BRIDGE MILEAGE 21.2

No. 79, engine 4085 has "tipped over" the Coquihalla Summit at Mileage 18.0 and is crossing the bridge at Mileage 21.2.  The dynamic brakes are whining away as the engineman eases the train down the long 2.2% grade to Hope and the western terminus at Ruby Creek.  The engines' days are numbered though as the diesel to steam transition is nearing completion! 

Rene' Gourley made this fine shot many years ago.  A friend, Mike McL, detailed and painted the locomotives and did a very nice job.  The bridge was not built in a few evenings.

The trestle is 38" long and 13 1/2" tall and was built from field measurements of the prototype which in 1984, took my young son and I more than a few hours: "Dad, can we go now?"  "Just a few more measurements, Matthew..."  

Actually, we had to go back the next few summers for more info and photos, this time taking the girls.  They loved the adventure.  We camped in the wilderness nearby.  The kids had a contest to count the number of ties on the bridge.  Consensus was 375 ties. Here are the girls counting ties on their first trip to the Bridal Veil Falls Trestle.

While clambering up and down the slopes, I noticed a broken 3"x10" brace lying on the ground. Picking it up it occurred to me: "Wouldn't it be neat if I built the model out of this piece of the original."  And that is exactly what I did.  All the major timbers for the model were cut from this large hemlock plank.  The one exception was the thin stock for the 3"x10" bracing.  In all there are over 2000 individual pieces of wood and an equal number of NBW's.  I even put them on the inside where no one will ever see them - just for the sake of completion.

 

Here is another interesting photo by Rene' showing No. 12, engine 5120 crossing the centre truss.  The engine was a class P1e Mikado assigned Passenger Service on the Kettle Valley Division in the 1940's.  She regularly handled the Kettle Valley Express and the Kootenay Express between Penticton and Vancouver.  Since this photo was taken, she has had modifications to both running boards and a smaller tender added.
The truss is built from Central Valley girders and styrene.  The prototype bridge was 405 feet long and 120 feet above the stream bed.  The truss was a later addition to the original Trestle being inserted in 1936 or so.

The prototype Bridal Veil Falls trestle stood until 1997.  Anyone who passed it on their hike through the Coquihalla canyon would pause to admire it and the beautiful falls in the background.  Photos are legion.  Here's one with satellite links and comments: 
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/8867321

It was a photo like this in Barry Sanford's books that first ignited my interest in the KV.  Thank you Barry.

Coquihalla Man