Canadian Railroads > CN's Coal Branch

Two trains were loaded during the day on April 18. One at the Luscar Mine at the end of the Luscar Industrial Lead near Cadomin Alberta. The second train came from Coal Mountain loadout at the end of the Foothills Sub.  I was in the right place at the right time to catch both loaded trains as the made their way towards the main line at Bickerdike.

1. Train 869 is part way through loading the second half of its train at the end of the Luscar Industrial Lead at 11:52am.

2. At 14:20 the loading is complete. The crew will set up the train 1x1 before starting down the steep grade of Luscar Industrial Lead.

3. At 15:39 train 869 makes its way around the horseshoe curve at Leyland onto the Mountain Park Sub. Rocky Mountains tower over the town of Cadomin seen in the background.

cp1400

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4. Dear DPU on train 869 slowly makes its way north on the Mountain Park Sub at the former station of Steeper at 16:37

5. Train 869 passes through Coalspur and the junction with the Foothills Sub which is seen on the hill in the background at 16:58.

6.  Train 867 that started at Coal Mountain loadout rolls through Coalspur shortly after at 17:17 on the Foothills Sub.
 
cp1400
 

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7. The rear DPU of train 867 at Parkhill Jct where the Mountain Park Sub, on the left, joins the Foothills Sub and CTC signals begin for the rest of the way to Bickerdike at 17:26

8. Train 867 crosses Lambert Creek at 18:28 still 17.5 miles from the start of the branch at Bickerdike.

CN has replaced a lot of rail with new CWR on the Luscar Industrial Lead and done considerable tie replacement and surfacing on both branches indicating a bright future for coal from the CN Coal branches.
 
cp1400



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/19/19 00:18 by cp1400.

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Real nice set of shots. Enjoyed seeing this operation.

Kim Heusel

Nice ! Thanks for sharing your great shots of this seldom seen operation. That horseshoe curve shot is my favorite. Your efforts were well rewarded !

Interesting construction / design of the bridge in the last photo!

Dick Samuels

Looks like an interesting operation. Thanks for sharing your photos.

How does crew management work?  Where do the crews go on duty and how is relief handled?  Does most of the coal go West  What was the other product that was shipped out?  Something related to gas production?  Sulphur maybe.

Mike Root
Madras, OR



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/19/19 17:13 by shortlineboss.

Brilliant series of something on the more obscure side; the first shot is a wonderful effort working against the sun, and your secone one just kills me. Great post.
Fred

thanks for the great images and info.

does this coal branch join cn's transcon main and if so where?

66

goneon66 Wrote:
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> does this coal branch join cn's transcon main and
> if so where?

The Foothills Sub. of the coal branch joins the Edson Sub. (transcon) at two points, allowing through running in each direction. The west-facing connection off the branch is at Bickerdike West (mile 140.1 Edson Sub.) and the east-facing connection is at Bickerdike East (Mile 137.9 Edson Sub.).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/20/19 00:14 by railsmith.

Great shots!

Great set of photos. My favorite is your last photo with 8830 on the bridge.
Bob

Thanks for the pics...

Do the rock trains for Edmonton still operate on this branch?

shortlineboss Wrote:
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> How does crew management work?  Where do the
> crews go on duty and how is relief handled?  Does
> most of the coal go West  What was the other
> product that was shipped out?  Something related
> to gas production?  Sulphur maybe.

I believe the crews for this branch are called out of Edson which still is a division point for some mainline trains too.

Most of the coal does go west mainly to Prince Rupert but some to one of the two ports in Vancouver area.

There are rock trains that load at the end of the Mountain Park Sub that continues a couple of miles south at Leyland in pic 3 on the left. That rock is used for cement production in Edmonton.

There is a third industrial line that branches off just north of Robb that I think loads sulpher.

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