Railpictures.ca - Canadian Railway Photography - photographie ferroviaire Canadienne. » Ken Perry http://www.railpictures.ca The BEST Canadian photos on the Internet, eh? Mon, 20 Apr 2026 18:06:08 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 Images by ken-perry http://www.railpictures.ca/2026/%postname?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=2964 http://www.railpictures.ca/2026/%postname#comments Mon, 22 Jun 2026 01:47:28 +0000 Ken Perry
Returning from Midway to Nelson on their second day on duty, the crew of CP 4104 +8509 + 8555 + 8526 has successfully descended from Paulson Gap near Farron on Friday 1974-10-11, and now is on the outskirts of Castlegar with only another 28 miles to go to reach Nelson. <p>Engineer trainee John Leeming was running, supervised by engineer Bob Calder, and I had the privilege of a cab ride with them that morning from Midway to Grand Forks.
Name: Ken Perry
Railway: Canadian Pacific
Date: 1974-10-11
Location: Kraft
Province: British Columbia
3 Comments | 14 Favourites
Emerging from the west portal of the Shaughnessy Tunnel on the Macdonald Track and on the bridge over Bear Creek on Sunday 1995-08-06 at 1258 PDT is ex-ATSF now GCRC 7488 and a westward train from Calgary. This was during closure of the Connaught Tunnel for deepening to handle double-stack trains, with mechanical staff camped nearby to ensure two-way rail traffic remained fluid. Paid to railfan for two weeks for me!
Name: Ken Perry
Railway: Canadian Pacific
Date: 1995-08-06
Location: Bear Creek
Province: British Columbia
1 Comments | 14 Favourites
On Vancouver Island at Deerholme, CN 991 was left idling overnight when it was cold, causing excessive build-up in the exhaust system. To minimize smoke exposure to the caboose crew on the next day’s work, at first move was a short run loading against full engine brakes, as seen here at the west end of the yard on Wednesday 1976–03-31.
Name: Ken Perry
Railway: Canadian National
Date: 1976-03-31
Location: Deerholme
Province: British Columbia
Comments | 22 Favourites
This view of CP 8519 is an example of a steam generator equipped GP9, with the generator exhaust stack and air intake clearly visible, as is one of the two rooftop air main reservoir tanks, as seen on a Coquitlam roundhouse shoptrack on Monday 1975-07-28. <p>Down on the running board skirt, note the water fill connection a bit forward of the fuel fill point. And for appreciators of older ways, note the forged handrail stanchions above the running board, as opposed to the newer fabricated ones (likely needed for handrail pull-down repair when separating units with chains still connected) at the front crossover walkway. <p>Trivia: To provide sufficient compressed air capacity, there is a third (in addition to the two on the engine hood roof) air reservoir, tucked away out of sight. Where is it?
Name: Ken Perry
Railway: Canadian Pacific
Date: 1975-07-28
Location: Port Coquitlam
Province: British Columbia
3 Comments | 12 Favourites
In southwestern British Columbia, we were fortunate to regularly see big MLWs on coal trains to Roberts Bank, due to many of them equipped with Locotrol for controlling mid-train remote units. On Thursday 1977-06-02 near Agassiz (stated GPS location is approximate), the roar of white flags at track speed heralded the approach of CP 4559 and 4566 (and unseen remotes) on yet another train of coal loads from southeastern BC.
Name: Ken Perry
Railway: Canadian Pacific
Date: 1977-06-02
Location: Agassiz
Province: British Columbia
Comments | 18 Favourites
Deadheading by train between a temporary assignment at Revelstoke and home in Port Coquitlam provided me numerous opportunities to observe locomotive performance and photo possibilities. One area that was particularly satisfying was the lengthy ascent on the Shuswap subdivision to Notch Hill, running wide open for miles via the north track. While on westward grain train symbol 359-017 on Sunday 1994-05-08 in the cab of the third unit CP 5976 (behind CP 9012 + 5981), this view of normal at a steady 900 Amps at 11 mph was obtained. <p>As you may well imagine, earplugs were essential while deadheading. By observation of what was normal, any abnormalities in sound or locomotive performance were easily identified.
