Scenes of CN's Yale Sub as seen from Train 1

All scenes were recorded on April 15, 2015

On the CN route a few miles south of Boston Bar, BC. Train 1 is entering one of several tunnels between Boston Bar and Vancouver. Running several hours late provided daylight views of locations that would normally have been passed in darkness. On the left side those wooden poles strung with wires are slide detectors. If rocks and/or other objects fall through the wires, signals will change to red to alert train crews to stop.

Another tunnel and more slide detectors. 

Slide detector and tunnel information from an older CN employee timetable reveals 15 tunnels on the Yale Sub, providing about 1.8 miles of travel through rock; though not much to see inside.

For those of you who have always wondered - the answer is yes! There really is light at the end of the tunnel... and Kie was there to record it.

The end of another tunnel but more of the same on the other side... rock, mountains and grey skies.

Too many tunnel views? Tunnel vision? Perhaps... but we do not see these too often in Ontario. Some tunnels are short enough to see through. Note that wire screen on the left. Also visible are the cuts in the portal and roof lining made to increase the clearance needed for safely moving double stacked containers on rail cars.

The Fraser River. Hidden behind trees, Canadian Pacific Railway is over there on the other side of the river. Falling rocks are not the only problem the two canyon railways have to contend with. In this location cascading water is diverted over the train rather than beneath the track.

Hey! No rain and clearing skies! What could be better than a dry arrival in Vancouver?

The mountains eventually give way and farmlands abound in the lower Fraser valley.

A pair of Seaspan barges being towed upstream by a tug on a placid looking Fraser River.

New replaces old... bridges that is... in this scene anyway. Not much remains of the old Highway 1 bridge (yellow) in Surrey. The new bridge is behind.

Given the okay to proceed, Train 1 begins an up-close tour through Thornton Yard.

A "train's-eye" view of a "ladder track" in Thornton Yard.

Train 1 crossing the Fraser River at New Westminster. On the other side of the bridge are BNSF tracks which the train will traverse into Vancouver and to the Via Rail station.

Streets choked with stopped traffic. The only thing moving here was Train 1 albeit slowly. To the right of the train is the SkyTrain's Millennium Line.

The Burnaby city skyline as seen from BNSF. Warren Buffett may own the BNSF but I doubt he has seen this view from his railway.

Following train arrival in Vancouver at the end of track. Train 1 was backed into the station. By the way... what time is the next train leaving?

The Oddblock Station Agent