Boston Bar used to be a great railway town with a large yard and all the typical railroad "accoutrements". Now the old CN property is either empty, as in this photo, or being developed for housing and shopping. You don't even see these CN trains heading east any more. Both CN and CP use the CN side of the canyon for westbound trains into Vancouver. Cheers Dave
Funny, the folks in Washington call it the "North West" and the people who live north of them call it the "South Shore" That says something about point of view. Anyhow, I don't get down to the big city more than a few times a year. About two football games and 3 or 4 trips to Art Knapps in Surrey. I only get to see real trains in Kamloops (CN/CP) and Salmon Arm (CP) although smaller, ex-CN power comes into Kelowna every day at around 1030. This is not a great train watching place so I'll be spending some time in the Fraser Canyon this summer. Dave
SD50's are pretty good power . 3600HP each , good engine . See them and operate them ALOT here where I am at . Usually I see them trailing than in the lead . My only dis-like for these units is the control stand . It's a desk top . Desk-tops are not hard to operate , the set up is just completely different and I feel like I am sitting at a desk in a office , it's really a comfort issue . I am 6FT2" with a size 12 and a half boot and I have not leg room what so ever . Sitting at a desk like that for 12 hours is not my idea of comfort . BUT other than that it's a good unit , dynamic brake works well also . Inside of these units , the cabs are huge , about the size of a good size bathroom my edit : Just another little note , if you have to apply a handbrake on one of these units there is a door behind the Engineers seat and you actually walk thru the engine room down a hall way inside the locomotive itself . It's very loud inside also . 99% of the time if I go apply a handbrake on one of these I will walk on the ground and get on the rear steps and open the back door and the handbrake is right there , walking thru one of those is scary [ 21 April 2001: Message edited by: DaveCN5623 ]
Don't get wrong by "Boston bar USED to be a happening place", it still is, just not as happening. The yard is very small now but used once in a very very blue moon, adn crew change is still there for CN and CP trains heading westbound. Great photo... Got any of North Bend/Sisco? Happy Railroading! Dane N.
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by DaveCN5623: SD50's are pretty good power . 3600HP each , good engine . See them and operate them ALOT here where I am at . Usually I see them trailing than in the lead . My only dis-like for these units is the control stand . It's a desk top . Desk-tops are not hard to operate , the set up is just completely different and I feel like I am sitting at a desk in a office , it's really a comfort issue . I am 6FT2" with a size 12 and a half boot and I have not leg room what so ever . Sitting at a desk like that for 12 hours is not my idea of comfort . BUT other than that it's a good unit , dynamic brake works well also . Inside of these units , the cabs are huge , about the size of a good size bathroom my edit : Just another little note , if you have to apply a handbrake on one of these units there is a door behind the Engineers seat and you actually walk thru the engine room down a hall way inside the locomotive itself . It's very loud inside also . 99% of the time if I go apply a handbrake on one of these I will walk on the ground and get on the rear steps and open the back door and the handbrake is right there , walking thru one of those is scary [ 21 April 2001: Message edited by: DaveCN5623 ]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> They are the ONLY power we see out here on transfer runs. The only excpetion is one SD40-2W that seems to be crawling around the system. They ussually run in sets of two, just like in the photo. Every once in awhile when there is a mech. failure you will see 4 or 5 of them heading together to Throton yard. I think they are very ugly, but better than the SD40-2 units that were here in 98. You could see the old wet noodle through the stripes! Happy Railroading! Dane N.
Gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen.... Boston Bar is one of my favourite areas to rail fan "still." Well, I lie...actually North Bend is one of my favourite places to railfan. Why? Well, the CP crew restaurant is there and open to the public. Where else can you sit and eat, look out the window and see CN, CP, CP business train, VIA, Rocky Mountaineer, and American Orient Express while eating the incredible and affordable CP omellette. And have Daisy as your waitress. While eating, crews from both CN and CP come in, eat, gossip, burp, and other various ussundry goodies. This restuarant is famous with railfans throughout the world visiting this area. Engineers here will stop and talk to you, invite you up in the cab, and explain what's going on. A great place to be. It is about a minute and a half drive from "downtown...LOL!!!" North Bend, across the bridge, over the crossing and you are there. The CP crew sleeping quarters - just down from the restuarant - look great. Why? Because CP decided that if they ever sold off the property because this stop over was eliminated, the crew sleeping area would be marketable: they made it look like a nice small hotel. Over in North Bend, is the CN sleeping crew area and although not as nice as the CP quarters, it looks better than some sleeping areas I have seen for CN crews..eg. Wainwright, alta. PS. Daisy only works on the weekends!
