Prince Rupert Rail Images

Fabyan bridge derailment

2012-01-24T21:57:00.000-08:00

Well CN has had another derailment outside of Wainwright Alberta. 31 rail cars came off the track while crossing a 845 meter long, 60 meter high trestle plunging 17 grain cars into the Battle River Valley. There are no reported injuries. Photographer unknown.

Roberts Bank Rotary Dumper mishap

2012-01-22T11:32:00.000-08:00

Well it looks like there was a mishap at Robert Bank Coal terminal in the rotary car dumper. The following photos show CN locomotive 8022 on its side exiting the shed. photos by unknown.

CN Grande Cache subdivision derailment photo update

2012-01-21T08:39:00.000-08:00

Here are a few more photos of the CN derailment near Hanlon , Alberta on Jan 18, 2012. I found out the crew is safe but suffering from some bums and scrapes. To hear more details read the comments on the previous post. Photo by unknown.

Grande Cache Sub derailment CN 5637 locomotive

2012-01-20T20:23:00.000-08:00

Apparently CN had a derailment Jan 18 on the Grande Cache Subdivision when a runaway near Hanlon came out of a siding and plowed into a switching operation. This photo is by an unknown photographer.

Last day of 2011

2012-01-02T22:21:00.000-08:00

CN crews pull the last container train of 2011 into the downtown yard on the waterfront in the early afternoon of December 31. Due to the length of the trains the crew has to split the train up to fit the sidings in the yard.

Turning locomotives on the wye

2011-12-03T12:41:00.000-08:00

Well after what seems like months on end of rain the sun finally came out through the clouds today. It is the first time I've managed to make it to the waterfront rail yard in months as well and managed to catch CN 8884 exiting the wye on its way out of town. The photo was taken with a new 24.6 megapixel Sony A77 so I'd like to hear your comments on the unedited image......

National Film Board railroad videos

2011-11-06T09:58:00.000-08:00

Iwas surfing the web this morning and found the following web page so I thought I'd add it to my blog.

National Film Board of Canada

Talk about a bad day!

2011-10-12T20:43:00.000-07:00

If you thing your having a bad day.......take a look at these photos from Lloydminster yesterday. The driver is probably on his way to the unemployment office after the County Mountie finishes with him. Photos by unknown.

Container Train on the Skeena Subdivision

2011-07-02T21:12:00.000-07:00

Well I finally managed to catch a container train along the Skeena just West of Esker's overpass early this evening on the way home after spending the day in Terrace. CN 2450, GE C40-8M (Dash 8-40CM) was leading IC 1002, EMD SD-70 through a wide sweeping left hand corner

Last turn before Terrace

2011-06-07T21:11:00.000-07:00

CN 8895 and 2559 pull an empty coal train around the last curve on the Skeena subdivision before crossing the bridge over the Kalum River and enter Terrace.

8855 on the Tyee siding

2011-06-07T20:47:00.000-07:00

Well I had to make a quick trip to Terrace for the day and managed to catch 8855 in the rear of a Westbound coal train with the red marker lights above the windshields . The train was waiting on the siding at Tyee.

Crossing the Skeena at Terrace

2011-05-25T20:39:00.000-07:00

CN 2229 leads 2116 and 6019 across the Skeena River at Terrace, Sunday May 22 just after 11:00 pulling a string of tanks from Kitimat.

Two in the yard at Terrace, B.C.

2011-05-23T22:59:00.000-07:00

CN 2320 and 8001 waiting for their next assignment at the yard in Terrace, B.C. May 21, 2011.

CN 5680 with 5630 on the waterfront

2011-05-09T20:24:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning I managed to catch 5680 with 5630 idling in the Rupert rail yard after pulling the nights container train in under the cover of darkness.

Via Rail Skeena lead by 6443

2011-05-01T11:45:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning Via 6443 passes by the public boat launch in Port Edward.

PRG 7305 working the elevator yard

2011-05-01T10:59:00.000-07:00

Former CN 7305 GMD SW1200RS was working the Prince Rupert Grain elevator on Ridley Island early this morning in the rain. The locomotive had been leased from CN but was purchased after a derailment accident. Now rebuilt, crews use the locomotive to do the switching assignments in the rail yard pushing strings of loaded cars in to the electric car indexer to be offloaded.

