Canadian Railroads > Few scans from 1987 trip

In May of 1987 two friends and I made our first visit to western Canada, mainly concentrating on the busy CN and CP main lines through the Fraser and Thompson Canyons, before the days of directional running.  At the time, both railroads were running at least 20-25 trains a day through the area, and meets were common, making multiple shots of trains possible.  I've been scanning a bunch of slides as part of an upcoming book project, and three from the '87 trip are attached.  Since it's been over 25 years, I couldn't decide whether to post these on the Nostalgia board or the Canadian board, so figured I'd start here.  
 
The first shot, on May 10, 1987, is of eastbound CP train 606, an 112-car train of 98 empty sulfur gons and a fill of 14 empty grain covered hoppers on the rear.  I think the spot is near Thompson, B. C.  Second shot is CP westbound hotshot 407 at Three Valleys on May 11, 1987 with a 64-car train consisting of mostly boxcars, COFC, and loaded autos, and the third is 111-car westbound coal train 813 along Kamloops Lake near Savona on May 14, 1987.

That was the first of three memorable trips to western Canada and the incomparable scenery there.

Bob
Thayne, WY

 

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The graphics on the Action Red scheme took a little getting used to, but I always liked how the red popped out of almost any background, especially green forests.

 Note the white flags on the lead engines in all three images... I believe that they would be classified as Extras, and in the first images addressed at "CP Extra 5830 East"... perhaps his Eminence could clarify...

bob

Those were the good ole days!  Being an avid SD40-2 fan, even back then I loved all those CP SD40's.  Without the directional running back then, operations were a lot more interesting too.  It all seems so steril and, well dirty now (very remote chance of getting a clean locomotive on the point).  For some reason, even a dirty SD40 didn't look bad, kind of like dirty SP power - it seemed to fit.

Excellent shots all around. First one is at MP 81.5 Thompson Sub (that's the detector at 81.9 in the background). Second is between Three Valley and Taft, at about MP 22 Shuswap Sub, and the third is approaching Savona at MP 24 Thompson Sub. The last one has seen the most change, as it's now doubletrack from around the corner through to the west end of Savona. Thanks for sharing!

Darren Boes
Lethbridge, AB
Southern Alberta Railfan

Three excellent ones.
JB

VERY NICE....!! Thanks for posting.