Alberta Train Bridges – Your Railway Pictures

Canadian Train Bridges and Trestles
Alberta

View my Alberta section of this page for the
most up to date pictures of The CPR’s Bonnybrook Bridge
collapse, southeast of downtown Calgary Alberta.
There are some extremely detailed Close up of the damage.
This pictures were provided by Massey F. Jones

I decided to write this page on railway bridges after a visitor Arthur Grieve, Winnipeg, Manitoba offered to give me a number of railway bridge pictures that he had collected.
I again hope that my visitors will be sending me their pictures to be
included on this page. johnmacdonald@summerville-novascotia.com


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The Lethbridge Viaduct

The Lethbridge high level bridge with a train that had two engines in the front then cars the full length of the bridge, a robot and another set of cars the full length of the bridge, another robot, another set of cars the full length of the bridge again and a robot at the tail end pushing. Based on the length of the bridge which is believed to be very close to a mile, this train was somewhere around 15,000 feet long or 3 miles!

June 27th 2013, a portion of the 1912 CPR Bonnybrook Bridge southeast of downtown
Calgary collapsed with 6 tank cars on it

	Encased in a Plexiglas case at the Galt Museum in Lethbridge, Alberta is a replica of the travelling crane, used to build the CPR High Level Bridge, also called the Lethbridge Viaduct, created in 1994 by Engineer Robert J.D Gardner, to a scale of 1:87 (HO Gauge) and donated to the Sir Alexander Galt Museum as an artifact. The orange beam in the background is part of 3 pillars depicting the viaduct on a larger scale and it dominates dominates that portion of the exhibition floor. Some of the explanations in the following captions are copied from the two panels to the left and others researched. The viaduct features 33 towers in total, employed 100 workers and cost $1.33 million; which today would amount to billions. Close-ups of this fine model are seen in adjacent pictures, all taken on April 11th, 2014.
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones
	Inching forward, the travelling crane lifted and moved steel rails and girders either from the valley floor or from a flat car under its belly, after it encountered the river. There was in total 18 kilometers of cable to do the lifting. In this view, the front portion has yet to be fitted with rails before the erector moved forward.. The chief engineer was John Edward Schweitzer (April 1870 ï¿½ January 1911), who worked for the CPR, while the bridge was built by the Canadian Bridge Company of Walkerville, Ontario. Another project for which Mr. Schweitzer is widely known for, is the construction of the famous CPR Spirals Tunnels west of Lake Louise, covered extensively at http://yourrailwaypictures.com/Tunnels/
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones
	A closer look at the exhibit reveals a riveter or a painter on the platform and more platforms below. Missing on this model; is a smaller traveller which followed the crane as it moved forward and whose sole purpose it was to feed compressed air to the riveting crew below. It is visible in a period picture, somewhere else on this page. Over 12,000 tonnes of steel and 13,000 cubic metres of concrete became necessary to assemble the steel bridge, also called a viaduct, in 1909. At 1.6 km long and 100 metres high, it is the longest structure of its kind in the world.
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones
