Canadian Railroads > CN vs CPKC Chicago to Vancouver Questions

Good Morning:

Which railroad, CN or CPKC, has the superior route between Chicago and Vancouver as far as transit times and grades? Looking on a map it appears they are equal, but I do not know anything about Canadian operations.

Thank you in advance.

As far as grades go CN is far superior in western Canada. CP is a 1% railroad westbound, but 2.4% eastbound, while CN is somewhere around 0.5% both directions. I'm less familiar with the lines south of the 49th parallel so not sure who has the advantage there.

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Darren Boes
Lethbridge, AB
Southern Alberta Railfan

PRR_4859 Wrote:
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> Good Morning:
>
> Which railroad, CN or CPKC, has the superior route
> between Chicago and Vancouver as far as transit
> times and grades? Looking on a map it appears
> they are equal, but I do not know anything about
> Canadian operations.

In the US the situation is reversed CN has a WB grade
out of the Twin Ports of 2.2%, the EB grade is a little
over 1%, while the grades on CP are under 1% in both
directions. Also CP is on the order of 150 miles shorter.

It's one thing to have a route with lesser grades, but it's another thing to keep things moving. If you check my Canadian Railroads post from today (April 10) you'll see that CN isn't exactly "sweating the assets."
Fred

I can only speak to the CPKC part in the US.

In the past 10 years, CP has upgraded the line with CTC, high speeds, longer crew districs, and of course, longer/fewer trains.
Most of the year, it it possible for CP to run their route from Portal ND to Chicago in roughly 30 hours.

ButtedKnuckles Wrote:
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> I can only speak to the CPKC part in the US.
>
> In the past 10 years, CP has upgraded the line
> with CTC, high speeds, longer crew districs, and
> of course, longer/fewer trains.
> Most of the year, it it possible for CP to run
> their route from Portal ND to Chicago in roughly
> 30 hours.

How much of the line in North Dakota is signalled now?