Rocky Mountain Railroad | Complete Series | All Episodes | FD Engineering

in the heart of the Rockies this Elite crew working on the railway is very dangerous there's every rule that's been written has been written in blood battles massive Avalanches oh man that thing is not small monster icicles it's Mother Nature you're dealing with you just don't know what she's gonna do to keep a crucial supply line running through the mountains the Canadian Pacific Railway [Music] this extreme mountain passage is a critical Lifeline to get fuel food and Freight from coast to coast during the winter train a B train that must not stop heaven forbid if it does if the trains can't rule through this icy hell in the mountains it's always a battle the country will grind to a halt [Music] [Applause] [Music] in the mighty Rocky Mountains Canada's most extreme stretch of railroad clings to the edge of these icing crusted rocks the Canadian Pacific Railway was built more than 135 years ago and snakes 5 000 kilometers across Canada it's the steel backbone that ties the country together [Music] the most challenging stretch of the route runs through these mountains oh it's fun this time here where snow and ice can shut down the entire line [Music] it's very difficult to keep trains running you have Mother Nature the seasons mechanical defects there's always something that's up against us being able to keep the trains moving working out here is a challenge gives deep grades tight corners and lots of snow it's all about being comfortable and knowing your area overnight a huge snowstorm buried large sections of track making this mountain route nearly impassable right now we had a lot of freezing temperatures and then it snowed now there's a huge Train delay we'll mobilize the snow plow crew so then operations can continue on we've had quite a bit of fresh snow on the South Park mountains our plow equipment is all set up ready to do battle last night's storm also left behind a massive buildup of snow on the mountain slopes another lunch advisory so no one be considerable that's our Avalanche advisory now we know what our conditions are today they're considerable almost as high as we get to safely run trains and safely work there's a really large snowpack up in the top of these mountains right now that has the potential to release naturally in the next coming few days bury the tracks to close the railway for you know 24 to 48 hours while they clean it up trains will be backed up across the province and in turn a lot of financial loss the storm could not have hit at a worse time 480 kilometers west of the Rockies in the port of Vancouver the biggest cargo ship to ever dock on Canada's West Coast is delivering more than 13 thousand containers for Canadian Pacific to haul East through the snow clad Rockies [Music] containers are loaded with crucial supplies from food to clothes cell phones to computers essential items for people from coast to coast Dock Workers race to stack the containers onto the train so they can send it on its way foreign in the lead locomotive conductor Jim Smith an engineer Jordy Hunter who's been working on the line for 20 years [Music] the cp's hottest train is this train train 100 and they'll part the waters for us this train is the hot train we have uh 26 uh loads on this train no empties so we got a fully stock train [Music] it's got all the time sensitive Freight that just has to be there it's a scheduled train and it has to be in Toronto at a specific time they don't want to delay it whatsoever so you get on and you're gone [Music] the average train length is 8 400 feet but then potentially these trays could get as long as 13 000 feet that's over two miles of train [Music] James and I are in charge of multi-millions of dollars worth of equipment here this locomotive is where it's almost three million dollars we have three of these on this train and then you've got the containers it's all the merchandise in them it's a huge responsibility but we're up for array yeah [Music] the Canadian Pacific crew must haul this important load worth around 50 million dollars 3 200 kilometers from Vancouver to a rail yard in Vaughn near Toronto the most treacherous part of the route is through the Rocky Mountains first they must guide their train through the snow-covered selkirks then the Avalanche Zone at Rogers Pass before hitting the ice encrusted Rockies well I got a cold medicine it's cold outside every year there's always that one snowstorm and this year we had massive dumps of snow across the mountain tread of an avalanche is always there especially with the amount of snow we've been getting Jordy and Jim in Train 100 Head East smack Into the Heart of the Avalanche Zone it's up to Avalanche technician Derek melonson to assess just how serious the risk of a snow slide is right now we have absolutely humongous mountains that have Avalanche paths that directly impact the railway and if we aren't able to go control these areas then they have the potential to build up to some of the largest Avalanches possible it was here through the Selkirk mountains in 1881 that surveyor major Albert Bowman Rogers discovered a passage to connect the railway from east to west it took just a year for construction Crews to lay the tracks through this Zone but running trains through these mountains came at a cost in 1910 an avalanche claimed the lives of 62 workers it was dangerous then and it's still dangerous now I'm looking for a protected area of snow so I can dig a snowpack profile so I can identify weaknesses within the snowpack that might fail we've had very large Avalanches coming down over the railway quite frequently this season so this is my three meter snow probe right away off the bat we have a 200 centimeter snowpack here a two meter deep slab of snow sits directly above the tracks it's not a question of if it will slide but when Avalanches can easily take out mature Timber and clear out entire forests if large enough you can't get complacent while out here it's mother nature and anything can happen I'm gonna start digging some of this snow out and start my test there's been a weakness kind of established itself right in here here we have some ice formations the snow-covered mountain peaks are nurseries for Avalanches rain and heat from the Sun cause freshly fallen snow to melt as temperatures fall below zero at night this water freezes to form a layer of ice as more snow falls these layers of ice become buried and compacted the fresh snow building up on top of the slippery ice can become unstable and when it reaches a critical weight it will slide off triggering an avalanche containing a million tons of snow traveling up to 320 kilometers per hour [Music] I'm going to administer a series of TAPS slowly giving it more impact and more stress to these weaknesses showing what they're failing today all the way down here I had a failure which is down about 112 centimeters so we have a meter and 12 centimeters that was