Spiral Tunnel near Field, BC (June 2015)

Bird Eye View of the train running thru the spiral tunnel near Field, BC.
Yoho National Park.

When British Columbia joined Confederation in 1871, it was on the condition that Prime Minister John A. Macdonald would build a railway to link the province to the rest of the country.

The steep grade in Kicking Horse Pass posed a serious challenge. Under government pressure to complete the railway, and given the engineering challenges that came along with the geography, Canadian Pacific was not in a position to carve a gradual descent. A solution was reached, which temporarily allowed a grade of 4.5%. The first train to attempt the hill in 1884 derailed, tragically killing three workers.

The solution for a more gradual grade came from J.E.Schwitzer, one of the railway’s Assistant Chief Engineers. He modeled the Spiral Tunnels after a system used in Switzerland. In 1909 the Spiral Tunnels were completed. With a gentler grade, descents became safer and slower.

Although the Spiral Tunnels were a great improvement for the grade, rockfall, mudslides and avalanches are some of the challenges we still face today in this area where nature reigns supreme.

http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/bc/yoho/natcul/spirale-spiral.aspx

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