	In this view, a girder section at the front, is about to be join the rest of the bridge. The steam boiler and other controls were all housed the travelling crane, which was constructed on-site. The structure likely also contained the engineering office at the front, where blueprints were consulted and calculations made and the rear contained the machinery. The two hoses on back lead to a smaller unit, which, along with the larger unit moved forward, feeding compressed air to the riveting crew on platforms below. The exhaust stack for the steam-powered crane can be seen about the upper middle of the picture. View the period picture on the page, for the set-up
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones
	Notice the fine detail that went into this model. A plaque in front of the model indicates that the scale is 1:87 (HO Scale), where 1 scale ft. on the model represents 87 ft. in real time. These are probably the painters. The bridge was painted black.
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones
	A 1909 photo of the travelling crane and smaller riveter; which followed the crane as it moves along the bridge, providing compressed air. The viaduct has a slight ascent westward of 0.4% and has no tangents (curves). Additional precautions were taken because of severe winds usually experienced in the area, it was decided to build the sides in such a way that a train wouldn’t be running off the bridge deck. The bridge is erected on concrete pedestals.
Source: Sir Alexander Galt Museum and Archives P19738126000 on wall near the model display – MF Jones copy.
	Looking towards city center from almost the very end of the viaduct in West Lethbridge, we get a good idea of some of the construction of one of the towers, which after the road, drop sharply into the Oldman river, before rising on the other side. The road under the bridge is Crowsnest Trail, which a few metres to the left down the road, will hook up to Alberta Highway #3 and eventually lead into the southern part of BC.
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones
	By the looks of this sign, a lot of trespassers have been on the tracks. This view looks slightly below the track at West Lethbridge, almost to the end of the viaduct. The largest rail bridge in Canada is an adventure magnet for BASE jumpers who like to hike to the the middle of the 1.6 km ( 5,327 ft.) and then parachute off the bridge . In 2013, there was a $287 fine by CPR police for doing so. Whereas old style trestles had small platforms to hold water barrels and seek refuge and a pedestrian on the bridge could seek refuge there while a train happens, the Lethbridge viaduct does not have this extra safety feature. From rail to river is a drop of 314 ft.
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones
	CP Freight High Level Bridge Lethbridge AB in August 1992, viewed from Indian Battle Park The park name commemorates the last battle between the Cree and the Blackfoot, fought here in 1870. Much of the battle took place in Indian Battle Coulee on the west side of the river (to the left), while the retreat across the river ended in a last stand close to the Coal Banks Interpretive Centre (near this picture site). A formal peace treaty between the two nations was signed the following year.
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones
	Almost the entire viaduct, viewed from one of the parking lots behind The University of Lethbridge, on a very blustery cold April 11th, 2014. In the middle, the road is Whoop-Up Drive. The view overlooks Boterhill Bottom Park (near) and Indian Battle Park (center), the latter featured on this page
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones
	A composite of 2 photos this view shows the entire bridge almost from end-to-end, looking west from the end of 1 Ave South. The road eventually joins Crowsnest Trail and leads into Southern BC. To the left is a large parking lot. The bridge is 1.6 km log and a bit over 100 m high, with 33 towers.
Massey F. Jones collection