CN 8964 in the early morning rain

2011-04-30T08:32:00.000-07:00

6:30 A.M. CN 8964 and IC 1005 rest in the rain after completing their journey across the country with a string of container cars.

Stranger in a foreign land

2011-04-30T08:14:00.000-07:00

6:30 this morning under a gray dismal sky I hit the rail yard with my camera in hand where I spotted CN 8964 with what I thought was a BC Rail Phantom blue unit in tow but to my surprise it was Illinois Central 1005 (EMD SD-70 BLT 09/95). The lighting conditions weren't the greatest in the light rain but I managed to get a few descent photos which I turned into the Black and White images you see here.

Westbound at Exstew on the Skeena Sub

2011-04-25T22:13:00.000-07:00

CN 2527 and 5657 pass the CTC signal system at the East end of the Exstew siding under power on the Skeena subdivision April 22, 2011 just after 15:00pm.

BC Rail 4647 crew change at Quesnel

2011-04-25T22:08:00.000-07:00

April 22, 2011 I caught 4647 during a crew change before continuing on to Prince George.

BC Rail 4647 South of Williams Lake

2011-04-25T21:58:00.000-07:00

April 21, 2011 I managed to catch BC Rail 4647 leading CN 5518 & 5607 North between Lac La Hache and Williams Lake BC pulling a mixed freight load.

Eastbound Canadian Pacific empty coal train

2011-04-25T21:49:00.000-07:00

Moments after a seeing a grain train on my side of the Thompson river an empty coal train passed by heading East towards Ashcroft on the far side of the river.

Westbound in the Thompson River Valley

2011-04-23T14:41:00.000-07:00

Canadian Pacific 8716 leads a Westbound grain train between Ashcroft and Spences Bridge April 21 during the early afternoon hours during a sudden cloud burst.

Planes, Trains and Trucks?

2011-03-31T22:36:00.000-07:00

I haven't had too many opportunities to do much railfaning lately but did manage to capture a few photos of CN 616-34 which is a rather unusual piece of MOW equipment. I spotted the unit in the early morning hours March 22 in Cache Creek, B.C. at the local A&W restaurant where the truck driver was tightening the hold down chain. The unit is a jet engine with a flared nozzle mated to a self propelled chassis used to melt/blow snow off tracks.

Taking a break!

2011-03-16T22:03:00.000-07:00

After along trip across the continent pulling a container unit train locomotives 2614 and 5673 idle on the Rupert waterfront in the early morning hours of March 3, 2011.

CN 15007 15008 Track Evaluation Cars

2011-03-13T22:01:00.000-07:00

While its been along time since I've posted anything due to a busy schedule at work and home. I have replaced my Sony A380 with a new Sony SLT A55 which is a huge setup on the 380. The weather has been typical North Coast, winter rains day after day with the occasional brief break in between squalls. I did manage to get out today and made my way to the waterfront where I caught up to CN 5287 with cars 15007 and 15008 parked idling in the rain. These cars are starting to make regular appearance in town. I have seen them 2 or 3 times over the past year. 15007 is a former 60' ballasted box car (CNA794704) built by Pullman Standard in January 1964. 15008 is a track geometry car converted from ex. Via 1802/CN 1802 "Cape Rosier" built by Pullman Standard in 1954.

Early morning start

2011-01-17T21:26:00.000-08:00

Well this CN crew had a short Christmas holiday when their day started at 02:30 in Terrace on Boxing day. They pulled a mixed freight to Rupert where they split it up and sorted the cars into the correct order they had to go on to the rail barge at Pillsbury Point. Once the car are sorted a string of idler cars (bulkhead flat cars) is inserted between the locomotive and the cars that are being put on the barge (keeps the locomotive off the ramp). 2555 was the prime mover for the days work, gone are the days a geep or switcher was assigned the duties. While the train was being switched another crew on the Foss Marine tug was pushing the barge into its slip and bolting the rails that extend beyond the end of the ramp to the rails on the barge deck. They also attach winch cables to the barge that pull the barge tight to the ramp to keep it in place. The tug remains under power pushing the barge into the ramp during the loading procedure as a safety precaution.

End of the line for the Motive Power Shed

2010-12-09T20:45:00.000-08:00

Well it looks like the old round house / car repair shops days are numbered. CN terminated the lease with the city and gave them until February 5 to vacate the property. Rumor has it that the building will be demolished shortly after to make room from a trans-loading terminal in its place. So get out there and get your photos before it becomes just another memory.

