Along the Kootenay Central w’ Greg McDonnell

This railway themed Then and Now takes us to the East Kootenay region of British Columbia. A gorgeous place! Team BIGDoer was sent an old photo showing a train along the Canadian Pacific’s Kootenay Central lines in the 1970s and given permission to use it in a comparison. Woohoo, and by a photographer we really admire! Our goal is to find the location, to stand where they did (an indescribable thrill), and shoot something similar.

This series is about chronicling the changes to a scene, or lack there off, over a period of time. In the case of this one, most everything appears much as it did and and while dramatic differences are often the norm, here it’s subtleties. There were no trains seen on our visit (a maintenance rail-truck did pass), but they’re just one element in a very broad scene.

This in an older post that vanished in the great BIGDoer.com database crash of a few months ago. There’s backups, so it’s not gone forever, but we thought it’d be a good chance to redo the piece anyway, rather than simply restore. It needed some tidying up and reedits, as do most the older ones. This event took out hundreds of articles from 2012-2016 and those still relevant will get a do-over of some kind, just like this, before reposting.

The Then image comes thanks to well-noted railway photographer Greg McDonnell and is under his copyright. Let’s all thank him for allowing us to include it in this post, and we thank him for the the fun that came of it. We love doing these.

Greg’s shot dates to June 1974 and our capture, late October 2015. We always thought of reshooting this piece, but it was so much fun that time that we didn’t want to destroys fond memories. So we kept the older images, even if they’re not the greatest – back-lit subjects often look harsh, but it’s sometimes necessary.

You’ll see not a great deal has changed between the two eras. The track is the same, the mountains in back, ditto, the trees, the haze, it’s all as it was. Some things are gone now, so the telegraph lines for example, but that’s nothing much.

There’s lots of water in the old picture. The nearby Kootenay River (in behind, at the base of that low ridge) was in flood stage back when Greg was here, but on our visit, at more normal levels. The floodplains were dry. The waters rise and fall with the seasons, but in the old photo they’re unusually high.

We hoped a train would show for us, but of course, that didn’t happen. A couple freights passed before we arrived – the rail line and Kootenay Highway #93 parallel each other in the area – but once at the location, the old Kootenay Central went quiet. We waited for hours and hours, but were denied once again. We swear, as soon as we break out a camera, the trains all go into hiding.

A hi-rail maintenance truck passed, however, so it wasn’t a total loss. For the quiet moments, we bring a good book, some snacks and we’ll chat a lot, so even if things don’t work out, it’s still an enjoyable experience. In our busy, busy lives, a break like this is gold.

The train seen in the Then photo, according to Greg’s notes, was a detour and rerouted due to a nearby track washout. Given the water levels in the Kootenay River, it must have been a wet spring and perhaps this had something to do with it. Instead of heading east to the Crowsnest Pass using a different route, this train had to go north on the Kootenay Central and then turn west up by Golden. It’s perhaps the long way around, but necessary given the circumstances.

Leading the mixed freight are two Canadian Locomotive Company, Kingston Ontario, Fairbanks Morse (USA) designed H16-44 engines. That’s #8728 and #8555. A Montreal Locomotive Works (an American Locomotive Company USA affiliate) model RS-18, #8760 is in the trailing position. They date from 1957, 1955 and 1958 respectively.

The leading and second unit were retired about a year after the original capture. The CPR was the last major railway to roster “FM” locomotives anywhere and this was a huge draw to railway buffs. No doubt this was a motivator for Greg visiting one of their haunts, the the Kootenay Central line.

By this point the area was the only place to find these locomotives and other railways had long since disposed of this make. They were orphans on most railways and by the numbers had a less than stellar reputation for reliability. Still, the CPR coaxed every last mile out of those they owned.

The Canadian Pacific based their CLC/FM locomotives out of southeastern BC and southwestern Alberta. About mid-1975, and in one fell swoop, they were stricken off the roster. One week they were everywhere and the next there were none. The railfan community knew the days were numbered for this fleet and in anticipation of their demise, flocked to the region to say their goodbyes.

The last unit in that consist was fairly common by the numbers, but would a rarity out west. Typically MLW locomotives stayed in Ontario, Quebec and points east. That this one made it so far into enemy territory is quite odd.

The CPR retained this engine until around 1998, after a good rebuilding some years earlier. It later went on to be a lease unit and about a decade later was scrapped. MLW locomotives were better received than those of rival CLC, of the era, but those from General Motors proved most popular.

The Canadian Locomotive Company was the country’s oldest locomotive firm and it dated back to the 1850s. MLW started in the early 1900s and in the steam era were the largest firm in Canada, with CLC second. In the diesel era, each dropped a position after GM came on the scene. CLC closed down the late 1960s and MLW in the mid-1980s. GM left in the early 2010s and now this country has no locomotive builders.

Now all Canadian Locomotives come from the US, so Caterpillar’s Progress Rail (formerly GM USA) and General Electric (mostly the latter).

The track along here is the former Kootenay Central line, built over a century ago and now the CPR’s Windermere Subdivision. It’s a conduit for coal from the Sparwood area heading to the west coast for export. There’s other mixed freight too. While it can be a fairly active line, perhaps there was a traffic slump in play (the coal business can be volatile), or we just caught them at an odd time.

All we saw was a truck…a truck and nothing more. This could indicate a maintenance window and it’s possible they had to attend to some right of way work.

The exact location of the Then photo was not shared with us and that’s by request. We like not knowing too much and it makes finding the exact spot part of the fun.

In closing out this post, we once again have to thanks Greg McDonnell. He’s a noted train photographer, an author of many books on the subject and allowing us use of this image was a great honour.

If you have an old photograph, yours or in the public domain, train themed, showing a street scene or something similar that you think would make a good starting point for a BIGDoer.com comparison, please contact us. We’ll revisit the location to note any change and post the results here. You’ll get a shout-out too. It’s what we absolutely LOVE doing and new challenges are always welcome.

Know more (new tabs): Canadian Pacific Railway Kootenay Central and Railway Photographer Greg McDonnell.

They’re saying…

“Wonderful out-of-the way locations and the photos of them are pure gold…Keep up the good work!” William Gibbons.

Another made with Greg’s help…
Along the Crowsnest Sub (w Greg McDonnell).

Sister to #8555, #8554 is seen this post and survived into recent years before being scrapped…
Gas Plant Collection.

Random awesomeness and with a train theme…
Carbon Alberta 1946, 1992 & 2024.
Ghosts of the Crowsnest Subdivision.
Locomotives of 40 Mile Rail (Amazing Skies).

Something to say and no one to say it to? Go here: Contact Us!

Date of adventure: June 1974 (Greg) and October 2015 (us).
Location: Between Fort Steele and Wasa British Columbia.
Article references and thanks: Greg McDonnell, CPR Timetables, Canadian Trackside Guides and the Book – Constructed in Kingston.

Along the Kootenay Central, 1974 and 2015.

Waited for hours and all we saw was a maintenance truck.