JOURNAL OF THE C.R.H.A. PACIFIC COAST DIVISION
Vol. 31, No. 2, Issue 122

ISSN 18188-1755

Summer 2006

 SteamExpo’s Magic Drew Crowds

In This Issue

 Riding a BREL Railbus on “BCER”
 SRY Starts Island Operations
 Derailments Plague B.C. Summer
Summer 2006 - Page 1

This journal is the official publication of the
CANADIAN RAILROAD
HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION

PACIFIC COAST DIVISION

P.O. Box 1006, Station A, Vancouver, B.C. V6C 2P1

Table of Contents
To Our Readers

Page 3

Dates to Remember

Page 3

Division News

Page 4

Years Ago in The Sandhouse

Page 5

SteamExpo’s Magic
Drew Railfan Crowds to Vancouver

Page 6

Canada’s Major Railways
Gave Expo a Boost

Page 21

Riding the BREL Railbus from
New Westminster to Abbotsford

Page 23

E&N Starts Next Life
Under SRY Operation

Page 29

Disastrous Derailments Plague
Summer Scene in B.C.

Page 31

Canada Line Begins Boring
Towards Downtown Vancouver

Page 34

Short Hauls
Canadian National
Canadian Pacific
Southern Railway of BC
Short Lines
VIA Rail
West Coast Express
Rocky Mountaineer
Other Passenger
Rail Safety
Rail Manufacturing
TransLink
Port News
Preservation
Miscellaneous
Obituary
Corrections and Clarifications
Parting Shot

Page 35
Page 35
Page 36
Page 38
Page 38
Page 39
Page 40
Page 40
Page 41
Page 41
Page 42
Page 42
Page 43
Page 43
Page 44
Page 44
Page 45
Page 46

Press Date — August 19, 2006
Front cover: Royal Hudson 2860, the “host engine” of SteamExpo in Vancouver, shares the spotlight with Scottish-built Prairie Dog Central 4-4-0 No. 3 in glorious weather on May 27, 1986.
Back cover: On the same day, Virginia & Truckee 4-4-0 No. 22 “Inyo” posed for the camera. Built
in 1875, this venerable locomotive’s 111 years of age made it the oldest original engine at the international event. Five replicas of much older engines may have fooled some of the laymen, but No. 22
was truly SteamExpo’s most senior citizen.
(Both photos by Ian Smith)

Page 2 - The Sandhouse

To Our Readers
If you could turn back time just once, what year
would you choose?
You could do worse than the spring and summer
of 1986, a heady time when British Columbia
was casting off the shrouds of the recession that
darkened the early years of that decade.
By 1986, B.C. was in bloom again, and
welcoming the world to Vancouver for the first
international exposition to be held in Western
Canada. And for those with a special interest in
transportation, the scene would be perfect, for
that was the focus of Expo 86.

Not only did the world's fair specialize in
transportation and communications, it was
accompanied by a magnificent side event
organized through the initiative of local railway
enthusiasts -- SteamExpo, a gathering of steam
locomotion on an unparalleled scale in North
America.
All that was 20 years ago. To mark that
anniversary, this issue of The Sandhouse looks
back at the magic of SteamExpo, including
photos of every locomotive that steamed under
its own power at the Grand Parade kick-off.
Our Expo 86 coverage also recalls the
participation of Canada's major railways, both at

the fair and on the rails, and remembers a visitor
from Britain that reprised the interurban era on
the B.C. Electric Railway.
Elsewhere, we record the arrival of a new
operator for the Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway,
which is celebrating its 120th anniversary this
year. And we cannot overlook the dramatic
news of major derailments on B.C.'s railways
this summer, including a tragic incident that
claimed the lives of two men on the job.
Much progress has been made on the Canada
Line in the past three months, but space permits
only brief coverage in this issue -- look for much
more next time.
Finally, do take note of some corrections and
clarifications required to the text and captions of
the previous issue, which are noted on page 45.
We try to do our best, but we don’t claim to be
perfect!
Ian Smith
Editor

Dates to Remember
September 21 — PCD Meeting, Place des Arts, Coquitlam. 19:00 (Entertainment: presentation by
Chuck Davis: “29 Things You Didn’t Know About Greater Vancouver”)
October 19 — PCD Meeting, Place des Arts, Coquitlam, 19:00. (Entertainment TBA)
November 16 — PCD Meeting, Place des Arts, Coquitlam, 19:00. (Entertainment TBA)

Summer 2006 - Page 3

Division News
With the summer break approaching, PCD's activities for the spring wound down with two
membership meetings.
The May 18 meeting featured a detailed presentation by Don Evans on the past, present and future of
the West Coast Heritage Railway Park in Squamish. This was also the occasion for presentation of
the 2006 Norris Adams Memorial Award to Don, who is currently the WCRA's Executive Director
as well as a long-time volunteer leader of the organization.
Our meeting season concluded on June 15 with a viewing of a gallery of black-and-white photos of
B.C. railway scenes of the 1930s and 1940s, from the collection of Addison Lake of Tucson, Ariz.
The images may have been 60 years old and more but they were in digital form on CD, and outwitted
our attempts to use an LCD projector. It seems PCD has not quite entered the 21st century,
technologically speaking.

PCD once again took part in the annual
Fair in the Square event at Heritage
Square, Coquitlam, on the weekend of July
8-9. Helping to display Fraser Mills station museum and our ex-CP caboose and
ex-CN speeder on both days were President Doug Battrum and Treasurer Alan
Shaw, with Director Burc Cander and
members Tom Carr and Emil Ferry taking
part on the Sunday. More than 150 visitors
dropped by over the two days.
We'll soon be kicking off a new season
with a membership meeting on September
21, and it's hoped that many of you will be
there.

With PCD’s ex-CP Rail caboose
forming a backdrop, Don Evans
of WCRA (left) accepts the 2006
Norris Adams Memorial Award
plaque from PCD President Doug
Battrum, on May 18.
Page 4 - The Sandhouse

YEARS AGO IN THE SANDHOUSE
30 Years Ago (June 1976 issue)
— CN’s distinctive VIA symbol for passenger trains is coming into use.
— British Columbia Railway takes delivery of 12 C-425 diesels, numbered 801-812.

25 Years Ago (July 1981 issue)
— a $330-million deal is signed for building the ALRT line from Vancouver to New Westminster.

20 Years Ago (June 1986 issue)
— SteamExpo in May draws steam fans from all parts of the world.
— CN takes delivery of SD50F diesels, numbered in the 5400 series.

15 Years Ago (June 1991 issue)
— CN demolishes its last water tank in B.C., at Kamloops Junction.

10 Years Ago (June 1996 issue)
— The City of Vancouver buys CPR’s South Shore branch for a heritage trolley operation.
— The Canadian Pacfic Railway name is resurrected, replacing the short-lived CP Rail System.

5 Years Ago (June 2001 issue)
— Now in its fourth year, the Downtown Historic Railway is extended eastward to Quebec Street.
— CPR ends operations on the Arbutus corridor line on June 1.

— Ex-CPR 3716 has joined Royal Hudson 2860 on the casualty list.
— SkyTrain’s Millennium Line is energized from Columbia station to North Road on June 25.

Summer 2006 - Page 5

SteamExpo’s Magic Drew
Railfan Crowds to Vancouver
by Ian Smith
While the World's Fair held in Vancouver in
1986 left many memories among the crowds
who visited its diverse attractions, for railway
enthusiasts it will always be remembered for one
thing above all -- SteamExpo.
Twenty years later, the notion of 21 steam locomotives gathering in one place for a festival
lasting 10 days seems even more remarkable
than, perhaps, it did at the time. Certainly, there
is no reason to believe that Vancouver will ever
see its likes again.
SteamExpo was the creation of David Gibson
and Grant Ferguson of Granville Transportation
Consultants. It was designed to complement
Expo 86 itself, which was focused on transportation and communications, with a theme of
"World in Motion/World in Touch." Gibson
and Ferguson convinced the fair's organizers to
grant SteamExpo the status of an official special
event of The 1986 World Exposition.
Three years of planning culminated in a 10-day
event running from May 23 through June 1.
It had not been without teething pains, as circumstances conspired against the attendance of
some very prominent locomotives in the North
American pantheon of steam.
Various famed engines were unable to participate owing to the costs involved.
Adding to that obstacle, Burlington Northern
Railroad, the rail gateway from the United
States into Vancouver, refused to permit the
movement of large steam locomotives over its
tracks, whether in steam or dead in transit. That
Page 6 - The Sandhouse

would rule out the participation of Union Pacific
4-8-4 No. 8444 and ex-Southern Pacific
"Daylight" 4-8-4 No. 4449, as alternative routes
proved unworkable for those large engines.
BN did, however, permit the movement of
smaller locomotives that could be shipped on
flatcars, and eventually 10 U.S. engines did indeed take part. Seven of these were from western states, but three came from museums in east
coast states. They were joined by nine locomotives based in Canada (five of them in B.C.), and
a replica that came all the way from England
(see list on page 10).
SteamExpo consisted of three elements -- an
opening-day Grand Parade of Steam along the
Vancouver waterfront, nine days of mainly static
displays at the west end of CN's yard south of
Terminal Avenue, and various events on the
official Expo 86 site, including displays of
steam logging machinery, traction engines, fire
engines, and steam-powered boats.
The Grand Parade was a marvellous kick-off to
the nine days that followed, with 17 locomotives
steaming from a point east of Main Street
through to CP Rail's yard west of Burrard Street,
with the overpasses carrying those streets being
popular vantage points.
Bob Harbison saw the parade from the vantage
point of Mt. Rainier Scenic Railway's No. 91, a
three-truck Heisler.
"I was conductor on the Heisler No. 91 and rode
on the tender for the trip back, so that I could get
a better view of the track ahead," he recalls. "It
was a sea of people on both sides of the track. I

felt like I was in some kind of royal parade with
the Queen.
"I've been to many steam events, both before
and since, but none have ever matched the
crowds on that day, and none have come close
to matching the number of steam locomotives
under steam in one place. For a while, until the
neighbours complained, we were all blowing the
whistle on the hour. What an incredible sound
that was!"
To reach the Grand Parade route from the CN
yard, the four largest locomotives had to take the
long way around, running via BN to Sapperton,
then on CP to Coquitlam, whence they proceeded west on the Cascade Subdivision to the staging area. The other 13 engines took a much
shorter route, using BN's Burrard Inlet Line.
Leading the parade was the "host engine", Royal