Car hit by train at grade crossing in Port Edward

2010-11-30T16:54:00.000-08:00

Well today I was in my office at work when I heard a locomotive throttling up on its way by and looked out to see CN 8929 deadheading East pass the docks on the waterfront. Shortly after I saw two fire trucks, an ambulance and multiple police cars go past the office so I picked up my work camera and went down to take a look. The following photos are of the accident scene on the CN mainline. There was a lone female occupant in the car with unknown injuries who was transported to hospital after being removed with the jaws of life. The car was pushed 600+' down the tracks before the engineer could bring the locomotive to a stop. Any time is train time!

BNSF 6085 vs Tank Truck

2010-11-22T09:30:00.000-08:00

Everybody was lucky in this one! BNSF 6085 hits tank truck of gasoline (UN 1203) at Crawford, NE approximately 150 due East of Casper, WY. Date and photographer unknown.

Barbara Foss on the water

2010-11-17T20:53:00.000-08:00

Well it was a cold windy day on the water this morning because of a strong Arctic outflow. The mountains tops have a light dusting of snow at higher elevation so it won't belong before Winter is on the doorstep. I manage to catch up to the Barbara Foss pulling into the Petro Canada fuel dock in Cow Bay. The wind was pushing the tow boat sideways hard enough that the Captain had to back out and take a second run at the dock before they managed to secure their lines.

CN 2205 on the waterfront

2010-10-31T13:07:00.000-07:00

2205 was in the Prince Rupert yard this morning wait for a crew to arrive.

The Great Pumpkin - Happy Halloween

2010-10-31T12:47:00.000-07:00

Well it's Halloween today and everyone usually associates it with orange pumpkins but I thought I'd post a few photos I took this morning on the waterfront of CN 2319. I'm sure the unit won't look this clean for long hauling containers out of the Port of Prince Rupert.

Train in the rain - Smithers, BC

2010-10-24T09:33:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd post this interesting photo I took of CN 2290 heading out of Smithers towards Prince George. The light distortion was the result of a raindrop hitting the lens of the camera.

Coyote Creek / Cedarville Yellowhead 16

2010-10-23T07:01:00.000-07:00

Well I made a quick trip to Prince George on Wednesday October 20th under low cloud and rain showers the whole trip. Along the way I did manage to catch a glimpse of the occasional train along the way. These photos where taken from the South side of the Skeena river at Coyote creek about 2 miles West of Cedarville on Highway 16.

CN 6019 / SD40u class GF-630b

2010-10-11T19:01:00.000-07:00

6019 was caught waiting for the tide to rise at Pillsbury Point so barge loading could continue. The one thing that sticks out are the different font used on the number boards over the windshields.

Barbara Foss back on the barge

2010-10-11T18:39:00.000-07:00

Well it looks like the BARBARA FOSS is back towing the rail barge between Prince Rupert and Whitter again. The JEFFERY FOSS had been doing the job during the last while. Barbara is along side the Aquatrain barge which is listing to port because it was only partly loaded as the photo reveals.

What's that sound.......Ultrasound

2010-10-11T18:32:00.000-07:00

Well I managed to catch CN crews using a rather odd looking piece of equipment along the waterfront this morning. When I asked what it was, I found out it is an ultrasound unit used to inspect the rails for fatigued areas in the steel.

5542 on the Water front at Rupert

2010-10-05T22:00:00.000-07:00

Post # 100 - Slack problem

2010-10-05T21:05:00.000-07:00

This is what happens when 36 axles in hard dynamic braking combine with a wee bit of slack. Photographer and location unknown.

Robert's Bank - part three "CN Rail"

2010-09-26T08:06:00.000-07:00

Robert's Bank - part two "BNSF"

2010-09-19T22:18:00.000-07:00

With the sun just rising, I managed to photograph an inbound Burlington Northern Sante Fe coal train pulled by a mix of EMD and GE units about to enter the coal terminal to wait its turn in the rotary dumper before heading back to the field in the Powder River Basin.

Robert's Bank - part one "CP Rail"

2010-09-19T21:25:00.000-07:00

Early morning August 27, I made a trip out to Robert's Bank and managed to catch a passing CP Rail container train with locomotives 3001 & 5914 heading East out of the terminal.

