Canadian Pacific Set-off Siding
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VOLUME 5
August-September 1966
No. 5
Mountains and Mariners
Story and photos by Nicholas Morant
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This Spanner cover photo shows the operation of Canadian Pacific's land-locked "silent service".

On the Atlantic and the Pacific, and on the Great Lakes, you will find seamen working for Canadian Pacific. Curious as it may at first seem, you will also find them deep in the valleys created by the Rockies, the Selkirk, Monashee, and Coast ranges. They are the men of the British Columbia Lake and River Service.

The tug and barge operation maintained by Canadian Pacific on Okanagan, Slocan, and Kootenay Lakes provides a freight car ferry connection with areas not served by rail lines, and is a direct link between the CPR main line and Crowsnest lines to the south.

On Slocan Lake an entire wayfreight, cars, caboose, engine, and crew takes a twice-weekly "cruise" from Slocan City to Rosebery, B.C., providing further service on the Rosebery Nakusp branch line.

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A complete wayfreight "goes to sea" past logs for Pacific Logging's new Slocan sawmill.

The Okanagan Lake service is provided by the Company-owned tugs MV "Okanagan" and SS "Naramata", the latter supplementing the service during the peak August-October fruit movement.

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The Melinda Jane eases a barge-load of hoppers alongside at Cominco's Bluebell Mine at Riondel on Kootenay Lake.

On the other two lakes privately-owned tugs, the "Iris G." on Slocan Lake and the "Melinda Jane" on Kootenay, operate under contract hauling Canadian Pacific barges. It is on Kootenay Lake that the Company is hauling carloads of cement and bentonite for the Duncan dam, part of the Columbia River power project.

This page of photographs by Nicholas Morant depict the tug and barge service. Δ

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Late afternoon sun ;turns water silver as the "Okanagan" heads for Kelowna.
This Canadian Pacific Spanner article is copyright 1966 by the Canadian Pacific Railway and is reprinted here with their permission. All logos, and trademarks are the property of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company.
OKthePK Note:  Only four of the articles 13 photos appear here.
 
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