Canadian Railroads > Coal train and Scenery at Sicamous BC

Hello TO folks...

Travelling HWY#1 in BC can allow for some neat photo locations.

Going through Sicamous a few weeks ago I was able to catch this westbound unit coal train at the swing bridge.

1.CP9765 west leads 9004 and unit coal train across the bridge past the bridge-tenders' cabin.

2. CP8722 is helping from its' mid-train location.

3. CP8959 is the 2nd remote at the tail end.

Waiting in the siding is CP9646 east with a train of empty grain cars.

Thanks for looking, hope you enjoy these, and maybe get the chance to visit this area. lots of action!

611

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Hi Did you count the Coal Cars at all please??
With 4 locos, there must be more that 130 yes??

Cheers Brian in New Zealand..

CP's coal trains have been running in the 150 to 152 car range for some time now. Typically they have 4 units (used to be all big GEs, now they are substituting an SD40 variant for the second head end unit) arranged 2x1x1. The second unit on the head end is set out at Geddis, and trains continue to the coast with 1x1x1 power. I need an updated Trackside Guide...last I looked CP really was a railroad set up for 7000' trains, not these 8 or 9000 footers!

Darren Boes
Lethbridge, AB
Southern Alberta Railfan

sarailfan Wrote:
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> I need an updated
> Trackside Guide...last I looked CP really was a
> railroad set up for 7000' trains, not these 8 or
> 9000 footers!

Yup you do. On the Laggan sub, there's 7 miles of double track from Lake Louise to Stephen (new north track built in the '80s). The old siding / storage track at Gap (non-CTC) was rebuilt into a 10,659 ft CTC siding with 2 new storage tracks at the east end in the pre-EHH days. Since then a number of existing sidings have been extended to over 8000 -

Keith - 8945
Radnor - 11476
Ozada - 10295
Massive - 12000
Partridge - 9083

Massive was the latest one - extended in 2013.

Coal trains don't ply the Laggan sub but the Mountain, Shushwap and Thompson subs are pretty much the same story only with more stretches of double track. The Cascade sub is irrelevant with directional running.

They must be running longer empties as a test...at Revelstoke on the weekend I saw one with a 2x1x1x1 setup.
I did not get a car count but heard an RTC saying he had to plan on how to handle the "longer coal trains"

611

I REALLY like Pic 3!!