Great shot of a very interesting artifact. Thanks for the story!
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That is an amazing find. It looks to be in pretty good shape. If that was here in Texas it would have a million bullet holes in it by now.
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| Posted by Sport! on October 20, 2011 | |
Bizarre & Wild! Keep those True Relic shoots comin' folks!
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Other interesting, pertinent stuff: This locomotive is on the Walk in the Past trail from Kicking Horse Campground, if anyone wants to find it - watch for bears. The trail goes up to the old 4.5% 'Big Hill' grade that was circumnavigated by the spiral tunnels, and you can walk a fair distance along it. It's still in good shape because up until the trans-Canada highway was built in the 60s, the Lake Louise-Golden road followed the railway grade from Wapta Lake down to just east of this tunnel: http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=353220
The Alberta Coal and Railway co. was originally leased by CP, but in 1896 or '97 was bought outright and upgraded to standard gauge to become the first part of the Crowsnest line, CP's southern second mainline.
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Thanks Matthew for the extra information. This was my second visit to the locomotive (just parked off the Trans Canada and joined the trail maybe 200 yards below the site), but I did follow the trail Matthew mentions when I first visited this spot in 2001. Along the old roadbed, there were still places where 100+ year old cinder beds were still intact (albeit usually under moss or other vegetation). Very nostalgic (if you can call something decades before your time nostalgic) to think of the battle for the hill in the late 1800s.
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That's awesome. The Brits would say that you have more than enough original material to do a thorough rebuild :)
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