actually quite easily triggered here we do have potential for large avalanches in this area right now that are possibly going to be triggered on this layer let's go over a meter deep this would be a very large Avalanche that would affect the railway ahead of drain 100 there we go one thousand meters up in Rogers Pass is quite a scary test result Derrick melinson has discovered a massive buildup of snow in the mountains calling the Roadmaster out of Revelstoke yeah hey Chad Derek here Roadmaster Chad deschamp is in charge of the 14 strong crew who clear the snow and repair the rails along this critical Mountain stretch I like to be a leader get dirty spend time with the crews being part of them sometimes you guys got to do a little bit of manual labor I grew up in a railway County the railways are my blood my grandfather my father uncles and here I am now Chad we do have potential for large avalanches in this area right now right right Avalanches are a roadmaster's worst nightmare 2007 near Rogers Pass an avalanche came down hitting a freight train and damaging tracks fortunately no one was hurt but it took a week to clean up and reopen the line thanks so much Jeff yeah bye the Avalanche reading was uh considerable yeah snowpack is very very unstable and it can slide at any time [Music] if it comes down in an uncontrolled way it can hit trains hit track forces lives can be at stake cars can be buried it's very dangerous it's Mother Nature you're dealing with you just don't know what she's gonna do [Music] Derek and Chad must use an effective but potentially dangerous technique to get the snow off the mountains with this kind of instability within the snowpack we're gonna have to go do explosive control we are gonna fly in a helicopter with large explosives dropping them out of the helicopter onto Avalanche start zones in the area we're coming up to some sheds where they built underneath the Avalanche paths I've been in the shed when an avalanche came down we were coming through there on a westbound one winter and all of a sudden it was like a tornado inside the tunnel this whole thing was just full of swirling snow and it was all blowing around inside the tunnel as we exited the tunnel here at the West End we had a look and you can see the slide was just kind of finishing up there trickling down so we went right underneath a moving Avalanche which was pretty cool that's just the reality of the job you have to be prepared for those days you also have to be prepared to act at any moment that something might go wrong out here with this train moving at 50 miles an hour it'd probably take about 2500 feet stop about half a mile [Music] with its Fleet of 1 000 locomotives and 38 000 rail cars the Canadian Pacific Railway is one of the largest railroad networks in the world but this isn't the only Railway that's a crucial lifeline 2500 kilometers east of the Rockies the Ontario Northland Railway shuttles critical supplies to off-gritters and isolated communities that live on the edge of the Arctic the challenges for this rail crew aren't mountains and avalanches but sub-arctic winds that Pummel the icy Tundra minus 50 degrees at three o'clock in the morning isn't all that much fun we're in Via Northern Ontario tough I guess you could say conductor Jay faldine has worked on the line for 15 years [Music] I could live out here for a little bit but not as long as some of these people do I love the outdoors but I like being able to grocery shop too one more I have to drop off a few guns at any point in time along the track somebody steps out of the bush from a camp or whatever Flags us down and we stop and pick them up everything from guns to groceries to Moose if somebody can carry it out of the Bush we'll put it on the train a lot of times we're the only option for them it's a lifeline growing up always loved trains but never thought of doing this for a job until I was actually doing it every day is a little bit different and doesn't get any more beautiful than this out here part of the line runs from Cochrane Ontario 312 kilometers North to the remote community of mussini just ahead of this train is fraserdale that's where George Ross lives his family's Winter Camp sits just 300 meters from the tracks this is our Ross camp we call it Roscoe it's uh I mean my family my brother my sister we all come here whenever we can this was the main camp that started off about 10 years ago so that's where I used to stay with my family with uh my six kids this one over here is my my younger sister and her her kids this thing here was supposed to be something but it looks like junk I don't really like it so I'm gonna rip it down and then I have my stockpile of wood here last year I had close to 40 cords piled up right there a cord is around 4 meters cubed of well-stacked firewood the name comes from the cord that was once used to measure it out I cut this last weekend a little over a day Today George is preparing a load of firewood that he'll send North on the train [Music] I started a few years ago with one wife I cut a lot of window back home I had my shack for wood and it just kept cutting more and more wood and people started to see it as a member of the First Nations George is allowed to harvest wood from his camp thriving business selling the wood to remote Northern Communities like the island of moose Factory I was talking to quite a few others and uh somewhere where they've been buying it was 180 Accord and they wouldn't even get their full order and so they would call me just asking what kind of wood can you provide when can you get it there's no natural gas in Moose Factory and electricity costs up to fifteen hundred dollars a month to heat a home so residents like Bob Chilton rely on George's firewood to fuel their wood burning stoves the coldest I've ever seen it was about minus 42 with a wind chill factor about the 65 to minus 68 and that's cold Bob's a retired firefighter battling smoke for 30 years took a toll on his health I'm on oxygen 24 7. for the rest of my life [Music] the railway here is Major because it's the only way in to bring freight in uh if you go shopping and you want to bring your vehicle Skittles ATVs everything up north the railway brings everything up there if there's no train then there's no access for a fee Jay in the Ontario Northland crew drop off a gondola car at George's camp I've used the gondolas to load wood it's just throw it all in there and they do it all just gotta bring it and wait for it that's when I start and I won't stop until I'm done as much as I can if I stack this wall to wall I can get 40 45 cords in here foreign Jay and the team will pick up and transport George's Gondola packed with firewood 170 kilometers North to musane from there George will need help from his son to load the wood onto sleighs and haul them across the Frozen moose River to Bob's home I brought up quite a bit of what up for Bob talking here to Splinter his health isn't the greatest he's usually