Paused at Courtenay, BC, October 1970 (Beyer Patton) The view from the van, Vancouver Island, October 1970 (Beyer Patton)
CN & BN cars at Vancouver, October 1970 (Beyer Patton) The Super Continental at Vancouver, October 1970 (Beyer Patton)
So that's what the CN/GN joint station looked like from the back side. That's one side of the station that doesn't get much in photo coverage in books and magazines.
Wow, super cool Canadian stuff here! I think it was in '71 or '72 my Dad had a summer vacation set up for us to ride CP's Canadian from Vancouver, BC east, but the railway workers struck and our plans were canceled. We never rode.
I have been wondering what happened to the efforts of a few years back, to revive this line? Was there any success?
In 2006, CP donated the right of way to the Island Corridor Foundation, a non-profit organization. RailAmerica donated its operating rights too. Both got some cash and tax credits (charitable donations). Operating rights have been given to the Southern Railway of British Columbia (SRY) to run it as the Southern Railway of Vancouver Island. But since then, deferred maintenance (and lack thereof by CP while under its ownership) has rendered the track unsafe for most of its length (following a risk assessment study). Slow orders have been getting slower and slower. In 2020 a new non-profit outfit, the Vancouver Island Transportation Corridor Coalition (VITCC), was created in 2020 to help get rail service back on track on Vancouver Island. There's even talk of having a rapid transit service. There are a lot of people trying, at least.
BN's International at Vancouver, BC, October 1970 (Beyer Patton) CN "Sceneramic" Dome Lounge 2401 "Athabasca", Vancouver, BC, October 1970 (Beyer Patton)
GN 2-Buf.-Lou.-Obs. 1293 "Cathedral Mountain", Vancouver, BC, October 1970 (Beyer Patton) GN Coach 1093, Vancouver, BC, October 1970 (Beyer Patton)
BN Coach 1221, Vancouver, BC, October 1970 (Beyer Patton) BN E7A 9902, Vancouver, BC, October 1970 (Beyer Patton)
CN Dome Lounge 2403 "Fraser", Vancouver, BC, October 1970 (Beyer Patton) The CP yard at Victoria, BC, October 1970 (Beyer Patton)
Wow. Look at those antiques! This looks more like what I might expect to see in a small RR museum setting, than a functioning rail yard.
That's more likely where they stored MoW equipment. There was a similar storage area at Ste-Thérèse station, with everything from plows to tool cars to cranes to dorm cars. Old box cars were recycled into all sorts of work service cars. My Dad shot a bunch of photos of the place back in '82.
I agree that it appears to be an m-o-w area. Was simply just looking at the various types of old rolling stock. A CP tank car, the nice van, the wedge plow and support/camp cars. I hope some how a few of these were preserved!
CP Log Flatcar 308443, Victoria, BC, October 1970 (Beyer Patton) Meet at 86th Street in Brooklyn, October 1974 (Beyer Patton)
