Not Prince Albert in a Can...

Albert Canyon is a railway point at Mile 105.8, Mountain Subdivision of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). Adjacent to the west is Lauretta (Mile 109.5), and east is Downie (Mile 101.6). A hot box detector operates at Mile 105.0. Albert Canyon, one of the original CPR stations opened in 1886, was the Rogers Pass, then Connaught Tunnel, western slope base for pusher locomotives, which predominantly assisted eastbound freight trains up the steep 2.5% grade. The station name derives from the gorge, where the track crosses the south wall of the short box canyon on a narrow ledge. All passenger trains from the late 1880s until at least 1910 made a five-minute stop for passengers to alight and view the Illecillewaet River rushing through the 6-metre (20 ft.) wide gorge 91 metres (300 ft.) below. A stone parapet later replaced the wooden lookout - as seen on the front of this post card

on a rock outcrop. The final train to stop was in 1939. A dispatcher staffed the station telegraph office. A wye and water tank existed. To satisfy the anticipated mining boom, CPR added a long siding westward in 1898, and lengthened the wye southward. In 1910, a spark from a locomotive ignited leaves and timber near the tunnel 2 kilometres (1.25 mi.) west. The fire was initially controlled, but it later spread, almost reaching the section house. A 1916 CPR building program included a rooming and boarding house, cottages, and a five-stall engine house that replaced an earlier building. CPR erected a 91,000-litre; (24,000-US-gallon) oil fuelling tank in 1917, for oil-fired locomotives, and a mechanical coaling plant in 1921, for coal-fired locomotives. The engine house closed in 1940 when the pusher fleet relocated to Revelstoke. Prior to double tracking, a siding existed, which measured 73 cars long west and 77 east in the late 1890s, and 97 cars long in 1935. Still operational in 1948, it is unclear when the telegraph office closed. The final year passenger trains used the station was likely 1967. The section crew probably relocated about this time. In 1984, CPR constructed a 280-metre (930 ft.) test section of PaCT track (a reinforced, cast-in-place concrete foundation 23 cm thick with special clips, instead of spikes, holding the rails in place) at Albert Canyon to determine its suitability for laying in the Mount Macdonald Tunnel. The post card is the product of Byron Harmon's hard efforts.

Byron Harmon, One More Time (No, Two More Times)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_(train) is the source of information below about the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) train known as "The Canadian".

The two trains seen on the fronts of these post cards are part of the transcontinental train service that used to be offered by the CPR. The company christened its new transcontinental flagship train “The Canadian” and service began on April 24, 1955. Running time between Montreal and Vancouver was reduced from about 85 to 71 hours, so that passengers spent only three, rather than four, nights en route. Although CPR competitor Canadian National Railways (CNR) began its own new transcontinental service, the Super Continental, on the same day, CPR was able to boast honestly that “The Canadian” was "The first and only all-stainless steel 'dome' stream-liner in Canada" — it was not until 1964 that the CNR acquired dome cars from the Milwaukee Road.

The train operated with Montreal and Toronto sections which ran combined west of Sudbury, Ontario. The Montreal section (also serving Ottawa) was known as train 1 westbound and train 2 eastbound, while the Toronto section was known as train 11 westbound and train 12 eastbound. Although initially successful, passenger train ridership began to decline in Canada during the 1960s. Facing competition from airlines and increased automobile usage following construction of the Trans-Canada Highway, the CPR cancelled “The Dominion” in 1966, and petitioned the government to discontinue “The Canadian” in 1970. Although this petition was denied, CPR during the 1970s attempted to remove itself from the passenger service market. “The Canadian” was operated at reduced levels, with the government subsidizing 80 percent of its losses. VIA Rail eventually took over “The Canadian” operations then dropped the service on January 15, 1990.

Both of these photos are attributed to Byron Harmon. The top one reflects a classic Byron Harmon point of view. I have several of his post cards that are taken from this position. But these cards show steam locomotives. The back of the post card also reflects a classic Byron Harmon look. “POST CARD” is printed across the top, middle with “Along the Line of the Canadian Pacific Railway” printed directly under these words. Following that, “Copyrighted by BYRON HARMON, BANFF, CANADA” is also printed in the usual script and position. These two post cards are pictures of diesel locomotives. Diesel took over this route long after Mr. Harmon died. I think that someone in his family took over the business upon his passing and tried to keep the Byron Harmon look active.

