Going UP!

These two post cards are pictures of the same view. And, they have the same writing on the bottom of the picture to identify where it was: "772. Kicking Horse Canyon." I have both of these cards in my collection because one is in black and white while the other is done in sepia tones.

One can tell by looking at the rapids in the river that the train is headed up hill. What I do not know is where the picture was taken and what mountain is in the background. My experience while chasing trains in the Kicking Horse Canyon is that this might be at the bottom of the canyon where today a very large bridge flies over the river and trains tracks. The highway is in the middle left of the card just as the river bends to the right. I think that this closeness places the scene where I just described??? I will have to take my collection with me next time we head west from Edmonton at that latitude.

The train in the picture only has one engine and it is a freight! Maybe there is a pusher at the back helping it up the mountain slopes. Anyway, this one certainly is working!! Look at that smoke coming out of the stack.

Here is a profile of the elevations along the main line of the Canadian Pacific Railway as it goes from Calgary, Alberta to Golden, British Columbia through the Rockies. I found this on the wall of the Whyte Museum in Banff, Alberta.

It shows that Calgary is 3,248 feet above sea level; the second station is Cochrane (a town in Alberta) at 3,749 feet; Morley, which is a very flat plain on an Indian Reservation, is at 4,067 feet; three stations later we are in Canmore, Alberta (another town) at 4,284; then Banff is at 4,521 feet; Castle Mountain (we will see this in a later blog posting) is at 4,880 feet; Stephen (the tallest point on the chart) is at 5,321 feet; then it drops down to Field, British Columbia at 4,064 feet.
So, you can see that the change in the elevation from Morley to Stephen is the same as the change in elevation from Stephen to Field. However, the distance from Morley to Stephen is about 67 miles and the distance from Stephen to Field is only 13 miles.

More about Byron Harmon from the website:


In town, Harmon pursued his civic responsibilities as enthusiastically as he did his photography. After 1908, his business continued to expand and additions and renovations to his commercial building, Harmons, became almost yearly events. He lent his time and energy to many boards and committees and was an outspoken businessman in the community. He garnered a reputation as a quiet, amiable man with a good sense of humour, dedicated to his work, his family, and his town. Portrait work became an active pursuit for Harmon again, as well, and he recorded many famous images of the Stoney Indians both on their reserve at Morley and during the Banff Indian Days celebrations in Banff.