Canadian Railroads > CN to Mothball Part of BC Rail

The ugly rumours seem to be true. Effective April 2, 2020 jobs 570 and 571 at Williams Lake, Lillooet and Squamish are rumoured to be abolished. These are the only trains to operate between these towns and effectively removes trains on the most difficult and scenic parts of BC Rail.
 
It’s supposedly temporary but we all know what happens when traffic is removed off a mountain rail line. It can sit for years like Homestake, Pass, Tennessee Pass and Saluda Hill. We might be adding BC Rail Chekamus Canyon, Birken Summit, Anderson and Seton Lakes plus the Lillooet to Kelly Lake hill to that list.

With only days to go I made the day long effort on Monday March 30 to record the passage of both trains 570 southbound and 571 northbound between Garibaldi and Darcy on the Squamish Sub.
 
I hope the rumours of the demise of BC Rail as a through route are premature but for now at it’s RIP to the most scenic parts of BC Rail. It is possible CN will call extras to run occasional trains but from the sounds of it and the slowdown in the economy its not likely in the near term.

1. Train 570 southbound at Gates Lake. Four engines distributed 2x2 and 62 cars.

2. 570 approaching Creekside

3. Mid train pushers along the Birkenhead River just south of Creekside.
 

 cp1400

Edit Note... Latest information is the closure between Squamish and Williams Lake will now take effect somewhere between April 3 and 8. From the sounds of it this is a permanent closure. No word on what happens to the infrastructure. Mothball or abandon?
 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/02/20 12:52 by cp1400.

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4. Train 570 at the Hwy 99 crossing near Nairn Falls on the tough 2.2% grade from Pemberton to Mons.

5. Arriving at the top of the hill at Mons. Area known to most of the world as Whistler ski resort.

6. Dropping downhill through a rock cut near Garibaldi and the treacherous Cheakamus Canyon only a few miles ahead.
 
cp1400
 

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Train 570 met northbound 571 at Garibaldi so the reverse chase was on northbound all the way back to Darcy. Train 571 was one of the longer trains I’ve seen in years at 80 cars and only the two units on the head end.

7. Train 571 uphill through the same cut near Daisy Lake a mile or two north of Garibaldi.

8. 571 rolling through McGuire and a slight break in the constant grade to Mons.

9. The cabins at Rainbow along Alta Lake in the Whistler area.

cp1400
 

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10. Now dropping down the Pemberton grade at Tisdall. The remnants of the winter snowmobiling activities along Rutherford Creek remain.

11. Highway 99 crossing near Nairn Falls still a few miles from the bottom of the grade at Pemberton.
 
12. North of Pemberton near mile 97
 
cp1400
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/31/20 20:22 by cp1400.

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13. Along the Birkenhead River north of Creekside.

14. Tipping over the Birken Summit at Gates Lake

15. Arriving at the bottom of the hill at Darcy.

Ahead is 33 miles of inaccessible line along the shores of Anderson and Seton Lakes before arrival in Lillooet. The chase ended here and it was a quiet and empty trip back south along the Squamish Sub thinking about the great times chasing all manner of trains over the years. Hopefully this won’t be the end for trains on the Squamish and Lillooet Subs.
 
cp1400
 

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Great set !  I hope this isn't the end of this as a through line.

And the people of BC pay the price again.

J.

Great chase.

So easy to get rid of; so difficult to get back.  I will never forgive our Provincial  Liberals for selling our railway to those !!!!'s at CN. 

Chris Rye,
Atlin, B.C.

I am surprised the news took this long to reach TO.  Thankful I was able to get on the line for a few trains within the past couple weeks. 

1) A short 571 northbound on the Squamish Sub. crossing Rutherford Creek 3/17/20. 

2) The following day, a longer (77 car) 571 on the Lillooet Sub. emerging from the tunnel between Fountain and Gibbs as daylight fades 3/18/20.

A far cry from red white and blue cowl units (and the Alcos that preceded those) but still some of the best railfanning anywhere.  I'm sure CN is salivating over the excuse to mothball that portion of the former BCR.  Criminal, but not as criminal as what transpired 16-18 years ago.  :-(
 

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Crud.  How do I properly orient my images? 

Perhaps the museum could get out and about?

Is this going to kill the Whistler passenger train, or perhaps extras will run still as well?  do the natives still have a rail bus near deese lake?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/01/20 06:30 by dan.

Those look like long trains. How can that many carloads just disappear?

Posted from Android

What a great job covering all those scenic locations in one day.

I will soon be posting my 8mm video of many of those locations in better times, before CN!

Regards, Jim Evans

Chessie, some friendly advice. When you start your post off saying, "I am surprised the news took this long to reach TO." it comes off as sort of gloating and dismissive. I mean, if you had the news a couple weeks ago, why not post it in order to give more people a heads up? That's more in the cooperative spirit of this list. People might be more amenable to helping you figure out how to post your photos correctly if they thought you were being more generous with your information rather than keeping it to yourself and then expressing surprise others didn't know. We don't magically get the info if someone in the know doesn't post it. Thanks!

Great series!  I also hope it's not the last of this line.

Rumor from elsewhere that not running trains between Williams Lake and Squamish will be permanent. The lumber market is in bad shape and very little traffic left on the former BC Rail.  Before CN tookover in 2004, BC Rail was running three regular freight trains each way everyday between Prince George and North Vancouver. CN cut it back to one train each way perday. CN started to divert "south traffic" from Exeter and Williams Lake, north to Prince George and then "around the horn" to Vancouver or points east of Prince George such as Edmonton and beyond. CN has slowly ticked off customers along the line, either won't give them cars or switch and basically forced things to go by truck.

I have not heard if the Rocky Mountaineer will be able to do the route over BC Rail. then again with this virus thing, not sure if any tourist trains will run this summer.
Doug
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/01/20 11:12 by hoggerdoug.

Nice pics!!

RMR has cancelled all runs till July 1, 2020 however I suspect they will not return this year.

No gloating, nothing dismissive.  I first caught wind of the pending suspension of service last week - and instantly regretted not focusing on the line more during the week prior when I was in the province.  My initial information came from a source I didn't consider entirely reliable.  I am more interested in posting "accuracy" than posting "first" so I held off saying anything here until I verified what I had heard, which took a couple days.  I've been working an abundance of overtime (note the hour of my initial comment and this comment, I just got home from work).  I would have started a thread a couple days ago but simply have not had time, nor would I have been able to do the matter justice even had I eked out a couple minutes somewhere.   Your assumptions are baseless and inaccurate. 

Now back to my request for assistance with rotating my photos that TO somehow oriented incorrectly? 

Soo715 wrote: "Chessie, some friendly advice. When you start your post off saying, "I am surprised the news took this long to reach TO." it comes off as sort of gloating and dismissive. I mean, if you had the news a couple weeks ago, why not post it in order to give more people a heads up? That's more in the cooperative spirit of this list. People might be more amenable to helping you figure out how to post your photos correctly if they thought you were being more generous with your information rather than keeping it to yourself and then expressing surprise others didn't know. We don't magically get the info if someone in the know doesn't post it. Thanks!"