The bottom post card attributed the photo to “Photo by Byron Harmon Photos”. Byron Harmon Photos is also the copyright holder and publisher of the post card. It is a company in Banff, Alberta. The fact that the post card is a photo-chrome print also tells me that this is a modern card that cannot be directly attributed to Byron Harmon. A bit of background on Mr. Harmon: He arrived in Alberta in 1903 as an itinerant photographer after leaving his portrait studio in Tacoma, Washington. By 1906 He had become a founding member and official photographer of the Alpine Club of Canada. He took over 6,400 photographs while exploring the Canadian Rockies and the Selkirks. In 1907 Harmon began turning many of these photographs into real photo postcards, which became his principal life’s work. In 1924 he traveled into the Rockies with the photographer Lewis R. Freeman. Some of the real photo postcards produced under Harmon’s name from this trip may actually be the work of Freeman that he published for him. After this trip Harmon mostly produced scenes alongside railway lines. He also distributed printed color postcards made from his photos that were manufactured in the United States. He died in 1942. His Granddaughter was still running the family business in Banff the last time that I was there.

Byron Harmon Fest (Part Three of three)

I have so many post cards printed by Byron Harmon that I have decided to simply scan them and publish them so that you can enjoy them, too. The photographs are all taken west of the Spiral Tunnels in British Columbia.

A quick check into Wikipedia will help you to understand where these pictures were taken:
Mount Chancellor, Mount Field, Mount Stephen, Stoney Creek Bridge, Kicking Horse Canyon, Spiral Tunnels, etc.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. May I also suggest that if you are ever in Banff, Alberta that you visit the gallery of his granddaughter...

Byron Harmon Fest (Part Two of three)

I have so many post cards printed by Byron Harmon that I have decided to simply scan them and publish them so that you can enjoy them, too. The photographs are all taken west of the Spiral Tunnels in British Columbia.

A quick check into Wikipedia will help you to understand where these pictures were taken:
Mount Chancellor, Mount Field, Mount Stephen, Stoney Creek Bridge, Kicking Horse Canyon, Spiral Tunnels, etc.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. May I also suggest that if you are ever in Banff, Alberta that you visit the gallery of his granddaughter...

Byron Harmon Fest (Part One of three)

I have so many post cards printed by Byron Harmon that I have decided to simply scan them and publish them so that you can enjoy them, too. The photographs are all taken west of the Spiral Tunnels in British Columbia.

A quick check into Wikipedia will help you to understand where these pictures were taken:
Mount Chancellor, Mount Field, Mount Stephen, Stoney Creek Bridge, Kicking Horse Canyon, Spiral Tunnels, etc.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. May I also suggest that if you are ever in Banff, Alberta that you visit the gallery of his granddaughter...

Here are the first eight pictures:

Following the River out of the Mountains

Down in the bottom, right corner of the post card it says,"217. Kicking Horse Canyon" As you can see, this is a picture of a steam train going along the canyon in the summer (notice the open car at the end of the train).

The Kicking Horse River is in the Canadian Rockies of southeastern British Columbia, Canada. The river was named in 1858, when James Hector, a member of the Palliser Expedition, reported being kicked by his pack-horse while exploring the river. Hector named the river and the associated pass as a result of the incident. The purpose of the Palliser Expedition was to gather scientific information on Rupert's Land, including information on the geography, climate, soil, flora and fauna, to discover its capabilities for settlement and transportation. The Kicking Horse Pass, which connects through the Rockies to the valley of the Bow River, was the route through the mountains that the Canadian Pacific Railway chose when it was constructed. The railway's Big Hill and associated Spiral Tunnels are in the Kicking Horse valley and were necessitated by the steep rate of descent of the river and its valley.

The picture on this post card, like last week's picture, was published by Byron Harmon. You can read last week's posting to find out more about Mr. Harmon.

If you look closely at the top right hand corner, where the stamp is to be placed, you will see a code that hints at the age of this post card. The box around the words, "PLACE STAMP HERE" have the letters "AZO" in between the boxes in the four corners. Azo was a brand name for blue light sensitive, silver chloride photo paper introduced by the Photo Materials Company in Rochester, New York in 1898. Kodak purchased the company that same year. Because of its poor light sensitivity it was manufactured for contact printing rather than enlarging. Its very broad tonal scale makes it the finest paper ever made to produce black & white work on. This paper became the favorite of those producing real photo postcards and was widely popular among amateurs because of its ease to use.

The fact that there are four boxes embedded with the AZO name tells us that this post card was printed between 1927 and 1940. It has been in continuous production longer than any other photo paper but was discontinued in 2005.