Hudson 2860. Its run was precisely timed so
that it would pass the reviewing stand adjacent
to the Canada Pavilion (now Canada Place) at
12:35, exactly 99 years to the minute after the
arrival of CPR 374 with the first regularlyscheduled transcontinental passenger train to
reach Vancouver.
The 16 engines that followed were arranged in
chronological order of age (with the five replicas
taking the age of their originals). Thus a replica
of George Stephenson's "Rocket" of 1829 followed the Royal Hudson, while 1944-built CPR
G5a Pacific No. 1201 brought the parade to an
end. In between was the oldest genuine locomotive, Virginia & Truckee Railroad's 4-4-0 No.
22, named "Inyo" and built in 1875.
Aside from these 17, Steam Expo had four other
participants that didn’t take part in the parade.

The four largest locomotives in the Grand Parade of Steam had to run via Coquitlam.
They are seen here at the west end of Coquitlam yard, early in the morning of May 23,
1986, poised to run westward to the staging point. Leading is Royal Hudson 2860, followed by ex-Great Western 51, ex-CN 1392 and ex-CP 1201. (Photo by Doug Battrum)
Summer 2006 - Page 7

Two U.S. locomotives couldn’t be steamed because they did not have valid boiler certificates.
Cowichan Valley Railway two-truck Shay No.
1, from the B.C. Forest Museum in Duncan, was
in steam during SteamExpo, but as a narrowgauge engine had to pass up the Grand Parade.
At the main site, however, it had 50 metres of
36-in.-gauge track to operate on.

And a latecomer was ex-CN 4-8-2 No. 6060,
also known as "Bullet-Nose Betty." The final
stages of its extensive overhaul were not completed in time for it to make the opening of
SteamExpo, but it did arrive for the final two
days. Had it been there for the parade, its build
date of October 1944 would have entitled it to
be the final act, as it is four months younger than
CP 1201.
Admission to the CN yard site was separate
from entry to the main sites of Expo 86, with
adults charged $4 for the day, and seniors and
children aged 6-12 getting in for half-price.
SteamExpo was open daily from 10:00 to 20:00
except on the final day, when it closed at 18:00.
Evening photography sessions were staged on
five separate days, from 20:00 to 22:00, enabling night photography with photo-line discipline.
With crowds roaming the rails among the exhibits at SteamExpo, most locomotives were on
static display, although in steam where possible.
Motion came in the form of servicing movements, requiring regular of locomotives on the
site's tracks.
The "Rocket" replica had some 200-ft. of ropedoff track on which to run, and it racked up 57
miles of travel during the event.
Long-time members will recall that PCD had a
booth in the display area, and some PCD types
were able to enjoy a visit to the footplate of the
"John Molson" 2-2-2 replica of Canada's first
steam locomotive, which had ventured west
from its home at the CRHA's Canadian Railway
Museum in St. Constant, Que.

Doug Battrum captured this view looking west
from the parade staging area on May 23, while
on the footplate of a replica of the 2-2-2 “John
Molson”, part of the collection at the CRHA’s
Canadian Railway Museum.

Page 8 - The Sandhouse

The essence of the SteamExpo experience was
captured by Jim Boyd, editor of Railfan & Railroad magazine, in its September 1986 edition.
"It was a chance to get close to some amazingly

diverse locomotives where the details of the
little engines could compete successfully for
attention with the sheer size of the big guys,"
wrote Boyd. "It was like returning to an engine
terminal of the 1950s and having more engines
around than you could possibly appreciate at any
one time. That was its magic."

The Sandhouse, July 1986, p. 1, and October
1986, pp. 6-7.
railsnorthwest@yahoogroups.com

To recapture a little bit of that feeling, this issue
of The Sandhouse presents photos of 18 locomotives that took part in SteamExpo, including all
the participants in the Grand Parade. Let them
take you back 20 years to those magical 10 days
when steam was again in its glory, however
briefly.
SOURCES:
"SteamExpo and the Grand Parade," Jim Boyd,
Railfan & Railroad, September 1986, pp. 32-38.

Old meets new at SteamExpo, as a Mark I SkyTrain passes above 111-year-old Virginia
& Truckee 4-4-0 No. 22, the oldest original locomotive at the event, on May 27, 1986.
(Photo by Ian Smith)
Summer 2006 - Page 9

The Cast of SteamExpo
Locomotives in the Grand Parade of Steam, in order of appearance (home base in brackets)
Ex-CP H1e class 4-6-4 Royal Hudson No. 2860, built in 1940 (B.C.)
"The Rocket", 1979 replica of 0-2-2 built in 1829 (U.K.)
"The Best Friend of Charleston", 1928 replica of 0-4-0 built in 1830 (Virginia)
"Tom Thumb", 1926 replica of Baltimore & Ohio 0-2-2-0 built in 1830 (Maryland)
"John Bull", 1940 replica of 2-4-0 built in 1831 (Pennsylvania)
"John Molson", 1970 replica of 2-2-2 built in 1835 (Quebec)
"Inyo", Virginia & Truckee Railroad 4-4-0 No. 22, built in 1875 (Nevada)
Prairie Dog Central 4-4-0 No. 3 (originally City of Winnipeg Hydro), built in 1882 (Manitoba)
"Gypsy", ex-Elk River Mill & Lumber 0-4-0 No. 1, built in 1884 (California)
"Dunrobin", ex-Duke of Sutherland 0-4-4T, built in 1895 (B.C.)

Ex-Great Western Railway 2-8-0 No. 51, built in 1906 (Colorado)
Ex-Alberni Pacific Lumber two-truck Shay No. 2, built in 1912 (B.C.)
Ex-CN 4-6-0 class H-6-g No. 1392, built in 1913 (Alberta)
Ex-UP 0-6-0 No. 4466, built in 1920 (California)
Ex-MacMillan Bloedel 2-6-2 No. 1077, built in 1923 (B.C.)
Mt. Rainier Scenic Railway three-truck Heisler No. 91, built in 1930 (Washington)
Ex-CP G5a class 4-6-2 No. 1201, built in 1944 (Ontario, but based in B.C. in winter 1985/86)
Other locomotives at SteamExpo
Cowichan Valley Railway 36-in. gauge two-truck Shay No. 1, built in 1920 (B.C.)
Ex-CN class U-1-f 4-8-2 No. 6060, built in 1944 (Alberta)
Ex-Pickering Lumber three-truck Shay No. 12, built in 1903 (California)*
Ex-Quincy Railroad 2-6-2T No. 2, built in 1924 (California)*
* not in steam

Page 10 - The Sandhouse

The replica of “The Rocket” came all the way from Britain’s National Railway Museum
for SteamExpo and the Grand Parade.
(Photo by Kevin Dunk)

Seen alongside the brand-new SkyTrain, this replica of the 1830-built “Best Friend of
Charleston” replica was shipped from Virginia.
(Photo by Kevin Dunk)
Summer 2006 - Page 11

The crew attends to the “Tom Thumb” replica, which came from the B&O
museum in Baltimore.
(Photo by Doug Battrum)

Steaming past old Gastown buildings, this replica of 2-4-0 “John Bull” was sent to Expo from the Pennsylvania State Railroad Museum.
(Photo by Kevin Dunk)
Page 12 - The Sandhouse

The CRHA proudly steamed its Japanese-built replica of 2-2-2“John Molson”, which
makes its home at the Canadian Railway Museum.
(Photo by Kevin Dunk)

Virginia & Truckee’s 4-4-0“Inyo” came from Nevada State Railroad Museum to star as
the oldest “real” locomotive at SteamExpo.
(Photo by Kevin Dunk)
Summer 2006 - Page 13

Scottish-built Prairie Dog Central 4-4-0 No. 3 from Manitoba was the oldest genuine
Canadian-owned locomotive to take part in Steam Expo.
(Photo by Ron Keillor)

Tiny wood-burning 0-4-0 “Gypsy” represented the early years of California’s logging
industry.
(Photo by Kevin Dunk)
Page 14 - The Sandhouse

Fort Steele in British Columbia sent the Duke of Sutherland’s “Dunrobin” 0-4-4 tank
engine to the international gathering of steam.
(Photo by Ian Smith)

