ProspectThis
CaribooVille
What with all that is going on in the world these days, I had completely missed the following as reported by Jennifer Thuncher in the Squamish Chief back in mid-July:
What with all that is going on in the world these days, I had completely missed the following as reported by Jennifer Thuncher in the Squamish Chief back in mid-July:
The Canadian National Railway Company (CN) has declared its plan to decommission part of its railway line from north of the railyards in Squamish through to 100 Mile.
The railway is mandated to release its railway line plans to the government and the public, which it did on July 11.
Its three-year plan shows it'll decommission its “Squamish subdivision” of the railway line heading north of the District of Squamish to Lillooet—from mile marker 43.00 through to 157.60.
CN also released its intention to decommission the line from mile marker 157.60 to 257.00, which is on the Lillooet subdivision of the line that stretches past 100 Mile...
Gosh.
Didn't that stretch of track used belong to an outfit that we, the people of British Columbia once owned?
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Image at the top of the post?...This.
9 comments:
Please Go Easy on the BC Liberal Party
What a crazy idea. BC Rail should never have been sold.
The line being decommissioned was a very expensive stretch of track, due to steep grades and more. Now, BC rail knew how to operate trains on steeply graded lines; CN does not.
When the present CN mainline was built, the grades were designed to be as easy as possible and for many years the grade from Sapperton to the Fraser River Rail Bridge was the steepest on the CN!
CN operates very long unit trains and they do not work well on winding grades, so adios the line.
If Eby had any vision for BC; if he had a modicum of care for the environment, he would plan for a Vancouver to Prince George/Rupert passenger train service, via the BC rail route.
But no, Eby has turned the NDP into Vision(less) Vancouver provincial with no vision for the future outside Kitsilano.
EE--
A couple of questions for you...
1) What does this mean for the good Mr. Armstrong's rolling hotels?
2) What is the play in CN's keeping of the North Van to Squamish chunk of track?
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Ah yes.
I believe the phrase "rolling hotels" are the "Hotel Train" operated by the Rocky Mountaineer. The Rocky Mountaineer (RM) folks wanted to operate their "Hotel Trains" on BC Rail and Gordo the Gone and the Bird, as part of the BC Rail give -a-way to CN gave the RM folks exclusive rights to operate passenger services.
A lot of people do not realize that the former BC Rail route was one of the top 10 passenger routes for rail enthusiasts, problem was, that was for regular passenger routes and not for "Hotel Trains".
Gordo the Gone's and the Bird's gift to the rolling hotel folks also has deterred VIA in running passenger services in BC and two of AMTRAK's planned routes 1) reinstating a former Great Northern tourist route from Montana to Vancouver via Calgary and the Crow's Nest pass and a direct Portland/Seattle winter route for a direct passenger service to Whistler!
For the North Van to Squamish route, I can think of two reasons: 1) a potential Squamish to Vancouver commuter route a la the West Coast Express and 2) To carry dangerous cargoes such as natural gas and oil to be loaded at Squamish. A commuter rail route would pay for the upkeep of the line in wheelage charges.
Notice those pesky grades to Whistler prevents a service going there.
Gordo the Gone's sale of BC Rail has had massive detrimental effects on the province and the stench of his and the Bird's corruption still lingers. This is especially bad because "rail" plays a massive part in reducing emissions in the fight to mitigate the effects of Global Warming and Climate Change.
And Gordo's the Gone's corruption is only matched by Eby's and the NDP's utter stupidity when it comes to rail transportation.
Thanks very much EE--
Very helpful.
Perhaps now is the time to do a bit of a retrospective on Mr. Campbell's first really big provincial liberal bagmen...
At least the ones with ties that bind them to the rails.
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That would be a great idea! Most people can't see the ties because of all the tar and feathers!
and what of the 1000 year lease to BC? re BCRail
Means no one will be able to operate trains on it unless the feds pass legislation and with the close connection of CN with the federal liberals, it will be made sure not to happen.
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