Canadian Railroads > Trip report - Train #1 Canadian - Part 4

The third evening we stopped in some town covered in snow - see first photo.
I am sure someone will recognize it. I think it was a crew change stop as
there was time enough to scope out the head end. Later in the wee hours
we stopped in Saskatoon to drop off and pick up passengers. The station
through track was blocked so upon departure we had to back from the station
a mile or so to a wye track arrangement and then proceeded west again.

At some location we passed by this depot (second pic) that was some distance north of the tracks.
It must have been moved or else the tracks were re-laid further south of the depot at some point.

Next stop was Edmonton where I spied this E unit, sans portholes. There were a quartet to slugs or
TEBU's in the yard not coupled up to any loke with a prime mover. The station is off the
main line a few miles north of downtown so we had to back into a wye track and back into the station.
Apparently all the downtown Edmonton tracks and structures are gone now.

More meets, more snow and a two hour broken rail delay later we finally arrived
in Jasper. This was a scheduled one hour-30 minute stop but turned into a one hour
stop as we tried to gain back some time.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/26/15 15:51 by WrongWayMurphy.

---

---

---

At Jasper there is a nice steamer (mountain type) next to the depot.

One guy on the train later told me there was a bullet nosed loke there
but it was restored and replaced with this one. Photo attached reminds
me of Steeley Dan album cover Two Against Nature.

After leaving Jasper we crossed a couple of high bridges. Pic 5 is a silhouette
of Revelstoke Park dome obs car on one of the bridges. Soon the blowing snow
started up again as we snaked though some really stunning scenery.

See pic 6, entering a tunnel.

---

---

---

I think in Jasper we gained an ex CN signalman/foamer/HO modeler/scanner operator.
After supper there was a major foam-fest in the Revelstoke Park dome. Our new
passenger kept us informed of meets and such via his scanner (he had an earpiece
so the noise wouldn't bother everyone). Our car host Jeremy added a lot to
the conversation, as did an ex-CSX hogger and a few other knowledgeable railfans
in the dome. Mrs Murphy had soon heard enough and ditched her companions but I stayed
late into the evening and soaked it all up like a sponge.

I learned a lot about CN's history, CP's route, signal ops, train handling in cold weather, and
some bloke named Hunter Harrison who's character was somewhat slandered by the group, but apparently
deservedly so.

I noted that most freight trains were powered by back-to-back lokes up front, a rare few had midtrain helpers, none I saw
had rear end DPU pushers. Pic 9 was a oddball in that it was powered with 4 units up front.

I told the guys this was unusual for me as most UP trains in East Texas have 3 or 4 up front and
often and DPU pusher on the rear. It was then I was informed, by a Canadian no less, that UP stood for
Unlimited Power. It seems the power desk on the CN is on a rather tight wire.

One more installment (Part 5) coming later.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/26/15 15:50 by WrongWayMurphy.

---

---

---

The first photo is at Melville SK, another location with a somewhat preserved Grand Trunk Pacific station. Melville is named after Charles Melville Hays, the Grand Trunk president who was lost on the "Titanic". The Grand Trunk partnered with White Star Lines, who operated steamers from the UK to Canada in competition with Canadian Pacific, so it would not have been unusual for Hays to be travelling on White Star.

The other station is the CP station at Portage La Prairie MAN., west of Winnipeg. Portage is one of the few locations in Canada where the CP and CN main lines are closely parallel. The CP main line is on the other side of that station. Some years ago, the brick CP station suffered are fire, and has been rebuilt by the community

Not to be critical but there are a couple of corrections.

Picture #5 is your train crossing the trestle over the McLeod River which is about 7 or 8 miles east of Edson Alberta (which is roughly halfway between Edmonton and Jasper). You had previously crossed the trestle over Wolf Creek.

Picture #7 is the train exiting the tunnel at the eastern boundary of Jasper National Park (about 30 track miles east of Jasper).

Picture #8 is at Henry House which about 10 miles east of Jasper.

Glad you and your bride enjoyed Canada. Come back again.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/26/15 18:17 by RayLGrinder.

Am enjoying your reports. I usually go across Van to Tor
once a year. I too have a radio (legal too, because I am also
a ham radio operator) and usually have it on up in the Dome.
A number of people figured that I was a VIA mafia! Come again,
we need you.
Sid.

Great Adventure! Its a shame Edmonton removed all the downtown rails, you'd think a city would want to have passengers/tourists to get off the train/plane/bus in the heart of their city. More people helps out the economy! But they removed the city center airport too, i guess real estate fills the pockets of more people!

It looks like Alberta put on a show for you. They seem to have had a stroke of Alberta Blue in the mountains judging from the vast postings of Kickinghorse from the Canmore - Exshaw area this past week.

Rick