Name: Ken Perry
Railway: Canadian Pacific
Date: 1994-05-08
Location: Notch Hill
Province: British Columbia
1 Comments | 16 Favourites
Due to its regular route from New Westminster to Huntingdon unavailable due to bridge work, the BC Hydro eastward Valley Freight detoured over Canadian Pacific lines (Westminster, Cascade, and Mission subdivisions) on Monday 1975-11-17, and due to six-axle units forbidden on CP at Sapperton near New Westminster, four SW900s, BCH 907 + 902 + 906 + 910, powered that train, and it is shown here at CP’s Coquitlam depot and train order office JN (from Junction, versus YD in the yard office control tower in the yard) at 1500 PST. <p>Years later, that depot in Port Coquitlam was renamed Port Coquitlam to minimize confusion for Westcoast Express commuter train passengers, and that area is now an extensive commuter rail and transit bus depot.
Name: Ken Perry
Railway: Canadian Pacific
Date: 1975-11-17
Location: Port Coquitlam
Province: British Columbia
Comments | 18 Favourites
In the years before public road access was provided, logging roads were the alternate way to access timber harvesting communities in the Nimpkish valley on Vancouver Island, and supplies were best transported by rail. Thus Canadian Forest Products 302 has two carloads of crossties and one tank car of fuel in addition to log empties southward by the road and rail water tank near Duncan reload on the way to Vernon Camp on Monday 1975-06-09.
Name: Ken Perry
Railway: Canadian Forest Pr…
Date: 1975-06-09
Location: Duncan reload
Province: British Columbia
2 Comments | 19 Favourites
With dynamic brakes whirring, a loaded coal unit train from southeastern BC with CP 5811 + 5812 + 5772 + 4572 on the headend and unseen mid-train remotes 1017 + 5703 + 5642 + 5599 is descending from Notch Hill on the Shuswap sub. on Sunday 1976-10-17. The era of exclusive MLW power on CP coal trains was long gone.
Name: Ken Perry
Railway: Canadian Pacific
Date: 1976-10-17
Location: Squilax
Province: British Columbia
3 Comments | 16 Favourites
On the E&N on Monday 1979-03-12, MLW S-3 CP 6572 had recently returned from Port Alberni to Victoria roundhouse for scheduled maintenance and was lined up for the 0600 Victoria yard job. A personal practice was to work the engine against full-set airbrakes to verify loading and to warm up the wheels for good braking, out from the turntable and back several times within the tenth of a mile of shoptrack, that on Monday mornings particularly desirable after a Sunday parked in the shop. <p>Extensive idling at Port Alberni had accumulated quite a bit of carbon in the exhaust, and the heat from my load testing caused it to be emitted as a magnificent show of sparks, caught with a time exposure of several minutes. <p>Note the as-built single note “honker” air horn, and above it a three-note added at Victoria for better sound projection operating in reverse over the many local crossings, and coincidentally, a more pleasant sound overall.
Name: Ken Perry
Railway: Canadian Pacific
Date: 1979-03-12
Location: Victoria
Province: British Columbia
3 Comments | 26 Favourites
In Victoria, trackage continued past mileage 0.0 at the depot onto Store Street to reach a number of industrial customers, with Swift’s meat packing plant frequently a priority for the yard crew to switch with high-value loads. On Saturday 1975-07-12, that was the case for MLW S-3 CP 6572 heading out of the spur at Swift Street to Store Street and onward to the Albion Yard distribution area.
Name: Ken Perry
Railway: Canadian Pacific
Date: 1975-07-12
Location: Victoria
Province: British Columbia
3 Comments | 24 Favourites
By my timing in life and railway photography, only a short period of Pacific Great Eastern was within reach, mostly from a few visits to North Vancouver yard by public transit from downtown Vancouver. Thus this view of MLW RS-3 yard engine PGE 577 on a crew break at the PGE passenger depot at North Vancouver on Saturday 1972-01-22, just over two months before PGE became British Columbia Railway on 1972-04-01. <p>PGE 577 was rebuilt to slug BCOL 403 in 1984, and was retired by CN in 2006.
Name: Ken Perry
Railway: Pacific Great East…
Date: 1972-01-22
Location: North Vancouver
Province: British Columbia
6 Comments | 17 Favourites
Canadian Pacific’s E&N Division on Vancouver Island handled trains of logs from Crown Zellerbach’s Nitinat Logging Division (hence the name Nitinat for those trains), eastward for 18 miles from Lake Cowichan to Hayward then 17 miles northward to the CZ log dump at Ladysmith. As seen from the last water tower at mileage 15.85 near Lake Cowichan (note milepost 16 in the distance near the Greendale Road crossing), GP9s CP 8832 and 8831 have their eastward train of 40-ish loads nicely underway on Thursday 1975-05-15, just two months after GM units displaced the seven remaining CP Baldwin roadswitchers on the E&N.