Great Western 2-8-0 No. 51 from Colorado was the oldest of the 20th-century-built
locomotives to steam in the Grand Parade.
(Photo by Kevin Dunk)
Summer 2006 - Page 15

Another B.C. entrant was Alberni Pacific Shay No. 2, a symbol of steam’s long
connection with the Vancouver Island forest industry.
(Photo by Kevin Dunk)

CN 4-6-0 1392 from the Alberta Pioneer Railway Association was the oldest representative of Canada’s two major transcontinental railways.
(Photo by Kevin
Page 16 - The Sandhouse

Union Pacific 0-6-0 4466 from the California State Railroad Museum was the only representative of an existing major U.S. railway. Its slopeback tender (below) was designed to improve visibility for switching maneuvers.
(Both photos by Ian Smith)

Summer 2006 - Page 17

MacMillan Bloedel 2-6-2 1077, widely known for its role with the Provincial Museum
train, also carried the flag for British Columbia.
(Photo by Kevin Dunk)

Mt. Rainer Scenic No. 91 Heisler came from nearby Washington state to depict the logging industry of the Pacific Northwest.
(Photo by Ian Smith)
Page 18 - The Sandhouse

Then one of Canada’s most active preserved steam locomotives, 4-6-2 CP 1201 from
Ottawa had wintered in British Columbia before SteamExpo.
(Photo by Ian Smith)

CN 6060 left its Alberta base too late to make the Grand Parade, but the 4-8-2 made a
stirring sight when it finally reached SteamExpo on May 31.
(Photo by Kevin Dunk)
Summer 2006 - Page 19

Page 20 - The Sandhouse

Canada’s Major Railways
Gave Expo a Boost
With the 1986 World's Fair in Vancouver focused on transportation and communications, it
was not surprising that Canada's major railways
would have a high-profile presence at the event.
Both Canadian National and Canadian Pacific
had prominent pavilions, while VIA Rail used
the nearby CN station to showcase passenger
rail travel.
The CN Pavilion was an impressive structure
that won a Canadian Architectural Award. With
a theme of "Carrying Things", it used a series of
open-air displays called "commMotion" and a
circular theatre to depict the movement of materials and information.
The CP Pavilion featured a giant-screen film,
"Rainbow War", which would earn an Academy
Award nomination for its modern fairy tale
about prejudice, ignorance and mistrust.

VIA's presentation at the station was more
down-to-earth, featuring a replica of Canada's
first locomotive, "Dorchester", the Cranbrook
Railway Museum's classic CPR coaches, and a
modern LRC coach, along with a miniature railway for kids.
The railways promoted their presence at Expo
86 with specially decorated locomotives.
CN turned out SD40-2(W) 5334 in an Expo colour scheme, while CP Rail applied a bold graphic derived from the Rainbow War film to six
SD40-2 units -- 5610, 5614, 5647, 5698, 5748
and 5775.
The CN unit hauled a three-day Okanagan Express excursion sponsored by the B.C. Chapter
of the National Railway Historical Society on

Decorated in colours derived from the film at the Canadian Pacific pavilion at Expo,
CP 5775 was at North Bend, B.C., on March 31, 1986.
(Photo by Kevin Dunk)
Summer 2006 - Page 21

May 24-26, getting back to Vancouver in time to
be photographed alongside some of the stars of
SteamExpo at a night photo session for railfans.
As the end of the fair drew near, a Modern Rail
event was staged from September 29 to October
13, featuring contemporary rail vehicles.
CN showed off a new SD60F locomotive (9901,
now numbered 5501), a two-car TEST track
geometry set, a triple-articulated piggyback flat
car, and a "Supertherm" insulated boxcar.
CP displayed its unique AC-traction MLW M640 numbered 4744, and BC Rail featured two
pieces from its northeastern B.C. coal service,
GF6-C electric locomotive 6005 and a 100-ton
gondola.
Union Pacific contributed a mechanical refrigerator car, a gondola, a covered hopper and a
flatcar, while TransAlta Utilities displayed a

Schnabel 195-ton car for carrying super-size
loads.
Soon after, Expo 86 would close, bringing to an
end a unique opportunity for Canada's railways
to show their achievements to the world.
SOURCES:
"Fireworks and Rainbow Wars", Railfan & Railroad, September 1986, pp. 58-59.
Sandhouse, Issue 43, October 1986, pp. 12-14.
www.geocities.com/exposcruff
information)

(for

pavilion

CN’s only Expo-liveried unit was SD40-2(W) 5334, seen on May 24, 1986, at Thornton
Yard in Surrey, B.C., with an Okanagan Express charter.
(Photo by Kevin Dunk)
Page 22 - The Sandhouse

Riding the BREL Railbus from
New Westminster to Abbotsford
by Peter Sieux
Editor's note: Peter Sieux took what he called "a truly sentimental journey" on July 1, 1986, when
he rode a British Rail Engineering Ltd. "Pacer" Class 142 railbus from New Westminster to Abbotsford on the Fraser Valley line of BC Hydro Rail, the successor to the B.C. Electric Railway.
The railbus was a visitor to the region for the summer of 1986, when Vancouver hosted the
transport-oriented World's Fair, Expo 86. Peter's article in the July 1986 issue of The Sandhouse
has stood the test of time, and is republished here in full.

A Canada Day ride
It's a cold and rainy Canada Day morning as I
prepare to board at Front and Begbie Streets -within sight of the original B.C. Electric station
at 8th Street and Columbia. Large windows
make for a bright interior and excellent outward
visibility. For additional ventilation, the upper 6in. section flips inward about 30 degrees. Clothcovered seats, in a 3 and 2 arrangement for the
forward and rearward facing positions, are provided. A coach-length luggage rack is positioned
above the row of double seats.
The engineman and brakeman are separated
from the passenger compartment by a bulkhead
with access through a central door. A pair of exit
doors flank the area directly behind the bulkhead, along with a pair of sideways-facing seats
for two. A glass divider with sliding doors enables this area to be partitioned from the rear of
the coach. An additional pair of exit doors is
provided at the rear. A British Rail poster, publicizing local service, hung on the partition behind
the brakeman's position, is a sure target for souvenir seekers!
At 09:05, the Hydro dispatcher asks engineman
Bernie Eadie to pull east, clear of the CN interchange switch, to allow Hydro engine No. 901

to travel west to Trapp Yard with a cut of cars
picked up from CN's highline. We return to
the "station" immediately after the freight
clears to pick up a few last-minute passengers,
and get underway on time at 09:15. The coaches, with a combined seating for 121, appear
nearly full. Conductor Don Moore indicates
that ridership has been very good.
Above 10 miles per hour (the speedometer is
calibrated in mph, but brake pressure is metric!) the ride is very smooth. An immediate
comparison to a Budd car, VIA coach,
SkyTrain and bus are in order. While the Budd
car and VIA coach may be smoother riding at
slow speed -- probably because of their heavier weights and four-wheel trucks -- the Railbus
was comparably quiet and clearly superior to
SkyTrain or motor bus on both counts.
A quick sprint over the New Westminster railway bridge and then Scott Road hill (2.6%) is
assaulted at 22 mph. We traverse Surrey
quickly, passing a mosaic of industrial, commercial and residential sites, only to be held
for eight minutes at Pratt (09:48) while CN
5248 West passes on its way to Roberts Bank.
Through Langley at 10:00, with brakeman
Brian Rowson pointing out the two Hydro
units (one SW900, one MP15) in prime coat
Summer 2006 - Page 23

on the BC Hydro Rail Head Office spur, near
Glover Road.
Past Mile 20 (Milner) at 10:03, over the TransCanada Highway at 10:05, County Line Road
(264th) at 10:12, Bradner at 10:17, finally arriving at Abbotsford at 10:35. Passengers were in
great spirits, many reminiscing about the B.C.

Electric days, as was engineman Eadie, interjecting appropriate and humorous commentary
along the way via the train's intercom.
Despite numerous unprotected level crossings, a
50-mph speed was attained in sections. A travel
time of one hour and 20 minutes was impressive
-- as was the scenery along the way, some of
which has not changed much, if at all, since the
last B.C. Electric interurbans ran the same route
in October 1950.
The BREL Railbus service in 1986
Operation of the railbus was sponsored by the
Abbotsford-Clearbrook Chamber of Commerce
("Abbotsford to Expo by rail"), in conjunction
with BC Hydro Rail. The service operated from
June 25 to August 10 (except July 11-12) and
three daily round trips were scheduled, departing
Abbotsford at 07:30, 11:30 and 21:15, and departing New Westminster at 09:15, 19:30 and
23:30.
While the scheduled travel time was 90 minutes
for the non-stop run, a 65-minute trip was not
uncommon, providing the track through Langley
was clear.
Adult fares ranged from $5 one-way to $12
round trip (returning on another day, and including a SkyTrain pass). Child (age 5-11) fares for
the same service were $3.50 to $7.
BC Rail prepared the railbus in North Vancouver. Twin trumpet air horns were attached to the
frame, under the engineman's position on the left
side, two-way radios were installed in each cab,
and, for a train bell, a real fire alarm was affixed
to the brakeman's side of the frame. Factoryinstalled couplers were retained; thus, in event
of a breakdown, the railbus cannot be towed by
a unit equipped with AAR standard couplers.
Footboards were not installed.
Before entering regular service on BC Hydro
Rail, the railbus ventured out on BC Rail on

Page 24 - The Sandhouse

June 10 for a trial run to Squamish, and made a
demonstration run on June 18. BC Hydro enginemen reported that the unit was easy to operate, even though they had to sit on the unfamiliar left side, had to use a controller that moves
through an arc opposite to that of North American throttles, and had to remember to cut power
before applying the brakes (otherwise the unit
would make an emergency stop).

