Mo & Terry Smedley

 


If I ever win the lottery, I will buy a Budd RDC and set off on a journey wherever the rails will go!

Im001351.jpg (44427 bytes) Im001363.jpg (41904 bytes) Im001366.jpg (40649 bytes) Im001385.jpg (28302 bytes)
North of Whistler, we hit a backhoe that was stopped on the tracks.  One of the backhoe's rear wheels has been knocked off the axle.  Fortunately, the operator was not on the equipment when it was hit. Here's the front end of the RDC after whacking the backhoe. Photographers line up at the Lillooet station to survey the damage.  Our chartered Budd car is at the tail end of this three-car lashup.  Each car is independently powered, but controlled from a common throttle at the head end.  We'll eventually head out on our own for the rest of the trip. This would become a familar sight.  The tour group lines up early at the station (Williams Lake here) to wait for the Budd car to arrive for the day's journey.
Im001388.jpg (31359 bytes) Im001396.jpg (17645 bytes) Im001406.jpg (32007 bytes) Im001408.jpg (66810 bytes)
One of many freight meets.  The BCRail mainline is a busy place. The last semaphore signboard on the BCR system (at Quesnel). Because we were traveling in places without passenger rail services, we usually detrained in the middle of the rail yard.  Great for train watching!  Here's the Prince George yard. What's wrong with this sign?
Im001410.jpg (34580 bytes) Im001413.jpg (33983 bytes) Im001420.jpg (52076 bytes) Im001433.jpg (34158 bytes)
At the Prince George forestry & railroad museum. This steam-powered rail crane still works! Wouldn't this be fun to ride between Hoquiam and Centralia?  A little padding on the seat might be in order, though. The first of many photo run bys, as we cross the Rockies on our way to Fort St. John.
Im001439.jpg (41442 bytes) Im001454.jpg (33143 bytes) Im001475.jpg (36659 bytes) Im001488.jpg (36975 bytes)
This was a big train!  Over 100 cars, four locomotives at the head end, and two mid-train helpers.  The engineer gave us some good horn work as the train worked its way up the Rockies. A string of red, white, and blue locomotives at the Fort St. John yard. The fall colors are beginning to really stand out here as we watch the Budd car gracefully round a curve. Here's the Budd at the "end of the iron" in Fort Nelson.  You can't go any further North on BCRail.
Im001508.jpg (34977 bytes) Im001520.jpg (40673 bytes) Im001555.jpg (31676 bytes) Im001573.jpg (26358 bytes)
A beautiful fall day finds the Budd on a runby over a wooden trestle. An interesting snow plow on the undercarriage of this caboose in Fort St. John. Crossing the Pine River on our way back from Dawson Creek. Lined up early in the morning in Chetwynd while the Budd backs up to get us.
Im001583.jpg (47590 bytes) Im001623.jpg (32250 bytes) Im001638.jpg (44080 bytes) Im001641.jpg (49510 bytes)
We're in electrified territory on the Tumbler Ridge subdivision.  The mines have closed down, and the big electric locomotives no longer operate here. The Budd poses next to the water tower at Lone Butte. It was interesting to watch the high railer run onto the tracks.  We had stopped to have a look at the Painted Chasm, just a hundred yards or so off the tracks. Here comes BC-10 across the curved bridge near Clinton (I believe this is Fiftyone Creek).  The horn sound on the main page was recorded here.