the first one on my list to do and all that Wood's going to go to Bobby [Applause] in the mountains drain 100 is closing in on the Avalanche Zone at Rogers Pass while Derek prepares the explosives he'll use to detonate a man-made snowslide play with the big bags today Chad leads an arsenal of machines into position ready to clear up the snow from the blast that includes this 30-ton loader this 20-ton snow fighter equipped with five meter long blades to scoop snow away from the tracks and this 80 year old wedge plow designed to smash a path right through massive piles of snow if a slide does come down we'll have the snow plowing position when we get the okay the snow plow will go in and do its work but on Route he spots a new threat we got a lot of work in here right now the back came down in front of the locomotive it'd scare them [Music] want the icicles to fall on their own those columns probably at least 14 feet high by a diameter of about eight feet over a thousand pounds [Music] shot coming off the wall on the middle of the track we don't want that [Music] these giant icicles form as temperatures rise and melting snow seeps through the tunnels Rock ceiling at night when temperatures fall this dripping water starts to freeze [Music] over time the ice builds up layer upon layer forming an icicle that grows bigger and bigger [Music] until eventually this Frozen giant becomes a danger to both the tracks and trains one cubic meter of ice weighs nearly a ton [Music] my biggest concern is ice columns falling on top of the fellas Chad assigns 23 year old rookie Jimmy Taylor to work under the eyes of experienced Foreman Ben Palace we're going to take the excavator with our machine operator we're gonna head down the track and hopefully knock down some ice a former professional magician this is Jimmy's second year learning the railroad ropes it's a huge career switch that demands commitment I came into the labor industry from being entertainment and being Hospitality so I was terrified coming here not knowing what to expect during my initial orientation I got uh this right here tattooed on me which is my employee number it's not a job it's a way of life I'll be staying with it for a while today we're in charge of switching the tracks this means the train can't come through the tunnel unless we switch it back to this line the ice is blocking the passage through the clan William tunnel at Eagle Pass [Music] tunnels were built throughout the mountains to protect trains from avalanches in the winter and mudslides in the spring originally the tunnels were twin track but today's Freight cars are so big that only a single train can fit through people used to go in with Landing bars and picks and pick it by hand a lot of people if they get you know killed and injured in it we rush it there could be an accident there could be but leave a chunk of ice a train could potentially go on the ground right after us it could be an injury that could be God knows what so an eye on the clock basically to make sure we're not going to hurt anybody hey Ivan no away okay that sounds good [Music] hey Ivan it's gonna get the Wallace Chad's team is battling to clear giant Columns of ice from the tunnel at Eagle Pass potentially derail a train if they hit a train they can break a rail so they're definitely a big danger of the Railway thanks I'll just push this out of the way so I can clear it okay yeah foreign 's Train 100 carrying its Precious Cargo to bond is closing in on Chad's crew we got two hours okay okay let's knock these columns out the ice can be pretty dangerous because if it builds up it'll start hitting track units as they go by it'll be essentially like a big boulder on the track all the material that came down from that ice column we just want to get it out of the tunnel obviously and then get it away from the side of the tracks I just don't want to hold up any uh trains right now we're just clean up that little pile once we get on the outside of the tunnel there's a nice Palm right there that's going to come down okay Kate are you all set up [Music] nice ice for your whiskey buddy that could have came down by itself and uh worst case scenario hit a locomotive and break a rail we only got about 15 minutes to go here so I got to get Ivan moving I'm just going to get bed and the boys this side of us okay okay we can get Ben and Jimmy down to the switch it's all clear I just got the call there from Chad he requires you to shut down what you're doing there now okay sounds good thank you with the line clear Jimmy gets the okay to switch it back into service I'm checking the points to make sure there's nothing obstructing the rails switches are where most derailments I've personally seen happen [Music] I've learned all this the hard way uh a while back ago I ended up leaving a switch open thankfully a train didn't go through the limits I puked everywhere I thought that was the end point of my career I lost a lot of pay I lost a lot of Privileges and especially I lost a lot of respect [Music] Jimmy needs to claw back that respect to prove his worth as a Railroader I'm watching the wheels for smoke or redness in case a break might be stuck on I'm watching the knuckles of the train that attaches and cars together I'm watching those to make sure there's no cracks or chips or dents I'm also watching the airlines to make sure none of them are flapping around none of them are leaking at all this stretch of lying may be clear but Chad's job isn't done he needs to race his snow clearing team to Roger's pass to prepare for the snow slide Derek's about to trigger this is our explosives magazine big box of Boom these are 12.5 kilograms and our big ones are 25 kilograms we're uh gonna take down some cornices and hopefully some big slopes this ammonium nitrate fuel oil or anfo is a relatively stable blasting agent used in mines and quarries but it needs a big kick to get it going so here we have just sticks a typical Dynamite which are used to initiate the larger explosives it's one big Chain Reaction two three four five Derek will drop the explosives from a helicopter to release the loose slabs of snow so they don't slide under the railroad on their own there okay sounds good [Music] 2500 kilometers east in Ontario I've been loading a gun blood getting ready to set it up martini now I'm waiting to get on a train to deliver all the woods the Ontario Northland railroad is one of the last Flagstop train services in the country just basically Away by arms and away my gloves in the air they'll see me just so they know that we're getting on [Music] uh we got a flag here at George Ross's camp anytime on this train get good step out of the Bush step out of your vehicle flag the train down and stop and pick you up and anything you happen to have with you do see oh yeah that's George and his dog bear with the gondola hooked up George just needs to make sure his gear in musane is ready to go I gotta go get prep mosquitoes I gotta make sure