	Hard to believe that this humble little bridge over the Elbow River, almost in front of Fort Calgary at 9 Avenue and 8 Street SE, is directly responsible for Calgary being the city that it is today. Between 1881 and 1885, as the CPR was pushing west, speculators were buying lots in what is now the Inglewood District, in the hope of selling their land to the railway and make a large profit. After having safely secured the lands across the Elbow River to the west of Fort Calgary, particularly the strip along where the Palliser Hotel now stands, CPR announced that its townsite would be situated there and the speculators went bust, as a good deal of citizens decided to move their gear across the ice the following winter and settle into the new townsite, which became Calgary. The train on the bridge, is most probably what is known locally as “The Keith Turn”; heading back to Alyth classification Yard, from the CPR overflow yard (Keith) on the west side of Stoney Trail in Northwest Calgary. http://www.matthicksphoto.com/railway-photography/ canadian-pacific/3071-keith-1.jpg.php Notice the two different paint schemes on the diesels
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones
	VIA6428 Crossing the Twin Bridges, Bowness Calgary AB
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones
	VIA Dayliner crossing the Bow River in Calgary July 20, 1985, bound for Edmonton on the CP Red Deer Sub. Service was discontinued shortly thereafter
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones
	The CPR Bridge spanning the Bow River in Calgary between Alyth Yard (12th STREET EAST), Mileage 0.0 and BENGAL, Mileage 1.1 on the Red Deer Subdivision. The train is inbound for Alyth and the view looks east along the Bow River from an area behind the Calgary Zoo in the early 2000s. Bengal is roughly situated below the Calgary Herald Building to the east, or the Telus Spark science centre to the west. Access my bridge page for several photos of a round culvert train tunnel there.
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones
	View from Ogden Road in Calgary looking north. In the background, the CN bridge leads to Sarcee Yard (right). Not used much anymore. In the foreground, theCP mainline (Brooks Sub). A half-mile to the right is Ogden (Alstrom) shops and a few yards to the left is the south end of Alyth Yard.The locos are going into a siding into Ogden yard.
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones
	Edmonton High Level Bridge The bridge opened in 1913, linking Edmonton to South Edmonton (Strathcona). CPR ceased operations on the bridge in 1989 Still an imposing structure, (755 m long and 49 m high), it served as a transfer link between the South Edmonton station (see my Stations page) and the CNR downtown, until its yard was bulldozed, to build the Grant McEwan University downtown campus. Rail used the top deck, while cars, transit buses and pedestrians use wooden sidewalks on both sides of the lower deck. Trucks are prohibited on the bridge. On the opposite side from this view is, a “waterfall” higher than Niagara Falls, which operates during holiday weekends. In the foreground is the Edmonton Transit LRT, across the North Saskatchewan Riverto the University of Alberta and beyond. For more details on this bridge see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Level_Bridge_(Edmonton)
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones
	Edmonton High Level Bridge During summer, the Edmonton Radial Railway Society operates a streetcar on the uppper deck. The photo shows a view of downtown Edmonton from the streetcar. In a few minutes, it will arrive at Grandin Station (one stop from downtown), after having left Old Strathcona and gone through a former CPR tunnel. A ride on this private right-of-way is worth every penny. http://www.edmonton-radial-railway.ab.ca/
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones
	Edmonton’s High Level Bridge, taken from the 21st floor of a downtown hotel, early October 2011. This is the side, out of which flows The Great Divide Waterfall http://www.edmonton.ca/attractions_recreation No trucks are allowed on the bridge, which is reserved for cars, transit buses and pedestrians. The left centre of the photo(orange portion), shows how cars come off the bridge.
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones
	From May (Victoria Day) to October (Canadian Thanksgiving) , the Edmonton Radial Railway Society operates one or 2 streetcars (depending upon the season) over the High Level Bridge, using former CPR trackage, on the top deck. Compared to the bridge size, little Osaka #247 tramway is insignificant. View the tramway history at: http://www.edmonton-radial-railway.ab.ca/highlevelbridge
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones
	Another series of the Edmonton’s High Level Bridge
This picture was taken and submitted by Bruce Raynor
	Edmonton’s High Level Bridge
This picture was taken and submitted by Bruce Raynor
	Edmonton’s High Level Bridge This an Edmonton Radial Railway’s alternate tramway, (Melbourne # 930 – built 1947) which the Edmonton Radial Railway Society uses during the busy summer season, in addition to their Osaka #2 streetcar shown elsewhere. http://www.edmonton-radial-railway.ab.ca/streetcars All their tramways have been lovingly restored by volunteers in their carbarn, next to Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market. This view looks toward the city from the south shore of the North Saskatchewan River.
This picture was taken and submitted by Bruce Raynor
	Edmonton’s High Level Bridge According to ERRS history, the bridge deck had 3 tracks and the CPR used the center tracks. The operation was left hand running, so that if the street cars became disabled, passengers wouldn’t have to step out in space. But there were never any accident and the operation ran accident-free until abandonment in 1951.
This picture was taken and submitted by Bruce Raynor
	The CN bridge over Ogden Road in Calgary. The track is a spur off Sarcee Yard (about a kilometre away in the background). The CPR Brooks Sub runs under the bridge and the south end of Alyth classification yard is nearby. For those without transportation, Calgary Transit Route #24 runs for a great portion, alongside Alyth Yard and the Brooks Sub.
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones
	CN 1286 runs on a spur out of Sarcee Yard (in the background to a local industry in the mid-nineties.) They aren’t used much anymore.
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones

