Trained and qualified as a trainman, conductor and Locomotive Engineer out of Revelstoke, spent 13 years there and had the expierence of working the pushers a couple of times off the spareboard. Good memories, good job then.
Enjoyed your video. Pusher Service, Roger's Pass and Stoney Creek Bridge were a Railfan's goldmine. Great scenery with action red power, green pine trees, 4 bridges and lots of traffic. My buds and I flew up from Texas on our way to Steam Expo (1986) in Vancouver when we saw the yellow "Pusher" sign on Hwy 1 just east of Glacier NP and drove down into Beaver Valley. While waiting for a westbound to leave, engineer Johnny asked "do you guys want to ride up the hill?" And we did, multiple times. Much thanks to my CPR friends. God Bless you, Johnny who is now 91, RIP my friends, Mac and Mickey.
Thank you glad you enjoyed this series. I’ve never unfortunately had the opportunity to ride a train through these areas because my interest in trains only recently restarted after a long lul in my younger years.
Thanks for the informative videos.I was hired with CP Rail 1976- 2008,as a brakeman, conductor,and Engineman ( 1985)-2008. It's great in this day and age to view how the railroad has been modernized in the last 15 years and to see how trains ran in the western half of the country from Alberta to BC. 1980 I took the passenger train all the way out from Alberta to BC and back and got to snap. Lots of pictures yet this channel is excellent for getting a video perspective of the layout of CP rails main lines by using Google RU-vid in your channel. Thank you very much Tony!
CP ran pushers again in the Summer of 2002 during the lining repairs on the Shaughnessy Tunnel. The tunnel is 1.14 miles long at mile 78.0 Mountain Sub. I rode and videoed a couple of trains being pushed at Rogers in August of that year. Here is a quote from Wikipedia on the construction for re-lining the Shaughnessy Tunnel and the use of pushers. Apparently it happened in 2006 also, although I do not remember that. "From early August to the end of September 2002, the Rogers (Fraine) pusher base was temporarily reactivated for the first time since the Macdonald Track opened. This allowed a tunnel closure, when Emil Anderson Construction replaced the concrete lining along the sections adjacent to each portal. Large cross-struts over the track held the 11-by-6-metre (36 by 20 ft) steel forms in place until the concrete cured. Each of the seven set ups took 36 hours from installation to dismantling. To complete the project, the contractor sprayed shotcrete upon the arched ceiling, requiring only 12-hour work blocks. During each closure, westbound trains diverted to the Connaught Track. With longer and heavier trains than in the 1980s, former experienced pusher crews adapted to the new situation. The single-track operation required opposing trains to meet at the Glacier, Stoney Creek, and Griffith sidings.[8] In 2006, a similar exercise occurred during a six-week work project within the tunnel.[9]"
Great old school videos of the wye. The narrative is a great addition and such good info to share. The telephoto approaching is also excellent. Nicely done.
Hi Tony. In my time the pushers were located at Glacier. 1950s and 1960s. Don't know later I quit mid 1960. I rode those pushers both way just for fun when I was stationed at Glacier. Knew the pusher crew really well. Fred
Hello Fred, that certainly would have been a different time to work for CP, so much has changed. I’ve never had the chance to go on a train through the mountains so this is my way of seeing the areas as best I can
Excellent video Tony. I especially enjoyed the historical information about the pushers. I spent my school years in the late 70s early 80s watching trains in Bolton on the Mactier sub. The locomotives at that time were changing from Alco/MLW 636s to the "brand new" SD40s. Now those same SD40s are antiques which show up in old historic footage. Sigh - I'm getting old. Oh well, such is life. Now I'm living in Singapore and watch trains vicariously through your videos. Please keep the videos coming, especially the interesting history.
Cannot imagine living in that bunkhouse before 1980s. There would be no tv, cable, satelite, or internet. You couldn't even go for a walk for fear of a bear.
Your right about that although at least there were at least 3 others there at the same time so good conversation and I’m sure the card games were fierce LOL
Thank you for a great vid and information. I worked for the surveyor and co. that ran the center line for the new line and control for the tunnels. That would have been 1980--1982. gettting to be a long time ago now, great to see again without having to live there most of the summer.
Your welcome, this was a fun trip to make in April. I really learnt a lot about the area by asking people who worked here when it was the pusher station
I can only second it Tony, your excellent aerial and ground footage, together with the indepth explanations of the surrounding history, make your videos about Western Canada railroading really absolutely unbeatable and highly cherished! 👏👌💯😀 And concerning the wet kisses, they didn't come from KC, perhaps??? 😉 😆
Great video Tony, I've been fascinated with Rogers Pass for years. Even took a chance and hiked back to the Wye. (one check off the bucket list ..lol) Over the years I've collected as many videos and photographs as possible of the Pass. Love the drone footage. Thank You
Very good Tony, excellent video 😊👍 Nice footage especially the footage and pictures of the SD-40-2's. Mountain railroading is definitely tough and dangerous requiring good well trained and disciplined crews. The part about the suprise kiss at the end was funny and scary at the same time. I certainly wouldn't be falling asleep after hearing about that. 😆
Just stumbled on your channel…really enjoyed it. A friend of mine was on a survey crew on the line leading up to the Mt. McDonald tunnel in the early 1980’s. The camp they lived in was near Rogers. I visited him down there around 1984 or so. Saw the pushers in action, 10 SD40-2’s on the coal trains! His crew was constantly on the lookout for bears in the area…pretty scary!
