Canadian Railroads > Road Trip 2018 - Day 7, Ashcroft to Savona and Home

A few days ago, at https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?15,4816732, I posted the second half of day six of a seven-day trip from 2018. This is the final day, Tuesday June 26, starting at Ashcroft, BC, and ending up home in Edmonton. After five days in Ashcroft with lots of iffy weather, our day to depart dawned clear and stayed that way for the hours we had left. You may have to be patient, or revisit, once the verticals are rotated.
1. Our first train was EB on CP, but not in position to work with the light. Finally, at 0842, V52, the Kamloops wayfreight, appeared on CP, with 2234 and 5015 doing the honours, and started working the Koppers tie plant. Eventually, at 0857, CN Q109 arrived behind the trio of 8024, 2318, and 2988; lens is set at 26 mm.
2. This location is one of my favourites in the area, for the water and the backdrop. Again, Q109, lens set at 48 mm.
3. The view is spectacular, but luck wasn't with us, so no CN EB showed up. This is the best we could do, then; the going-away shot of Q109. We drew some attention from a supervisor of the Ashcroft Terminal, whose property this is, but she had no issues with us being there. We did learn that some BC government money was earmarked to develop more of the terminal area, served by CN's line. You can see the potential between the CN and CP mains.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/27/19 19:56 by feclark.

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4. With V52 tying CP up, we had to content ourselves with what showed up on CN, which was not a lot. At 0929, #417 pulled into town behind 2886, with mid-train DPU 3049. You get a good sense of the location of the tie plant, on the point bar of the Thompson River. You cannot conceive of a place like this being built now, almost at water level with all those good chemicals. Neat modelling project, though.
5. Again, with no EB on CN, this going-away shot of a WB may whet the appetite of someone who's thinking of this location for a trip. The S-geometry of this trestle is so attractive.
6. As much as we really ought to have been on our way back home to Edmonton, the good light was a magnet for continuing to shoot V52 at work. This is at 0949, exiting the plant. The hoodoos are carved into glacial Lake Kamloops sediment, and are a nice photo element.

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7. The set-up screamed for vertical, so here it is (once it's rotated).
8. With its train re-assembled, V52 headed to Ashcroft to continue its day's work. Again, this is 2234 and 5015, at 0959, with 10 cars and the temperature at 15 degrees. With that, we had to get rolling. Our last stop was the bakery in town, to pick up some big-a** cinnamon buns that were so, so good!
9. My companions are modellers, so we had to stop in at Savona for the something-or-other caboose train store. As we arrived at the east entrance to town, an unidentified CN unit appeared on the far shore of the lake, with an unidentified stack train at 1059. The lens is set at 55 mm. From this point on, all the way to home in Edmonton, we saw a few, but only a few, trains, and none where we had a chance to shoot. Once we were well clear of Kamloops, the cloud killed us anyway. Seven days, lots of trains, but precious little sun, made for a trip with very mixed feelings about it all.
Fred
 

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feclark Wrote:
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> We
> drew some attention from a supervisor of the
> Ashcroft Terminal, whose property this is, but she
> had no issues with us being there. We did learn
> that some BC government money was earmarked to
> develop more of the terminal area, served by CN's
> line. You can see the potential between the CN and
> CP mains.

The expansion project is being funded by the federal government, not B.C., to the tune of $9.2 million.  In addition to the connection with the CN line, another aspect is to create an internal road network with grade separation so that truck and train movements do not interfere with each other. This will include a two-lane underpass beneath the CP line.
 

NICE shots!!

Nice images in a beautiful part of the world. The river sure looks low for this time of the year.
Doug

Great photos.
What is that development on the bench next to the river? Is that the tie plant?

mile250 Wrote:
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> Great photos.
> What is that development on the bench next to the
> river? Is that the tie plant?

Yes, it is the tie plant. Years ago (at least until 2010) it was Tolko. The treated ties come out in those blue gons; I assume the bulkhead flats are how the untreated ties come in, but I'm not sure about that. It used to be trucks, but I don't think we saw one on this trip, so things may have changed. Someone can probably clarify.
Fred