foosaintbeast
CN 3141N Wakely
In 1983 BCRail finished construction of the 82 mile Tumbler branch line to serve coal mines near Tumbler Ridge BC. The line was the lowest elevated line to cross the Rocky Mountains and as a result of that 2 large tunnels had to be constructed, the Table tunnel at 9 kilometers long and the Wolverine tunnel at 6 kilometers long. Because of this electrification had to be used and was the first in Western Canada and special locomotives and catenary wires were used. The line was never as profitable as expected and by 1990 the line was down to one train a day, in 2000 the electrification was taken down and operations were sporadic into the CN acquisition of the BCR. CN closed, reopened, closed, and reopened the line because of fluctuating coal mined. When I visited Tumbler Ridge I checked out the Wolverine Mine, the only one of three now left in service. Coal was present but not abundant and a large cut of empty coal cars were stored near the mine and had been there for about 2 weeks with no way of being spotted into the load out. I also checked out the Quintet Mine, the last mine at the end of the Tumbler sub, and found that it looked like it was being renovated and being prepared for reactivation. I thought this would be the only action I would see on this line but I was wrong. Just a few days later I found a C762 heading North on the Chetwynd Sub which I thought was odd, I followed it to Tacheeda to see if it would head on the former electrified BCR, that's when I heard them get their clearance on the Tumbler sub. I set up for this shot just east of Wakely, the junction between the Tumbler and Chetwynd subs. The BCR crosses the Table River here and I set up on an abandoned beaver dam. It was a pretty thrilling chase as these trains do 35MPH on this sub and the Table Tunnel access road is less than ideal for driving fast. I chased the train to the Table siding where I found out that this train was simply a storage run to store empty coal cars in the siding at Table, they than proceeded to run light engines back to Prince George. The first train on this line in nearly a month was simply another storage run and not a revenue freight for the mines, as such I'm not sure what to think for the future of this line, weather the Quintet mine will reopen and bring back service or will CN give up on it and give the track back to BC is unknown. I'm just happy I got the opportunity to shoot a train on the former electrified BCRail Tumbler Ridge branch line.
CN 3141N Wakely
In 1983 BCRail finished construction of the 82 mile Tumbler branch line to serve coal mines near Tumbler Ridge BC. The line was the lowest elevated line to cross the Rocky Mountains and as a result of that 2 large tunnels had to be constructed, the Table tunnel at 9 kilometers long and the Wolverine tunnel at 6 kilometers long. Because of this electrification had to be used and was the first in Western Canada and special locomotives and catenary wires were used. The line was never as profitable as expected and by 1990 the line was down to one train a day, in 2000 the electrification was taken down and operations were sporadic into the CN acquisition of the BCR. CN closed, reopened, closed, and reopened the line because of fluctuating coal mined. When I visited Tumbler Ridge I checked out the Wolverine Mine, the only one of three now left in service. Coal was present but not abundant and a large cut of empty coal cars were stored near the mine and had been there for about 2 weeks with no way of being spotted into the load out. I also checked out the Quintet Mine, the last mine at the end of the Tumbler sub, and found that it looked like it was being renovated and being prepared for reactivation. I thought this would be the only action I would see on this line but I was wrong. Just a few days later I found a C762 heading North on the Chetwynd Sub which I thought was odd, I followed it to Tacheeda to see if it would head on the former electrified BCR, that's when I heard them get their clearance on the Tumbler sub. I set up for this shot just east of Wakely, the junction between the Tumbler and Chetwynd subs. The BCR crosses the Table River here and I set up on an abandoned beaver dam. It was a pretty thrilling chase as these trains do 35MPH on this sub and the Table Tunnel access road is less than ideal for driving fast. I chased the train to the Table siding where I found out that this train was simply a storage run to store empty coal cars in the siding at Table, they than proceeded to run light engines back to Prince George. The first train on this line in nearly a month was simply another storage run and not a revenue freight for the mines, as such I'm not sure what to think for the future of this line, weather the Quintet mine will reopen and bring back service or will CN give up on it and give the track back to BC is unknown. I'm just happy I got the opportunity to shoot a train on the former electrified BCRail Tumbler Ridge branch line.