Swan Landing An eastbound Potash train skirts the shores of Brule' Lake as it makes it way towards Edmonton. Jasper National Park forms a backdrop. Swan Landing is an important intercha... (more)

Canadian Pacific's Kicking Horse Pass There were several passes considered for Canadian Pacific's railroad across the Rockies. At least 2 passes to the north and the Corwsnest to the s... (more)

Southern Style way up North! A heavy sand train descends heavy grade towards Winniandy. The mountainous line has grades exceeding 1.25% and this requires lots of horsepower. This sand trai... (more)

Kicking Horse Canyon From high above the new highway and the old, an eastbound stack train roars up the 2.2% grade out of Glenogle, BC. The original road closely followed the original ali... (more)

Entering the Canyon A CP stack train starts into the depths of Kicking Horse Canyon. The grade will soon increase from 1% up to 2.3%, on the climb towards the crew change point of Field, ... (more)

Pulling Kicking Horse Pass CP8021 leans into the last portion of the 2% on the pull for Kicking Horse Pass. The manifest train(mostly empty tanks) has just passed the flat spot at Wapta L... (more)

Montana Subdivision CP5049 rebuilt SD40-2 pulls one of the many grades towards Milk River. The local originates in Lethbridge and brings interchange cars for the United States border.

Mason Creek Viaduct A southbound coal load crosses Mason Creek Viaduct on the Grande Cache Subdivision. The train is climbing the long 1%+ grade from Winniandy, Alberta (Grande Cache). The... (more)

Kicking Horse Pass In November of 1994 my friend Dave Gayer had a feature article in Pacific Rail News about Kicking Horse Pass. On page 29 is a photo of a CP SD40-2 poking its nose ou... (more)

Black Canyon A eastbound train of empty hoppers for the potash mines of Alberta and Saskatoon rolls into the Black Canyon along the Thompson River. This spectacular portion of railroad is... (more)

Push! A eastbound train of black Wyoming low sulphur coal is shoved up the 1.55% grade of Crawford Hill. One of the few places that is still untouched by urban sprawl, perhaps one of the ... (more)

2.3% East Slope Grade A westbound trainload of of Mid-West grain for the Central Valley charges out of Warren, California. From the mountain above Cache Creek I have watched this train for ... (more)

Bozeman Local The Bozeman Local slugs it out up the 1.8% grade on the east slope of Bozeman Pass. The Absaroka Mountain Range overshadows the train, and the ever growing "suburbs"... (more)

Thompson Canyon Tonnage A heavy eastbound CPKC manifest thunders upgrade along the Thompson River Canyon. The heavy eastbound manifest is set up 3x1 DPU x 1DPU for its assault on the Cana... (more)

South Draw A westbound BNSF manifest climbs the grade at Tunnel 16 on the steep 2%+ climb at South Draw. The train is crossing a small creek that flows under ROW at the bottom of the larg... (more)