Canadian Railroads > Extending the Laggan Two-track

Locotrol2 Wrote:
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> Phil, I know back in the 2005 "West Cap" drawings,
> there was plans to extend double track from
> Stephen to the old west switch at Hector
> (Ressurection Curve). I wonder if they'll consider
> coming that far......
>

Here's some shots of what appears to be the extension work.

1. From the highway - this is as far west as the snow is ploughed
2. Looking west from Mile 124 back to Shot #1
3. From the Lake Ohara crossing back to Shots 1 & 2
 

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4. The Lake Ohara road crossing is at Mile 123.9
5. Looking east from the crossing
6. A little further east, the work is on hold - 100 is coming up the hill and 603 is waiting at Stephen 
 

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Now it gets really confusing

7&8. Thie guys in Pic #6 are installing a switch
9. This new switch location is not far east of the crossing

 

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And a little further east

10. Some idle equipment
11. Stephen is not far off-camera left

 

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Interesting series of shots. I wonder if they'll put a dual crossover in between Divide and Stephen....?

CN1063, are you able to elaborate further?

Locotrol2

Posted from Android

The extension will go past Sink Lake, where a huge slide came down off the north side of the valley, burying the Trans-Canada highway and the railway in the early 1970's.

Locotrol2 Wrote:
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> I wonder if they'll put a dual crossover in between Divide and
> Stephen....?
>

Doubtful. Divide to Stephen already is too short to accommodate todays' longer trains. A 603 was stopped at Stephen and its tail was east of Divide. 603s are almost 9000 feet.

I'm thinking this new switch might be the new Stephen extending the distance from Divide. 

I was out there yesterday (thanks KH for grabbing a pic of us at Banff on 113). The plan is to extend double track from the newly installed turn out to Stephen, while a crossover will be reinstalled at Divide, going from the north track to the south, opposite of what it used to be. The plan is to have a road beside the north track, so that car department or diesel shop staff can inspect a train should it run into problems. Further down the hill, the signals have been rearranged, the intermediate just outside the top tunnel is gone, while a new signal is in place at mile 130.5, the location of Cathedral West is also gone, with the signal moved to a new controlled location of Burgess, which is the last signal before Field East. Down in Field they are moving the mainline southward about 15 feet, apparently this is so they can extend track one to make it 8500’ long. All the new signals are LEDs.

Posted from iPhone

cn1063 Wrote:
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> Further down the hill, the signals have been
> rearranged, the intermediate just outside the top
> tunnel is gone, while a new signal is in place at
> mile 130.5, the location of Cathedral West is also
> gone, with the signal moved to a new controlled
> location of Burgess, which is the last signal
> before Field East. Down in Field they are moving
> the mainline southward about 15 feet, apparently
> this is so they can extend track one to make it
> 8500’ long. All the new signals are LEDs.

Is the "intermediate" still at the west end of Yoho, with the absolute "board" coming westbound? Where is Burgess located? 

Thanks,

Locotrol2

cn1063 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Further down the hill, the signals have been
> rearranged, the intermediate just outside the top
> tunnel is gone, while a new signal is in place at
> mile 130.5, the location of Cathedral West is also
> gone, with the signal moved to a new controlled
> location of Burgess, which is the last signal
> before Field East. 

Before I took the shots above I went down the hill and was at Yoho Road when 100 called out the new Burgess signal. It looks like it's a little west of the little tunnel on Mt Stephen. Going back uphill I meant to check if the old Cathedral West signal was gone but forgot.

No doubt named after the Burgess Shale.

interesting and thanks for the info.  please keep us posted on this.........

66

LED Searchlights or Vaders? Any pics?

cn1063 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I was out there yesterday (thanks KH for grabbing
> a pic of us at Banff on 113). The plan is to
> extend double track from the newly installed turn
> out to Stephen, while a crossover will be
> reinstalled at Divide, going from the north track
> to the south, opposite of what it used to be. The
> plan is to have a road beside the north track, so
> that car department or diesel shop staff can
> inspect a train should it run into problems.
> Further down the hill, the signals have been
> rearranged, the intermediate just outside the top
> tunnel is gone, while a new signal is in place at
> mile 130.5, the location of Cathedral West is also
> gone, with the signal moved to a new controlled
> location of Burgess, which is the last signal
> before Field East. Down in Field they are moving
> the mainline southward about 15 feet, apparently
> this is so they can extend track one to make it
> 8500’ long. All the new signals are LEDs.
>
> Posted from iPhone

The new lights at Ottertail East

March 30, 2019

 

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Based on these pictures, is the plan then to extend double track from Stephen to the old west switch at Hector (Resurrection Curve)?