	The CN bridge over Ogden Road and CPR Brooks sub, in southeast Calgary Sep 88. Calgary Transit bus Route 24 follows most of Alyth classification yard and a goodportion of the Brooks Sub.
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones
	This is a very rare photo of the Alberta Central Railway pillars taken in October 1989. Only one pillar is left today; along Taylor Drive, just north of 22nd Street in Red Deer AB, where it is one of the historic landmarks The west pillar (to the left in the photo) was removed in 1992 for the construction of Taylor Drive on the former CPR right of way (the tracks shown here). The pillars had supported the ACR bridge over the CPR in 1910-11 but (the bridge) was likely never used as the CPR took over the ACR and had no interest in the east section. The date when the actual bridge was removed cannot be determined. More details on the pillar can be found at http://www.forthjunction.com/dawe-acr-pillar.htm The Forth Junction Heritage Society www.forthjunction.com also has a few links on the early area railways, such as the ACR the Canadian Northern Western Railway and the Calgary & Edmonton Railway (C&E) including stations,
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones
	Historic railway site sign at the site of the Alberta Central Railway bridge
This picture was submitted by Massey F. Jones and was taken by his wife on April 17th, 2010




	The pillar as it appears today. In the background is Taylor Drive, constructed where the tracks once stood.

	The opposite side of the pillar shown above
This picture was submitted by Massey F. Jones
	The twin bridges in the the Bowness area of northwest Calgary, photographed from Bowmont Park, adjacent to the Silver Springs community (easily reached by Transit and driving). The view looks roughly southwest. The photo was taken on the rainy day in August 2010, while awaiting an inbound run of the CPR 2816 through the bridges, about 6 miles or so from City Center on the CPR Laggan Sub. In the near background is the 85 St. road bridge and beyond is Stoney Trail, the future ring road around Calgary. Under Stoney Trail is Keith Yard, basically the overflow for the Alyth classification yard, used by the CPR for longer term storage. A bonus is that every train going through the twin bridges both ways must sound the horn, as the train comes around a curve westbound. A favorite rite of passage for teens was (and still is) to jump into the Bow River from the very top of the structures. Now the tracks are fenced off and CPR police patrols the area regularly, with a $200+ fine for trespassing. Freight trains run through there, either eastbound or westbound about every hour, carrying grain, sulphur, potash or containers on flatcars (double stack COFC) between Calgary and Vancouver. Most are a mile or more in length, with Distributed Power, usually 2 diesels in font, one in the middle and sometime one at the end. Laggan Sub is the original Canadian Pacific Railway mainline east and west, built in the late 1800s and upgraded several times over. The Empress 2816, Royal Canadian Pacific and Rocky Mountaineer pass through there regularly. A medium telephoto lens will capture individual bridges nicely from that viewpoint, if need be.
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones
	CNR bridge over the Bow River taken from the Ogden-Millican district
This series of pictures were taken and submitted by Larry Buchan , Calgary, Alberta Larry worked as a locomotive engineer on the CPR out of Calgary.

