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Profile Page for Ken Perry

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About Ken Perry

Worked 41.5 years in CP mechanical department at Victoria and Port Coquitlam, now retired. First job was on Victoria Miniature Railway (10 1/4” gauge”) at Mattick’s Farm in Cordova Bay, with steam and battery power.

Ken Perry's Railpictures.ca photo upload statistics

Number of images: 199
Total gold: 3635
Number of comments recieved : 331
Number of comments posted : 45
Total views: 187878

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Ken Perry's 199 photos on Railpictures.ca:

In the 50+ years since this scene, so much has changed. The British Columbia Harbours Board Railway was only a few years since built (first CP coal train 1970-04-30), with only a single track along the causeway to the Westshore Terminals dumper loop at Roberts Bank, and MLW M-630 units like 4554 and 4570 (and unseen remotes) still reigned on the unit coal trains (an astonishing 88 cars long) from southeastern BC. Now there is a significant yard on the left side of the photo, and a large intermodal terminal on the right behind the photographer, and the MLWs are long history.<p>Forty years (almost to the day!) later, this was where the last workday of my CP career occurred, as a roll-by inspection of a departing much longer coal empties with GE power.

Name:	Ken Perry
Railway:	British Columbia H…
Date:	1973-08-12
Location:	Roberts Bank, Delt…
Province:	British Columbia

3 Comments | 17 Favourites

Nine miles south of Grande Prairie on CN’s Alberta Resources Railway, a saw and pulp mill of Proctor & Gamble Cellulose (now Weyerhaeuser) operated an ALCo RS-1 to switch their operations. Here, on Wednesday 1977-09-21, PGC 1 (still carrying 22 in its numberboards as ex Lake Erie, Franklin & Clarion 22, nee Minneapolis & St. Louis 234, built 1951-10 as ALCo 79347, those details obtained from http://www.trainweb.org/oldtimetrains/industrial/ab/gallery2.htm) enjoys a moment in the sun before its next chore.

<P>This unit has been preserved, painted as Great Northern 182, at the Railway Museum of British Columbia in Squamish.

Name:	Ken Perry
Railway:	Industrial
Date:	1977-09-21
Location:	Shaver
Province:	Alberta

Comments | 17 Favourites

West of Swift Current by 67 miles on the Maple Creek subdivision, and with 80 miles to go to reach the next crew change point at Medicine Hat in Alberta, a combination of one SD40-2 (5677) and one GP9 (8657) has a westward train rolling by the lone grain elevator at Piapot (named after Cree chief Payipwat) in Saskatchewan on Thursday 1976-10-14.

<p>If that date rings a bell, perhaps it is because it was the day a Canada-wide day of protest or general strike occurred due to a federal wage control program.

<p>If the Piapot grain elevator is recognized, possibly that is related to a news photo of it being moved by road in January 1979 (to where I do not know, possibly a museum). Check https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Changes-in-the-collection-and-cleaning-of-grain-led-to-the-near-elimination-of-grain_fig5_338035679 for one version.

Name:	Ken Perry
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	1976-10-14
Location:	Piapot
Province:	Saskatchewan

Comments | 15 Favourites

From Alyth yard in Calgary, CP ran a Princess Turn eastward 75.7 miles on the Brooks sub. mainline to Bassano then eastward 41.7 miles on the Bassano sub. to an oil loadout at Princess. On Wednesday 1974-10-02, that job was running as timetable train No. 96 with a pair of GP35s, 5004 and 5014, as it passed milepost 125 near the grain elevators at Gleichen, with 27.2 miles to reach the junction at Bassano.

<p>In my ignorance, assuming a turbocharged GM was an SD40, those similar-sounding GP35s were entered into my notebook as 5504 and 5514, with that error not corrected until I got my slides back from that trip! If only I had known those units would be my exasperating work when they were assigned to CP’s (Port) Coquitlam locomotive facility ten years hence.

