Loading ...In the mid ’60’s when traveling across Canada I would take the railway, not by passenger car but by ‘riding the units’. i.e., the locomotives. This was done by boarding and occupying one of the rearmost units on rail-yard departure, a practice tolerated by CNR employees. (The Fireman would always check each unit and they would often offer water or sandwiches. Water jugs were also sometimes situated in some units, which was convenient).
One winter trip found me in Revelstoke, B.C., tossed off a train by the engineer when he discovered in one of his units awaiting departure from the station. I had been using the CNR exclusively prior to this and this was the first CPR track I had ridden, hitching the original ride from Calgary headed west. I later learned that the CPR did not tolerate unit riders.
I waited several hours for another train to depart and caught and occupied the last unit of a seven-unit train. High multiple unit trains were common in the Rockies then since they were only rated approximately 1500 HP, where modern engines can be rated 4000 HP or more.
The train rose toward Kicking Horse Pass (just as Maya’s photos depict). Kicking Horse Pass crosses the Continental Divide and is the highest point on the CPR railway: unbeknownst to me was what lay ahead. Spiral tunnels had been constructed on the rail-line that permitted a rise in elevation over a longer distance, thus reducing the grade through the pass. When we entered the first tunnel I immediately was struck by diesel engine exhaust from the leading six units, and though I don’t remember it, I soon succumbed to the contaminated atmosphere and passed out.
I regained consciousness some time late whilst crossing the Kicking Horse River, several miles from the tunnel egress and at the end of the Pass descent stage. Disoriented upon resuming consciousness, I thought I was crossing the North Thompson River near Kamloops, hours away from Kicking Horse Pass! It was only later when traveling through a town that I realized where I was. I also recall having a splitting headache, my first episode in breathing Carbon Monoxide. (Breathing Carbon Dioxide will give one the same headache: don’t ask).
Thanks for all the rail photos Maya: I never fail to enjoy them.