that they're fueled and ready belts are on it and working condition basically my nephew borrowed it and I just need to make sure it's all done hopefully if I can get the wheel over to the owl [Music] we picked uh George up at uh fraserdale and he's now in mussini and all the work he gives again musani was established in the 1900s as a fur trading port located near the tip of James Bay it's the gateway to extremely remote communities in the Arctic the wetlands here are frozen solid George and his 15 year old son George Jr need to need to use their snowmobiles to transport Bob's wood two kilometers across the Frozen moose River well I got to be able to get closer I can to the ice it doesn't look too bad actually right here as long as I can get to here I can go that way all right let's load this way I just known as this morning there's a big crack in the bottom a little nervous about it break it just need to make it there and back been cracking a couple holes over here too looks okay I'll find out when I drive it just get at it in the selkirks Jordy and Jim's train makes it through the clan William tunnel [Applause] [Music] it's in life and there's nothing I'd rather do but drive a train railroading is what it's all about the trains three 400 horsepower locomotives are powering Trane 100 right into the Avalanche Zone at Rogers Pass [Music] get our bombs out build them up we don't need a full stick of dynamite to initiate these larger explosives so I'm cutting them in half this is just a hole for the fuse to be inserted into so let's get in the air Chad and his team move their machines into place ready to clear up whatever snow the bombs release 31 year old snow fighter Derek Moore gears up for action in the valley below I've been with CB for nine years now snow Fighter for four and a half and this is our chaos f940 snow fighter these are equipped with giant snow Wings on a V plow so we can directionally plow whichever way we need to go giant wings away from our adjustment plates for plow height we'll go around the other side and make sure there's even amounts of shims on both sides checking oil fluids coolant levels hose leaks anything that could impede your day quick visual check on our blower fins we only have two of them and when one goes down it's a far way to Calgary to get a new one 100 operators shoulders if anything goes wrong in the field if it has to do with fluids or a bolt coming loose or a pin out that is operator's onus just getting ready to go for Avalanche bombing today in avalanche country we have tons to worry about it's just about knowing what to do the protection part Avalanche beacons every morning before you get into Avalanche territory you do a simple check battery percentage transmit and we're ready to rock the beacons send out a homing signal that helps Crews locate workers if they get buried by an avalanche I was hoping for like two feet on the track for the first one two feet that's nothing a six meters six meters oh yeah on the other side of the slide Zone veteran snow plow operator John Popplewell and conductor Grant fioco also move into position I've been in snowplow service since November of 1985. I haven't had a window it's like this for quite a few years John's 25-ton wedge plow was custom made to punch through snow drifts up to five meters deep the ball over time no goofing around hit a bridge with the nose down and then you wind up with a set of dentures very bad we're looking for really fat and loaded slopes here with the large overhangs on top to get the best results we can from all of our explosives there's some cornices there I think that has the potential to you know pop a slab out there's got one there too unless we see anything else really pop out in the next couple minutes here we'll just uh go for those two oh man that thing is not small I think I can make that go with some big boom yeah let's get it okay I have two explosives ready to go here ready for open door open door once we're in place a little uh Derek takes aim at this shelf of snow that threatens to launch an avalanche onto the railroad [Music] just a little bit further in [Music] high above Rogers Pass Derek is set to unleash his controlled Avalanche looks pretty good we're on the way talk to Chad he's got large snowplows and snow fighters in place is the case we hit the rail without him but I think it's the possibilities [Music] now we're just waiting for the boom and hopefully that cornice releases and gives us some good results [Music] [Music] that's good results oh there's a good Blast coming down see the cloud coming in I've taken out a good chunk of that cornice they popped a small slab Avalanche here we've got probably a size three Avalanche at least here and it's still running and picking up Mass awesome that's cool that might dust the road the next shelf is even bigger oh this is a nice big one a little bit without bigger bags should be about to go any second now there we go awesome great results here we cleaned out the entire slope we got a big powder Cloud still traveling down the valley here we've actually got really uh close to the railway tracks here with this result uh this is obviously one of the things we take the most seriously on the other hand I do have a lot of fun taking out entire mountainsides with large explosives are detonated so we did get something on the tracks our pile is quite large [Applause] bombing triggered enough snow to fall onto our track time to work [Music] East in musane ready George and his son head down to cross the Moose River with their damaged sleigh I mean Georgia we're going to be going over with two snow machines he has enough experience he pays attention that's why I don't worry about them as much when we go and do things because he knows enough scary going on the ice I like to do this wood get the job done I needed to make sure that when I go and deliver the wood that the ice is safe enough I don't want to take any chance we're going on here and we'll follow a creek just gotta go pick up some speed I guess it looks safe it may be safe but it doesn't take much I'll get stuck I don't want to go too fast either [Music] so it's supposed to be right there bye that's it in the mountains Train 100 is bearing down on the Avalanche Zone and here we come to the big one three or four meters Chad's team gears up to clear the snow slime it measures six meters deep and covers more than 60 meters of track [Music] Avalanche snow is unlike any other snow you'll see it falls and tumbles and compacts so hard that it sometimes can be like digging cement not to mention the trees rocks and whatever else debris comes down with it see the top of the excavator on the opposite opposite side working back towards us as clean as we can as quick as we can uh [Music] if he goes too far over he's going down the bank in the mountains it's always a battle [Music] John's plow crew gets set to clear the snow that has come down on their side now let's bust this slide up there