Canadian Railroads > Road Trip 2026, Day 1 Part 1 - Edmonton to McCabe & VIA's Skeena

This year's trip was westward from Edmonton to Kamloops as a base for some day trips, then return. With the miles we put on, plus the cost of hotels, I'm not sure this is going to happen again, considering the limited photo results. Weather controls so much, and if you get bit, it's a lot of money for the return. Enough preliminary whining. It's going to take me a long time to get through the trip, but here's a start. The first day, Saturday, June 6, was eerily reminiscent of our trip two years ago. Six shots in this post.
1. The objective was to make Harvey, BC, west of Jasper, in time to shoot VIA #6, The Skeena. We stopped in on the Edson Sub, just west of Dalehurst, on Township Road 522C, at MP 174. We'd seen the grading for the new roadbed and double-track two years ago; now the project is complete. It's fresh enough that the ROW is weed-free. Shoot it now. I can't remember if we had scanner indications or not, but we were in time to catch three trains in 25 minutes. The first one through was #772 at 1015, led by CN 3944 and 2788, both ex-CREX units. The 110-car consist (452 axles) was dominated by 2-bay covered hoppers for frac sand, with a few mixed cars at the head-end and the tail. To our right (east), a WB had rolled to a stop.
2. At 1030, grain empties #854 appeared behind CN 3029 and 3947 (ex-CREX), catching yellows behind #772. Some tanks brought up the rear.
3. The away shot shows the crossovers at this location; we're not sure why the WB came to a stop, but we're also not sure how far west the end of double track is. This doesn't show in the most recent TSG, 2025.

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4. Once the two EB cleared (which was nice for photographic purposes), WB grain loads got rolling behind CN 2884 and 2681 at 1040. There were 404 axles, thus 98 covered hoppers for Grains Connect.
5. The VIA tracker app showed #2 in the station at Jasper, so we looped through town to confirm it, and also the impossibility of any worthwhile shot. Next stop was Harvey, BC on the Tête Jaune Sub. Cloud was persistent by now, so we set up on the north side of the tracks and I used monochrome for the passage of stack train #198 at 1250. DPU CN 3397 assisted lead unit CN 3971 (ex-CREX) at 1250, rolling 528 axles. The containers were dominated by Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd. Then the games began. Already VIA #6, the Skeena, was talking to the RTC. This was a big deal for us, because two years ago we'd shot the Skeena skimming across the top from Harvey, EB on the Tête Jaune Sub instead of running south (rail west) on the connector to the Robson Sub, through Peterson, Lubin and Spicer, then up the Albreda Sub eastward. We were alerted by the scanner talk that time. This year I hoped we'd get the Skeena running on the connector, to avoid repeating the shot, but needed some kind of indication. VIA #6 gave us all we needed. Please, please, please don't make us run behind #198 the long way around. We don't want to go 12 mph. The RTC countered that something was coming WB on the Tête Jaune. Well, you can stick us in the siding at Harvey, then when that clears let us back out onto the main and keep coming (we're playing 'Deal/No Deal'). No can do; I have another WB coming up to Grant Brook, and you'll be in the way. You're going to have to suck it up.
6. So VIA did. We got relocated from Harvey to McCabe, where there are crossovers connecting the Robson Sub and the North Connector, and then, miracle of miracles, the sun popped out through a gap in the clouds. The engineer killed the ditch lights once he was close enough to affect the shot; either to ruin the shot (he was having a bad day), or perhaps thinking he was doing us a favour. I have come to the philosophical place of imagining we're before ditch-light days, when this was how trains looked. I like the shot; it's VIA 6429 in the green-blue paint (thankfully), with unrecorded baggage car, then 8129 and Tremblant Park. The time is 1334; success!
When I can get to it, the rest of the day will fill the next post. Thanks for looking.
Fred

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I enjoyed the commentary as much as the photos. Brings back memories of having ridden the Skeena several years ago.

Certainly caught my attention. Having spent a few days in the area many moons ago with far fewer trains I'm real curious what the area is looking like these days.

t4p.

Very-well done!!! Great views - Masterful story telling! Your commentary makes these seem more a slide show among friends than an informative talk.
Bob

Sounds like a lot of routes around Jasper that I was not aware of? Great bunch and comentary.
JB

CN has a junction of two routes in that area, rather than just a junction it was redesigned as a miles long double track wye with numerous towns and locations around the wye. They run trains every which way. A fast train can go the long way while a slow loaded train takes the short route and all the combinations. Tough to visualize.

Some info here:

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?15,4073894,4074195#msg-4074195

Date: 07/12/16 22:33
Red Pass Junction BC
 



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 06/27/26 09:42 by TCnR.

TCnR Wrote:
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> CN has a junction of two routes in that area,
> rather than just a junction it was redesigned as a
> miles long double track wye with numerous towns
> and locations around the wye. They run trains
> every which way. A fast train can go the long way
> while a slow loaded train takes the short route
> and all the combinations. Tough to visualize.
>
> Some info here:
>
> https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?15
> ,4073894,4074195#msg-4074195
>
> Date: 07/12/16 22:33
> Red Pass Junction BC
>  

Good reference, with map. Here's a link to my post from two years ago that adds some locations and commentary: https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?15,5885090,5885525#msg-5885525. We did spend part of the next day from two years ago checking out Taverna, which is easily accessed off the highway but a mess for photos now.
Fred

I like Pics 5 and 6!!