Notch 8 up, dynamic brakes down

Railway Age, Jan, 2004 by William C. Vantuono

If want to test a locomotive engineer's mettle, put him (or her) at the throttle of a heavy freight train on the most challenging territory you can find--say, perhaps, Canadian Pacific Railway's main line through the Rocky Mountains, where it crests the Continental Divide northwest of Calgary. Make sure there's plenty of snow and ice on the ground while you're at it. And oh yes: Operate the train at night.

After a mid-morning session with CPR President and CEO Rob Ritchie, our Railroader of the Year (cover story, p. 31), I had the opportunity to observe firsthand just what kind of railroaders are operating today's heavy-haul freight trains. They are indeed a rare breed, and this is mountain railroading at its best.

The 54.7-mile portion of the Laggan Subdivision between Banff; Alberta (MP 81.9) and the crew change point at Field, British Columbia (MP 136.6, where the Mountain Subdivision starts) on CPR's transcontinental main line runs through some of the most rugged, breathtakingly beautiful--and treacherous--railroad territory in the world. This is no place for inexperience (actually, no railroad territory is a place for novices, but this location is especially so). Nor is it a place for an inflated sense of confidence.

How do you safely get a 4,376-foot, 8,561-trailing-ton mixed freight train with two AC4400s on the head end down the mountains from 5,377 feet above sea level, through the 10-degree curves of the Spiral Tunnels, to 4,073 feet above sea level in one piece? Practice, practice, practice Mike Stuart, a 17-year veteran, is one of many CPR locomotive engineers who call the Laggan Subdivision home. He and conductor Tom Sydia, along with Road Manager-Calgary Alberta Service Area Dean Clark, gingerly brought westbound train 276/01 to a halt at Field late on the snowy, bitter-cold evening of Dec. 3, 2003, following a "routine" but nevertheless challenging glide at no more than 15 mph down some fairly steep grades.

The average gradient through CPR's 1.5-mile Spiral Tunnels, a railroad engineering marvel opened in 1909, is 1.64%. The change in elevation, portal to portal, is 56.2 feet and 50.3 fact for the Upper and Lower tunnels, respectively. Stuart performed the task with seemingly relative ease, though you could easily see in his expression the intense concentration required for setting the dynamic brakes, working the train and independent brakes, reading and calling out signals, and watching the AC4400's display screen for signs of trouble--all the multiple tasks an engineer must be able to perform flawlessly run after run.

The run up the mountains was simple compared to the trip down. It was mostly "Notch 8" all the way up, with the occasional alerter acknowledgement. Running at maximum permissible track speed? With 72 125-ton cars in tow, good luck. Actually, it worked to the crew's advantage: Aside from conducting a running brake test just before cresting the mountains, there was plenty of time to think about what was coming up on the downgrade. Cheerful banter on the upgrade turned to quiet concentration on the other side of the mountains.

At MP 129.8, between the two Spiral Tunnels, is a location named "Yoho." The word is a Crete Indian expression of awe that, loosely translated, means "how wonderful." It was probably so-named to describe the area's natural beauty. But for the CPR train and engine crews who operate on the Laggan Subdivision, it's an apt description of how they perform their jobs, day in and day out.