Name:	Ken Perry
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	1974-10-02
Location:	Gleichen
Province:	Alberta

1 Comments | 15 Favourites

On CN’s westernmost subdivision, the Skeena between Terrace and Prince Rupert, the halfway point of Kwinitsa (mileage 48.2 from Terrace and 46.4 to Prince Rupert) was a vital communications point before CTC. On weekdays, a regular Terrace Turn, running as No. 892 eastward from Prince Rupert, was operated to handle logs from Terrace to a pulp mill at Watson Island, and this photo shows the empties eastward behind CN 5589 + 5593 on Tuesday 1981-10-06 at 1159 PDT, with the depot operator providing a roll-by, and his dog ensuring a clear passage (and just missing my camera tripod as it zoomed past).<p>That Grand Trunk Pacific origin depot has been saved, now relocated to the waterfront in Prince Rupert as the Kwinitsa Railway Station Museum.

Name:	Ken Perry
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	1981-10-06
Location:	Kwinitsa
Province:	British Columbia

3 Comments | 27 Favourites

While 110 SD40-2 units were available on CP in 1974, it was not unusual to see a high-priority train like number 965 powered by a pair of plain SD40s out of the fleet total of 65 units. Here, on Tuesday 1974-10-01 on my first Saskatchewan road trip, 5509 + 5503 are eight years old as they scoot by the elevators at Tompkins, 50 miles west of the previous crew change point at Swift Current.

<p>Regard that glorious Saskatchewan sky. Combine that with the friendly people there, and it is no wonder this west coast kid gained a strong appreciation for prairie railroading. CP management folks were rather surprised when I happily accepted a temporary winter assignment to work there (based out of Moose Jaw) twenty years later. Little did they know!

Name:	Ken Perry
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	1974-10-01
Location:	Tompkins
Province:	Saskatchewan

3 Comments | 24 Favourites

Westward from Smithers, CN’s northern mainline to Prince Rupert follows first the Bulkley River to Hazelton then the Skeena River most of the way to the Pacific Ocean, crossing that river once, just west of the aptly named flagstop of Skeena Crossing. Here is train number 9, VIA’s Skeena (nicknamed the Rupert Rocket), on that steel deck truss bridge at mileage 62.3, with CN 9158 leading the VIA consist (with a CN business car carrying the markers) on Thursday 1979-10-04, as seen from the north riverbank.

Name:	Ken Perry
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	1979-10-04
Location:	Skeena Crossing
Province:	British Columbia

2 Comments | 15 Favourites

South of Seton and Anderson Lakes on the run from Lillooet, the British Columbia Railway also ran along the west side of Gates Lake near Birken, illustrated here by BCOL 718 + 701 on Thursday 1990-04-05, with Mounts Nequatque and Marriott supervising.

Name:	Ken Perry
Railway:	BC Rail
Date:	1990-04-05
Location:	Birken
Province:	British Columbia

3 Comments | 15 Favourites

CP’s Montana subdivision runs generally southwest from the Lethbridge area to a BNSF interchange at Coutts/Sweetgrass, with two junctions at Stirling. The nearer switchstand is for the Stirling sub. seen exiting to the left, and the farther one is for the Cardston sub. visible exiting to the right, as a Coutts Turn with 5810 + 5801 + 5759 + 5813 passes the old water tower foundation heading for Lethbridge on Friday 1989-05-26 at 1522 MDT.

Nowadays, the Stirling sub. is only a spur, reaching 49 miles eastward to Foremost, and the Cardston sub. is disconnected right at Stirling per https://maps.app.goo.gl/j52QTLsaV2Hv8oUu5?g_st=im.

Name:	Ken Perry
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	1989-05-26
Location:	Stirling
Province:	Alberta

Comments | 7 Favourites

Between Ashcroft and Walhachin, and just a short distance west of the west siding switch at Semlin on Thursday 1987-05-21, an eastward train with CP 5855 + 5951 + robot car 1026 + two more SD40-2s is stretched out along the Thompson River as it passes long-standing glacial remnants at mileage 39.7.