Benjamin Federico over [Music] uh we got the okay all machines are clear so we'll clean the rest of this up we only need what a three feet either side for a train to clear safely looks good backing up to the clear for trains to run we're gonna Park our machines let trains go by [Music] that's why we're here to keep it safe for trains to keep moving [Music] on the Moose river in northern Ontario George Ross's sleigh is on its last legs it's gonna survive [Music] he and his 15 year old son George Jr are trying to reach the island of moose Factory to deliver Bob Chilton's firewood cool weather for another two weeks it's like the news another quarter one Bobby his health isn't the greatest and the wood's going to help keep warm during this cold front it'll keep them warm and less stress for him [Music] how's it going that was surprising not bad actually it's good it was actually pretty smooth Crossing I thought it was Rafa where the water broke off by now there's always something fix it later [Music] for me doing this type of work is something I've always done I've always enjoyed being outdoors and I'll keep doing it as long as I can get a little more gratifying knowing that you bring a wood to someone and an elder that's good to knowing that he's getting what he needs that's it done don't enjoy thank you very much from so well done it's another successful delivery for Jay in the onr team bad weather stops planes it doesn't usually stop us if you own an Arpita big role to my for me I've used the boss cars this year for sure has gone blue which makes it easier and then everybody gets what they want I'm sure the wood is going to help them out and extend his heat source [Music] tracks in Rogers Pass finally clear Jordy and Jim guide Train 100 through the slide Zone at a snail's base yeah with the mountains behind them they put the pedal to the metal eyeball that's good we're on Fast Track so I'm going to get this baby we'll be able to hold that right into town pretty much Railway is an essential service of Canada the railway pushes the economy of Canada forward without the railway we really wouldn't have the economic stability the Canada has a 754 clear signal clear signal almost wrapped up here 15 minutes we'll be climbing off this baby having braved the worst the mountains can throw at them Jordy and Jim's day is just about over day in a life railroading [Music] it takes three more days for crew crew to navigate Train 100 the last 2 700 kilometers of its Journey the precious delivery of food and Freight vital to keeping homes across North America replenished reached spawn Ontario intact and unscathed Canadian Pacific's Train 100 has done its job it escaped being pierced by giant daggers of ice and crushed by Massive slides of snow all because of the dedicated Crews who battle brutal weather and deadly terrain to keep this crucial Mountain Railroad running railroaders are a different breed working all different hours of the night weather it takes certain people to endure all that it's a big family of all the railroaders we just want to get the job done and see the trains move [Music] in the heart of the Rockies if it could go wrong it's going to go wrong raging blizzards you add in the extra snow you have tons to worry about perilous descents downhill from here and treacherous Mountain tunnels [Music] threaten to derail a crucial 15 000 ton delivery of grain from the prairies to the West Coast there's a lot of pressure on everybody that's busy grain keeps us going that's for sure yeah they have to be on point work fast and get her done so we don't hold up any trades [Music] [Applause] [Music] that's just a ton of snow high in the Rocky Mountains intense blizzards have been hammering Canadian Pacific's railroad Crews for three days Non-Stop is nature you can't predict nature as snow continues to pound the mountains the teams fan out to fight back 50 kilometers east of the snow Zone in the Prairies 1042 East clear signal too Dale me oh we're descending right now charging the train ING with the locomotes their power is mine conductor Sean Davis and Veteran engineer Glenn Goetz are hauling their two kilometer long train to a grain elevator outside Calgary we're holding 5180 tons and that's all empty Grain cars at the moment they've got 112 empty cars to fill with 15 000 tons of grain [Music] they need to get this precious load 1 000 kilometers west across the country to the Pacific coast from the pickup Point outside Calgary the crew must guide the heavy train up elevations of 1600 meters into the heart of the ice encrusted Rocky Mountains down steep to rain through winding mountain passes to reach a transport ship waiting at the Port of Vancouver any delay to the ship's departure will cost Canadian grain dealers as much as 25 thousand dollars a day in docking fees there's a lot of pressure on everybody you want to get out there and get get it done in sap that's busy green keeps us going that's for sure yeah Prairie Farmers export around 30 billion dollars worth of grain to over 100 countries every year more than 95 percent of it travels across the country by rail so it's an indispensable service for Canadian grain Growers the wheat is world famous but so is the journey no other country on Earth transports its grain as far to get to Market [Music] we're about a mile and a half away you can see the grain elevator on the left there that's where we're going to be stopping the quicker we get the job done the quicker they can get the grain loaded and gone bottom line we work as a team so it's great I've got a job to do on the ground he's got a job to do up here just get the job done as safely as we can go home with all our fingers and toes west of the Rockies high in the Selkirk mountains more than two feet of snow fell on the tracks last night right where the Grain Train is headed Derek Moore and his 25 year old Apprentice Brett Fair have been called in to blast the snow off the tracks all right proceeding through Yoho their 260 horsepower snow fighter is equipped with three blades to push the snow and ice five meters away from the tracks I love operating machinery and put on track is just a bonus it's a challenge Steve grades tight Corners you add in the extra snow you have tons to worry about I'm from Ontario came out here in 2008 and I wouldn't change anything I love the mountains my stepfather was a Railroader for 35 years and he's the one that got me on I still have my toy CP train set from when I was a kid [Music] know what to do with it and how to get it where you want it to go way harder than just pushing a control and moving it forward and backwards what kid can't say no to driving a yellow Tonka truck all the time it's the most fun I've ever had [Music] as he clears the snow Derek must check the switches that route the trains between different tracks radar we're gonna go out and make sure the switch is looking good you just want to make sure you're clear of any obstruction let's just try to open