Each four-wheel (two-axle) coach was driven by
a single axle at the outer end of the car. Despite
the lack of conventional twin-axle trucks, the
ride was very good.

bined length of 31.32 metres, width of 2.8 metres and seating for 121. Although the train is
equipped with a toilet, it was not in service for
this demonstration.
The British Rail paint scheme was retained; twotone blue, with longitudinal white stripe, logo,
yellow ends and bold lettering BRITISH RAILBUS. Fuel consumption was rumoured to be
around 24 litres per 100 kilometres (12 mpg).

Coach 55590 faced west and was designated for
non-smokers. Coach 55640 faced east. The twocar train is referred to as Unit 142049 by British
Rail and designated RB 100 by BC Hydro Rail.
The coaches weigh 48.23 tonnes, with a com-

Wearing its Canadian road number of RB 100, British Rail two-car Class 142 Pacer
unit 142049 rests at Abbotsford on July 30, 1986, before making a non-stop run to New
Westminster.
(Photo by Ron Keillor)
Summer 2006 - Page 25

B.C. Hydro Rail train orders for the first day of regular railbus service on
June 25, 1986, with the train designated as a passenger extra.

Page 26 - The Sandhouse

Pacers Still on the Go After 20 Years in Service
Pacer unit 142049 was brand-new when it came
to Canada for its service during Expo 86. It was
the 49th unit in the original batch of 50 Class
142 units, constructed at British Rail Engineering Ltd.'s plant in Derby. It was built using body
parts from a contemporary Leyland National bus
design, mounted on a four-wheel underframe.
With a 230-hp Cummins diesel engine on each
car, the unit could attain a maximum speed of 75
mph.
The first 50 Class 142 units of 1985/86 were
followed by a second batch of 46 in 1986/87.
Meanwhile, 25 units in Class 143 had been built
in 1985/86, similar in mechanical respects, but
with bus bodywork by the firm of W. Alexander. The final group of Pacers was the 23 units
of Class 144 of 1986/87, similar to Class 143,
with Alexander bodywork.
Of the original 144 units in the three classes, all
but four remain in service today, mainly in

South Wales and northern England. Widely criticized by British railway observers for their
rough ride on jointed track, they are also recognized as having helped to save various marginal
passenger services through their relatively low
capital and operating costs.
PCD member Paul Jeffries of Cardiff, Wales,
recently retired from a career in railway operations and management, principally with the Valley Lines network of local lines radiating from
that city, which maintains a fleet of 30 Pacer
units. Paul offers the following observations:
"The Pacers have fuel capacity for up to 800
miles, but in practice on Valley Lines the daily
workload varies only between 189 and 422
miles, allowing refuelling to be scheduled for
alternate nights. The work is quite arduous given
the nature of the services, with frequent station
stops and heavy passenger loads, and the relia-

In August 1986, westbound 142049 descends the incline from the Fraser River bridge
approach and crosses Front Street in New Westminster.
(Photo by Doug Battrum)
Summer 2006 - Page 27

bility of the units is unfortunately not great, with
technical failures being encountered at rather
less than 3,000-mile intervals.
"The major shortcoming of the Pacers has always been the hard-riding four-wheel chassis,
which magnifies any track irregularities and
generates ear-piercing shrieks on tight curves.
On good-quality track, however, the ride is comfortable enough, even up to the maximum design speed of 75 mph."
Paul notes that the Valley Lines units have had
their 3+2 bench-style seating converted to a 2+2
arrangement, with pairs of high-backed individual seats on either side of the centre aisle.
The sojourn of 142049 in Canada 20 years ago
did not win any export orders for BREL in this
country. During its testing here, a BC Rail official noted that "the Railbus has some good features -- not the least of which are a low sticker

price and really good fuel economy."
But he had reservations about the unit's ability to
handle the tight curves on BC Rail, given its two
fixed-axles per car and long wheelbase, and
opined that it would need better heating, air conditioning and more horsepower, for Canadian
conditions.
On its return from Canada, 142049 entered service in 1987, based at Leeds, as part of British
Rail's Regional Railways operation. It would
remain there after privatization in 1996, but is
now based at Manchester, operating on various
routes in northern England.

Nineteen years after its visit to Canada, and now wearing a yellow-and-white livery,
Pacer 142049 rests at Lancaster, waiting to work the 18:33 shuttle to Morecambe on
the Irish Sea coast, on June 9, 2005.
(Photo by Andrew Naylor)
Page 28 - The Sandhouse

E&N Starts Next Life
Under SRY Operation
The former Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway has
a new operator, with the signing of a one-year
contract on July 1 between the Island Corridor
Foundation and Southern Railway Vancouver
Island Ltd., a new creation of the Washington
Companies transportation empire.
It had been widely rumoured that Washington's
Southern Railway of British Columbia or a related entity would be selected by the ICF to operate freight and passenger services on the E&N,
so there was little surprise to the official announcement on June 27 (see previous edition,
pages 28-29).
The deal will see SRVI pay no lease charge to

operate the E&N for the first 12 months while
the parties negotiate a longer-term contract. ICF
expects the annual lease charge to SRVI to be in
the range of $150,000, and increase as traffic
expands.
SRVI said it will retain the 21 RailAmerica employees who worked on the E&N.
An immediate priority is to rejuvenate the track
and other infrastructure, with costs estimated at
$30 million over 10 years. ICF is prepared to
commit $10 million, if matching amounts can be
secured from both the B.C. and federal governments.

In gleaming fresh paint, SRY 119 and 110 switch Wellcox Yard in Nanaimo, on July 4,
as Southern Railway Vancouver Island kicks into gear, following seven-plus years of
RailAmerica operation of the E&N.
(Photos by Robert D. Turner)
Summer 2006 - Page 29

Victoria lawyer Brian Smith, a former Social
Credit provincial cabinet minister and exchairman of Canadian National, has been retained to assist in the lobbying effort.
Immediate work by ICF to replace ties and clear
vegetation is expected to cost $500,000.
ICF already has revenue sources, in the form of
$265,000 a year from Telus for rights-of-way
for its fibre-optic cables, and $140,000 a year in
charges to private crossing users.
On the expense side of the ledger, it will seek
relief from the $600,000 it pays annually in municipal taxes.
SRVI will hold discussions with VIA Rail about
the future of passenger rail services. VIA has
already pledged to maintain its current annual
subsidy.
To start operations, SRVI brought two SRY
GP9 locomotives, numbered 110 and 119, to the
Island on June 26, the day before the announcement of the new operator. In immaculate condition, they received their first freight traffic under
SRVI auspices when the rail ferry MV Carrier
Princess docked at Nanaimo on July 4. The vessel is operated by Seaspan Coastal Intermodal, a
sister company to the railway in the Washington
group.
The units ran southward that day with their first
train, taking four grain hoppers to Top Shelf
Feeds in Duncan, and returning with three empties. The next day they made their first northward run from Nanaimo, with three tank cars for
Superior Propane north of town and a hopper for
The arrival of Southern Railway of Vancouver Island was symbolized by the first delivery of railcars to the new operator on July 4,
seen here being unloaded from the vessel
MV Carrier Princess at Nanaimo.
Page 30 - The Sandhouse

National Silicates in Parksville, and returned to
Nanaimo with five empties.
With that, the next chapter in the 120-year life
of the E&N had begun.
(SOURCES: Branchline/ Victoria TimesColonist/ The Province/Nanaimo Bulletin/
Robert Turner/Bob Hunter/Chris Caswell)

Disastrous Derailments Plague
Summer Scene in B.C.
Rail disaster and derailments have made regular
headlines in British Columbia this summer,
serving as a grim reminder of the dangers of
railroading.
The summer was only a week old when two
crewmen were killed and the third injured when
their train left the rails on the steep grade down
from Kelly Lake on the former BC Rail (now
CN) Lillooet Subdivision.
The three formed the crew of the Lillooet
Switcher, a road switching job that runs northward 57 miles from Lillooet to switch the lumber mill at Chasm, using track five miles north
at Koster to set out cars for pick-up by northbound and southbound road freights.
On the way back to Lillooet, the train uses the
wye at Kelly Lake, MP 192.6, to reposition the
locomotive to face southward for the trip down
the steep grade, which averages 2.2% but reaches as much as 2.85%.

On June 29, after the homeward trip left Kelly
Lake with just one car, a centrebeam bulkhead
flatcar loaded with lumber, behind CN locomotive 9606, a nightmare unfolded, in the short
space of six minutes.
The crew first realized they had a problem while
passing through the tunnels around MP 186.5, as
the train gathered speed.

