Broken Rail's Boxcar Blog

July 18, 1979 we were called at Field for a Work Extra at 02:00 we had the 5838 and the 5828 for power. My locomotive engineer instructor was Vince Griffiths, and our conductor was Ed Covell we had 18 cars of rock ballast, and one caboose. Our purpose was to assist building a yard at Eldon. In steam locomotive days they ran pusher engines from Field, British Columbia up through the spiral tunnels to the great divide at Stephen, the pusher engines ran down to Lake Louise in Alberta where there was some yard tracks a wye, train register, and a water tower. The pushers were used to push westbound trains from Lake Louise as there were 1.8% grades.

The CPR had planned some grade reductions on its track from Lake Louise Mile 116.6 to Stephen Mile 122.2 to do this a yard at Eldon Mile 105. 7 was built. Our assignment was to help the Maintenance of the Way spread rock ballast onto the new track skeleton prefab track bed.

1.) This Photo shows the four new tracks, we are coupled onto our caboose and 20 cars rock ballast, to spread the ballast they would put a railway tie against the first wheel, and pull in the opposite direction, the track workers would undo the door latches. You can see the man closest to the caboose opening up the ballast hopper’s doors  The ballast then would pour out level with the rails. When the ballast was unloaded they would get me to shake the cars by bunching the slack and I would run the locomotives and let the slack run out, and trip the generator field breaker that would cut off the power.
2.) Another colour slide of the rock ballast hopper cars on track 3 looking eastward, the mountain on the left side is called “Pilot Mountain” and was used by surveyors to lay out the track.

 3.) This slide shows the “Y” or the wye, visualize this you have a straight track in the foreground hardly visible except when railway ties. Then you lay down 2 curved tracks where they converge will be a track switch, with room for about 10 cars. So let’s say you want to change directions of your locomotives, you would line yourself on one of the curved tracks and the brakeman will make sure that the switch at the tail end of wye’s lined properly, and when the locomotives are clear of the wye switch, you line it for the opposite direction and you will go on to the other curved leg of the wye and your locomotives will be lined for the opposite direction.

I remember one time I was working the Bassano Way freight, we were in the caboose eating our dinner. A turn from Alyth (Calgary) to Bassano 76 miles east of Alyth they had came down to build a robot grain train, they had a consist of locomotives they went around the “Y ” they had 4 lead locomotives and 2 slave locomotives, that were cut in behind 70 cars of this 112 card train the locomotive engineer called me on the radio and told the he was having troubles moving his train, the robot locomotives were close to our caboose. I walked outside to investigate and called Emile to try to move his train, I soon found out what his problems were, while Emile was pulling westwards his robots were pulling in the other direction. There is a cabinet of sophisticated electrical equipment in the nose of the locomotives, there is a switch that says “Same direction or Opposite direction” so there eastward trip went fine, but when they turned their locomotive consist at Bassano on the “Wye the robot units were still in the Same Direction. I asked Emile to try again, and sure enough the motor on  the robots were going in the right direction. Emile questioned me about what I did, I replied it’s just a little thing I know about “Locotrol” the CPR’s name of radio controlled-remote-locmotives.

4.) Here Is good slide looking westward and, showing Maintenance of the Way machinery they use to finish the track.

5.) This little cart is connected to the Ballast Regulator, the two little boxes on each end of the top crossbar, our laser targets, that come from the Ballast Regulator to make sure that the track bed is level.

6.) This photo shows what a Ballast Regulator looks like, operated by one man, it will eliminate many jobs.

7.) This slide shows how a ballast regulator works, it lifts up the track bed (ties and rails) and has two angled vibrators that look like little jackhammers, they get the ballast underneath the track bed, with the help of the cart with the laser targets.

8.) This view is looking westward the old right away is on the left, and the new track freshly ballasted is to the right, although it looks steeper it is not the old grade has grades of 1.8%, while the new grade is 1% Water Grade.

“Note” all the photos can be made larger by clicking on them.