Canadian Railroads > Road Trip 2026, Day 3 Part 1 - Setting Up For Walhachin Oxbows

Well, I'm not quick about it (train velocity is low, terminal dwell time is up), but this resumes the trip tale following on my post of a month ago, https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?15,6204474. This is the first part of Monday, June 8, 2026, based out of Kamloops. This shoot had been a dream of mine since we got in here in 2018. I'd met the owner of the ranch on the west side of the oxbow, and with his permission had shot on the west side of the oxbow back then. The limitation had been the fact that CP (as it was then) was behind us, shooting into the sun, and they sifted a fleet of 7+ trains past us during the afternoon. I was determined to get back here and get on the south/sunlit side of CPKC to be able to shoot both roads. Mission not accomplished, as you'll see. It was a huge disappointment, which makes me appreciate this year's shots less than I should, perhaps. As Chris Berman used to say, 'That's why they play the game.' There will be eleven photos to this post, plus a screenshot from Google Satellite.
Two reasons led us to go past Walhachin to start. The first is that the sun in the early morning is on the north side of the tracks not suitable for the location, and the second is that we wanted to be on the west side of the ranch to get maximum flank light on the WB Rocky Mountaineer, before walking in to the oxbow. That meant going a little beyond, to Juniper Beach Provincial Park. It has a nice access road that takes you down to a grade crossing with CN. If you get there in time.
1. As we were coming up to that road, we saw an EB CN stack train coming at us at the foot of the bluff beyond the camp site. No way we were going to beat it to the crossing, so we pulled off at the side of the road to get this very, very, very familiar shot (sorry) at the foot of a cut just east of it. You can see the park in the background, with CPKC's Thompson Sub on the hillside across the Thompson River. At least it's a good location and light, but I was really hoping to avoid this one on this trip. We didn't have the time to walk out onto the point of land to change the angle. This is #112 at 0743, with CN 3094 and 2765 (ex-CREX) in charge of 600 axles of stack train, temperature 16 degrees and speed 28 mph.
2. One appeal of this area is that the early morning light does a nice job on CPKC as well, especially if you get EB. Which we didn't. This is WB A52, listed in the TSG as the Kamloops-DuPont Turn, headed out to Ashcroft. There's a DuPont complex at the Ashcroft Terminals, among other things. At 0758, the SD30C-ECO units in charge are 5020 and 5015. The consist includes 44 cars comprising tanks, covered hoppers, and some gondolas for the Koppers tie plant, as well as an additional 13 platforms with Canadian Tire containers. It's a funky sight in a vast landscape.
3. With the lens set at 145 mm, the power is pulled in nicely, looking like a shot of a shelf layout.
 

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4. We drove down the campsite's access road and set up here for a CN WB, in this case grain train #811 at 0829. The lead unit was CN 3148, the DPU pusher 8332, and the cars were dominated by the GrainsConnect series. It was then time to get out of here, figuring we needed to be at Walhachin no later than 0900 to be sure we got the Rocky Mountaineer. By the way, I decided not to save this shot for a Meet Monday; the CPKC hi-rail isn't worth it.
5. On the siding at Walhachin on CN was their fire-fighting train, designated 'Poseidon' if the lettering on some of the cars is any indicator. Of course this meant no meets at Walhachin because the siding was plugged, thus less scanner information and warning for us once we walked in to the east. The sun had yet to come around by 0848; consist is CN 3913 (ex-CREX), NAR 100108, CN 100005, CN 100009, NAR 100105, and a van whose number I never got. Some shots of this from the end of the day will appear in a separate post sometime soon-ish.
6. Onto the property, on the west side of the ranch's point land, the WB Rocky Mountaineer, #609 on CN, showed up at 0923. Temperature was 16 degrees, speed 32 mph, total axles 88 (20-car consist), and the power comprised RMRX 8016 and 8014. The southwest track orientation gave us the best lighting available short of going to Ashcroft, and we were pleased. A pleasant conversation with the owner ensued, then we drove east across the foot of his ranch to the starting point for our trek.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/31/26 14:08 by feclark.

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7. This screenshot from Google Satellite shows the layout. The east side of the ranch is the green and tan area, bounded on the south by CPKC. The oxbow defines a cut-off point bar, and is spanned by a west and an east causeway for CN. To the east of the Walhachin Oxbows Provincial Park, CN then crosses the Thompson River on a combination of through-truss and plate-girder spans.
8. We were parked and at the trail head when an unannounced CN EB arrived at 1001, a mixed consist of 560 axles, thus 137 cars, doing 31 mph. Still warm and sunny, about to cloud in and dampen the mood. Lead unit was CN 2884, and I failed to record the DPU.
9. As we began our descent to track level (see the tan path on satellite view), another unexpected EB arrived on CN, this time potash empties behind an recorded pair of lead units at 1014. The 838-axle count meant 205 cars; there was a DPU as well. These two trains must have cleared the Rocky Mountaineer at McAbee or Ashcroft. You can see the west causeway over the west side of the oxbow, the east side of the oxbow and its causeway by the signal box, and the Thompson River in the distance, plus the trestle. In my memory and imagination, plus optimistic interpretation of the satellite views, we could walk in across the wide causeways (no big fear necessary), then up that gently sloping ridge to a point near CPKC, climb that last portion and end up on the south, sunlit side of CPKC. It never happened, for reasons that photos in an ensuing post will illustrate.

