Railfanning Vancouver, BC?

[NSSD70ACe]

Hey all,

So I am currently in Vancouver, BC (beautiful place!) and it appears that I will have some time to railfan before my departure on the Amtrak Cascades to SeaTac. I've read up on a few places but they're all too far and I am relying solely on public transit. Can anyone name any good spots to see CP/CN/BNSF action? Any help is appreciated.

Also, how long would CBP hold up the train and where would they stop it?

Any help is appreciated

Thanks!

[Ypsi]

The BNSF is in a mostly safer area when you're towards down town.. I would steer clear of the CP as you can't get very close and the area isn't as nice near the intermodal facility. Rail fanning in Vancouver proper is kind of hard as not much goes on towards down town.

[ConrailMan5]

You can use the metro elevated to get within walking distance of the bridge into Vancouver. All the BNSF cross there (and CN I believe) plus the one shortline. We stayed at the hotel Waldorf (not a good part of town) which is near the CP. the issue is that you can't get close until way out of town. And the homeless population is pretty sketchy. As ypsi said, BNSF is pretty safe. There is also a place called central hobbies. It's a model train shop that is Accessible by transit. Those guys are super nice and can tell you the best spots to fan.

[RailsandTrucks]

2nd vote for Central hobbies if you can make it over there. Very nice staff and it's the type of place that there seems to be fewer and fewer of- very much a throwback hobby store that reminds me of the places my Dad and I would go in as a kid. Pretty sure there's bus access too it. Awesome hobby shop-really wish there was many more like this. More Brass locomotives then I've ever seen in one place.

As for railfanning, I was just there a couple weeks ago ( july 19th-22nd- long story), depending on where you are staying, you may want to try taking West Coast Express on a weekday and sitting somewhere on the CP line that they run on. They use the CP main all the way past Port Cocquitlam (CP's main yard in the Vancouver area). Double check their schedules though as they are a bit limited, but the service is supplemented by Bus. That's probably the easiest spot via public transit that I can think of for railfanning that I saw. The light rail may take you to some other places, but BN's yard is near New Westminister along the river and I didn't see much in the way of Light rail going out there, or places to sit for that matter that would be conclusive to someone without a car/motorcycle. I'm sure there are a few, I just didn't see any with the limited time I had. The Light Rail does cross the BN line on a rather large modern cable stayed bridge though, so there's probably a station nearby, but you may have to walk a bit to get to BNSF itself- I saw a CN locomotive down there on one of the days I drove by, but again, not sure what the frequency is like. You may be able to see if Zipcar or one of the hourly ride-share services has anything available, that might be a way to go a bit cheaper but still get wheels to go to some of those spots. Southern Railway of Vancouver (formerly BC Hydro) has their yard at Marine way and highway 91A. I didn't have enough time to figure out their operations but they are affiliated with Montana Rail-Link (Same owners) and share a paint scheme. If you make it to their yard you may/should be able to get pictures of them switching- the tracks are pretty close to the road on the yard lead to the west, and there's a couple of grade crossings that are kind of hidden industrial side-streets on the east end of their yard.

As far as taking the cascades to Sea Tac- I took a similar route (I went to King Street and then connected with the Coast Starlight the following morning) - Get to Pacific Central station in Vancouver with time to spare- about an hour to 90 minutes prior to departure. You'll likely fill out a small declaration form, and US Customs will be on site doing pre-screening, like an airport but more professional and less stressful. After departure but prior to the US border, US customs will board the train and inspect, but the train crew will make the announcements as needed and if you're not doing anything wrong you won't have anything to worry about- still a much better than flying. Enjoy the view along Puget sound- the tracks hug sound quite a bit, and it makes for a pretty scenic trip, I got to see the sun set as I took the afternoon departure when I left Vancouver. The Talgo equipment is pretty nice too in terms of the inside of the cars, and I believe there's onboard wifi on the train. Cascades will take you right through the BNSF vancouver yard and probably gives you the best view of it too.

Enjoy Vancouver, it's a great town, though a tad expensive.

[NSSD70ACe]

Thanks for the help guys!

I just returned from Central Hobbies an hour or so ago armed with two books for starter model railroads. Saw an inbound Cascades with one of the Dash 8's on point. Didn't have a clue that I was right next I the tracks, might have to return depending on how long I have.

As for other action, so far I've seen the Budd cars for VIA Rail as well as the consist for the Rocky Mountaineer and the Cascades again, all from SkyTrain. Looks like there was a pretty full yard around all of it but couldn't identify who it belonged to. Not very busy so far as I've seen.

[ConrailMan5]

Thanks for the help guys!

I just returned from Central Hobbies an hour or so ago armed with two books for starter model railroads. Saw an inbound Cascades with one of the Dash 8's on point. Didn't have a clue that I was right next I the tracks, might have to return depending on how long I have.

As for other action, so far I've seen the Budd cars for VIA Rail as well as the consist for the Rocky Mountaineer and the Cascades again, all from SkyTrain. Looks like there was a pretty full yard around all of it but couldn't identify who it belonged to. Not very busy so far as I've seen.

Tracks by central hobies are joint BNSF-CN. Very nice guys, huge book and model selection. A bit messy for my tastes but with the internet beggars can't be choosers. Vancouver (Pacific central station) is the heavy maintainence base for the Via, Rocky Mountaineer, and light maintainence for cascades. From the skytrain (I had forgotten what it was called, it was free to ride when we were there) you can see a BNSF yard more toward the states. The CP yard is along the riverfront IIRC. You can theoretically see the commuter trains (Northwest express?) from the CP station which is near the shopping district. Unforutunately you cant ride it out to a better location and get back into the city as well. oterwise that would be where to see the CP's. Again, as I am sure you have seen Vancouver has a fantastic public transit system. So getting around to see trains just requires a railmap and a transit map.

AS far as your cascades trip is concerned, the border patrol sweeps the train in Richmond I believe. It took about 10-15 minutes if not less. Enjoy the scenic sub, it lives up to its name.

[NSSD70ACe]

Well, decided to explore the city with my dad and sister and we stumbled upon the CP yard that's right next to the river front. There were also 4 West Coast Express consists at the station as well as a CP yard job working the intermodal yard using a CP SD40-2 and what appeared to be a ECO rebuild (#5017).

Thanks for the help!