Pretty High Up in the Mountains

As part of the deal that saw British Columbia join the Canadian Confederation, the Government of Canada promised to connect British Columbia by rail to eastern Canada. The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) was incorporated in 1881 to accomplish this promise. The last spike was driven at Craigellachie, B.C. on November 7, 1885.

Of course, the most dangerous part of building the railway was the section in the British Columbia mountains. Rivers, streams and creeks had to be crossed. To begin, wooden trestle bridges were built to span the chasms. Stoney Creek Bridge, at 325 feet, was the highest single-span bridge on the CPR line. It is 200 metres long (656 ft) of the truss arch bridge style. Built in 1893, it now carries the Canadian Pacific Railway single track 90 meters (295 ft) over the Stoney Creek, between Revelstoke and Golden. It was the Stoney Creek Bridge is a 200-metre-long (656 ft) truss arch bridge in British Columbia, Canada.

It was originally made of timber in 1893. A steel structure replaced

the wooden bridge in 1894. This quote from Flashback Canada (by J. Bradley Cruxton. Don Mills, Ont.: Oxford University Press, ©2000, p. 161) explains how daunting the feat of building the bridge affected the engineers who had to drive over it: "The Mountain Creek trestle looked so fragile that one engineer refused to drive his engine over it. Van Horne said that he would drive the engine across himself. The engineer said, 'If you ain't afraid of getting killed Mr. Van Horne, with all your money, I ain't afraid either.' Van Horne replied, 'We'll have a double funeral – at my expense of course.' The engine passed safely over the bridge."

A second set of arches was added in 1929 to handle heavier traffic.

These coordinates are where you can find the bridge today: 51°22'48.00" N -117°27'57.60" W and they are very close to where Byron Harmon was standing when he took the picture on the front of the post card.

Byron Harmon arrived in Alberta in 1903 as an itinerant photographer after leaving his portrait studio in Tacoma, Washington. By 1906 He had become a founding member and official photographer of the Alpine Club of Canada. He took over 6,400 photographs while exploring the Canadian Rockies and the Selkirks. In 1907 Harmon began turning many of these photographs into real photo postcards, which became his principal life’s work. In 1924 he

traveled into the Rockies with the photographer Lewis R. Freeman. Some of the real photo postcards produced under Harmon’s name from this trip may actually be the work of Freeman that he published for him. After this trip Harmon mostly produced scenes alongside railway lines. He also distributed printed color postcards made from his photos that were manufactured in the United States.

His granddaughter still has a shop in Banff, Alberta.

Next to Impossible

These two post cards are also (like the previous two blog posts) Real Photo Cards printed by Byron Harmon. They look very similar to each other. Both are labelled by Mr. Harmon as "774. Mt. Chancellor." Both show a train coming out of a tunnel or around a corner with Mt. Chancellor in the background.







There are several differences, however. 1) The exposure is different - the bottom post card is overexposed;

2) The title of the post card is in a slightly different location - in the top one the 774 touches the train tracks;

3) The engines are different - the top one has a straight line across the front of the "cow catcher" while the bottom one has a curve in front of the boiler. This last difference is so stark that I wonder if Mr. Harmon wasn't experimenting with some sort of "photo-shopping" with this picture!!

You can see that the engine number on the post card is 5178. I found at this website: http://members.shaw.ca/cprsteam/p1.htm that this was a Mikado type of engine with a 2-8-2 wheel arrangement. It was built in 1912 by the Canadian Pacific Railway.

It was next to impossible to find any information about Mt. Chancellor. What I did find was that Mount Chancellor is a 8,826 feet tall. It is located between the towns of Field and Golden in British Columbia, Canada. It is the 515th highest mountain in British Columbia and the 1,105th highest mountain in Canada. - See more at: http://peakery.com/chancellor-peak-canada/#sthash.n5Ok9Ygg.dpuf

In trying to find information about Mt. Chancellor, I found many other copies of this post card out there for sale. The prices ranged from $2.99 to $5.99 USD.

Mt. Eisenhower in Canada??

The train tracks in the foreground of this post card belong to the Canadian Pacific Railroad. The mountain was named "Castle Mountain" by James Hector in 1858 (a Scottish geologist, naturalist, and surgeon who

accompanied the Palliser Expedition as a surgeon and geologist) for its castle-like appearance. From 1946 to 1979 it was known as Mount Eisenhower in honour of the World War II general Dwight D. Eisenhower. Public pressure caused its original name to be restored, but a pinnacle on the southeastern side of the mountain was named Eisenhower Tower.