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10. The DPU pusher on the potash train was CN 3916, ex-CREX. This would be a nice shot in afternoon sun, on the west causeway.
11. Based on the scale attached to the satellite image, I guessed it would take a bit more than 30 minutes to make the trestle, neglecting time spent stopping along the way. As flat as things may look from a distance, it was quite an effort to get up onto this plateau between the causeways; steep and loose materials. We were ready for EB stack train #106 at 1101, led by 2257 and aided by DPU pusher 3089. The detector announced 17 degrees, 432 axles, and 29 mph. Now I was in ISO 400 mode for the rest of the day.
12. Given that you never know what will show up when you happen to be in place, I took the going-away shot of 3089, to show the east causeway, and also capture the mileage as 29.4 on the signal. Above the fourth to eighth platforms you can see the top of the through-truss, and above the first platform you can see a pop of colour from containers that have crossed to the north side of the Thompson River.
Thanks for looking; the second part of the day should get posted in less than a month (eye-roll).
Fred

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Great locations and scenes!!!
Bob

Nice stuff! As you note, the Walhachin area is interesting, visually stunning, and frustratingly difficult to access and photograph.

Posted from Android

Darren Boes
Lethbridge, AB
Southern Alberta Railfan

Thanks for the tour.

Any comments about Juniper Beach Provincial Park? Interesting location but actually being there makes a big difference. I would think high water in the high water months and hot in the hot months... with crowds in the crowded months.

Nice shots!  In picture number 5, if you were to turn to the left, you woud see my house at the top of the bank.

Brian

TCnR Wrote:
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> Thanks for the tour.
>
> Any comments about Juniper Beach Provincial Park?
> Interesting location but actually being there
> makes a big difference. I would think high water
> in the high water months and hot in the hot
> months... with crowds in the crowded months.

It's a small park, but apart from overnighting there in the van back in 2000, I can't say what it's like now. You'll notice the lush trees in the middle of the desert, which is quite nice. You can't beat it for access to trains. If you're down there in the early a.m., you have nice shots up across the Thompson of CPKC, especially EB. It's not big enough to have crowds as such.
Fred

greasemonkey Wrote:
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> Nice shots!  In picture number 5, if you were to
> turn to the left, you woud see my house at the top
> of the bank.
>
> Brian

Prime railfan real estate; you are blessed!
Fred

What's the story of the Candian Tire doublestacks on the rear of the wayfreight in the "middle of nowhere"?

Duncan Wrote:
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> What's the story of the Candian Tire doublestacks
> on the rear of the wayfreight in the "middle of
> nowhere"?

I don't know what's in them, but they move regularly between Kamloops and the Ashcroft Terminal. If you look up Ashcroft BC on Google Satellite, and check out the Ashcroft Terminal to the rail east of town, you'll see lots of these on the ground and some in well cars. That's become quite the rail hub, as you say, 'in the middle of nowhere.' That's complicated by the fact it's on the order of 5-10 km to drive out to the TransCanada Highway up severe grades in both directions. But obviously a business case has been made.
Fred

Duncan Wrote:
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> What's the story of the Candian Tire doublestacks
> on the rear of the wayfreight in the "middle of
> nowhere"?

The train serves Ashcroft Terminal, an inland port.  https://www.ashcroftterminal.com/

feclark Wrote:
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> Duncan Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > What's the story of the Candian Tire
> doublestacks
> > on the rear of the wayfreight in the "middle of
> > nowhere"?
>
> I don't know what's in them, but they move
> regularly between Kamloops and the Ashcroft
> Terminal. If you look up Ashcroft BC on Google
> Satellite, and check out the Ashcroft Terminal to
> the rail east of town, you'll see lots of these on
> the ground and some in well cars. That's become
> quite the rail hub, as you say, 'in the middle of
> nowhere.' That's complicated by the fact it's on
> the order of 5-10 km to drive out to the
> TransCanada Highway up severe grades in both
> directions. But obviously a business case has been
> made.
> Fred

Yeah, I can't really figure it out, it's not like Ashcroft is strategically located on an interstate highway (US speaking).
I thought maybe it was Ashcroft being at the south end of the highway up into the BC interior, but that's a long ways to go to get to the bigger towns up that way, Prince George would be closer.  Same goes with the (getting to be) heavily populated areas around Kelowna - but again, Ashcroft isn't very central to that area (Kamloops would make much more sense from a highway and railroad perspective).  Maybe Ashcroft is the only one's that would build and operate the ramp?

Great pictures Fred, looks like you had an excellent trip despite the kvetch-inducing challenges.
The number on the caboose/van for the fire train, assuming they only have the one, is CN 100001.
I got a brief look at it last November when stretching my legs during The Canadian's stop at Kamloops North, I have some okay cell phone shots I can share if there's interest.
Stu

screeh Wrote:
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> Great pictures Fred, looks like you had an
> excellent trip despite the kvetch-inducing
> challenges.
> The number on the caboose/van for the fire train,
> assuming they only have the one, is CN 100001.
> I got a brief look at it last November when
> stretching my legs during The Canadian's stop at
> Kamloops North, I have some okay cell phone shots
> I can share if there's interest.
> Stu

Thanks for the offer, Stu. By all means share it, maybe a fresh post so you get more eyeballs. It's very sharp looking. I had been planning to do a 'Firefighting Friday' post of this train; I roster-shot the consist after we walked out at the end of the day. But a bush or something (or perhaps being fed up?) got in the way of shooting the van. But I might not get that post done this Friday, if weather is good and I get to go shooting. So if you've posted it, great, and if not I'll ask you to tag it on the future post.
Fred