Trainman Tom Dodd, 55, put his hand on the
shoulder of engineer Gordon Rhodes, 41, telling
him: "Everything will be okay." Dodd then left
the cab to cross on to the bulkhead flatcar,
which he uncoupled from the locomotive.
Dodd's next objective was to climb the forward

bulkhead and scramble over the top of the load
to reach the rear bulkhead, where the car's handbrake wheel was mounted. But at MP 184.5 the
car left the rails, destroying 23 ties before it
plunged over the steep embankment far above
the Fraser River and throwing Dodd to his death
along the right of way.
Meanwhile, engineer Rhodes had given an
emergency call over the radio, which was heard
by the crew of a southbound freight five miles
further down the hill.
Rhodes and conductor Don Faulkner, 59, knew
they would have to jump from their engine, as it
neared a sharp eight-degree curve at MP 183.
Rhodes jumped from the rear and survived, but
suffered chest injuries. Jumping from the front,
Faulkner died in the attempt, as the engine left
the tracks and plunged down the slope.
As one ex-BC Rail veteran said later: "Jumping
from the rear of the unit on the canyon side
would not have been possible if the lumber car
had
still
been
coupled
to
the
engine. And there is room for only one man to
occupy this space. Gordon Rhodes lived partly
because of the brave and valiant efforts of Tom
Dodd."
With radio contact broken, the crew of the
southbound realized they had no choice but to
get their train down to Lillooet, still 25 miles
away, so rescue crews could reach the disaster
scene, which is accessible only by rail. Then,
they resumed contact with Rhodes, who had
managed to find a portable radio, and tried to
console him.
When the southbound reached Lillooet, rescuers
went north in a hi-trail truck to find Rhodes,
Summer 2006 - Page 31

who was taken by helicopter to hospital in Kamloops.
The locomotive's "black box" event recorder did
not survive the crash (see Short Hauls, page 41),
and the unit burned on the slope below the
grade. CN 9606, a GP40-2L(W) model, was not
equipped with dynamic brakes, so failure of its
air brakes would have left it without braking
power.
The engineer of the southbound freight ahead of
the runaway had refused to operate CN 9606
two weeks earlier because he felt it was unsafe,
with the brake piston valve travel being twice
the norm. CN had the unit serviced, installing
new brake shoes and a better radio.
In the wake of the accident, while the investigation continues, Transport Canada ordered CN to
operate all trains on the Kelly Lake hill with

locomotives equipped with dynamic brakes.
BC Rail usually operated the Lillooet Switcher
with ex-Santa Fe B36-7 units with dynamic
brakes. Ironically, the last of these was retired
by CN on June 2, just weeks before the fatal
derailment (see Short Hauls, page 35).
Barely a month later, at 23:05 on July 31, another spectacular derailment occurred, thankfully
without injuries.
This involved 20 loaded gondolas in a 124-car
southbound CPR coal train derailing as it
crossed the high bridge above the Thompson
River at the entrance to Lytton on CN's Ashcroft
Subdivision (which is used by all CN and CPR
westbound traffic). Eight cars derailed on the
bridge, damaging the deck and steelwork, and
12 plunged into the river at the north (RR east)
end of the bridge, six being fully submerged.

At the east end of CN’s bridge just north of Lytton, crews work to removed wrecked coal
gondolas on August 2, about 40 hours after the derailment.
(Photos by Ken Storey)
Page 32 - The Sandhouse

CN mounted a massive repair operation, but the
Ashcroft Sub. remained blocked until 11:05 on
August 6, requiring all traffic to run on CPR.
For westbound trains, this meant running on
CPR to a point 5.4 miles south of Lytton, where
they could climb a steep and little-used connecting track to rejoin the CN line at the west end of
the Cisco bridge (below, and also see the Winter
2004/05 issue, page 45, for another view of this
rock-strewn track).
This arrangement worked until a CN grain train
ascending the connector derailed nine cars at
about 11:00 on August 4, with some cars tumbling onto the CPR line just below. This blocked
the CPR main for more than 12 hours, thus severing the transcontinental lines of both railways.

the Transportation Safety Board openly questioned the CN-CPR directional running scheme,
which sees CN track bearing the brunt of heavier loaded westbound traffic in the Thompson
and Fraser canyons. The agreement dates back
to the start of 2000.
(Vancouver Sun/CN/Ken McCutcheon)

Track gauge spreading is suspected in the second incident.

In the wake of these incidents, a spokesman for

A westbound CN grain train leaves the CPR mainline to climb the connecting track to
the CN main on August 2, at the precise scene of another derailment two days later.
Summer 2006 - Page 33

Canada Line Begins Boring
Towards Downtown Vancouver
The Canada Line's big bore has begun, with the
launching of its tunnel boring machine (TBM)
towards downtown Vancouver in June.

will again work toward downtown on the parallel tunnel for the northbound running line. Completion is scheduled for March 2008.

First, the 440-tonne, 86-metre-long machine was
christened with champagne at a ceremony on
June 10, where it was named "Sweet Leilani",
after the young daughter of the boring project's
chief engineer, Brendan Henry.

As the machine advances, the tunnel is lined
with precast concrete segments to create a tubular bore 5.3 metres in diameter. Five curved segments and a keystone are needed to form a complete circle at each point, and the entire project
will use 20,000 segments, cast in Nanaimo.

Working around the clock, boring of the 2.5-km
tunnel for the southbound running line is advancing at about 10 metres a day and is expected
to be completed next April. The TBM will then
be returned to the entry pit at West Second Avenue near Cambie Steet and, after maintenance,

Depth of the tunnels will range from 10 to 30
metres, measured from the surface to the top of
the bore.

The cutting face of the Lovat 440-tonne tunnel boring machine reveals its teeth before
getting to work on the first of two parallel bores.
(Canada Line project photo)
Page 34 - The Sandhouse

SHORT HAULS
The Events of Today are the History of Tomorrow
the 2004 take-over.

A fatal bridge collapse on the Kitimat

Subdivision in October 1997 has resulted in
fines being assessed against a contractor and his
firm, which was converting the trestle from
wooden to steel construction.
Two workmen were killed when the bridge gave
way under the weight of a 100-tonne crane.
On May 11, a B.C. Provincial Court judge
handed down fines of $70,000 to Scott Steel
Ltd. and $15,000 to its owner, Ron Scott. They
had been convicted earlier in the year of three
counts of violating the B.C. Workers
Compensation Act.
In March 2000, CN had been fined $50,000 for
failing to ensure the safety of workers on the
same project.
The 492-ft. bridge is located at MP 8.3 of the
Kitimat Subdivision. (See the December 1997
issue, pages 27-28, and the March 2000 issue,
page 42) (Vancouver Sun)

BC Rail defect detectors are being

converted to CN specifications, with the
synthesized voice messages using the CN style.
Among the first to be changed were the
detectors at MP14.4 of the Squamish
Subdivision and MP 677.0 of the Fort St. John
Subdivision. (railroadradio.net)
More ex-BC Rail locomotives have been
retired from service with CN, which has now
withdrawn 32 of the locomotives it inherited in

BCOL 609, the prototype CRS-20 to be
converted to Caterpillar power from an RS-18,
was retired on April 28. It featured a unique
angled radiator housing that was not copied on
the later 26 units that were converted. Another
CRS-20, BCOL 611, was retired on May 16.
Two of BC Rail's RS-3 Slug units -- S-401 and
S-403 -- were withdrawn on April 23, and S-408
followed on June 6.
The last three of BC Rail's ex-Santa Fe B36-7
units were retired: BCOL 3611 on May 2,
BCOL 3612 on April 28, and BCOL 3609 on
June 2. Now, all nine of these units acquired by
CN when it took over BC Rail are gone.
(Branchline)

Another 50 SD70M-2 locomotives have
been ordered from Electro-Motive Diesel in
London, Ont., with delivery scheduled in the
second half of 2007. This will be a follow-on
order to the 25 units of this model delivered
from December last year through to March,
numbered 8000-8024 (see the Winter 2005/06
issue, page 38). CN says it needs more
locomotives to meet traffic demand in Western
Canada, particularly with the Port of Prince
Rupert container port opening next year. (CN)

Alberta has charged CN for failing to

take "all reasonable measures to remedy and
confine a spill" in the wake of the Lake
Wabamun derailment in August last year. The
derailment involved 45 cars in a Vancouverbound train leaving the tracks and spilling
700,000 litres of fuel oil and 80,000 litres of
pole-treating oil into the lake (see the Summer
2005 issue, pages 35-37). Under Alberta
Summer 2006 - Page 35

environmental legislation, CN could be fined
$500,000. (Globe & Mail)

legs ending at Agassiz, North Bend, Ashcroft
and Kamloops, for example. This train consisted
of 2816, GP38AC 3016, and the six regular
steam service cars.
On the third day, unit 3016 failed and was removed from the train at Sicamous, whereupon
2816 ran unassisted to Revelstoke before picking up another diesel booster. It then was
blocked by a disabled freight train at Stoney
Creek, so it reversed westward through the Connaught Tunnel to Ross Peak, where it proceeded
east on the Mount Macdonald track normally
used by westbounds.
Contrary to an earlier announcement, 2816 was
not used on a special to commemorate CPR's
first transcontinental train. Instead, diesel power
was used, as noted below.

CPR Hudson 2816 made two forays
into B.C. this summer.