OK, that was very cool. Not just the video itself, and the sounds of the downhill dynamic brakes, but also all of the background and the older photographs and video from the pushers. Very cool and better than your other videos, which is really hard, since they are so good by themselves! Did that come out right? :)
I remember sitting at the crossing at Fraine with the signal crew seeing one of the new Red Barn's. We thought it was worth about two million in the mid eighties.
I still dont understand CN and CPs desire to buy those Cowls. Not one crew I have ever talked to says they were good units. Noisy, rough and hot were all common complaints
@@TonyVRailfanning I don't know about CN but CP really had no choice. They hadn't bought any new 6 axle mainline power since the early '80's - the 6000's - and they desperately needed new power. Mainline power at CP was almost exclusively GMD SD40's and 40-2's. They believed in standardization because standardization kept costs down. So, when it came time to purchase new power in '88 they automatically went to GMD in London. GMD was no longer building the SD40-2's, so CP had no choice but to buy the SD40-2F units. I remember the 25 units in the class - 9000-9024 - being withdrawn from service and/or recalled by GMD not too long after entry into service because of piston problems. We never had them much at first on my division because CP usually sent their new power directly to the mountains where new power was really needed because, as you know, mountain railroading is tough on motive power. Later on they started occasionally showing up on my division. I never much cared for the table top design of the controls, but at a time when CP was actively upgrading the cabs on their locomotives the fridges, chemical toilets, and hot plates they came equipped with were much appreciated. No more 'dry hopper' system! (A plastic seat & garbage bag in the nose! "We are not animals!" lol)
@@bobjohnson1587 LOL Bob, Thats really good information, thank you for sharing. I was unaware that the SD40-2 was no longer made when CP purchased the barns. That really helps put a time line on things. I can appreciate having a real toilet and fridge available to you.
@@TonyVRailfanning Also at the time that these units were ordered joint company and union 'cab committees' were attempting to improve the working conditions for the headend crews of CP's freight trains. CN had long had their 'comfort cabs' whereas on CP the crews were still going out on the running board to take a whiz and drinking water from an ice chest! These 24 SD40-2F units were the first CP mainline freight locomotives to really meet the improved standards that the joint cab committees were attempting to achieve and overall were a very pleasant and comfortable engine to work on. As far as these SD40-2F's being "noisy, rough and hot" they were really no different from any of the previous SD40's delivered to CP and were actually a big improvement in crew comfort. The crews you heard from must have been comparing them to the newer generation of locomotives that CP began purchasing in '97. The GE's and SD90MAC's were a vast improvement over any of the SD40's - including the "Red Barns" - in noise and ride. When they began providing air conditioning to the crews on those ones then of course the "Red Barns" would be considered "hot", too. It's all a matter of perspective! 🤨
@@bobjohnson1587 thank you again for this info. Now all I need to do is film those 2Fs in action (they seldom make an appearance up in the Edmonton area)
We had an engineer on our sub who would throw the yellow wrench at the headend brakeman if he fell asleep! No wet kiss from him! Just a yellow wrench in the head! lol
Read the article "Runaway at Flat Creek" it underscores the devastation that ensues when the crew isn't experienced enough and how lucky they were to escape with their lives on this very same grade.
I have already read that and I agree it really makes you understand the “gravity” of the situation. I’ve spoken to several current and retired RR crew and have heard many close call stories. Fascinating and scary at the same time
I just can't believe the irony of telling us not to fast-forward at 0:46 and then literally the only thing that happens in the next 30 seconds is a slow pan of about half the frame height, and the 18 or so seconds after that are literally a still shot. The 30 seconds after that has some of the promised information but it includes the instruction to listen carefully for the dynamic brakes. The only sound I can hear is the music track...
well then keep watching, the train doesn't pass where I am filming till around 3.5min in, then all you hear is the train. Sheesh, you cant please everybody. no one else is complaining
@@TonyVRailfanning "well then keep watching" No. There was nothing to watch. I went elsewhere. I'm sure there's stuff to watch later in the video but I'm not going to sit around hoping for content.
Your welcome, The road was pretty muddy when we came down. and would likely be slippery in places during the winter. I wouldn't do it without a 4x4 in any season other than summer.
I'm not sure why you're using the old imperial system (changed over in 1978) and you're in Canada, and you're a Canadian, so it's a head scratcher. But enjoyed the video, none the less!
Not your choice, it takes me hours to produce these I don’t see you helping me with any of it. The majority of the people watching these have no issues.