Located nearby are the remains of Silver City, a 19th-century mining settlement, AND the Castle Mountain Internment Camp in which persons deemed enemy aliens and suspected enemy sympathizers were confined during World War I. The Castle Mountain Internment Camp, located in Banff National Park, Alberta, was the largest internment facility in the Canadian Rockies, housing several hundred prisoners at any one time. Established on July 13, 1915, a total of 660 "enemy aliens" were interned at the facility during its entire operation. It held immigrant prisoners of Ukrainian, Austrian, Hungarian and German descent. Their only crime was that they were not born in Canada.

Despite their civilian status, a great many people were sent to prisoner of war camps located in the Canadian hinterland, to be used as military conscript labour on government work projects. Of particular note was the use of forced labour in Canada’s national parks, where they were introduced there as a matter of policy to improve existing facilities and increase accessibility by developing the park system’s infrastructure. By 1915 several internment camps in and around the Rocky Mountains were in full swing, including a camp at the foot of Castle Mountain, the terminal point of the then uncompleted Banff-Laggan (Lake Louise) road.

Recognizing the value of future tourism, the main purpose of the camp was to push the Banff highway on through to Lake Louise, although, in addition, bridges, culverts and fireguards were also built. The camp consisted of tents within a dual barbed wire enclosure. The tents however proved inadequate during the severe winter climate, forcing the camp to relocate to military barracks built on the outskirts of the town of Banff, adjacent to the Cave and Basin, site of the original Hot Springs.

With the onset of spring, the camp returned once more to the Castle Mountain site. This process of return and relocation would continue until August 1917 when the camp was finally closed when the internees were conditionally released to industry to meet the growing labour shortage. All of the above information was taken from Wikipedia.

The post card was printed and published by Byron Harmon.

Harmon arrived in Alberta in 1903 as an itinerant photographer after leaving his portrait studio in Tacoma, Washington. By 1906 He had become a founding member and official photographer of the Alpine Club of Canada. He took over 6,400 photographs while exploring the Canadian Rockies and the Selkirks. In 1907 Harmon began turning many of these photographs into real photo postcards, which became his principal life’s work. In 1924 he traveled into the Rockies with the photographer Lewis R. Freeman. Some of the real photo postcards produced under Harmon’s name from this trip may actually be the work of Freeman that he published for him. After this trip Harmon mostly produced scenes alongside railway lines.

This particular post card has a white border around it so it is probably from between 1915 to 1930.

World's Longest Railroad Tunnel (at the time)

I can tell you with great certainty that the picture on this post card was taken after December 16, 1916. I know that because the Connaught Tunnel was opened on that day. The tracks shown here belong to the Canadian Pacific Railway and they are not very far from the bridge in last week’s blog post. This picture was also taken by the photographer, Byron Harmon.

You will notice that there is a set of double tracks through the tunnel. This is because, according to Gary Backler’s graduate thesis: “The C.P.R.’S Capacity and Investment Strategy in Rogers Pass, B.C., 1882 – 1916” the reason the tunnel was built was to compete with other rail lines to gain the lion’s share of rail traffic and to accommodate the increasing demand on the rails that the CPR already operated between Vancouver and Calgary. According to his thesis, the number crunchers found the combination of elevation and length of tunnel to make the project financially feasible. I recommend that you read this article: http://www.okthepk.ca/dataCprSiding/articles/201111/month00.htm

It is named the Connaught Tunnel because it was named after the person who was the Governor General (the queen’s representative in Canada) at the time, the seventh child of Queen Victoria: Prince Arthur William Patric Albert, the Duke of Connaught (a county in Ireland). Construction on the tunnel was started on April 2, 1914 and completed on December 16, 1916. The tunnel is 5.022 miles long (the longest tunnel at the time of its completion) and 20 feet wide. The grade through the tunnel is a mere .95%. In building this tunnel through the mountain CPR was able to abandon fourteen and a half miles of track and thirty one snow sheds. It also saved countless lives of the workers who could have died clearing avalanches on that 14.5 miles of track in Rogers Pass.
I can tell you with great certainty that the picture on this post card was taken after December 16, 1916. I know that because the Connaught Tunnel was opened on that day. The tracks shown here belong to the Canadian Pacific Railway and they are not very far from the bridge in last week’s blog post. This picture was also taken by the photographer, Byron Harmon.