First was a three-day run from Calgary to Revelstoke and back, on July 14-16. Members of the
Alpine Club of Canada rode from Lake Louise
to Glacier on the second day, to commemorate
the group's 100th anniversary, but the other segments of the trip were open to CPR employees
and the public.
The Hudson left Calgary again on July 22 for a
two-day trip to Vancouver, forming a private
CPR business train. Behind 2816 and its auxiliary tender were GP38 3016, GP38-2 3031, F9B
1900 and GP38-2 3084, the six support cars and
coaches used in steam service, and 10 heavyweight cars from the Royal Canadian Pacific
fleet.
On its return to Calgary, 2816 led a special public excursion to raise funds for the Breakfast for
Learning charity, leaving Port Coquitlam on
July 29 and arriving in Calgary on August 1,
with overnight stops in Kamloops, Golden and
Banff. The trip was divided into 13 legs with
fares from $35 to $65 per leg, with the first day's
Page 36 - The Sandhouse

The Hudson will make another appearance in
B.C. this year, with a charter for the British firm
GW Travel, using Royal Canadian Pacific cars.
It will depart Calgary on October 10, with overnight stops in Lake Louise, Revelstoke and
Kamloops, arriving in Vancouver on October
13. It departs Vancouver on October 16, reaching Calgary on October 20 via the Crowsnest
Pass route, with overnight stops in Kamloops,
Golden, Fort Steele and Lethbridge. (Ken Storey/CPR)

The Pacific Express special to commem-

orate the 120th anniversary of Canada's first
transcontinental train ran from Calgary to Vancouver on June 27-28, using the Royal Canadian
Pacific luxury train's rolling stock. Making the
trip were 32 passengers plus CPR officials, including a CPR historian. The train was powered
by two GP38-2 units, 3084 and 3134, the leader
painted in Tuscan red and grey.
The first transcontinental run left Montreal on
June 28, 1886 and arrived in Port Moody, B.C.,
on July 4. (CPR/Branchline/Jim Johnston)

The beaver-and-shield herald is no
longer being applied to CPR locomotives.

This was first noticed when new ES44AC units
8700-8759 were delivered last year, minus the
reflective golden logo that was introduced in
1997 when CP Rail System reassumed its original name of Canadian Pacific Railway.
The last locomotive to receive the beaver-andshield was GP38-2 CP 3100, which was repainted on March 21. This locomotive has been designated as a back-up for service with the Royal
Canadian Pacific luxury train.
Another unit of the same type, CP 3069, was
one of the first two to wear the logo in1997,
when it toured the system to show off the new
look (ironically, 3069 lost its logos when it was
repainted recently). The logo had been unveiled
in Calgary on September 14 that year on CP
9581, an AC4400CW unit repainted from the
dual-flag CP Rail System scheme (see December 1997 issue, pages 28-29). (Branchline)

Another 80 ES44AC locomotives have

been ordered from General Electric, and are
expected to be delivered after mid-year. They
will be numbered 8760 to 8839, following on
from the original batch of 60, numbered 87008759 and delivered in late 2005.

CPR's general manager, technical standards,
says the railway has been impressed by the early
performance of the first order, which experienced only a few minor problems, all of which
were quickly fixed by GE. He added that CPR
crews like the ES44AC's design, which cuts
noise and vibration by isolating the engine from
the alternator and placing the engine on shock
mounts. (Tempo Jr./Branchline)

CPR's classic F-unit fleet is going

through changes, with two replacements acquired for service with CPR's executive trains
and the luxury Royal Canadian Pacific.
Two FP9Au locomotives have been purchased
from the Ohio Central, where they carried their

final VIA numbers, 6307 and 6313. Earlier, they
were CN/VIA 6515 and 6526. They will be
equipped with dynamic brakes, regeared for 65
mph running and painted in the classic Tuscan
Red and grey, with the later script lettering rather than the block capital serif letters, and numbered 4106 and 4107 (not necessarily in that
order).
Another FP9A, CP 1400, which was reacquired
in 1998 for similar service, has been stripped
down to an empty shell as a parts source. Sister
1401, acquired at the same time, is stored out of
service.
Meanwhile, F9B 1900 has been assigned to
work as a booster unit with CPR Hudson 2816.
For this purpose, multiple-unit cabling has been
installed on the steam locomotive and its tender,
connected to a throttle in 2816's cab. (Tempo
Jr.)

The first SD40-2 unit on CP was retired

on February 9 after 34 years of service, and is
reported to be destined for the Canada Science
and Technology Museum in Ottawa. Numbered
5565, it went into service in February 1972.
There was a lower-numbered SD40-2, 5560, but
it was built in 1981 from parts salvaged from an
SD40 of the same number.
As originally built, CP's huge fleet of SD40-2s
were numbered from 5565 to 6069, with a few
gaps. Altogether, CP purchased 489 of these
units new, and acquired others used, some of
them through mergers. It still had 396 on the
roster in February this year. (Tempo
Jr./Canadian Trackside Guide)

Coquitlam has been assigned five loco-

motives from elsewhere in the network. End-cab
SW1200RSu switchers CP 1244 and 1251 will
be used in yard service. Also joining the stable
at Coquitlam are three SD40-2 units, numbered
CP 5708, 5766 and 5833, transferred from
Moose Jaw. (Branchline)
Summer 2006 - Page 37

CPR has returned 36 leased units to

their owner, CIT Financial, which has re-leased
them to U.S. railways.
SD90-43MAC units CEFX 120-130 in maroon
livery were turned over to Union Pacific in midApril. CPR has retained nine sister units, numbered CEFX 131-139. The entire group had
been leased since 2000.
AC4400CW units CEFX 1001-1025 in powder
blue livery have been leased by BNSF as of
mid-July. CPR still leases 35 of these "blue
birds", a newer batch numbered CEFX 10261059 and acquired in 2004. (Tempo
Jr./Canadian Trackside Guide)

The first "Green Goat" in CPR's fleet
went into service on April 3 at Alyth Yard in
Calgary, where it was built by Alstom at Ogden
Shops, under contract to RailPower Technologies. Numbered CP 1700 and designated
GG20B, the unit was built from ex-CP 1600, a
GP9u model. (Branchline)

GP9 unit SRY 122 has been modified
to serve as the "mother" to SW9 slug unit SRY
001. (Branchline)

The first of Southern's GMD1 units to

enter service was SRY 1202 (ex-CN 1153),
which operated as the middle locomotive of
three on the Valley Turn on May 30. Sister
1204 entered service in late July but failed while
on its second job. (Ken Storey)

Manned pushers on Rogers Pass were

in service for about four weeks in mid-summer
as repair work took place at the Shaughnessy
Tunnel on the Mount Macdonald track normally
used by westbound trains. Two sets of four
AC4400CW units were used during 16-hour
work windows, positioned in mid-train. A similar pusher operation was used in the summer of
2003. (Ken Storey)

Short Lines
Kelowna Pacific Railway has leased two

GP38-2 units from GATX Rail Locomotive
Group. GMTX 2641 and 2643 were rebuilt at
Wabtec's MotivePower facility in Boise, Id., and
shipped in April and May, respectively, to the
Southern Railway of B.C.'s New Westminster
shops for installation of SmartStart equipment.
This saw them operating trials on SRY before
being shipped to KPR. The two started life in
1970 as GP38 B&O 4807 and GP38AC L&N
4002, respectively.
With their arrival, leased GP38 LLPX 2038 has
been returned to its owner. (Branchline/Jim
Johnston)

Page 38 - The Sandhouse

VIA 6400 has been rebuilt completely

as a test case for similar work on the 53 other
F40PH-2 units in the fleet. Stored for three
years before entering the shops, 6400 had racked
up 1.75 million miles of service, but some of its
classmates have reached 2.5 million miles.
The work on 6400 was done by CAD Railway
Services of Montreal and started with complete
disassembly. The unit has been completely rewired, had microprocessors added to monitor
various functions, and now has an automatic
start-and-stop system and a layover heater. The
engine has been rebuilt to Tier 0 emissions
standards.

ing west on yard trackage into CN's Terminal
Ave. yard, then backing through the Cut all the
way to CP Junction in New Westminster. There,
it reversed far enough on to CPR's Westminster
Subdivision to clear the switch that enabled it to
commence its journey on the BNSF main with
the locomotives leading.
Amtrak's Talgo service to Seattle, which departs
Pacific Central 30 minutes after the Canadian,
faced the same obstacle, but had an easier solution. It also was routed into Terminal Avenue
yard, but the engineer was in the unpowered cab
control unit at the back end of the southbound
train. With the train repositioned in the yard, this
unit was at the head-end as the train proceeded
south through the Cut. (Ken Storey)

Advance notice of 48 hours is now re-

The unit has been repainted in a scheme resembling that on VIA's P42DC locomotives.

quired at even more stops on the route of VIA's
Canadian across the country, with the introduction of the latest timetable on April 30.

The job cost between $1.5 and $2 million. VIA
hopes to gain capital funding from government
to upgrade the whole F40PH-2 fleet, which
would extend unit life by at least 15 years. The
fleet dates back to 1986-89. (Branchline)

Now, there are only 12 mandatory stops, at major cities, crew change points and tourist spots
— Vancouver, Kamloops, Jasper, Edmonton,
Biggar, Saskatoon, Melville, Winnipeg, Sioux
Lookout, Hornepayne, Capreol and Toronto.

VIA RDC-1 6133, the unrefurbished spare

The Canadian already required 48 hours' advance notice to stop at most stations in the previous timetable, but the 2006 version adds Agassiz
and North Bend in B.C. and six others to the list.

unit for the Vancouver Island service, has been
sent to Montreal for work. It went east on August 15, deadheading at the rear of the Canadian.
(see photo, page 46).