Name: Ken Perry
Railway: Canadian Pacific
Date: 1975-05-15
Location: Lake Cowichan
Province: British Columbia
Comments | 16 Favourites
In a happy coincidence of my first full year with a driver’s licence and the last full year of CP FM/CLC road power, an eastward train from Midway to Nelson was followed, mainly to photograph lead unit CP 4104 with 8509 + 8555 + 8526 assisting. Shown here crossing the Kootenay River near Taghum on Friday 1974-10-11, just four miles from Nelson.
Name: Ken Perry
Railway: Canadian Pacific
Date: 1974-10-11
Location: Taghum
Province: British Columbia
1 Comments | 24 Favourites
A first visit for me to Lethbridge, on Thursday 1974-10-03, when CP Lethbridge was still downtown at 1 Avenue South and 8th Street south, revealed a well-maintained display of CP 3651 at the depot. It is still standing there today, while the depot is now the Lethbridge Community Health centre, and CP Lethbridge is eight miles northwest at Kipp Yard near old Coalhurst.
Name: Ken Perry
Railway: Preservation
Date: 1974-10-03
Location: Lethbridge
Province: Alberta
Comments | 9 Favourites
Hoisting a locomotive on jacks to allow a truck to be moved out for a traction motor change was a regular work procedure at the CP/E&N backshop in Victoria, but the pictured one of Baldwin CP 8001 on Saturday 1975-03-01 carries special significance. Just ten days later came instructions to shut down all CP Baldwin roadswitchers (seven remaining of the original thirteen after various mishaps) after twenty-six years of being maintained in that shop, so 8001 was the last to ride those jacks. <p>As a three-year employee there at that time, that hurt, and I often wondered what the longer-service folks (some of them well over half their careers) felt.
Name: Ken Perry
Railway: Canadian Pacific
Date: 1975-03-01
Location: Victoria
Province: British Columbia
3 Comments | 20 Favourites
Canadian Pacific generally overhauled switcher units at Weston shops in Winnipeg, and shipped them dead back to their home terminals. On Tuesday 1974-10-01, a westward train with CP 5591 has brought essentially spotless MLW S-3 6600 with wrapped stack to the shoptracks, seen here from the Second Avenue road overpass.
Name: Ken Perry
Railway: Canadian Pacific
Date: 1974-10-01
Location: Swift Current
Province: Saskatchewan
1 Comments | 19 Favourites
Not nearly as substantial as one might expect for a terminal passenger depot, this PGE now BCOL depot for Prince George was situated in the industrial area south of the town and just east of the yard there. It replaced an earlier (1952) one north by a few miles and closer to the CN interchange, a bit more substantial but in much the same understated style.
Name: Ken Perry
Railway: BC Rail
Date: 1972-10-25
Location: Prince George
Province: British Columbia
2 Comments | 8 Favourites
Since BC Hydro had a general restriction for only three of their four SD38 units on the headend of a train, catching all four working together was fairly rare. For the Valley Freight from New Westminster to Huntington on Tuesday 1982-03-23, for reason(s) unknown to me, all four, BCH 382 + 383 + 381 + 384 (listed from right to left) were lined up, and as seen from the Queensborough road bridge over railway and Fraser River, are heading from the west end shoptracks (which are in Burnaby) at Trapp Yard to tie onto their train and head eastward. <p>BCH 381 is an SD38AC, and the others are SD38-2s, and all are EMD built. <p>The track between those units and the river is CN’s Lulu Island branch.
Name: Ken Perry
Railway: BC Hydro
Date: 1982-03-23
Location: New Westminster
Province: British Columbia
2 Comments | 12 Favourites
Twice-weekly (Tuesday and Friday) freight train No. 65 from Wellcox yard in Nanaimo has just arrived Courtenay with back-to-back Baldwins CP 8001 and 8010 and caboose CP 437030 (with marker lamps already positioned for the return trip) on Friday 1975-02-14 and is preparing to switch its train. On the left, snow outlines where a wye had been until removed a few years ago. With no timetable schedule for southward freight trains, the return to Wellcox will be as an Extra.
Name: Ken Perry
Railway: Canadian Pacific
Date: 1975-02-14
Location: Courtenay
Province: British Columbia
1 Comments | 19 Favourites
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