Canadian Pacific Railway Banff Park

We’re deep inside Banff National Park armed with a vintage photo showing a train and our first goal will be to find the location seen. The person that supplied the image only had a hunch, but with a little detective work we felt confident it could be found. Using good old Google Earth and spending a few minutes at it, we soon knew where to go – bingo! Welcome to Canadian Pacific Railway Banff Park edition, another BIGDoer Then & Now, and on we’ve returned to this spot to capture a similar photo. Then we’ll blah-blah-blah about what’s seen and have a little fun.

To really complete our project we needed a train to show, but along this busy line there was no waiting. Just as we set our angle, a good sized one made an appearance and then soon after so did another. It’s easy stuff. The old photo comes from a reader – thanks Johannes – and from his personal collection. Nothing is known about it otherwise – like who shot it for example. This post dates from 2015, but rewritten and spruced up, while still using our shots from the time.

There’s something special about the passing train in the original photo and it’s not a normal freight, but for promotional purposes and used to introduce a new company image. It traveled across the country with much fanfare in the fall of 1968 and photographed extensively. So we know the date for this capture. We’re curious if the person shooting the image hoped to see this train specifically or if things played out by chance?

The train includes two Montreal Locomotive Works model C-424 engines, made under license from the American Locomotive Company (Alco). The “C” stood for Century, in honour the parent firm’s centennial, four indicates the number of axles, and twenty four represents the horsepower in hundreds.

The CPR owned fifty one of these locomotives produced in the years 1963-1966 and competitor Canadian National also rostered a good number. Not really suited for mountainous territory, they were somewhat overpowered and hence a bit “slippery” and as such would rarely be seen on the the CPR’s western lines. Real thoroughbreds, they’d find use on fast freights or short and speedy “hotshots” back east where the grades were less challenging.

The two, #4239 and #4242, were built in 1965 and 1966 respectively and retired in 1998 and 1997 respectively. One did not get scrapped however, #4242, and instead sold to a US railway to be used as a part’s source to keep other locomotives running. It still existed, in a stripped down state, into the 2000s.

Montreal Locomotive Works dates back to the early years of the twentieth century, closed in the mid-1980s and outlasted its parent by some fifteen years.

This special train contained a mix of freight cars all shiny and nicely painted up in the new company image. One of each type of car common to the era was included in the consist, but in the old photo only the first two are seen: a plug-door boxcar and insulated boxcar.

For decades prior, the CPR’s locomotive colours were red with gray, along with a touch of yellow and this a very pleasing look. For the new image, this got changed to a bright red, “action red” as it’s known, while cabooses were a bold yellow (so BIGDoer.com approved). Each type of freight car had it’s own unique colour and together it was a long snaking trainbow.

The new company logo, the “Multimark”, was no doubt hatched in the minds of some ad-executive, and a sideways facing pointed shape laid atop a half circle. Among train buffs, starting in the 1980s, it known as known as the “Pac Man” logo. While CPR locomotives are still painted red, the Multimark has not been applied for quite some time.

A passing grain hauler and a double stack intermodal train are seen in our photos, both quite lengthy and powered by a good number of General Electric engines. GE is the biggest player now and most CPR mainline trains, out this way, are powered by this make of locomotive.

In the quieter moments between freights we read or day dreamed and sipped a good Riesling. Train spotting with a wine-buzz is a blast! We have this feeling we’re not normal in respects to how we participate in this activity. This is one time when we get to slow down. Always go-go-go and in motion, it affords us the opportunity to take a breather every now and then. It’s a couple hours of doing very little and relaxing, which isn’t done often enough.

Our location is along the Bow Valley Parkway, a secondary road and it parallels the tracks for the most part. Great peaks tower overhead (north flank of Mount Cory in back) and they’re a stunning backdrop for passing trains. The Bow River flows right behind our position and the backwater seen, an ox-bow lake made by that waterway. We’re along the CPR’s east/west mainline, built in the 1880s and it’s one busy stretch of track.

We line up our “now” shots in camera using a special grid-system technique we’ve developed over the years, so most of the heavy lifting takes place out in the field.

Most of the “then” photos used in this ongoing series are sent in by readers. Do you have an old image that shows something from long ago (a train, street or town scene) that still exists in some form today that you think should be used like this? Drop us a line and it can be an actual photo (we’ll return it) or a scan.

Know more: (new tab): Canadian Pacific Railway Multimark.

Be sure to stop by often for new and interesting content posted regularly.

They’re saying…

“Thank you so much for your fantastic articles and photos. Alberta and BC are dear to my heart (ed: we do SK too). I could spend 24/7 here with you! I especially love the before and after articles. Keep up the great work guys!! I was born and raised in Calgary in the 50’s so this history is my passion.” Joanne Winchester Honer.

More train themed Then & Nows…
Cochrane Alberta: Canadian Pacific Railway.
Rosebery BC Then & Now.
Empress AB then and now.

If you wish more information on what you’ve seen here, by all means contact us!

Date: July, 2015.
Location: Banff Park, AB.
Article sources: Canadian Trackside Guides and CPR Archives.

Canadian Pacific Railway Banff Park many years apart.

Bear with a light sabre.

Trains, a book and Riesling for the win.