Canadian Railroads > Who crews CP trains to the North shore west of Kamloops

Do CN crews handle all CP unit coal and potash trains west of Kamloops that are bound for export terminals such as Neptune Bulk Terminals on the north shore of the Burrard Inlet whch is served by CN.
Thanks,
Dick Eisfeller

I understand that CP turns some Teck coal trains originating in the Elk Valley over to CN at Kamloops.

Mike Root
Madras, OR

Hi  I believe that any CP trains headed for the north side of Burrard Inlet ie Neptune Terminals and grain elevators are manned from Boston Bar by CN crews. Likewise any CN trains destined for the South Side of Burrard Inlet are manned by CP crews. Burrard Inlet is the name of the waterway that forms Vancouver Harbour. All westbound trains run on CN track under a directional running agreement.

Green Grocer and ShortlineBoss are both correct.   However,  there was a time a few years back when
Mike Root was right.  Apparently Tech put up a contract to handle the unit trains from kamloops to Rogers Bank.
And CN won the contract.  So CP brought the train over to Kamloops Junction, alias Kamloops North
power and all.  The power was cut off there, and CN power took the train the rest of the way,  and back.
But here things got interesting.  Instead of proceeding on CP tracks all the way to Kamloops,  the train 
transfered to the CN just west of Ashcroft.  At the Junction, CN power was cut off,  and the idling CP power
took over with CP crews again.   I have pix of the CP units idling at the Junction. Don't know the length of that contract.
        Sid.

Thanks for all the replys.  I am working on a video of CP's Shuswap sub west of Revelstoke.
Dick Eisfeller
Big "E" Productions
www.trainvideos.com

GREENGROCER Wrote:
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<...All westbound trains run on CN track under a directional running agreement....

Just to be clear, the formal directional running agreement between CN and CP is between the Mission bridge,
about 30 miles east of Vancouver, and Basque, which is about 10 miles west of Ashcroft.  West of Mission is a
real hodge podge--CN and CP both run to Roberts Bank, Thornton Yard and the North Shore; and both do it
with their own crews and crews of the other road...

Keith Robertson
Langley, BC

shortlineboss Wrote:
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> I understand that CP turns some Teck coal trains
> originating in the Elk Valley over to CN at
> Kamloops.

To break CP's monopoly, Teck sought and won the right to turn about 15% of its coal traffic (3.5 million tonnes/year) over to CN at Kamloops. That was in a 2009 arbitration case. I don't know whether that arrangement is still in place, but Teck has the right to do that.

At the time, Teck said that would mainly involve shipments going to Neptune Bulk Terminals in North Vancouver.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/15/18 14:27 by railsmith.

Further to my post above, the 2018 Canadian Trackside Guide shows the CN symbols for the CP coal trains handled by CN between Kamloops and Vancouver -- C73151 for loads to Neptune (C73051 for the eastbound empties) and C73351 for loads to Roberts Bank (C73251 for the empties). This by itself doesn't prove those trains still operate, but the CTG symbols list is updated yearly from railway data.