Jasper trip...volume 2.

Woke up next morning (Monday) and got an early morning shot of the Rocky Mountaineer in Jasper yard. As you can see, it was a rather cloudy day again, affecting the photo quality somewhat.
Oh well...I'm hungry, so off to the beanery for some cackleberries and toast...and a large pail of coffee.


On the way to breakfast, I snapped this shot, showing the old train station with Pyramid Mountain in the background.

There is a SD70M-2 on the point of a grain train in the yard.




With a full belly, I returned to the bunkhouse just in time to see this train leaving Jasper West (now named 'Home', in honor of long-time engineer Harry Home, of 6060 fame). Lighting still not great, but it is early in the day...If you look closely, you can see the tea house on top of Whistler Mountain (the peak to the left). A sky tram takes people up here...

As we were switching our train, a stack train decided to come join the fun. Good thing Kenny had his camera. Lotas of new power out here. The sun also decided to cooperate for a change. One thing about Alberta weather...if you don't like it, just wait 5 minutes...it's bound to change!

Most interesting and unusual occurence...VIA 1's power had died somewhere east of Edmonton and had to be pulled in with a CN unit (more on this later). We picked up the spare VIA F40PH in Jasper and ferried it east.

Meanwhile, the chant of the VIA unit's prime mover was joined in chorus with a pair of old road warrior 'thundercow' SD40-2's on the other side of the yard. The turbocharged 16-645e3's still have one of the neatest sounds, at idle and all the way througn the throttle selections...

We had finished our switching and...good thing! You can see the furry four-legged 'railfan' by the dwarf signals at Jasper East.

Maybe he was looking for a young tender brakeman for his breakfast...Boy, would he have been out of luck,with me not being too young or tender anymore...

Don't suppose too many railfan / 'foamer' types get to take a photo like this. Coming out of Brule Tunnel.

On our way back to Edmonton.

Waiting at Swan Landing for train 357. Looks a bit unusual, having a VIA unit coupled to empty glycol tanks. Yes, it was quite windy, with the trees leaning like that...

357 shows up...with another new ES44DC on the point...

Hogger Ken...to the rescue! We met VIA 1 at Evansburg, where they picked up the VIA 6402 up from us. The conductor is handing the VIA enginner a MU jumper cable.

THe trailing unit, VIA 6444 is dead, so the passengers had no electrical power on the train. This at 17:30, wit no way to cook dinner. I wonder if Panago would deliver??

That concludes my volume 2 photo essay. Hope you enjoyed!

Ken King.

Proto photos from my Jasper trip...volume 1.

Time to add some more 12" to the foot scale photos. I was called as a brakeman on train 107 to Jasper AB last Sunday. This looked like a good opportunity to test out my new 6.0 mp digital camera.

Our train ready to depart McBain Intermodal Terminal, on the west end of Edmonton. On the point is a pair of GE Dash9-44cw's


Whew! A high speed meet on double track at Acheson. We were doing about 30 mph, and train 104 was cruising at about 60 mph. Overall closing speed had to be at least 90mph! The hogger on 104 has them smokin' as he crests the slight grade, 7 miles west of Edmonton. Lucky to get this shot! As you can see, the lazy brakeman was on the trailing unit...

Meeting 346 at Hargwen, just east of Obed Summit between Edson and Hinton. Obed is the highest point on the CN mainline. Shiny new GE ES44DC on the point.

As you can see, the hogger put the 'lazy brakeman' to work in the 'hot corner', drivin' the train...



Just west of Entrance (named by the Grand Trunk Pacific surveyors for the 'entrance' to the front range of the Rocky Mountains). Crossing the Athabasca River, which eventually flows into the Arctic Ocean as part of the Mackenzie River watershed. Please excuse the raindrop marks on the windshield! Lighting went from perfect to subpar as we approached the mountains, along with a few showers.
Just leaving Brule Tunnel, this is Windy Point on Jasper Lake. We have travelled close to 200 miles from Edmonton by this time.
We remarshalled the train at Edmonton for delivery to the CP west of Kamloops. The containers ("cans") on our train are destined for the intermodal terminal on Burrard Inlet in Vancouver BC.


Crossing Snaring River, about 12 miles east of Jasper. You can just make out the train we are meeting at Henry House.

Time to pack up the gear and put the gloves on, for some more switching in Jasper yard. We have 2 blocks for Deltaport (Roberts Bank) for train 111 to pick up...damn windshield wiper keeps getting in the way! Hey, the sun was out for a bit! Where did it go to??

2 Miles east of Jasper at English. Meet another container train (think it is 106). Note the new GM SD70M-2 as a trailing unit.

This concludes this issue. I will do another post with stuff around Jasper and the return trip. Hope you enjoyed this photo essay!

Regards...Ken King.