Slugging it out in the Quesnel rail yard

2010-09-19T15:12:00.000-07:00

August 22, 2010 started in Quesnel, BC where I caught up with CN remote locomotives 7045, 7267 with slug unit 260 working the former BC Rail yard under a smoke fill sky. The haze was caused by forest fire burning in the Burns Lake region of the province some 3 - 4 hours drive away. It would have been nice to see BC Rail CRS-20 alco's working but those unit's have since been parted out or scraped. It was different seeing the engineer on the ground with a belt pack around his waist, not something I see in Prince Rupert.

Gord Cooper's Smoking Gun 1968 Kenworth

2010-09-19T14:48:00.000-07:00

Well it's been a busy summer between work and shipping a kid off to university but I did manage to squeeze in a few days on the road and fewer opportunity's to rail fan. I made it to the Houston, BC drag race at the local airport where my boys and I got to see Edmonton based Gord Copper's 68 Kenworth (Smoking Gun) make some exhibition passes down the 1/4 mile blacktop strip. The rig is powered by a twin turbocharged Detroit 8V92 engine which develops 3000+ HP (bottom end is stock) propelling it the 1320' distance at just under 100mph using up almost 3 gallons of diesel per pass.

Making the grade......subgrade that is!

2010-07-10T07:19:00.000-07:00

Well with traffic increasing through the Port of Prince Rupert, CN is upgrading two sidings (Amesbury and Tyee) between Rupert and Terrace from 6000' to 12,000' bringing the total to three from just the one at Salvis. The first photo looks like a scene from the summer of 59 with the gravel highway paralleling the rail grade and that's what it is, CN is laying track over the old highway grade I use to travel on as a kid. The ribbon rail can be seen in the left hand side of the photo. The second image is of crews installing the control cables for the CTC system and the third is of the prefab switches waiting to be set in place.

CN distributed power on coal train

2010-07-09T22:26:00.000-07:00

July 3rd started with a trip to Terrace for the day. Along the way I caught up to an empty coal train headed East around Kwinitsa (midway point between Rupert and Terrace) with BC Rail 4648 at the rear of the train pushing. I first saw this combination about 2 years ago. It seems CN is practicing this quite frequently on there longer trains coming into Rupert. A single locomotive on the front and another at the tail end.

Mile Post 58 "Skeena" on the Skeena Subdivision

2010-07-07T22:23:00.000-07:00

Well it's been awhile since my last post so I thought I'd share some photos I captured at mile post 58 on the Skeena subdivision on Canada Day. The first 3 images are of the view looking West towards Rupert, South across the Skeena river and East in the direction of Terrace. The next 3 photos show an East bound empty coal train lead by Locomotive numbers 2231 and 5736.

Derailment May 12 at Carstairs AB

2010-05-15T21:05:00.000-07:00

Once again my buddy comes up with these photos of a CP Rail derailment at Carstairs Alberta. No one was injured.

Sunny Sunday in Prince Rupert and trains in the yard

2010-05-13T20:39:00.000-07:00

Sunday May 2nd I managed to catch CN 2535 with BC Rail 4645 waiting for the afternoon rail crew to arrive and pull the container cars in the background out to Mayer Terminals Fairview site.

8829 idling on the waterfront

2010-04-25T20:47:00.000-07:00

Sunday afternoon, 8829 was in the Rupert yard idling, waiting for a crew. I thought I'd do something different and decided to upload them as black and white images.

CN 2699 engine failure

2010-04-24T08:12:00.001-07:00

Canadian National locomotive number 2699 is a 212 ton machine powered by a 183 liter 4400 hp V16 4 stroke diesel. While working under load, 2699 experienced what is known in the trade as a catastrophic uncontained engine failure. The train was passing the town of Independence , La at the time.
The first picture below shows that one of the 16 cylinder packs that form the engine was ejected through the engine bay body side and thrown clear of the locomotive.
In addition to this the piston from that cylinder was thrown free by the force of the failure. It was ejected so violently that it traveled through the air and crashed through the roof of a nearby home where it embedding itself in an interior wall.

Wye Oh Wye - turning locomotives

2010-04-04T22:18:00.001-07:00

BC Rail 4610 is seen entering the North end of the wye in Rupert with 2525 as the trailing unit. 2525 becomes the lead unit once it exits the wye heading South out of the yard.

