Canadian Railroads > A Good Trip*

Some trips are just like that. You get a number of good shots but still have to ask yourself the question, "was this worth it?", and, stubbornly, the usual answer is yes. I voted early and took election week off to head up to Ashcroft and was hit by maintenance windows and low traffic levels from the port shutdowns, not to mention needing to get my car towed on day 3. For anyone visiting the area, the Sunset Motel in Cache Creek is highly recommended (the Tim Horton's that was under construction while I visited in September is now open, as well!) as I wound up having more fun in the hotel room binge-reading the entirety of Dragon Ball's manga than I did while out railfanning. Either way though, the results were still comperable to my first trip up here last November and I did manage to plug some important holes. Next time I'll be up here I'll be focusing on Spences Bridge to Lytton, hopefully by then the accursed construction work on the Transcanada will be over.

-Eastbound approaching Basque from the east side of the tracks. Was kicked out again from the west side so I think that area is completely sealed off now.
-Westbound at the same location. I've resigned myself to just getting the drone out the next time I go here in the summer.
-Wide shot of the westbound. I was dodging bad cloud luck all trip.

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-CPKC's Ashcroft local with an SD30/GP38 pair.
-Westbound CN shot through the cemetary
-Another angle of the Ashcroft Local. I picked up some groceries and headed East after this, though work orders kept the line shut down until sunset.

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-CN westbound on the west end of Kamloops.
-Next morning at Basque, an eastbound CP
-A westbound CN

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-Wider view of the CN
-MOW equipment at work
-Another CN, this time an Eastbound

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-I headed east to Walhachin. A westbound grain train rounds the bend.
-I got my car stuck here and needed to get it towed. An eastbound passes the end of the siding.
-Another westbound with a CN leader.

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-Back in Ashcroft, an eastbound passes at sunset.
-A westbound on the CN is next
-Another eastbound on the CP

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-Another CN westbound.
-As it slowed to a stop, an eastbound MOW train passes by.
-Another westbound passes by shortly thereafter.

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-On my way back to Cache Creek I saw another CP westbound coming, so I hopped up the hill and got a race.
-Next morning, a CN coal train heads through Martel

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-An Eastbound CP coal train just east of Spences Bridge
-Another eastbound in Spences Bridge
-A westbound with KCSdeM power on point at Spences Bridge

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-The same westbound a few miles west of Spences Bridge
-The shot of the trip, passing by the highway 1 construction. I got really lucky with the one-way road timing to get this shot.
-Lytton

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-Another westbound at Lytton.
-Another westbound at Spences Bridge
-West of Spences Bridge

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Outstanding bunch.
JB

-Wider shot at the same location.
-A westbound CN at Spences Bridge
-An Eastbound CP with awn SD70ACU leader just east of Spences Bridge

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-Wide shot of the same train
-Further east
-Last shot of the trip.

At that point I hung around for another Eastbound for about an hour, finished reading the Frieza arc of Z and then headed to Boston Bar for what is becoming my usual meal at JB's Drive-In. 2 hours of footage and a lot of cool cars spotted (including a few Grand Trunk and one NdeM hopper) as well as some interesting shots, though I'm grateful to be back in the states in one piece.

-Kacey

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Super scenes!
Bob

I can only say "Wow!"
jb

Fine images! Looks like it was a productive trip.
GK

GREAT shots!!

Good stuff, great lighting. The Thompson Canyon gets much better light this time of the year, compared with the Fraser Canyon north / south section.

Spent a few days in Cache Creek with a mechanical issue around 1985. Called the town taxi and spent an afternoon along the main in Ashcroft, the Museum was interesting as well. Checked Google just now and both the Gas Station and the Hotel are empty concrete pads.

t4p.

Very fine shots. Thanks for sharing.

Bob Wilcox
Charlottesville, VA
My Flickr Shots