Home | Open Account | Help | 317 users online |
Member Login
Discussion
Media SharingHostingLibrarySite Info |
Canadian Railroads > Thompson Canyon RevisitedDate: 06/18/09 09:30 Thompson Canyon Revisited Author: cp1400 I had a day to spend in the Thompson River Canyon a few weeks ago. Traffic was pretty busy, especially for eastbounds. I did manage to catch a couple of westbounds that showed up in scenic places several times.
1. CP grain empty between Drynoch and Spences Bridge. 2. CN 799 between Basque and Martel. 3. CN 799 meets CP 198 near Drynoch. cp1400 Date: 06/18/09 09:33 Re: Thompson Canyon Revisited Author: cp1400 4. The Rocky Mountaineer was eastbound on this day seen east of Drynoch on CP track.
5. CN train 301 near Seddall. 6. Train 301 at "The Frog" cp1400 Date: 06/18/09 09:35 Re: Thompson Canyon Revisited Author: cp1400 7. CN train 301 west of Morris approaching the White Canyon.
8. CP train 101 at Morris on CN track. cp1400 Date: 06/18/09 09:38 Re: Thompson Canyon Revisited Author: cp1400 9. CP train 101 crossing the Thompson River at Lytton.
10. A meet at Cisco. I missed the over/under power shot by less that 30 seconds. Thats all for now. cp1400 Date: 06/18/09 10:51 Re: Thompson Canyon Revisited Author: sooman1 Shot number 9... is this the bridge that was severely damaged 2 or so years ago? If so they have rebuilt it with all the new saftey rules in mind, eg, walkways, railings, etc..
bob Date: 06/18/09 11:30 Re: Thompson Canyon Revisited Author: goneon66 outstanding photos. thanks........
66 Date: 06/18/09 12:20 Re: Thompson Canyon Revisited Author: TCnR Great photos. I'm long overdue for some photo-Ops up there.
Photos 3 and 4 show an older road a little ways down the slope, I've always wondered if this is simply the earlier version of TC1, or if it has some other story to it? It seems to have modern asphalt on it but is too narrow for any modern use. I suppose it would be referred to as 'the old road'. Date: 06/18/09 18:14 Re: Thompson Canyon Revisited Author: eminence_grise Before the Trans-Canada Highway was completed in the 1960's, there was an older road through the Thompson and Fraser Canyons. A book called "This was Trucking" has images of 1930's era trucks and busses on some really hairy portions of road, including some cantilevered sections of wood built onto rock cliffs.
The highway tunnels between Hells Gate and Yale were mostly built for the Trans-Canada in the late 1950's. The older highway went around, under or over the rock outcrops that the present tunnels go through. The original highway through the Fraser Canyon was the "Royal Engineers Road" dating from the 1860's. Following the California gold rush, Billy Barker found gold north of Quesnel in the Cariboo District. The California miners got wind of this new strike, and arrived on the Fraser River in their hundreds. When they got to Yale at the mouth of the Fraser Canyon, they found the cliffs impassable. They spent a winter at Yale and became "restive", threatening to form a new colony and join the US. The only available British Army unit was the Royal Engineers who were building a naval drydock at Esquimalt, near Victoria. The Royal Engineers chartered an early sternwheeler "Skuzzy", mounted a cannon on the deck and set off up the Fraser to Yale. The miners got wind of the invading force. In a classic example of diplomacy, the de facto head of the miners met the steamboat at the wharf at Yale with a fancy tea set. The Royal Engineers and the miners agreed to build a road toward the gold fields, and the US was denied another State. Among other feats of engineering, a suspension bridge was built across the Fraser near Spuzzum, imported from Britain. The "Royal Alexandra Bridge" still stands today. Few miners got rich at Barkerville, but they chose to settle in the area, and in time the BC mainland opted to join the colony of Vancouver Island and become British Columbia. Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/18/09 20:54 by eminence_grise. Date: 06/18/09 18:22 Re: Thompson Canyon Revisited Author: TCnR Good info, thanks.
Amazon has them listed in various conditions, 15 to 100 bucks: This Was Trucking: A Pictorial History of the First Quarter Century of Commercial Motor Vehicles (Hardcover) by Robert F. Karolevitz (Author) Date: 06/18/09 20:24 Re: Thompson Canyon Revisited Author: gobbl3gook Sweet pics, I miss Canada. (I suppose it's only a 6 hr drive away, though...)
Did you get to the Black Canyon? Thanks, Ted in WA Date: 06/18/09 21:20 Re: Thompson Canyon Revisited Author: woody709acy Fine scenes from this area. I'd like to take in the entire Rocky Mountaineer route to Calgary someday, as the view from the train is spectacular. And many of the anecdotal stories for these shots sounded just like the guest hosts' spiel as we traveled through the Thompson River canyons.
Steve Woodall Date: 06/19/09 02:15 Re: Thompson Canyon Revisited Author: rschonfelder "Morris" on the CN used to have another name. Can anyone remind me? ... and why was it renamed?
This is God's country to me. I love the Fraser and Thompson canyon but coupled with the Shuswap, Mountain and Laggan sub, it makes into what is likely the longest *and* best stretch of railfanning in the world. Lots of history throughout as well. Rick Date: 06/19/09 03:21 Re: Thompson Canyon Revisited Author: cp1400 rschonfelder Wrote:
------------------------------------------------------- > "Morris" on the CN used to have another name. Can > anyone remind me? ... and why was it renamed? > > Rick Morris is the siding formerly known as Pitquah. I believe it was renamed to honour a CN official. sooman1 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Shot number 9... is this the bridge that was > severely damaged 2 or so years ago? If so they > have rebuilt it with all the new saftey rules in > mind, eg, walkways, railings, etc.. > > bob Yes the Thompson River bridge at Lytton was the one severely damaged in August 2006. As a reminder here's what it looked like. To answer one other question, no I didn't get into the Black Canyon on this trip. cp1400 Date: 06/19/09 06:04 Re: Thompson Canyon Revisited Author: CP9300 *SPLOSH* Looks like you had fun one this one CP1400. Nice shots.
Date: 06/19/09 09:36 Re: Thompson Canyon Revisited Author: TCnR > -----
> Yes the Thompson River bridge at Lytton was the > one severely damaged in August 2006. As a reminder > here's what it looked like. > > Yep, that's a train wreck. Reminds me of one of our scheduling meetings at work. Date: 06/19/09 20:29 Re: Thompson Canyon Revisited Author: P Great photos, but I love that 1st shot!
|