 |
 |
 |
 |
| To interchange between the CN tracks from
Prince Rupert and the BCRail tracks to Squamish, we have to back out of
the museum and across the Fraser River. I'd guess it's a mile
give or take to complete the interchange. |
I'm sure this caused great consternation for
a dispatcher somewhere - this CN freight is being held up on the
mainline while we complete our reverse movement past the interchange
switch and pull forward onto the BCRail tracks. |
While CN is now operating the BCRail system,
it will be a while before this is seamless. We had a "genuine
CN" crew that backed us out of the Museum and across the Interchange,
after which a "BCRail" crew boarded to operate the train South. |
Here is the piece of track that will make
these reverse movements unnecessary. This curve and switches will
allow traffic heading out of Prince Rupert to be switched directly onto
the Southbound BCRail tracks. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| The Aspen trees outside of Prince George were
on fire with color! |
|
|
Here's another attempt at a trestle picture
from the train. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| The shadow of the trestle on the hillside
gives the best perspective of the size of the trestle. |
South of Williams Lake, we enter the classic
Cariboo ranch country. |
Our train stops at the Exeter (100 Mile
House) station at dusk. |
We took a bus out to The Hills Health Ranch
(about eight miles from Exeter) for the night. The sunset over the
lodge was blazing. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| We had group dinners at most places, like
this one at The Hills Ranch. |
Inside our two-story "cabin". |
My cold or flu or whatever was catching up
with me. Dr. Mom gave me the steamer treatment, which seemed to
help. |
A full moon over The Hills lodge greeted us
for breakfast. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Right outside our cabin, the trail riding
horses grazed. They're a little bigger than the animals I'm more
comfortable with (dogs). I tried my best to talk to them, but a
horse whisperer I'm not. |
Sunrise at The Hills was spectacular. |
|
Here's our cabin - three bedroms, two
stories. If the Cariboo Prospector was still running, we'd be
spending more time here! |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| |
Another one of the better "curve
shots" as the train stretches out towards Clinton. |
The curved trestle near Clinton. |
We've headed past Kelly Lake, and we're about
to begin our serious descent of the Fraser Canyon. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| It's a long ways down there - 2,678 feet from
the track to the river! In the
shadows, you can see what's left of the original trackbed from some years
ago. |
Heading down the steep grade to Moran.
The grade is almost continuously above 2% for the 20 miles starting at
Kelly Lake, with a few short sections reaching 2.5% |
It doesn't get any better than this!
Look carefully - you'll see the headlight of a long freight grinding up
the hill. All the photographers hang out the side of the observation
car to catch the passing train. The track inspector's hi-railer
has been pulled off the side of the track to let everybody get by. |
And here she comes up the hill. Even
though it's a train of empties, the locomotives are making lots of
noise and smoke as they work their way up the grade. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| A mild telephoto effect exaggerates the
grade a little, but this is still serious mountain railroading. |
|
Photographers getting ready for the crossing
of the Fraser River. |
The train looks good stretched out across the
bridge. Here's a picture of the
Cariboo Prospector on this bridge taken from a highway viewpoint above. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| One of the unexpected highlights of this trip
was running into everybody's favorite conductor, Roy Crowston.
We first met Roy on our 2001 system tour. |
Always a smile from Roy for his
passengers! Compare the new "CN freight" work clothes to
his BCRail passenger conductor's uniform
here! |
A protest of sorts greeted the train in
Lillooet. Locals want their Cariboo Prospector scheduled service
back. The proposed Rocky Mountaineer tourist train along this route
won't even stop in Lillooet. |
Since the Cariboo Prospector service was
discontinued, these "Budd Lites" are used to shuttle students
between Lillooet and otherwise inaccessible areas along Seton Lake. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| We pass a couple of bighorn sheep on our way
out of Lillooet. |
The unmistakable glacial color of Seton Lake
as the train winds right along the shore. Here's
a photo of the Cariboo Prospector at this spot taken from a vantage point a few hundred
feet above. |
The slide that creates the portage between
Seton and Anderson Lakes traps all the glacial till in Seton Lake.
On the Anderson Lake side of the portage, the waters are deep blue. |
|
 |
|
|
|
| This is rugged track - blasted right into the
rock walls along the lake. It's like this for nearly all of the 30
or so
miles along the two lakes. |
|
|
|