Hand brake......what hand brake?

2010-03-21T09:34:00.000-07:00

Just had to post this video clip of a group of Norfolk Southern locomotive going past a level grade crossing in the dark. Can you spot the problem? Video clip by unknown.

Why they mark cars with rotary couplers?

2010-03-21T09:17:00.000-07:00

The answer is so they avoid an accident like the following that happened at dumper 31 Westshore property at Roberts Bank. A snafu, first coal car behind locomotive must have a rotary drawbar next to locomotive. Photos by unknown.

SD40-2 working the waterfront

2010-02-07T16:46:00.000-08:00

Well once again the rail barge is in from Alaska so I managed to get a couple of quick shots of SD40-2 number 5293 pulling the cars to be load on the barge out of the Rupert yard. With a wave to the engineer I got him to crack the throttle in hopes of getting a cloud of black smoke out the exhaust to photograph but the weather beaten unit just roared and discharged nothing but heat waves into the air.

Did you say Train or Grain

2010-02-07T15:59:00.000-08:00

Well not much going on today along the waterfront so I decided to go visit some longshoreman friends of mine out at Prince Rupert Grain where the vessel GREAT LEADER was taking a load of Number 1 grade grain. Prince Rupert Grain has 3 loading towers (Alice, Bob and Charlie), the first photos are from the middle tower (Bob) of the chute pouring grain into number three hold. No that isn't Bib the Michelin man......the grain is so dusty even after being cleaned, workers wear disposable coveralls to stay clean. A group of uninvited guests stopped by for a little light lunch on top of the number 4 hatch cover.

This just Blows! Part 1

2010-01-18T15:54:00.000-08:00

I have no idea who took these photos but I had to post them.

Note: No revenue loads attached to the plow. South Saskatchewan short line railways take note!!!!!!!
These photos were taken on the Bellwood Subdivision, between Seward and David City, Nebraska on the BNSF Ry. Seward is about 25 miles west of Lincoln, on the Ravenna Sub. A few blizzards and sub zero temperatures coupled with moderate winds made for a beautiful, but, flash frozen environment. A freight train was snowed in at David City and a rotary snow plow was sent to clear the track of drifts that varied from 6ft or less up to 12ft in spots!! The photos were taken on Jan. 8th through Jan. 10th.

This just Blows! Part 2

2010-01-18T15:45:00.000-08:00

I couldn't resist posting these photos along with the following caption.

Note: No revenue loads attached to the plow. South Saskatchewan short line railways take note!!!!!!!

These photos were taken on the Bellwood Subdivision, between Seward and David City, Nebraska on the BNSF Ry. Seward is about 25 miles west of Lincoln, on the Ravenna Sub. A few blizzards and sub zero temperatures coupled with moderate winds made for a beautiful, but, flash frozen environment. A freight train was snowed in at David City and a rotary snow plow was sent to clear the track of drifts that varied from 6ft or less up to 12ft in spots!! The photos were taken on Jan. 8th through Jan. 10th.

Hockey weekend gone bad!

2010-01-18T11:25:00.000-08:00

Well as you already know my son Garrett and I were in Smithers over the weekend for Hockey. Unfortunately his weekend was ended early during the second period on Saturday night when he slid into the end boards on a break away. The end result was a trip to the hospital by ambulance where we found out he had broken his right tibia finishing his hockey season. I have to tell you he`s one tough kid...... not a tear! The crappy thing is he`s now in a cast from his toes to the mid thigh.

Heavy Coal along the Skeena river

2010-01-18T11:10:00.000-08:00

Sunday morning Jan 17 Garrett and I headed home for Smithers after a disappointing hockey weekend (more on that later). About 35 miles East of Terrace there is a pull off right on the edge of the Skeena where you can look across at the CN mainline on the North side. I`ve passed by this point to many times to remember without ever seeing a train but today was my lucky day. 5791 and 2414 were leading a coal train loaded for the coast so I managed to get a couple of pick photos.

8853 in Smithers heading West

2010-01-18T10:56:00.000-08:00

Well another weekend hockey trip to Smithers with Garrett so we made a quick trip to the rail yard where 8853 and 2583 waited to depart for Prince Rupert approximately 3:00 pm with about 10,000 feet of well cars in tow.