You will notice that there is a set of double tracks through the tunnel. This is because, according to Gary Backler’s graduate thesis: “The C.P.R.’S Capacity and Investment Strategy in Rogers Pass, B.C., 1882 – 1916” the reason the tunnel was built was to compete with other rail lines to gain the lion’s share of rail traffic and to accommodate the increasing demand on the rails that the CPR already operated between Vancouver and Calgary. According to his thesis, the number crunchers found the combination of elevation and length of tunnel to make the project financially feasible. I recommend that you read this article: http://www.okthepk.ca/dataCprSiding/articles/201111/month00.htm

It is named the Connaught Tunnel because it was named after the person who was the Governor General (the queen’s representative in Canada) at the time, the seventh child of Queen Victoria: Prince Arthur William Patric Albert, the Duke of Connaught (a county in Ireland). Construction on the tunnel was started on April 2, 1914 and completed on December 16, 1916. The tunnel is 5.022 miles long (the longest tunnel at the time of its completion) and 20 feet wide. The grade through the tunnel is a mere .95%. In building this tunnel through the mountain CPR was able to abandon fourteen and a half miles of track and thirty one snow sheds. It also saved countless lives of the workers who could have died clearing avalanches on that 14.5 miles of track in Rogers Pass.

Notice that Mr. Harmon was kind enough to tell us that the mountain in the background is Ross Peak. It was named after James Ross who was the superintendent of the construction efforts in the Selkirks. It is 7,647 feet tall.

World's Tallest Railroad Bridge (at the time)

You are looking at what was the tallest bridge in the world at the time this picture was taken. This is the Canadian Pacific Railway’s Stoney Creek Bridge, on the eastern side of Rogers Pass in the Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia, Canada.

It was built as part of the Continental Railroad promised to the citizens of British Columbia if they would vote to join the Canadian Federation. The present steel bridge is a 656 foot long truss arch bridge. In 1893 this bridge replaced a wooden trestle that was built in 1885. It stands 295 feet over Stoney Creek. In 1929 a second steel arch was added to handle the train traffic that had become heavier over the decades.

For almost 60 years, until 1988, this bridge handled all of the Canadian Pacific's transcontinental traffic. A second track was built at a lower altitude, so that now this bridge is designated to handle mostly eastbound rail traffic. The "Rocky Mountaineer" and the "Royal Canadian Pacific" tourist trains usually cross this bridge.

It was a great image for rail fan photographers for decades. However, some “graffiti artists” decided to decorate the bridge and vandalize the radio relay tower nearby. Fortunately, the relay tower was alarmed and they were caught. Unfortunately, because of its remoteness, rail fans are not welcomed and the engineers are asked to radio in any leads about any trespassers. One of my dreams that will not be fulfilled!

These two “real photo” post cards are the same image taken by the same photographer: Byron Harmon. He simply produced the image in two renderings. I know it is Byron Harmon because he has stamped the back of the larger post card with his well-known and trademarked stamp.

Harmon arrived in Alberta in 1903 as an itinerant photographer after leaving his portrait studio in Tacoma, Washington. By 1906 He had become a founding member and official photographer of the Alpine Club of Canada. He took over 6,400 photographs while exploring the Canadian Rockies and the Selkirks, where the picture on this post card was taken. In 1907 Harmon began turning many of these photographs into real photo postcards, which became his principal life’s work. In 1924 he traveled into the Rockies with the photographer Lewis R. Freeman. Some of the real photo postcards produced under Harmon’s name from this trip may actually be the work of Freeman that he published for him. After this trip Harmon mostly produced scenes alongside railway lines.

What Goes Up, Must Come Down!

Finally!! A train that is not going up the Kicking Horse Canyon, but down! This is a Byron Harmon post card - the words at the bottom blend into the white foreground very well. But, I can read that he has written, "966. Lower Spiral Tunnel" onto the picture.

The engine that we are looking at is carrying a train about 3,000 feet long. The Lower Spiral Tunnel is just short of 1,000 yards long and this train is sticking out on both ends of the tunnel.(P.S. Notice that observation car at the back of train, again.) This is one strong steam engine. It is a Selkirk. It was built to do exactly what it is pictured here doing. They ran trains from Taft, British Columbia to Calgary, Alberta. I picked up the following information from the Wikipedia website.

The Selkirk locomotives were 36 steam locomotives of the 2-10-4 wheel arrangement built for Canadian Pacific Railway by Montreal Locomotive Works, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They were named after the Selkirk range of mountains that they crossed.