it hit me a heavy coating of ice has locked it up [Music] just in the Prairies it's go time for Sean and Glenn one more they have just two hours to set up their train obviously you don't want this stuff sitting around because if you're not moving you're not making money [Music] 48 five to go [Music] as soon as those cars show up we're trying to get on top of it as quick as we can and get them loaded steel cables drag the empty cars under the loaders that fill them with grain you got two-thirds facility manager Cody swear has to keep a close eye on all the moving Parts I'm watching all of our drags and belts and motors and making sure nothing's overloaded and just oversee all the guys and make sure everything's going right [Music] [Music] it's kind of dominoes it just kind of falls apart everywhere else it makes everything else delayed this is Amber Durham this is what we're shipping right now it's going to be tight but I think we'll get it done on time so far nothing's gone wrong every year more than 400 000 cars get loaded here one car alone is worth thirty thousand dollars I've probably done 25 on my track and he's probably done about the saves almost halfway ready to go on one now what hey Michael can you see if uh Brian's truck's got a leaker there or no Cody spots Grain on the track one of the cars is leaking hopefully Michael can get down there in a hurry because we're falling a little bit behind and we need to get going here we really have no idea which car it is so we're right on top of it oh it can be pretty bad because it's going all the way back to the coast so we could lose an entire car and there's a lot of money in these cars [Music] just outside Calgary The Hunt is on for a leaking grain car wait a sec right here here's the leak Michael needs to crank the hopper door shut before they lose any more grain let me check the bottoms to make sure that all the cars are closed but sometimes it's just a little sliver that we can't see or that we missed it's a small leak but uh if we didn't catch it or find it that Hopper that car would have been empty by the time we got to Vancouver [Music] cars to go oh you're done uh Brian finally all 112 cars are filled with four million dollars worth of grain and heading west we're done here a new crew Begins the Long Haul to Vancouver the shoulders of Veteran engineer Rob Panos and 29 year old rookie conductor Carrie ilik to make the ascent into the Rockies there's snow and ice build up so there is a struggle for sure just make sure you hang on [Music] I'm the engineer I've been here for 35 years now basically I control the speed and try to keep the train in one piece so that the conductor does not have to fix it I still enjoy the job no two trips are the same driving the train into these rugged mountains is familiar ground for Rob but not for Carrie who used to work on a farm this is my second trip before here I was a pen Rider in a feedlot so I made a living off the back of a horse so this is a big change for me you can't get much nowhere than her [Laughter] definitely still in the learning process so so far she's been doing a very good job I'm a brand new conductor six weeks of class remark lots of exams going on lots of rides with a coach who's showing you what to do along the way clear signal there as a conductor lots of it is calling out your signals to notify my engineer knowing what the train consists of if you've got dangerous loads grain whatever you are there's just so many different situations you can get put in on the railroad there's not a lot of near-miss accidents or small incidents things can go wrong very easily in a very short period of time the deeper they go the more unpredictable this Wilderness becomes L deer black bears grizzly bears almost all the animals are attracted to the grain that's why they try to keep the tracks clean of green [Music] as they climb higher into the snow Zone emergency broadcast oh man an emergency call emergency test emergency test 8708 West is at Mile 117 117. they're a long way from any town radio contact here can mean the difference between life and death testing the emergency call over it is a dangerous job the equipment we're dealing with the lightest piece is about 30 tons you make a mistake around here you're probably going to lose something hand arm leg or your life [Music] deeper into the mountains snow Fighters Derek and Brett are still struggling to free a frozen switch switch does it just over to allow us to enter a siding track or continue straight on a main track just try to open it [Music] switches cleaned and lines both directions no problem it's now set for the oncoming Grain Train 2500 kilometers east on the edge of the Arctic Wilderness the Ontario Northland railroad is a crucial Lifeline for people who live in the far north ticket the most extreme 300 kilometer long section of this Railway runs north from Cochrane Ontario up to mussini [Music] half the time you work at all the elements for the indigenous community in Moose Factory an island beyond the railway's northern endpoint life can be extremely challenging as a community we experience a lot of polar bear sightings and it's becoming more and more frequent one of the main reasons for polar bears beginning to make their way to our communities is loss of habitat climate change these days is starting to affect the polar ice caps and the ice up there there's nowhere else for them to go other than South which is where we are unfortunately in the past year we had an instance where the polar bear actually made its way into the community so we had to put it down we're kind of at the point where we have to take some action [Music] just calling the Bears over so we can give them their afternoon meal 300 kilometers South in Cochrane biologist Dylan McCart works at a unique polar bear Sanctuary good boy it helps communities deal humanely with polar bear encounters it's important to be able to live trap and relocate the Bears a better alternative than actually having to kill them the sanctuary has designed a special trap to help the residents of moose Factory it will gently catch Bears so they can be transported and released back into the wild do you want to go inside and hook that up a bucket of bait is connected to a series of pulleys and cables the bait that we would be using would normally be sealed meat and that will bring the Bears right into the Trap so Sydney is going to be our bear today pull on the bucket it's going to trigger the door the door is going to slam [Music] just bring the Trap over to the train station right now and it's going to be loaded onto their freight train [Music] we're switching out the head end of the freight to go to Moose and Eve [Music] from Cochrane the rail crew will transport the Trap 300 kilometers North across the Frozen moose River and vast tracts of wilderness to reach the end of the line in moosinee from there a helicopter pilot will airlift the Trap across the icy James Bay Estuary and deliver