28 March 2007
Washouts No Match for CP
Significant damage to CPR's right-of-way as track was
left dangling over a washout path - Date unknown Photographer unknown.
Canadian Pacific's mainline on the Thompson subdivision near
Lytton, British Columbia, was impacted by the heavy rain storms that pounded the province on the weekend of
10 Mar 2007 causing mudslides and washouts. The slides also washed out and closed sections of the
Trans-Canada Highway.
Employees from CPR's Vancouver Service Area worked to fill holes, recover equipment, and restore track in three
areas between mile 85.2 and the 86.8 milepost. This was no small task to accomplish in less than a week.
Each of the three work sites, referred to as East, Central, and West, presented unique challenges.
The East site washout required a section of the siding to be filled and ballasted. Teams completed this earlier in
the week allowing for cars that were staged farther along the siding to be safely removed.
Stranded cars first had to be removed before fill operations could
commence - Date unknown Photographer unknown.
At the Central site there were numerous washouts that cut through both the main track and siding. A well, a good
section of shoulder on the north side was eroded. The operations team first had to pull the cars in the siding clear
before fill operations could begin, followed by ballasting, and tamping. This work was completed early on the
morning of 15 Mar 2007 which restored a single track route from the east end of Thompson to the west
washout location, allowing for work trains to move into the West site, clearly the hardest hit area.
Line clear for the Thompson subdivision was clocked at 21:05 PDT on Friday, 16 Mar 2007. By all
accounts, this recovery was certainly speedy and considered a great success by hardworking CPR employees.
Looking west along the Trans-Canada Highway the CPR
mainline is high on the left. Where the culvert sticks out of the fill the roadbed had washed out leaving the track
and a couple of box cars suspended in mid-air. You can see how much debris washed down into the river.
Along the wall you can practically step off the wall onto the pile. Where the photo was taken it's a good 30 foot
drop to the rocks below - 28 Mar 2007 Ken Storey.
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