BC Rail 1862 still in service

2010-01-18T10:29:00.000-08:00

Well it's not very often to see a caboose in service due to the use of "FRED's" but every now and then one shows up in maintenance service. When CN assumed control of BC Rail I recall seeing a large number of them for sale through a CN asset sale. BC Rail 1862 was in the Smithers yard with a string of Difco dump cars Saturday Jan 16 where it was photographed.

Loading the car float

2010-01-04T18:40:00.000-08:00

Well I thought I'd share a few more photos of the crew loading the rail barge the other day. The first one shows CN and Foss crews bolting the switch points before pushing rail cars on the the barge. The next on shows the locomotives backing down the grade with 5 bulkhead flat cars used as idlers. You can see the cars on the mainline in the left of the photo. The last show a hopper being pushed along the outside of the barge. The pictures where all taken from the ramp control room located in the tower closest to shore.

Short ride in 5602.....

2010-01-02T20:46:00.000-08:00

Well today was a definitely a good day to go rail fanning. I managed to make it to Pillsbury Point (just West of mile post 93 on the Skeena subdivison) where I got to watch the rail crew load the AquaTrain rail barge. While I was taking photos of the locomotives from the beach I was waved up to the loco by the engineer and was invited in, before I knew it I was on my way for a short cab ride to the grade crossing at Fairview dock.

Six days late....better then never

2010-01-02T13:46:00.000-08:00

Well the Foss Marine tug "Jeffery Foss" showed up six days after its planned arrival. Bad weather forced the crew to spend 6 days jogging back and forth in a sheltered inlet waiting for a break before heading South for Rupert. CN crews started off loading at 4:00 am. but had to stop and wait for the tide before resuming at 10:30 am.

Happy New Year from Prince Rupert

2010-01-01T21:09:00.000-08:00

Well I made a trip down to the waterfront and was luck enough to take a few photos of a container train that arrived earlier in the evening. 5602 was in the lead followed by BC Rail 4608, I suspect it will be pulled into the container terminal on the graveyard shift at 1:00 a.m.

Into the fire

2009-12-27T17:51:00.000-08:00

CN 8861 and 5685 pull a string of loaded steel coal cars into the thaw shed to be heated before they enter the rotary dumped. These cars are just about a thing of the past as the current standard is the larger-longer aluminum style. The draw back to the aluminum car is they don't fit Ridley Terminals older rotary dumper so they have to uncouple each car before the get rolled in the dumper. Take a close look at 8861, notice the red lights over the windshields, CN is starting to use distributed power on some of their longer trains and are replacing fred's with a locomotive at the end of the train.

Merry Christmas from the Warm Coast

2009-12-26T21:23:00.000-08:00

Well it's had to believe it was Christmas Day yesterday when Prince Rupert was Canada's hot spot at 12.4 Celsius and no snow in site. Hope everyone had a good holiday.....I sure did! Got a new Sony a380 DSLR camera and a train on the waterfront to photograph, who could ask for anything after a day like that. Had to post a few photos of yesterdays waterfront visit so here they are, locos are road numbers 2289 and 5646.

Garrett gets the train bug?

2009-11-15T21:38:00.000-08:00

Well it looks like my oldest son Garrett is starting to get the railfaning bug like his dad. On the way home from Kitimat we caught up to a westbound coal train heading for the coast, so I gave Garrett my Olympus 8080c camera and pulled along side CN 2224 and told him to start shooting. The following photos are the images he captured. Not bad considering he's never had a camera in his hands before and they where taken from a moving car.

One for Robert

2009-11-15T21:07:00.000-08:00

Well as you know in my earlier post today, I made an overnight trip to Kitimat. On the way home I stopped at a location just to the east of Tyee. This appears to be the same place Robert McDonald took a photo 50 years earlier. This ones for you!

Tanks a million

2009-11-15T16:33:00.000-08:00

Well this morning I found myself in Kitmat with an hour to spare so I made a fast trip out to Alcan Kitimat works and just happened to catch CN getting ready to put a string of tank cars out of the Methanex, methanol plant. The lead engine was road number 2225 followed by 2561 and 5765.

Containers on the way to the coast

2009-10-20T07:17:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning about 9:30 I was lucky enough to catch 5748 and 5783 pull into Smithers, B.C. at the head unit of a unit train of containers bound for Maher Terminals of Canada in Prince Rupert. I spoke with the crew as they set the locomotives brake to find out that it was scheduled to depart approximately 12:30 that afternoon but I would already be on the road back to Rupert so I managed to take these photos at the west end of the yard.