it to the island of moose Factory this will be the stuff that'll be on the head end we'll get the guys to roll ahead and probably Gonna Roll it in boxes sounds good be the safest one yeah right there all of life's Essentials join the trap on board the train heads North the Trap can't arrive soon enough for moose Factory's residents polar bears are apex predators are not afraid of anything we have a lot of Elders in the community a lot of children it's very unsafe for our community members [Music] in the Rockies Rob and Kerry push the three locomotives powering the Grain Train to Full Throttle to climb kicking Horse Pass takes an awful lot of power rising to 1 600 meters this is the highest point in the journey and one of the most challenging this is our slide area [Music] in this Zone the mountains are far too steep for snow to cling onto it can slide unexpectedly snow slides are not as Fierce as Avalanches but they can still stop a train you only have about three miles of track that is affected by slides we're on the Green Tree when a slide came down in front of us and when we hit the slide well the train hit us and punted us through it to stop snow slides from burying the tracks the line's pioneering Engineers built a series of protective covers for the rails called snow sheds [Music] to make them strong they interlocked heavy Timber logs tight against the Mountainside to create a sturdy retaining wall Douglas fir posts formed an open wall on the outer side they braced the roof with supports and topped it with thick Timber planks pitched at the same angle as the mountain slope above it when the mountains can't hold the snow it slides downhill across the shed roof falling well away from trains in all there is more than a kilometer of these protective sheds along the mountain line the original Snow sheds were built through Rogers Pass in the 1880s teams of woodsmen cut massive trees from the mountain to build the walls they squared the logs with axes using winches the crews hoisted the Hefty Timbers one by one before adding the roof with Hands-On planks it took a full two years to build the initial 31 snow sheds [Music] fantastic way to go [Music] 2500 kilometers east [Music] Ontario Northland Railway conductor Phil Selman an engineer Jeff glinsky a running the train carrying the polar bear trap out of Cochrane the first time I brought a polar bear trap quite the news last year when the polar bear was seen we were in the Bunko sleeping during the day and when the moon when they shot the one it was only a couple miles from where we're sleeping so not a very nice thought their Hunter still they're looking for me I'm the first station my mother was uh was a Cree I knew I was going to be a real older when I was little because my uncle was actually the track supervisor over here so right after high school I started here they slowed the train to a crawl as they approached the Moose River Bridge it's under repair so they have to creep across the job is to try and get the product into the customer we get at the Moose knee they have arrangements for it to go further so we don't really don't okay so over here it's starting to build up a little bit just shows you the strength of nature [Music] 419 419 there green cautionary limit solution that was a ship spot already there yeah [Music] in BC's Selkirk mountains snow plow crews are now clearing the track around golden as the Roadmaster along this stretch of track 33 year old Nick Beyer has his hands full the joys of traveling in reverse while plows blast the snow see before interesting white Roadmaster make fire on 13 over Nick gathers his team to make a crucial repair [Music] we have a rail to change today uh based on a defect that was found at mile 79.8 on the canal track that's needing immediate replacement so that it's not gonna break on us or possibly derail a train quite honestly I'm a pretty Junior guy in the position that I'm in I became Roadmaster just this past fall I've had a lot of faith placed in me so I hope I'm up to it the area that I'm the Roadmaster for definitely does present the most challenges in the territory we have a lot of very steep terrain running through some of the most scenic but nasty parts of the country where we get cold temperatures which the track itself doesn't like if it could go wrong it's going to go wrong here we're gonna get just over an hour to do this job it's going to be a bit of a Mad scramble hey Tristan uh where do you want me to stop hey Nick we gotta proceed Wester I think we passed right okay we overshot on heading back West out and gotta love weiner we are proceeding to mile 79 93 on the cannot track for having a hard time locating a defect that they found unfortunately it's buried under snow so we're kind of hunting a needle in a haystack as it is the defect is an internal weakness in the rail with only a Rough Guide that it's at Mile 79.93 the crew begins a ground search of course it won't be in an open spot and it's all buried under ice 7993 should be like right in here this is a high stress situation for us in the Rocky Mountains the snow shed was built to protect trains from slides coming down Robin carries 15 000 ton Grain Train has passed safely through the snow sheds they're now at the railroad's highest point and they face a precarious descent you have to control the speed long narrow passageways carved deep inside the mountains they're called the spiral tunnels and about one mile we will be entering the top spiral tunnel they were built in 1908 to decrease the grade going down the mountain the mountain grades are so steep in this Zone that runaway trains often used to fly off the tracks so Engineers drilled and blasted two looping tunnels right through Cathedral mountain and mount Ogden they reduced the incline by half using a corkscrew ramp for the trains it took more than one thousand workers two years to punch 2 000 meters of tunnel through the solid limestone completed in 1909 the spiral tunnels were a true engineering Wonder of their age they made The Descent safer but still not without risk even the grades that we're dealing with now it can be very dangerous this train here were 15 000 tons going down to two and a half percent grade physics and gravity have a tendency to cause problems shall we say if things go wrong guiding the two kilometer long train through the spiral tunnels will be no simple task for Rob he must slow the train down to 30 kilometers an hour to guide it round the first spiral Loop that drops 17 meters as it curves down along a Switchback route it descends even further before entering the second tunnel the line drops another 15 meters on the curved track then doubles back on itself once again as it rolls down into the valley each of the trains 448 wheels will be pushing outwards with four tons of force as it makes this Corkscrew descent [Music] we're gonna be going downhill here very shortly if I'm not careful as to how what I do with the throttle I can rip a train apart