The eastbound Canadian reversed its
way out of Vancouver for the first 10 miles of
its journey to Toronto on June 6.

The unusual movement occurred after a BNSF
switching job derailed under the Terminal Avenue overpass, blocking access from Pacific Central Station trackage to the BNSF mainline
through the Grandview Cut.

Giving this advance notice is no guarantee that
the train will actually stop. On August 6, the
eastbound Canadian was seen passing Agassiz at
full speed, leaving two Toronto-bound passengers, who had given proper notice, stranded on
the platform. (Ian Smith/VIA)

The Canadian got around this obstacle by pullSummer 2006 - Page 39

Rising gasoline prices have spurred ridership substantially on West Coast Express.

Figures for March showed a gain of more than
7% from the same month of 2005, with daily
ridership averaging 9,145. Gas prices were
above $1.10 per litre at that point.
To meet demand, WCE put one of the two cars
kept as spares into service, and eliminated the
"Snoozer Cruiser" section on the upper floor of
the easternmost car in each train. The latter was
necessary because the quiet section, with its
dimmed lights and noise restrictions, usually had
empty seats, while passengers were standing
elsewhere in the trains. (Coquitlam Now)

A very rare movement was observed on

didn't work, so the nine-car train was reversed
on the wye to put locomotive 904 in the lead.
The cab car's ditch lights were fixed during the
day in Vancouver, but the train operated in this
unusual fashion for two days. (Ken Storey)

Two train failures were recorded on the

morning of August 2, marking the first time in
the 10-plus years of WCE operation that two
breakdowns have occurred on the same day.
The morning's first westbound train failed just
outside of Mission at about 06:00, requiring
passengers to be transferred to the following
train. Later, another train failed near Maple
Meadows, but was revived after a 37-minute
delay.
The locomotive leading the first train was replaced by VIA F40PH-2 unit 6434 until the Friday evening homeward run. (Coquitlam
Now/Chris Wasney)

June 13-14, as a West Coast Express train ran
with its locomotive leading at the west end of
the train on the morning service to Vancouver.
This was only the second time that a regularlyscheduled train has been marshalled in that way.
The first was on opening day of WCE service on
November 1, 1995, when the fifth train of the
morning, carrying Premier Mike Harcourt and
other dignitaries, ran into Vancouver with its
locomotive leading, presumably to present a
more traditional look for the media cameras.
Normally, WCE trains operate westward with
the cab-car leading, which keeps the locomotives well clear of the covered area at the west
end of Waterfront Station, beneath the Granville
Square office tower (which once housed CPR's
western headquarters).
The exception in June was a result of the failure
of the ditch lights on cab car 104 on the fourth
train of the morning on June 13, prior to departure from Mission City. On-the-spot repairs
Page 40 - The Sandhouse

Rocky Mountaineer's first derailment

in 17 years of operation occurred on May 28,
with six Red Leaf cars in a westbound train from
Calgary leaving the tracks at Fraine on CPR's
Mountain Subdivision, on the east side of Rogers Pass. The cars remained upright on the bank
above the Beaver River. There were no injuries.
(railsnorthwest@yahoogroups.com)

The Whistler Mountaineer has operated

with a mixed power consist in its first season of
operation, initially because of problems with the
two GP40-2 units specially painted for the new

service. Brief troubles with RMR 8019 and then
a turbocharger failure on RMR 8018 led to the
West Coast Railway Association's classic exCPR F-unit 4069 being pressed into service as a
trailing unit in May and for most of June.
Then, problems with one of the units regularly
used on the new Fraser Discovery route between
Whistler and Jasper saw RMR 8018 going to
assist on that route from July 10 onward, and
4069 coming back to help RMR 8019 with the
Whistler Mountaineer. It was still in that role in
mid-August.

Rail Safety
The "black box" event recorders on

Canadian locomotives do not seem to be strong
enough to do the job when it matters.
In five fatal accidents on CN since 1996, the
recorders have been destroyed. These incidents
include three in B.C -- the recent derailment
near Moran on the former BC Rail line, the
bridge accident near McBride in May 2003 and
the Conrad washout in March 1997.

Painted in CPR Tuscan red and grey, which
clashes with Whistler Mountaineer's white, blue
and green, 4069 was operated in the trailing
position with its nose facing rearward. (WCRA
News/Ken Storey/Gordon Hall)

The U.S. has introduced new standards for event
recorders, requiring all old ones to be replaced
with "hardened" models by 2009 and better electronic models to be installed in new locomotives
as of October this year.

Riding the Rocky Mountaineer between

New rules are expected to be in place in Canada
by March 2007, but CN and CPR say they are
already working to comply with the new U.S.
standards, since many of their locomotives work
in both countries. (Vancouver Sun)

Vancouver and Banff made the list of "100
Things to Do in B.C. Before You Die", compiled The Province newspaper for its August 13
edition. Also on the list, “if you’re a history
buff or just a proud Canadian”, was making a
visit to the scene of CPR's Last Spike at Craigellachie. (The Province)

Other Passenger
The former BC Rail station in North Vancouver could become the site of a Costco warehouse
store. That proposal is back on the table after
District Council rejected a plan to convert the
7.5-acre site into a bus garage for Coast Mountain Bus Co. (see previous issue, page 41). However, the Costco proposal could run counter to a
district bylaw that limits the size of "big box"
stores. (North Shore News)

Reflective material will be required on
all Canadian-owned freight locomotives and
freight cars operated by federally-regulated railways, under new federal Railway Safety Act
rules that came into effect on May 1. Freight
cars must meet the new standards within seven
years and locomotives within four years.
Prior to this, reflective materials were required
only on freight cars owned or leased by CN and
CPR. The new rules do not apply to passenger
locomotives or cars.
Various ex-BC Rail locomotives in the Dash 8
or 9 series, now owned by CN, have been observed with yellow reflective stripes on their
frame-sides. (Transport Canada/Ken Storey)

Summer 2006 - Page 41

Rail Manufacturing
RailPower Technologies has left town
after moving into the production phase with its
Green Goat and Green Kid battery-electric hybrid locomotives. Founded in Vancouver, the
firm moved its corporate offices to Montreal in
May and now runs its business from there.

Company founder Frank Donnelly remains with
the firm as Chief Technology Officer, but most
of his current top management colleagues are
drawn from the ranks of Bombardier Transportation or GE Transportation. The locomotives
are built by contractors in Calgary, Montreal and
Schenectady, N.Y. (Financial Post)

the run-up to the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.
The board's decision came in the wake of
mounting concern about the project's viability.
In May, the mayors of eight eastern municipalities in Greater Vancouver issued a joint statement calling on the province to cover the full
$230-million shortfall that existed at that time.
B.C. paid for the full cost of the $1.1 billion
SkyTrain Millennium Line. As part of that deal,
TransLink was expected to fund most of the
proposed $730-million Port Moody-Coquitlam
SkyTrain extension from Lougheed Town Centre, with the province providing $80 million.
That project died when TransLink's controversial vehicle levy fell through. When the LRT
option was proposed later, the province pledged
$170 million, with TransLink expected to raise
the balance. (Vancouver Sun/Tri-City News)

A detailed 32-page Ride Guide was inserted in The Vancouver Sun on June 14.

The proposed Evergreen Line LRT

system has been pushed back by two years, and
now would be finished in 2011, assuming that
construction goes ahead.
Mounting costs and a widening funding shortfall
led to the decision by TransLink's board on July
19 to extend the completion date to September
2011 from December 2009.
To date, TransLink has pledged $400 million
toward the $800 million originally needed, but
the B.C. government has not increased its commitment of $170 million, leaving a gap of $230
million. Now, it appears that the total cost to
build the line by late 2009 would be $1.06 billion, creating a funding gap of $436 million.
With completion deferred to 2011, the total cost
could be reduced to $953 million, leaving a gap
of $383 million. This would be possible by
avoiding the overheated construction market in
Page 42 - The Sandhouse

Contents include brief descriptions of various
sites along the SkyTrain routes, including numerous rail-related points of interest. The guide
makes note of the Canadian Pacific Railway's
role in Vancouver's history, Waterfront Station,
Dunsmuir Tunnel, the former CPR and B.C.
Electric Railway yards near the Georgia Viaduct
and False Creek, CPR locomotive 374 and the
roundhouse, the Downtown Historic Railway,
Pacific Central station, the Rocky Mountaineer
Railtours station, Grandview Cut, John Hendry
and his role with the Great Northern Railway,
the ex-BCER substation at Earles Street, CN's
Thornton Tunnel, the SkyTrain maintenance
centre, Southern Railway of B.C.'s yards in New
Westminster, the ex-BCER station and car barns
in New Westminster, the nearby Keg Restaurant
in the former CPR station, the Fraser River railway bridge, Canadian Northern founders Mackenzie and Mann, and the BNSF mainline
through Burnaby.

There's even a brief paragraph on the legend of a
train that sank in the boggy ground near Burnaby Lake, leading to the naming of Sunken Engine Creek.
Subjects of railway interest are normally neglected in typical tourist guidebooks, so the extensive listings in the TransLink document make
a praiseworthy change. Anyone who reads this
guide thoroughly will realize that railways have
played a leading role in Vancouver's life.