West bound for Prince Rupert

2009-10-19T19:00:00.000-07:00

CN 8844 waits at the west end of the Smithers yard on the mainline for a crew to arrive and take the mixed freight on the Prince Rupert.

East bound out of Smithers

2009-10-18T22:22:00.000-07:00

Late Saturday night 2204 prepares to head out of Smithers with a mix loaded in tow. After going through the checks the throttles are opened up and the train begins to roll.

Don't race the Train.........it always ends bad!

2009-09-10T19:03:00.000-07:00

I just had to post these photos of what happens when trying to beat the train to a grade crossing goes wrong. To the best of my knowledge it was a recent accident in the Brandon area when a load b-train was caught halfway over the crossing before being cut in two. I have no idea who captured the images but if you do please let me know........

Mile 31 on the Skeena Subdivision

2009-09-07T19:19:00.000-07:00

While it's been awhile since I had a chance to get out and capture any trains with my camera, but I made 4 trips between Prince Rupert and Terrace this past weekend and took the camera along with me. I couldn't believe I only meet 1 train during 12 hours of driving the Skeena. Well after all that driving I managed to take the 2 following photos of CN 5782 (EMD SD75I) at mile post 31 heading East with a load of empty grain cars.

Kettle Valley Steam Locomotive 3716

2009-07-25T23:06:00.000-07:00

Well I just got home from a 2 week family holiday in the Okanagan area and managed to sneak away to Summerland to ride the Kettle Valley Railroad steam train. Wow! What a trip. I haven't rode a steam train since I was a child and couldn't recall much of that trip, but I'll remember this trip for years to come. I can still smell the oil and steam that was in the air when I close my eyes. If you have never had the chance to experience live steam you are missing out. I took the photos during the morning run on July 18th.

CN Executive Cars

2009-06-28T11:58:00.000-07:00

Last weekend CN executive cars "Sandford Fleming (1060), Tawaw (1059) and Illinois Central 800210 were dragged in to Prince Rupert and dropped in the rail yard for CN executives for the week. I managed to talk to one of the crew, who told me they had come out of Chicago 4 days earlier and made the trip straight through with only short delays on sidings or for Locomotive crew changes. The cars sat on the waterfront for a few days before departing for their next destination. I was sorry they didn't use the E-9 locomotives that are usually asigned to the coaches.

Working the car float

2009-06-23T20:46:00.001-07:00

CN 5698 working the car float May 31, 2009 on the south shore in Prince Rupert.

Pushing them back fast

2009-06-23T20:32:00.000-07:00

May 31, 2009 CN 5698 was moving cars in the Rupert yard building the switch list for rail barge waiting at Pilsbury Point.

CN 5698, Sunday May 31 turning on the wye

2009-06-01T21:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I managed to get a few photos of 5698 being backed into the wye at Prince Rupert before it was used to off load the FOSS MARINE rail barge at Pillsbury Point.

I just can't bear it any longer

2009-05-09T17:54:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd post these pictures I got at Endako when I was on my way to Vanderhoof last week. The black bear climbed out of the brush and on to the tracks at the crew house then decided to lay between the rails and start eating who know what?

Mile from home

2009-05-09T11:18:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I was heading home from Vanderhoof when I happened to catch up with what had to be one of the shortest coal trains ever! Wisconsin Central GP-38 (RD# 2001) was the lead locomotive on a seven car train. The train was made up of 2 locomotives, six coal cars and a flat car loaded with wheel sets. Since CN has absorbed various class 2 and shortlines over the past few years more unusual head end power has been appearing on the Skeena subdivision here on the North Coast. The following photos where taken along the Skeena river between Shanes and Salvis sidings.

East bound empties

2009-05-07T22:06:00.000-07:00

About 10 minute behind Via Rails Skeena was an empty grain train making the trip east to the prairies to be reloaded sent back to a West Coast port. CN 2223 was the lone unit pulling the string East towards Antigonish Creek.

Via Rails Skeena heads East along the river

2009-05-03T09:12:00.000-07:00

Sunday April 26th I captured Via Rail 6424 heading out of Prince Rupert towards Terrace. Al Tucker from Smithers was the engineer at the controls of 6424 as it speeds along the Skeena river past Tyee towards the Kyex river and then on to Telegraph Point. This time of year Via operates a short train made up of a loco and two bud cars.

