It's Been a Long Time
CN 5432 east, operating as local L528, splits the classic searchlight signals at Rosedale West, on CN's Yale Subdivision.
The nuances that make this image special are fairly esoteric, and may not mean much to those who haven't visited southern British Columbia in the past quarter century.
Since the spring of 2000, CN and arch rival CP have jointly operated their parallel mainlines down the Thompson, and Fraser Canyons as a shared 'Directional Running Zone'. The agreement allowed all of the westbound traffic from both roads to operate over CN's Ashcroft, and Yale subdivisions, between a point near Ashcroft to the east, and Matsqui Junction to the west. Conversely all eastbound traffic is routed over CP's Cascade and Thompson subdivisions between Mission at the west end, and near Ashcroft at the east end. The arrangement has greatly benefited both railroads, as the total train capacity for this important traffic corridor is virtually unlimited now. Under E. Hunter Harrison's reign at CN in the mid 2000's, 5 sidings were removed on the CN side, signaling that this arrangement was permanent in their eyes. When EHH gained leadership at CP, he completed the task of gutting infrastructure at that railway too, and removed 10 sidings on their side of the canyon. The message was clear; the DRZ is here to stay.
For photographers, this operational change was met with mixed emotions. The upside being that one could now set up on the 'CP' side of the river in the morning and shoot all the eastbound traffic in optimum light, and then switch over to the 'CN' side in the afternoon as the sun shifted to favor westbound traffic. The downside to this is that for much of the DRZ, both lines run on a north-south bearing, so the time with optimum light for eastbound traffic on much of the route is limited to a scant few hours during the longest days of the year. The main point of regret though, is that on both lines many classic locations and angles were rendered effectively useless. CP has shown an appetite to run an occasional train against this current of traffic, to the effect of one or two movements per year. CN has been rigid to adhering to this doctrine though, unless the CP line has been out of service due to rock slides or other force majeure, or for the occasional work train movement.
Cue my surprise when it became apparent that CN was running their rarely used L528 symbol to pick up a cut of 32 cars from a manifest train that had been set out for reasons unknown to me at the Rosedale Siding, 22 miles up the single direction DRZ on the Yale Sub. The single light SD60 did not do justice to most of the 'old' eastbound angles on this stretch of line, but it makes a nostalgic stand in for an eastbound train taking a run at the grade and curves up the Fraser Canyon ahead.
It's Been a Long Time
CN 5432 east, operating as local L528, splits the classic searchlight signals at Rosedale West, on CN's Yale Subdivision.
The nuances that make this image special are fairly esoteric, and may not mean much to those who haven't visited southern British Columbia in the past quarter century.
Since the spring of 2000, CN and arch rival CP have jointly operated their parallel mainlines down the Thompson, and Fraser Canyons as a shared 'Directional Running Zone'. The agreement allowed all of the westbound traffic from both roads to operate over CN's Ashcroft, and Yale subdivisions, between a point near Ashcroft to the east, and Matsqui Junction to the west. Conversely all eastbound traffic is routed over CP's Cascade and Thompson subdivisions between Mission at the west end, and near Ashcroft at the east end. The arrangement has greatly benefited both railroads, as the total train capacity for this important traffic corridor is virtually unlimited now. Under E. Hunter Harrison's reign at CN in the mid 2000's, 5 sidings were removed on the CN side, signaling that this arrangement was permanent in their eyes. When EHH gained leadership at CP, he completed the task of gutting infrastructure at that railway too, and removed 10 sidings on their side of the canyon. The message was clear; the DRZ is here to stay.
For photographers, this operational change was met with mixed emotions. The upside being that one could now set up on the 'CP' side of the river in the morning and shoot all the eastbound traffic in optimum light, and then switch over to the 'CN' side in the afternoon as the sun shifted to favor westbound traffic. The downside to this is that for much of the DRZ, both lines run on a north-south bearing, so the time with optimum light for eastbound traffic on much of the route is limited to a scant few hours during the longest days of the year. The main point of regret though, is that on both lines many classic locations and angles were rendered effectively useless. CP has shown an appetite to run an occasional train against this current of traffic, to the effect of one or two movements per year. CN has been rigid to adhering to this doctrine though, unless the CP line has been out of service due to rock slides or other force majeure, or for the occasional work train movement.
Cue my surprise when it became apparent that CN was running their rarely used L528 symbol to pick up a cut of 32 cars from a manifest train that had been set out for reasons unknown to me at the Rosedale Siding, 22 miles up the single direction DRZ on the Yale Sub. The single light SD60 did not do justice to most of the 'old' eastbound angles on this stretch of line, but it makes a nostalgic stand in for an eastbound train taking a run at the grade and curves up the Fraser Canyon ahead.