Canadian Railroads > Dreary day on the Squamish sub. with BCR4619

We had set out on Saturday to see if we could find a quicker route (vehicle friendly) to the old tote road along Cheakamus Canyon that allows access to some of the many wonderful photos that have been posted here recently. We arrived to find a locked gate impeding our progress. Instead of hiking the unknown route, Christian suggested we do some train watching instead. I'm glad he did, as it had been a long time since I had been out trackside on the Squamish sub. It also gave me a chance to see if the DSLR I received for a Christmas present a few years back was good for more than just a paper weight.  CV has already explained the details of the operations that took place in his post on the subject, so I'll just post some quick captions with mine. We tried to get different perspectives at the locations we were at, but the wet snow covering the area made it difficult to go far without snowshoes. Here's my efforts for the day.....

1. CN 571 is just about to go under the overpass where the Brandywine highway level crossing used to be. The new bridge provides a nice view, but I miss the horn sounding for the crossing.

2. After the northward climb, 571 takes the siding at Mons and awaits the arrival of 570.

3.We wern't sure how far away 570 was, so we drove south until meeting the train. We turned around to set up for a shot just south of Wedge. We both used the highway barricade to gain a bit of elevation, CV has 570 in his sights.

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4. CN 570 chugs past us. I must admit I like the burble of the 12 cylinder engines in these locos. The 1 + 1 power distribution reminded me of how BC Rail used to marshall their trains for a while after the Dash 8-40CM upgrades were becoming common.

5. After not having much luck trying to find the next photo location around Whistler, we cut our losses and headed for Cheakamus Canyon. The handy cable rock netting made a great ladder to climb down and get to this vantage point.

6. 2922 drifts downgrade doing mid-train duties. This pretty much exemplifies the frieght car mix on this train, there were also some wood fuel pellet covered hoppers. I really miss the eclectic mix of equipment that BC Rail had on this railway up to the mid 90s. At least the scenery has remained spectacular.

Thanks again for being the wheelman on this trip Christain!

Mike N.

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Holy Crap, last two images, did you repel down there!!  I don't like heights on slippery slopes!!  Couple of images I took "going the other way" on a much drier and sunny day.  Mike, Thanks for posting these great images.   Doug

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