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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. |
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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? |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |