Back in the 70s, CP decided that if they were going to start hauling unit trains across the mountains they really had to reduce westbound grades.
In the days of steam, Notch Hill was a helper grade of 1.8% - dieseliztion eliminated that. However, as trains got longer (most unit trains were around 110 cars by the late 70s) they made it so no westward grades were over 1.2%. Lake Louise to Stephen and Tappen to Notch Hill were two easy sections. With Lake Louise they just started the grade on a big embankment as it passed the old station (now a great restaurant that you should drop in and try!) The biggest grade was Rogers Pass, which needed a new 8 mile long tunnel. That’s a story for another day!
Notch hill, as seen here, splashed a big loop across the farmland, reducing the grade to 1%. Just out of frame of this video is the latex sprayer, which reduces coal dust blowing off the unit trains from Crowsnest Pass.
Because it needs to be re-sprayed from time to time? I figured that the word latex in the description meant that this was a process that sealed in the coal dust-no?
I suspect the put the sprayer at a point shortly after where all the mine lines have joined the main line to the dumping location. Or at a point prior to a locality that has been complaining about coal dust from passing trains.
There are multiple sprayers enroute, and there is one at the mine too. They came about after CP got some really bad publicity a few years back about coal dust blowing off trains in the BC lower mainland and blackening people’s yards, cars, laundry et al. To avoid (or as a result of) litigation the sprayers were installed.
OTOH CN doesn’t have any enroute sprayers that I am aware of, and from what I hear the ones at the coal mines we serve don’t always work.
As I recall there were four projects that comprised the CPR Calgary to Vancouver capacity additions in the 1990s, all involving grade reduction on the new 2nd track.
Lake Louise to Steven.
Mount MacDonald tunnel.
A short section of immediately west of Revelstoke.
One name for the third project was Clanwilliam, which is the station at the top of the climb to Eagle Pass west of Revelstoke. It starts at the west end of the Columbia River bridge and ties back in at Clanwilliam.