Things go off track at the Grain Elevator

2009-05-03T08:38:00.000-07:00

Well it's been sometime since my last post and a lot has been going on so I'll start with a series of photos taken at Prince Rupert Grain on Ridley Island. I don't know who took the pictures but they were forwarded to me by a friend who works at the elevator.

The accident happened when a switch was aligned the wrong way and a string of grain cars was pushed through the locomotive shop and out the other end. to the best of my knowledge no one was injured.

4615 speeds along the Skeena in the Dark

2009-01-29T20:35:00.000-08:00

Former BC rail 4615 is the lead of a West bound container drag as it speeds toward the Port city of Prince Rupert on the end of the CN Northern line. The clip shot by my Twelve year old son, Garrett, while returning from Terrace.

The Big Bad Wolf

2009-01-21T22:19:00.000-08:00

Saturday on my way up country I managed to capture a few quality images of a Timber wolf by the Salvis siding along the Skeena river.

Bound for Smithers......

2009-01-21T22:06:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I made a trip to Smither and managed to get a few photos along the way. The first is of empty grain train headed East between Antigonish creek and the Kyex river.

Derailment on the mainline

2009-01-03T20:06:00.000-08:00

CN rail had a small derailment today between the downtown rail yard and J.S.McMillian fisheries plant. Half a dozen twin stack car went on the ground when the rail apparently laid over. A various assortment of equipment was brought in to help with the clean up. Cranes, excavators, loaders, container trucks and trailers were just some of the machinery at the site.

The whatsit files!

2008-12-15T14:49:00.000-08:00

Just thought I' d post a picture of this unusual ZPMC 20' container spotted by the Mayer terminals Fairview mechanical shop. The container was used to load test and commission the 3 gantry cranes lifting capacity. The marks on the side indicate the units weight (long tonnes / 2200lbs) when water is add to the container.

Cold and Clear on the Northcoast

2008-12-15T13:10:00.000-08:00

Mid afternoon yesterday with the mercury @ -5 celcius, I made my way to the waterfront to see if I could catch something in the rail yard. As luck would have it the afternoon switch crew, Art Ferguson (engineer) and JT Sparkes (switchman), were about to run a set on locomotives into the wye.

CN SD70M-2, Road number 8011

2008-12-12T17:47:00.000-08:00

CN 8011 was in town early December 8th as head end power on the mixed freight along with BC Rail 762. This locomotive is one of 50 that were ordered for container service out of Rupert. The SD40-2 looks pretty small coupled to this big third gen monster.

BC Rail 762 on the waterfront

2008-12-12T17:29:00.000-08:00

Early December 8th BC Rail SD40-2 was parked in front of the old passenger station waiting for the in coming tide before unloading the Foss marine rail barge service.

Maher Terminals 1st Anniversary

2008-11-17T22:36:00.000-08:00

Well a year has past since Maher Terminals of Canada opened the Fairview container port. Since the first ship off loaded, business has continued to grow. Currently the facility handles two scheduled sailings a week with rail service operating daily in and out of the port. To celebrate the 1st anniversary Maher held a BBQ for the workers and staff.

Train in the Rain

2008-11-02T09:24:00.000-08:00

CN 5721 / EMD SD75I, serial no. 956616-92, built 11/1996 in the Rupert rail yard early this morning in the rain.

CN 2246 GE ES44DC

2008-10-16T12:39:00.000-07:00

Canadian Nation 2246 ES44DC along with 5736 SD75I pulling a sting of loaded well cars into the Maher container terminal in the Port of Prince Rupert. The next shot is of 2246 at Pillsbury point on its way into town.

My assistant Rain the pug

2008-10-13T09:04:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd include a photo of my pug who is usually along with me when I go out taking photos. Unlike my wife, he doesn't say much when I pull the car over to take a picture! And no, he doesn't talk like Frank from Men in Black!

Off loading twinstack rail cars

2008-10-13T08:36:00.000-07:00

Sunday, October 12th. ILWU local 505 members work the day shift, off loading inbound rail cars at Maher Terminals Fairview facility in the Port of Prince Rupert. The Kalmar reach stacker is lifting a 40' container out of a well car and placing it on to a truck to be moved into cells for back loading on to a ship.