Canadian Railroads > Hunslet 0-4-0 DH4w trio in Vancouver, September 2000

1. A trio of Hunslet 0-4-0 DH4w's ( left to right: B, C and A) are in Vancouver, BC at 1:00PM on 9-12-2000. They're at the Pacific Elevators facility on Stewart Street near Lapointe Pier. B & C are biding their time while A (far right) is working. The 2019 Canadian Trackside Guide (the latest one I have), page 2-6, says this facility is now called Viterra, Inc. I wonder if they are still active in 2023.
2. Roster of Hunslet 0-4-0 DH4w B. 1:00PM on 9-12-2000 in Vancouver, BC.
3. Roster of Hunslet 0-4-0 DH4w C. 1:00PM on 9-12-2000 in Vancouver, BC.

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When it comes to rare locomotives, having three Hunslett locomotives in one North American photo is about as rare as it gets!
Bob



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/07/23 15:44 by refarkas.

Great photos of neat little engines.  I'm assuming that's the same Hunslet that built steamers in the UK?

Rich

Guitartrain Wrote:
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> 1. A trio of Hunslet 0-4-0 DH4w's ( left to right:
> B, C and A) are in Vancouver, BC at 1:00PM on
> 9-12-2000. They're at the Pacific Elevators
> facility on Stewart Street near Lapointe Pier. B &
> C are biding their time while A (far right) is
> working. The 2019 Canadian Trackside Guide (the
> latest one I have), page 2-6, says this facility
> is now called Viterra, Inc. I wonder if they are
> still active in 2023.

To be specific, this is Viterra's Pacific Terminal. Viterra also operates the former and much larger Alberta Wheat Pool terminal two miles to the east as its Cascadia Terminal.

Pacific Terminal is operated with three NRE gen-sets of the 1GS7B type, painted in a dark blue and lime green livery. One of the Hunslets was repainted in this livery, but whether it has seen much operation in that guise is another matter.

The whole port area is now under strict gated security and the chances for civilian railfans to take photos such as these range from very slim to zero. The best opportunity for sightings of port switchers is from the West Coast Express commuter trains.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/07/23 18:03 by railsmith.

An 0-6-0 Hunslet used to work on the other coast, at National Gypsum's facility in Wrights Cove, outside Dartmouth, NS.

There's a photo tacked onto this thread, also about the Vancouver units: Strange little Critters, Vancouver grain elevator (trainorders.com)

GTD

Marvelous stuff; the trio shot is terrific.
Fred

Nice photo! 

I enjoyed watching those critters -- I was living on Heatley Ave in the Strathcona neighborhood in 1997.  I thought it was pretty fabulous just how open-to-the-public the whole port area was.  I lived just 4 short blocks from the Heatley Viaduct, which opened up into a world of port and RR activity.  I spent a lot of time watching trains and ships.  Day and night.  There was always some railroad action at the port, often two or three different movements going on between the CN yard, the BNSF ferry terminal, the grain elevators, VanTerm and CenTerm container terminals, and CP movements in and out of the their downtown switchyard.  And West Coast Express commuter trains in the evening commute hours.  I'd criuse up and down Stewart St/Commissioner St on my bicycle and watch the action...  I have lots of photos, I should scan them sometime... 

Unfortunately the open access all came to an end after the 2001 terrorist attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center towers in NYC -- gates came up at all the access points within a year or two.  

Looking at the maps, I see they've built a flyover on Stewart St. over the tracks that lead to the waterfront terminals, including this one.  I suppose this lets the truck drivers get to Centerm and Vanterm without waiting CN and CP to pull strings of cars in and out of the terminals.  