	CNR Bow River Bridge from underneath looking north
This picture was taken and submitted by Larry Buchan
	CNR Bow River Bridge from underneath looking south
This picture was taken and submitted by Larry Buchan
	CNR bridge over Bow River top view looking east
This picture was taken and submitted by Larry Buchan
	CNR bridge over MacLeod Trail near Calgary Stampede Grounds
This picture was taken and submitted by Larry Buchan
	CNR bridge over Ogden Road
This picture was taken and submitted by Larry Buchan
	CNR bridge over Ogden Road taken from Bow River Bridge
This picture was taken and submitted by Larry Buchan
	CNR steel bridge deck to replace wooden trestle over Deerfoot Trail
This picture was taken and submitted by Larry Buchan
	CNR wooden trestle being replaced by steel bridge
This picture was taken and submitted by Larry Buchan
	A good view of the CNR (GTP) high line that served as a transfer lead with the CPR interchange tracks to the right of the CPR control tower visible on the right. It also serviced the Gulf Oil Refinery, and at one time ran to the Grand Trunk Pacific Terminal on the west side of the Elbow River where Fort Calgary was located.
This picture was taken and submitted by Larry Buchan
	CPR and CNR ex Grand Trunk Pacific bridges over Bow River a transfer from the CNR to the CPR interchange was taking place at this time, Calgary’s skyline has changed a lot since this slide was taken.
This picture was taken and submitted by Larry Buchan
	Shown from a slightly different angle, a little more east of Larry Buchan’s 1971 photo above, is the CN high line to the right and CPR mainline (Brooks Sub at about Milepost 170 or so) to the left. The view looks northwest from 50 Ave SE near Ogden Road in the summer of 2012 and we note the Bonnybrook Bridge location. We can use the Calgary Tower to the extreme left as a reference point to compare the two photos. In Larry’s photo, the silver road bridge to the left has now been removed but we can observe how close Ogden Road comes to the CPR tracks and it remains so, for about a mile. (Those without their own transportation will want to use Calgary Transit Route 24). The strip in the centre of Massey’s picture is a part of a 28 km bicycle pathway passing under the CN Bridge and connecting with others in to the downtown core, while the Irrigation Canal in the foreground provides water from the Bow River to farmlands southwest of Calgary. A side view of the timber bridge over the canal is shown elsewhere on this page.
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones
	CPR Bonnybrook Bridge over Bow River there are three tracks visible P-1 the mainline, P-2 lead, and Old Ogden lead, not visible is a steel bridge attached in 1971 when the Alyth yard was rebuilt and it ran to the CPR’s Ogden Shops and other industrial leads.
This picture was taken and submitted by Larry Buchan
	GP9u 1635, in December 1987, switching on the 1971 Bonnybrook Bridge, adjacent to its partner, the 1912 bridge which collapsed during the 2013 flood. Part of the old bridge is hidden by the trackside shack to the left. To the right is the CN interchange bridge, featured on this page, bringing cars from its nearby Sarcee Yard to the CP Alyth Yard. Also seen in a distance is the pulldown tower (which controls the hump yard) and the 12 Street Tower, which controls movements on the Red Deer, Macleod, Brooks and Laggan Subs; north, south, east and west out of Calgary. The large chimney about the middle is the Alyth Diesel Shop complex. Improvements to the yard in the late 80s or middle 90s removed the chimney and expanded the shop to accommodate larger diesels. This view looks just about straight north from a point around 50 Ave and Ogden Road in southeast Calgary.
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones

	At 4:15 am MT, June 27th 2013, a portion of the 1912 CPR Bonnybrook bridge southeast of downtown Calgary collapsed with 6 tank cars on it, all but one carrying a flammable liquid. The cars were at risk of falling into the fast-moving Bow River, but officials tethered the cars together so they would dangle over the water instead of floating down the river, if they fell farther. This view looks northeast at 3 pm the next day, June 28th. The large bridge in the background is an interchange CN bridge connecting the CN Sarcee Yard and CP Alyth Yard. The rising water also damaged a lot of the shore and flows from left to right in this picture.
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones
	A close-up of the damage. According to the Calgary Emergency Management Agency, the bridge dropped more than 0.6 metres (about 1.5 feet+) in 90 minutes following a ‘structural failure.’
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones
	The damage span , viewed from the other shore of the Bow River. The water flow goes under the large bridge first. Within 24 hours of the bridge collapse, CPR had removed 6 tank cars stuck on the Bonnybrook Bridge by apparently pulling them apart from each end and rail traffic then resumed to some extent, using a parallel track between the damaged bridge and the CN bridge in the background..
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones
	A closeup of the view above, taken around 3 pm on June 28th 2013, showing how a portion of the CPR Bonnybrook came close to falling into the river and how the water flow is still flowing fairly fast, 3 days after the Alberta Flood.
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones
	A CPR crew inspects the parallel plate deck bridge installed in 1971 for damage. In a companion photo here, Larry Buchan mentions that we can’t see this bridge. This view is from the large CN Bridge used as an interchange from CN to CP.
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones
	All the tracks on the 1912 Bonnybrook Bridge were damaged. While taking these pictures, 3 extra-long trains ran in and out of the Alyth Yard on the track to the right, over a plate deck bridge installed in 1971. Everything will eventually be repaired.
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones
	A “cherry picker” fitted to “high railer” truck, allows workmen to inspect a rail deck bridge.
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones
	A welder is busy attaching cross beams to a supporting beam on August 9th, 2013, so that the damaged portion can be lifted. Notice the chains holding the bridge so that it doesn’t fall further and the holes made into the lower I beams, for future use. In the back of the worker are the wooden ties from the nearby CN bridge seen elsewhere on the page.
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones
	Viewed from the south shore of the Bow River still running fairly fast, on August 9th, 2013, a heavy duty crane is getting ready to lift the damaged portion. Another of the same type arrived on the north shore (far side) a short while later that afternoon, then things wound down for the weekend.
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones
Click on this image for a larger view in a new window	A scanning sonar image we created after the Bonnybrook failure. Note the downstream section of the shattered pier laying on its side in the riverbed.
This picture was submitted Mike Steckhan, owner of “Inland Marine Technologies”, Saskatoon SK.
	The CN Bridge, connecting the south end of the CP Alyth Yard to the CN Sarcee Yard a short distance away for interchange. This view looks northeast. This is the other side of the bridge frequently seen in photos of the damaged Bonnybrook Bridge below. Notice its proximity to the downtown core. Railcars in the background to the right are in Alyth Yard.
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones
	Freight is interchanged almost daily from the CN Sarcee Yard in Calgary to the CPR Alyth Yard though this timber bridge built early in the 20th Century and the CN Bow River bridge in the background, using either a GMD-1 locomotives or other light switcher. The track crosses a paved cycle pathway to the left, which continues from the regular (700 km) network from just east of downtown (near the Max Bell Arena) and runs 26 km to Chestermere, a bedroom community east of the Calgary city limits. To the far left are the CPR Bonnybrook Bridge tracks, damaged in June 2013.
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones
	On October 26, 2013, only the centre portion had been removed. The coffer dam in the middle might be exploring ways to build a new pillar to support a rebuilt 100-year-old bridge The bridge beyond is a CN transfer bridge into CP’s Alyth Yard.
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones
	This view looking south on October 26, 2013, shows that the work has new been halted, 4 months, almost to the day after a portion of the bridge gave away due the flood; pending a decision on whether the centennial landmark will be replaced or repaired, because it can still be very useful to CP yard operations. Yard movements and through trains now use the final portion of the Brooks Sub to enter and exit Alyth Yard.
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones
	A Google Earth view, showing the Bonnybrook Canadian Pacific Railway Bridge in the centre, before the June 2013 flood. Some of the heavy black portion, collapsed All yard movements and mainline now use a separate bridge, built later, on the far side of the collapsed bridge. The track and bridge at the very top in a distance, is a CN interchange into the CP Alyth Yard. The Bow River pathway, a popular shortcut for commuter cyclists trying to avoid street traffic from downtown, ran under the CN and CP bridges was heavily damaged by the June flood and repaired by end-October 2013.
This picture was submitted by Massey F. Jones and is from Google Earth
	This view taken on 19 June 2014 looking northeast, almost exactly a year after the flood damaged the bridge, gives a good idea of the repair which has just been completed a few weeks before. The repaired 1912 bridge is historical because it is part of the line which reached downtown Calgary from the east in 1883.
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones
	This view, looking southeast on June 23, 2014, a lmost exactly a year after the flood, shows the repair which was completed on the Bonnybrook Bridge a few weeks earlier. Instead of redoing the iron truss as it was in 1912, two pony plates were added, giving more strength to the bridge. The concrete pier was also thickened and itï¿½s evident that the new one on the left is different than the other one. A closeup of it is shown in another picture. The cycle in front is part of 140 mile Bow River Pathway system and to the left, passes under the Bonnybrook Bridge, then the CN bridge in the background, before reaching downtown, about 5 miles away, following the bike path around Alyth Yard. The train is on the mainline and not the bridge, which is mainly used now mainly for switching in and out of the yard or for local loads.
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones
	A good view of the repair work, showing the new bridge plates installed and the reinforced pier to the left, on 23 June 2014, one year after the flood damaged this portion of the 1912 bridge. Compare this photo with some of the close-ups of the damaged portion on this page. CP 8816 is on the adjacent 1971 bridge (about Mile 170 Brooks Sub), eastbound out of Alyth Yard with a heavy load of more than 150 cars, perhaps deemed too heavy for the iconic 1912 bridge now.
Photo: Massey F. Jones from a video capture.
	A southwest view from the Bow River bike path from a wooden platform firmly attached to the riverbank in southeast Calgary. Cyclists and rare joggers from downtown, first proceed under the CN Bridge, then under the 1971 CP bridge and then the historical 1912 bridge in quick succession. The bike path is in heavy use as a convenient commuter shortcut to downtown and was shut down during the 2013 flood due to riverbank instability and rising waters. It is well shown in the Google Earth picture on this page. There are 3 different kinds of bridges actually shown here. In the foreground is the CN truss bridge, linking their Sarcee Yard to the CP Alyth Yard, and then in the middle the 1971 deck bridge (CP mainline approximately Mile 170 Brooks Sub) and finally in a distance, the 1912 pony bridge now freshly repaired; in this view taken exactly a year after the flood on June 23, 2014. The motive power is CP 8614 in front and CP 8737 in the back.
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones
	A great spot for watching Alyth Yard action in the afternoon, while not trespassing on CP territory, is behind a row of warehouses at 2206-2234 Portland Road SE (or Mi 174.0 CP Brooks Sub). The site is easily accessible by Calgary Transit Route 24 OGDEN, plus about a 5-minute walk. For drivers, there is ample parking available. While the action is not what it used to be (CPR doesnï¿½t like full yards), there is steady action going on to make up trains. An alternate train watching spot (from overhead) is the Blackfoot Trail overpass in the background. Unfortunately for railfans, the sidewalk location was changed during reconstruction from the ï¿½good sideï¿½ overlooking major yard action and the diesel shop to the north side, overlooking the action below seen here from the ground. Blackfoot Tr. is accessible from Ogden Rd. or 9 Ave SE. Parking is at a premium or a short walk is required, if taking the bus. No transit goes on top of the overpass. In this view, CP 2222 (GP20C-ECO) and CP 4428 (GP38-2) are actively switching, while in the middle, we find CP 5985 (SD40-2), CP3049 (GP38-2) and CP 2232, another GP20C-ECO. Within the half-hour, the GE locomotives by the white pickup truck will couple to those on the far side and pull a mile-long mixed freight to Edmonton on the Red Deer Sub, to the extreme left centre. The curving rail in front is a sidetrack now holding CP 3088 (GP38-2).
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones
	Unlike many other CN bridges along the irrigation canal, this early 20th Century timber bridge is supported by concrete pillars. Constructed in 1903, the canal diverts water from the Bow River into a 26 km waterway that drains from just east of the Calgary downtown into Chestermere Lake, a man-made reservoir built in the 1880s by the CPR. The irrigation canal then continues on its course and serves well over 400 farms in parched Southwestern Alberta
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones
	The only trestle in Calgary’s Heritage Park, designed for drainage, instead of using a culvert. Trestles are custom built to fit the scenery. This one was erected in 1973 as a gift from the Canadian Pacific Railway. The water barrels on the left side of the trestle are for fire fighting, in case the locomotive should accidentally drop cinders on the trestle.
This picture was taken and submitted by Massey F. Jones