<p>Semlin was named after area businessman Charles Semlin, and a good history of him is available at <https://apps.gov.bc.ca/pub/bcgnws/names/18848.html>.

Name:	Ken Perry
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	1987-05-21
Location:	Semlin
Province:	British Columbia

3 Comments | 12 Favourites

Access to Semlin between Walhachin and Ashcroft was by a rough Barnes Lake Road, but well worthwhile for the views possible. Here, westbound coal loads symbol 803 with 5809 + 5800 on the headend plus mid-train remotes is lifting from the siding and passing milepost 39 after meeting an eastbound on Sunday 1980-06-08.

Name:	Ken Perry
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	1980-06-08
Location:	Semlin
Province:	British Columbia

1 Comments | 15 Favourites

To serve customers west of Kamloops through to Ashcroft, CP ran a daily wayfreight to Ashcroft, typically with a single unit, and with no wye at Ashcroft, that meant running in reverse one way. In later years, twin sealed-beam headlights and ditchlights and a snowplow were fitted to the rear on a few assigned units, but on Thursday 1987-05-21, just a single headlight led the way on SD40-2 5599, seen here at the west switch of Semlin, with CN’s rock pit at McAbee across the Thompson River visible on the upper left.

Name:	Ken Perry
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	1987-05-21
Location:	Semlin
Province:	British Columbia

Comments | 12 Favourites

Westward from Kamloops Lake, CP and CN follow the Thompson River into a canyon, through Walhachin and onward to difficult-to-access Semlin (CP on the south side) and McAbee (CN on the north side). Here is a late evening time exposure eastward view at the east end of CP Semlin on Sunday 1980-06-08, with headlight and ditchlight streaks of CP 5676 + 5651 westbound in the foreground, a CN westbound across the river, and the Trans Canada Highway distant above. The total peaceful environment there made it a happy campsite for me.

Name:	Ken Perry
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	1980-06-08
Location:	Semlin
Province:	British Columbia

2 Comments | 10 Favourites

Directly below the Saddle Rock Tunnel on the Trans Canada Highway in the Fraser Canyon, a CP grain train with three UP Dash8-41CW units on loan for evaluating possible General Electric locomotive purchases (which eventually occurred in 1995) is experiencing winter snow as they leave Saddle Rock at 1503 PST on 1991-03-03 headed for Yale and onward to the CP yard in Port Coquitlam.

<p>A slightly later view posted a while back is at <http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=45854>.

Name:	Ken Perry
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	1991-03-03
Location:	Saddle Rock
Province:	British Columbia

2 Comments | 12 Favourites

On this day, August 13th, in 1886, Canadian prime minister John A. Macdonald drove the last spike of the Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway at Cliffside, then around milepost 48 from Nanaimo. Mileposts were reversed to run northward from Victoria after CP took over 1905-06-08, with Cliffside becoming milepost 25. In 1958, a stone cairn was constructed to commemorate the 1886-08-13 last spike ceremony.

<p>Ninety-two years after the last spike, on 1978-08-13 during a period of of optimism that CP could be persuaded to continue running E&N passenger service, a re-performance of the last spike ceremony was held with a surprisingly large number of general public attendees, and the northward passenger train (running Passenger Extra since it was a Sunday and the operating timetable had not been updated to reflect the 1978-07-28 introduction of Sunday service) paused briefly for the ceremony at a time (0911 PDT) astonishingly close to the the reported “shortly after 9:00 a.m.” of the original occasion, although the original was on Standard Time.

<p>Southward the same day, there was no crowd, allowing a composition including the cairn and the fresh CLIFFSIDE station name sign on the flagstop platform as CP 9067 + 9103 running as Passenger Extra South passed at 1621 PDT.

