woss. It is
operated by Canfor under the name Englewood Railway and hauls logs from various loading
points in the woods to the harbour at Beaver Cove. The four SW1200 locomotives are all
fitted with dynamic brakes in order to control the heavy loads of logs on the descent to
Beaver Cove. Here we see two SW1200RSs 301 & 303 with a caboose and empty log cars on
the mainline at Camp A near Nimpkish. The dynamic brake resistors and the air tanks are
mounted on the roof ahead of the cab.
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Here we see inside the cab of 303. The train and locomotive
brakes are on the left and the dynamic brake is the upper right lever. The throttle is the
central lever and the reverser is below it.
BC Rail screensaver:
We have created a BCRail screensaver in
collaboration with David Slater.
Click here for more information.Since this page was written the dayliner service has been terminated and
BCRail has been sold to CN.
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