I just got home from my annual (almost annual) fishing trip to Fernie, BC. The Elk River valley is famous for both its huge open pit coal mines (the source of all of CP’s coal unit trains) and a world class trout fishery. Unfortunately, the mines also pollute the river, so damage is being done to river system and this has become an international issue with the US. Fernie started out as a coal town, but is now a resort town and a great headquarters for a week of intensive fly fishing. All of CP’s coal trains, both loads and empties, roll through Fernie, as well as CP/UP run through trains heading through the Crow’s Nest Pass. I’ve learned not to book a room too close to the tracks, especially if you like fresh mountain air in your bedroom at night.
I noted several KCS locos, including a KCS/Mexico unit, on trains in the Sparwood area (Sparwood is about 20 miles east of Fernie and is the center of the mining activity in the Elk Valley). I was surprised how fast these units had strayed from their home rails in such a short time.
I also noted an articulated gondola car stencilled “Slot Machine”, with an unknown (visibility hampered) number gondola bodies with a single truck under an articulated connection between the the cars, forming a continuous long gondola body. It was parked in an area that CP uses for MOW service, so I assume it is used for MOW work. I’ve never heard of such a car, or seen one before this week.
My favourite fishing spots are on Michel Creek (pronounced ‘Michelle’). Michel Creek is a tributary of the Elk River and joins the Elk in Sparwood, and runs directly east (upstream direction) from Sparwood for a few miles before turning south towards the now closed Coal Mountain mine. Both highway 3 and CP follow Michel Creek east out of Sparwood towards the Crow’s Nest, but continue east where the Michel turns south. However, CP takes a big loop a couple miles south down the Michel valley before doing a TIGHT 180 curve to head north before finally turning east again to gain a few hundred feet on the run up to the Crow’s Nest Pass. The feature is known as the McGillivary Loop, but it’s not really a loop, but a long “U” shaped bend. The spur to Coal Mountain leaves the main at the top of the “loop”, and main crosses the Michel 4 times on the lower half of the loop.
Anyway, on our way back to Fernie after a good day on the Michel (with a planned stop of Fernie Brewing) at the point where highway 3 goes over the CP tracks I noted a single CP ‘AC whatever’ heading up the loop with a loaded string of what appeared to be spanking new, sparkling clean BNSF coal gons. The train was really struggling, only moving at a couple MPH with either dust or smoke billowing out from under the loco’s front truck. At this moment I couldn’t see the rest of the train so no DPU units were visible due to a bank of trees. A couple of seconds later I passed the rear of the train (no DPU) but it was clear this was a much shorter than typical coal train. What did I see? Was this a stalled train frying its traction motors, and why was a short(er) string of new or super clean BNSF loaded coal gons heading east from Sparwood?
A fishing story from a few years ago: My son Kyle, late teen at the time, and I were fishing in the lower Michel at the bottom of “the loop” (we usually prefer to fish above the top end of the loop) on the inside of a bend in the river with the tracks on the opposite bank. I had hooked up a nice Cutthroat (and the Michel had amazingly big fish for a “creek”, and lots of them) when a westbound came down the hill - the conductor saw the action and leaned way out of the window and used both hands to signal “how big”. I signalled back as best I could while maintaining control of the rod and line “pretty damn big” and the engineer gave me a long blast on the horn. When beloved pastimes collide…
My wife Kerry deserves huge thanks for this trip. Kyle and I have managed an annual trip for many years, but in recent years he’s been juggling a PhD and a young family with No. 2 due very soon (not to mention Covid), so the last years have been a bit spotty. (I know - kids today have no dedication to their craft, right?) (I remember Kyle sitting on a rock stream side doing a job interview by cell on one occasion some years ago - we had to fish on the Elk in Fernie for cell reception that day.) Kerry stepped up to be my fishing companion this year and we decided that rather than have her follow me as I did my thing that we’d get her a license and she would use Kyle’s gear (we did splurge for a pair of boots that fit) and give fly fishing a first go. Turns out she loved it and we had 5 long, hot, days wading up and down the Michel. She learned the basics and she caught her first ever fish. The Michel is a beautiful place, deep in the southern BC Rockies, with clear water and a cobble bottom, very friendly for “walking and wading”. We both took our tumbles into the creek (one each), with no damage and lots of laughter.
Geoff