Name:	Ken Perry
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	1978-08-13
Location:	Cliffside
Province:	British Columbia

1 Comments | 10 Favourites

For CP to reach Prince Albert from its northern mainline across Saskatchewan at Lanigan, it took 25.5 miles on CP rails to reach CN’s northern mainline near Humboldt, 1.3 miles on CN from Hulan to Orlebar, 67.6 more on CP to reach CN’s Tisdale sub. at Northway, and then a final seventeen more CN miles to get to Prince Albert. On the Tisdale sub., CP had a daily-except-Sunday timetable schedule of No. 85 west and No. 86 east, and this is No. 85 with RS-23s 8020 + 8013 + 8026 + 8025 “rocketing” (so called for their distinct turbo exhaust) past the elevator at CN Davis at 1223 CDT on Friday 1981-09-25, with just over seven CN miles to go.

Name:	Ken Perry
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	1981-09-25
Location:	Davis
Province:	Saskatchewan

2 Comments | 16 Favourites

On Wednesday 1980-09-24 at 1554 MDT, a CN northward Athabasca Turn with a trio of GMD-1s 1009 + 1007 + 1008 is crossing the Tawatinaw River bridge at mileage 92.8 of the Athabasca sub. and about to cross highway 55 and enter downtown Athabasca on the south bank of the river of the same name. This was the northernmost reach of the Canadian Northern Railway system.

<p>Since 1947, Athabasca sub. trains from Edmonton ran on 20.2 miles of Northern Alberta Railways to reach a junction at Morinville, in preference to the now abandoned original CNoR route northward from Trelle Jct. near St. Albert for 12.1 miles to a diamond crossing of NAR at Morinville. CNoR reached Morinville first, in October 1906, and NAR predecessor Edmonton, Dunvegan & British Columbia arrived in December 1912, so the diamond and interlocking were ED&BC then NAR responsibility.

Name:	Ken Perry
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	1980-09-21
Location:	Athabasca
Province:	Alberta

2 Comments | 19 Favourites

Westward from a bridge over the North Saskatchewan River at Prince Albert, CN’s Blaine Lake subdivision ran along the north side of that river and crossed the tributary Shell River at mileage 5.7. On Thursday 1981-09-24 at 1601 CDT (CN time applied to CP trains on CN track, so CP crews in Saskatchewan had watches with two hour hands), CP’s running rights on that line and bridge were utilized by a westward train powered by RS-23s 8018 + 8016 + 8015 heading for a CN junction just west of Shellbrook at mileage 28.7, then another 31.5 CN miles to reach CP rails at Tobey (just beyond Debden) and onward to Meadow Lake.

<p>See https://masterandcrown.com/products/elgin-1912-veritas-dual-time-railroad-watch for an illustration of a railway watch with two hour hands.

Name:	Ken Perry
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	1981-09-24
Location:	Prince Albert
Province:	Saskatchewan

Comments | 13 Favourites

Viewed from the Markham Road overpass above SNS Toronto Yard, CP 5864 + 4246 + 5590 are bringing a westward container train into the yard in Agincourt at 1908 EDT on an extremely warm Wednesday 1994-07-13.

Name:	Ken Perry
Railway:	Canadian Pacific
Date:	1994-07-13
Location:	Toronto Yard
Province:	Ontario

2 Comments | 20 Favourites

On Vancouver Island, Thursday 1976-04-01 was frosty, and G12 CN 991 was left idling overnight at Deerholme to prevent freeze-up, leading to an excessive accumulation of exhaust system deposits. Well aware of the unpleasant smoke likely to affect the tailend crew, the engineer worked the engine against full-set engine brakes to “clear its throat” on a short run eastward before tying onto the distant pole loads and caboose for a run down to the barge slip at Cowichan Bay.

Name:	Ken Perry
Railway:	Canadian National
Date:	1976-04-01
Location:	Deerholme
Province:	British Columbia

4 Comments | 23 Favourites

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