Port News

The two-year project added two super-postPanamax cranes and 16 rubber-tired gantries
that can stack containers six high. Two of the
three existing cranes were enlarged. On-dock
rail trackage was tripled to 2,400 metres from
810. (The Province)

Expansion of BC Rail's Port Sub. is

being studied by Transport Canada and the Port
of Vancouver. Options being reviewed include
double-tracking, lengthening sidings and dealing
with 40 grade crossings. Already, the federal
government has budgeted $30 million for road
overpasses and underpasses.
The Port Sub. currently sees an average of 18
coal and container trains daily to and from the
port terminals at Roberts Bank, and this is expected to rise to 21 trains by 2012. (The Province)

The Conservative government will

maintain the funding for the Pacific Gateway
transportation infrastructure initiative planned
by the former Liberal administration, but the
money won't be spent as quickly.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said the $591
million pledged for the project by the Liberals
will be disbursed over the next eight years, rather than five. Of this, $239 million will be
spent by 2010. Most of it will fund infrastructure improvements such as bridge and road upgrades and railway grade crossings.

Preservation
CPR S-3 locomotive 6503 has been re-

stored to full operating condition by WCRA at
the West Coast Railway Heritage Park in
Squamish, where it will serve as a working
switcher. It wears gleaming Tuscan red and grey
paint.

A Vancouver Port Authority spokesman said the
port was very pleased that the new government
supported the Pacific Gateway strategy, but noted that the funding plans of both the Conservatives and the Liberals lacked specifics. (Business
in Vancouver)

Built in 1951, the unit served on CPR until
1983, when it was bought by United Grain
Growers for service on the Vancouver waterfront. It was acquired by WCRA in 1987.
(WCRA News)

The expansion of Centerm container

A set of "O Canada" air horns used

terminal on the Vancouver waterfront has been
completed, doubling the annual capacity from
360,000 TEUs (20-ft. equivalents) to 783,000.

during the Canadian Centennial in 1967 has
been donated to WCRA.
The WCRA's set was the prototype for ones

Summer 2006 - Page 43

installed on trucks used in a Centennial caravan
that hauled exhibits to communities that couldn't
be visited by the companion Centennial train.
The F-units that pulled the train were also
equipped with "O Canada" horns.
Both types were designed by the legendary Robert Swanson. WCRA will install its set at the
West Coast Railway Heritage Park, along with
an interpretation of Swanson and his work.
(WCRA News)

Ex-BCER interurban car 1220 appears

to be fated to spend its days as a static exhibit.
The City of Richmond has acquired full ownership of the car, and will pay the Steveston Interurban Restoration Society $400,000 for its
preservation work to date. SIRS had planned to
restore the car to operating condition, but the
city will preserve it as a static display.
(Richmond News/Vancouver Sun)

Scrap-metal thieves delayed the complete

opening of the Downtown Historic Railway's
line along the south shore of False Creek. A few
weeks before the 2006 season's opening day on
May 20, thieves stole the wire cable bonds that
maintain a continuous current through the tracks
for the purpose of operating grade crossing
warning lights at Moberly Street.
This resulted in a bus from the Transit Museum
Society's heritage fleet being used to carry passengers over the western section of the line between Leg-in Boot Square and Granville Island.
(John Day)

Myra Canyon trestle rebuilding had

advanced to the halfway mark at the beginning
of this year's construction season. At that point,
six of 12 trestles destroyed in the fires of 2003
had been rebuilt on schedule and on budget.

Miscellaneous
A railway-themed restaurant is planned

for Vancouver's Waterfront Station by the owner
of the Steamworks brew pub, located just across
the parking lot to the east.
Tentatively named The Steamworks Transcontinental, the restaurant will be situated in former
office space in the station, which now serves
SkyTrain, SeaBus and West Coast Express. It
will have seating for 299 people on three levels,
including an outdoor patio on West Cordova
Street. Opening is planned for mid-November.

Another three or four are planned to be rebuilt
this year, with the entire project slated for completion by the late summer of 2007. For background, see the Autumn 2003 issue, pages 2425. (Kelowna Courier)

Owner Eli Gershkovitch is a transportation enthusiast with a collection of exotic cars and a
passion for rail travel. (Vancouver Sun)

The Armstrong Explorer's first run of

Obituary

2006 on May 6 was cancelled the day before
when a hot brass bearing was detected on one of
the main rods of ex-CN 2141. The brasses had
been replaced during the off-season and had
performed well in testing runs. (Mark McVittie)

Page 44 - The Sandhouse

Veteran rail photographer Jim Hope

passed away on April 15 in Trail, B.C., aged 93.
Jim started his rail photography in Armstrong,
B.C., on the CP Okanagan Sub., in the 1940s.

Working in his family's bakery, Jim would bake
all night, and then in the morning would photograph the CP and CN trains at the nearby Armstrong station, or climbing southbound out of
town to Vernon near the Realm station name
sign.
From the impressive smoke the southbound
trains produced, Jim might have bribed a few
crew-members with pastries to sand the flues
when they saw him trackside.
Later, he moved to Trail to start his own bakery,
which he owned until retirement. Again, his

mornings were free, and he was able to photograph the Nelson-Trail passenger train and many
others operating in the Kootenay area.
Jim's work was published in several volumes by
the British Railway Modellers of North America, and he was awarded the 2003 Norris Adams
Memorial Award by PCD for his contributions
to preserving B.C.'s railway history.

So long, Jim. It was great to know you. (Phil
Mason)

Corrections and clarifications
Various corrections and clarifications to the text of the previous issue are required, as follows:
Page 11
The caption incorrectly refers to 18,593 cars on the PGE and 22,118 cars on CPR and CNR. These
figures actually refer to head of livestock, not cars, as detailed in the text on page 10.
Page 15
Some data in the caption was taken from an erroneous published source. The direction of the train and
the date are wrong. The train is southbound and the date cannot be more specific than circa 1948.
Page 45
The item on Nelson station states that "it is likely the oldest wooden station building in B.C." The
wooden CPR station building at Agassiz was built circa 1893, whereas Nelson was built in 1899.
The Nelson building is still on its original site, however, while the Agassiz building has been moved
twice.
Page 45
The item on Kinsol trestle repeats the claim that it was once the largest curved wooden trestle in the
British Commonwealth, at 615 ft. long and 125 ft. high. However, the trestle at MP 13.7 (now MP
171.5) of the Pacific Great Eastern's Lillooet Subdivision was 915 ft. long and 188 ft. high. It was later
bypassed by an earth fill, circa 1930/31, and it is possible that Kinsol inherited the title after that time,
although this is not conclusive.

Summer 2006 - Page 45

The opinions expressed in The Sandhouse are those of the author concerned and are not necessarily those of
the PCD or of the CRHA. Excerpts of articles and news items may be used in other publications, provided that
The Sandhouse is credited. Photographs may not be reproduced, in any form, without permission.
The Sandhouse is normally published once each quarter, in Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, and mailed
to paid-up members. Additional copies can also be purchased from the following retail outlets:
Central Hobbies, 2845 Grandview Hwy., Vancouver (604) 431-0771
Pacific Scale Rail, 612 Carnarvon, New Westminster (604) 524-8825
Kelly’s Kaboose, 634 Victoria St., Kamloops
(250) 377-8510
Victoria Scale Rail, 3595 Ravine Way, Victoria
(250) 475-2860
All contributions are gratefully received, but are subject to editing. Please send all news items, photos and
articles to the Editor, care of the Division address (see page 2).

Ian Smith — Editor

Parting Shot

VIA RDC-1 6133 blocks the rearward view from the Park observation car of the Canadian as it deadheads east through Burnaby on August 15 this year, en route to Montreal. This car is the spare for VIA’s Vancouver Island service.
(Photo by Ian Smith)
Page 46 - The Sandhouse

Canadian Railroad Historical Association, Pacific Coast Division
P.O. Box 1006, Station A Vancouver, B.C. V6C 2P1

WE INVITE YOU TO JOIN US
Get together with fellow railway enthusiasts and take part in the varied activities of
the CRHA's Pacific Coast Division.

We meet nine times a year on the 3rd Thursday of the month (see below)
 Meetings feature slide shows, video programs, talks by railway officials and writers on railway
subjects, and the opportunity to socialize with other railway enthusiasts.

 We publish The Sandhouse, a quarterly journal on B.C. railway matters. Membership dues
include a subscription.

 We operate a museum in the preserved Fraser Mills CPR station at Heritage Square.
 We're restoring a CP Rail caboose at Heritage Square.
 We organize field trips to local railway facilities and explore sites of historical interest.
We hope you'll join us. Please send your address details (name, full address, phone number, e-mail),
together with your payment, to our postal address or bring it to one of our regular meetings.
Annual dues are: $20 for Canadian residents; $30 for U.S. and Overseas ($20 if paid in U.S. funds)

Website address: http://www.freewebs.com/sandhouse/index.htm

Pacific Coast Division’s regular meetings
are held on the third Thursday of each
month (except July, August and
December) at

Heritage Square, Place Des Arts
1120 Brunette Avenue
Coquitlam, B.C.
Informal socializing starts at 7:00 p.m.
Presentations begin at 7:30 p.m.

Summer 2006 - Page 47

SteamExpo’s
Senior Citizen

Page 48 - The Sandhouse