Location
https://www.google.com/maps/@49.2858036,-123.0671283,79m/data=!3m1!1e3
https://goo.gl/maps/M1xXD7Ez6991cLRK8
https://goo.gl/maps/87hzQ16UPjN6NDyF6
https://goo.gl/maps/FXDhLP1FzdvWK1cm9
(Google Earth synthetic view, only works from a computer, not a tablet)
https://www.openrailwaymap.org/?style=standard&lat=49.28583713302992&lon=-123.06710958480836&zoom=18
https://en.mapy.cz/zakladni?x=-123.0680695&y=49.2857966&z=18
https://opentopomap.org/#map=17/49.28545/-123.06631
https://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=49.28621,-123.06671&z=17&b=t
https://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=49.28556,-123.06729&z=20&b=imagery&o=r&n=0.3&a=c%2Cmba
https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=19/49.28563/-123.06737
https://www.bing.com/maps?osid=a16d0ac6-7eae-4d35-b440-693b0ebdb60e&cp=49.28553%7E-123.067175&lvl=19.9&style=a&v=2&sV=2&form=S00027

Ted in OR



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/23 07:05 by gobbl3gook.

gobbl3gook Wrote:
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> I enjoyed watching those critters -- I was living
> on Heatley Ave in the Strathcona neighborhood in
> 1997. I thought it was pretty fabulous just how
> open-to-the-public the whole port area was. 
> I lived just 4 short blocks from the Heatley Viaduct,
> which opened up into a world of port and RR activity.<snip>. 
>
> Looking at the maps, I see they've built a flyover
> on Stewart St. over the tracks that lead to the
> waterfront terminals, including this one.  I
> suppose this lets the truck drivers get to Centerm
> and Vanterm without waiting CN and CP to pull
> strings of cars in and out of the terminals.  

The Heatley Avenue overpass was demolished in the past year. The elevated Stewart Street structure was built in conjunction with that, enabling Centerm to be reached via the Clark Drive overpass that already served Vanterm and points east along Stewart.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/23 02:00 by railsmith.

Gives new meaning to the term critter!

railsmith -- interesting.  The viaduct was pretty new when I moved there.  And the Dunlevy Ave. crossing was recently decommisioned (still had crossing lights, but a locked chain link fence gate).  

I wonder why they went to the trouble to build the massive Stewart St. Flyover?  Seems it's only a little faster taking Powell in from the Trans Canada highway and turning off at Clark Dr. versus going the extra few blocks to Heatley... 

I see Powell now has an overpass over the BNSF port line, too.  The two overpasses sure change the flavor of the Sugar Refinery building :^(
https://goo.gl/maps/Da5xhVmb85Pbu1PL6

The Heatley Viaduct still shows in this Jan 2022 Alexander St. Google StreetView image... 
https://goo.gl/maps/GquxBEKXT66GFqsW8

Permanently closed, but still standing in March, 2022... 
https://goo.gl/maps/TsrZA5B7wKM6uLYD8

https://goo.gl/maps/pn5YkG2QxrCPhnPS6 It crossed 13 tracks, a very respectable spot for trainwatching.  And I had the priviledge to live just 3 blocks from the bridge for a year.  I made sure to make the best of it.  

Ted in OR



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/23 22:36 by gobbl3gook.

gobbl3gook Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> I wonder why they went to the trouble to build the
> massive Stewart St. Flyover?  Seems it's only a
> little faster taking Powell in from the Trans
> Canada highway and turning off at Clark Dr. versus
> going the extra few blocks to Heatley... 

Objective of the whole project was to facilitate expansion of Centerm.

> I see Powell now has an overpass over the BNSF
> port line, too.  The two overpasses sure change
> the flavor of the Sugar Refinery building :^(
> https://goo.gl/maps/Da5xhVmb85Pbu1PL6

It's CN's line now, on a long-term lease. The change happened in 2006. The overpass was completed in 2014.

> The Heatley Viaduct still shows in this Jan 2022
> Alexander St. Google StreetView image... 
> https://goo.gl/maps/GquxBEKXT66GFqsW8
>
> Permanently closed, but still standing in March,
> 2022... 
> https://goo.gl/maps/TsrZA5B7wKM6uLYD8

It was demolished last summer. Check YT for a short drone video, posted by the Port of Vancouver.
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/09/23 00:14 by railsmith.

Very nice - and we have confirmation that there was a B.

erielackawanna Wrote:
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> and we have confirmation that there was a B.

That was never in doubt. In the pre 9/11 days when access to the port was free and easy, all three units could readily be seen on the same occasion. They operated in a very limited territory, and being able to include all three in one photo was common.