Canadian Railroads > MLW Monday - @ "North Van", 1987

MLW Monday finds us stepping into the wayback machine for a quick trip to 1987 for a visit to the North Vancouver engine terminal.  It's November and the weather is decidely chilly. 

This particular evening in North Vancouver found BC Rail C630 704 along with M630W 726 another M630 and an M420B sitting on the ready tracks next to the shops. The consist had been assembled earlier in the evening and in about an hour the 704 and her MLW-Built sisters would be coupled to train #23, the railway's hottest freight train for a run to Prince George.

Called for around 22:00, #23 was usually away from the North Van Yard Limits by midnight. Daybreak the following day would find 23 at or near Lillooet for a crew change. Not long afterwards, the train would be clawing up the 2.2% grade of the Fraser River Canyon. By 16:00 or so (after a 2nd Crew change), the train would arrive in Prince George with it's loads and hot pig (TOF) traffic. Regular as clockwork....

Loved the Trains, loved the Alcos, loved the railway....November 10, 1985.

Brian E



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/22/16 17:53 by m420.

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Beauty of a shot Brian. I don't think I ever saw much of #23 when it ran. After I learned about the regular trains on BC Rail, an overnight stay at my Grandparents house in Squamish almost always included a late night walk down to the tracks to see the VP (Vancouver-Peace), the hotshot train that was the later era version of train #23. I would wait up until I heard the train whistle for some crossings south of town. Then race to the tracks to meet the train no matter what the weather was. Froze my butt off a few times in the winter. Lots of good memories seeing it roll past the south Government St. crossing (south end of main yard) at track speed, or the occasional meet with a southbound. Always a good train to watch with it's interesting collection of TOFC equipment and more consistent addition of extra power to the standard Dash8/SD40-2 on the point.

Mike N.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/22/16 19:39 by Helo-Mech.