The first of these was built in July 1929. Altogether, twenty were constructed before the end of this year bearing numbers 5900 to 5919. All of the Selkirk locomotives (5900 through 5935) were initially assigned to handle both freight as well as passenger trains between the major division points of Calgary and Revelstoke a distance of 262 miles. They were also used for 23 miles in pusher service from Revelstoke west (uphill) to the wye at Taft, assisting the road engines of both freight as well as passenger trains up the steep grade to this location. The Laggan Subdivision covered the Eastern portion of their assigned territory 137 miles and included the Field Hill and the famous Spiral Tunnels while the Western portion of their territory consisted of the Mountain Subdivision which covered the remaining 126 miles and included the famous Rogers Pass, the Connaught Tunnel and Stoney Creek Bridge. The grades encountered had a maximum of 2.2 per cent with curves of 12 degrees or 480 feet (150 m) radius. Rated at 78,000 pounds-force tractive effort, on the lesser grades they could haul 1,050 short tons unassisted and without the booster cut-in. The booster engine added an additional 12,000 pounds of tractive effort up to a maximum speed of 20 miles per hour. Due to their extreme weight, they could not proceed west of Taft to Vancouver.

The Canadian Pacific Railway's classification was T1a. Montreal Locomotive Works built another ten of these successful mountain locomotives during November and December 1938. The Canadian Pacific Railway assigned them T1b class. They were numbered from 5920 to 5929. Modifications led the T1b to be ten tons lighter while increasing steam pressure from 275 to 285 pounds per square inch. A further six Selkirks, classed T1c, were built by the Montreal Locomotive Works shop in 1949. They were the last standard gauge steam locomotives built in Canada for a Canadian railroad.

Along the Kicking Horse River...

... AGAIN!

Once again, we see a post card showing the struggling train as it heads up the Kicking Horse Canyon next to the Kicking Horse River. The words scratched onto the bottom of the picture say,"777. Mt. Field and Kicking Horse River." This train looks as if it is on its way from Golden, British Columbia to Field.

It is a passenger train of nine cars; the observation car at the back tells me that the Canadian Pacific Railroad certainly knew the stunning beauty of this area would be a great attraction to paying passengers. I wonder if this car simply went back and forth from Revelstoke, British Columbia (or even Vancouver) to Calgary, Alberta and back over and over and over...


Once again, I include some biography about Byron Harmon from the website: "http://www.harmonphotography.com/artists/byron.html"

The most ambitious and photographically lucrative trip of Harmon’s career was a self-initiated trek across the Columbia Icefield with writer Lewis Freeman in 1924. What made the expedition so impressive was not only the crossing itself but the inclusion of a pack train of 15 horses loaded to the teeth with photographic and motion picture equipment. In one instance of extremely bad weather near the beginning of the trip, Harmon lost,”more supplies in two days than the recent US Geological Survey expedition lost in its three months voyage through the rapids of the Grand Canyon. Even at that, however, we were never seriously handicapped by a shortage either of food or of photographic supplies”1. Also included in the supplies were several carrier pigeons Harmon had bred himself and an early radio device, the intent being to, prove that radio reception was possible in the wilds of the western mountains, and “wanting to see if the pigeons could thread their way through the peaks back to Banff” 2. In both cases the experiments were successful. The trip followed, primarily, the line of the Continental Divide and included many dangerous river crossings as well as the treacherous ice travel. In one extreme case of photographic stoicism, Harmon camped in one spot for eight days waiting for the perfect light on Mt. Columbia. The trip yielded 400 stills, 700 feet. of film, an article for National Geographic, and a book by Freeman entitled On the Roof of the Rockies.

Working Hard!!

Once again, we are in the Kicking Horse Canyon. I have chased trains for many years in this area. There are some areas where the highway is right next to the railroad tracks and others up high where some very spectacular views can be had. I know from my own experience why Byron Harmon would have so many pictures of trains taken in this area. PLUS, it is close to Banff, his adopted home town.

In this picture There are two engines puling a passenger train up the hill toward Banff, after passing Field, Yoho, Stephen, Divide and a few other stations. I tried to read the numbers on these engines with my magnifying glass, but could not. I can't even see the wheel arrangements clearly, but it looks like they could be either 2-6-0s or 2-6-2s.

Letting my imagination carry me away, I like to think that Bryon was spotted by the first engineer who is blowing his whistle to recognize Byron and his camera's presence.

Again, more about Byron from the website:


Harmon reached the peak of his career in the early 1920’s. Although by this time his participation with the Alpine Club had petered off, he was organising his own mountaineering trips with purely photographic objectives, allowing him to seek out the ideal situations for mountain photography. As well, his work had gained national and even international recognition.

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.