very easily next thing you gotta know you got a derailment it can get real messy real fast the spiral tunnels especially for someone like me who who's just starting to go through them they're almost kind of scary like you could film a horror movie in them something goes wrong it's usually bad there's not a lot of room for error at all this is the entrance to the top tunnel [Music] here we go so you're in the top spiral tunnel this might be tricky all kinds of ice land inside the tunnel if we have problems inside the tunnel then it becomes a major concern in 1997 this 11 000 ton Grain Train entered the tunnel's first spiral curve too fast 16 cars on the rear of the train flew off the track remaining stuck inside the tunnel the front 55 cars detached and kept going gaining speed down the hill before crashing off the track beyond the lower tunnel crew of three escaped unhurt but 800 meters of track got badly mangled [Music] [Music] being inside the mountain is very eerie it's very dark just get on and go at a slow rate how deep is the snow I have no idea west of the Spiral tunnels if we [Music] deck we're here right there yeah okay Nick's repair crew has found the defect s we've come out here to make sure that we get this piece of rail changed out so we can make sure the line is safe I just says that we only have about an hour of track time it's tough going when the ground is Frozen I think the guys that work here are probably the best ones in the system because they work in one of the hardest parts of the system there is a train coming at us and we can't stop it we got to get the goods flowing so we need to make sure that we're clear to the track before the time that it gets here [Music] are you between the crib Wicked what do you got 18 six okay how long is that real 25 feet do 25 feet so I was thinking let's do 25 see that there and then Jimmy boy only has to make two cuts instead of three at a minimum we have to replace 18 feet in this particular respect we want to do 25 because the rail we have is 25 feet so we don't have to crop it we save ourselves a cut coming down Jimmy [Music] we have to be on point work fast and try to get her done so we don't hold up any trades all right if we're not done that train has to stop if that train has to stop Goods aren't getting to the terminals on time we just can't have that it's not acceptable good to go up yep [Music] what's it holding on a little bit that wasn't cut we're under the crunch we've got 20 minutes to half an hour but it's going to come down to the wire in the snowbound woods of Northern Ontario turbo 10 miles out of moose and Eve Phil and Jeff pilot their train carrying the polar bear trap over the last Frozen River and into mussini we delivered the polar bear trap the job's done for another day unless they need more [Music] first one I've seen like this now it's the job of yard supervisor Steve ludit to unload the polar bear trap but as the forklift moves to lift it there's a rod underneath and locked the door in the back if we pick it up as it is we'll bend it block it on the frame so we don't damage it to protect the mechanism underneath the crew slides a block under the heavy trap [Music] success yeah that's the rod here here under here didn't damage it so that's it I don't want polar bears around here they're coming [Music] foreign s [Music] man let there be light the end of the time the front end of Robin Kerry's Grain Train exits the first 991 meter long spiral tunnel [Music] one down one to go we're coming up to the entrance to the bottom spiral tunnel the bottom tunnel is basically a half of a figure eight you go in and you come out right underneath yourself for a train as long as Robin carries they'll see the tail end of their train still going into the 891 meter long tunnel as their front cab exits straight down you'll see a truck coming out of the mountain that's where we're coming out of inside the second spiral tunnel Rob must slowly guide the 15 000 ton train around a curved ramp that drops 15 meters the tight curve of the track will put intense pressure on the Train's Wheels against the rails then he faces one final hurdle a straight but steeper stretch of track that leads down into the kicking horse River Valley known as the field Hill this handle here is the automatic brake it sets up every car on the train except for the locomotives on trains this big automatic air brakes limit the speed of every car it will be [Music] will be a bottom tunnel amazing engineering feat in 1908. [Music] it's amazing that in 1908 that this was even possible so glad we're through that 8708 West clear signal to Cathedral East oh CR train up though right above us about 4 000 feet back into our train is where those cars are [Music] you come out one end can see your tail end going in the other it is really neat to see this is where the mountain grade going into field starts hey more that's it there is a little bit that wasn't cut all the way through the whole thing isn't it just ahead of Robin carries train tight it's always tight Nick's crew is fighting the clock to swap out a defective rail you try and knock that Spike under the rail while Keith lifts up on it one of you perfect give her a little Bop on that head yeah that's good nothing beats a sledgehammer to solve this kind of problem okay that's good for now let's get this new one in [Music] triggered out all right to fit the new rail snug into place they're using an Innovative technique you call Fire Sticks we light them up let it get hot and then watch it grow has to cut the new rail a few centimeters short of the Gap that it needs to fill that's because temperatures here very wildly as the seasons change if the team cuts the rail to fit the Gap precisely during this freezing winter weather when the summer comes the new rail would expand under the heat of the Sun and cause the track to buckle out of alignment so the team cuts the rail short and uses burning alcohol gel to heat it up this way the rail can expand without buckling when the seasons change we have half an hour okay the fire snake heats up the rail to the point where it expands so we can get our joint bars back on and everything will look good here we're gonna be late as the rail expands into position Nick's crew pounds the final spikes into place we have three minutes to be clear let's get out of here this is success but we still got to get in the clear before our time's up so we're gonna saddle up right now and get on the way [Music] just east of Nick's crew we're about to start going down the hill Robin carries next challenge is the tricky descent downfield Hill into the valley below sometimes you can get into very serious problems on the field Hill biggest concern would be how well it breaks going down the side of the mountain [Music] in the winter time the braking system does not work as well as it does in the summertime freezing temperatures can cause parts of the Train's braking system to contract reducing braking efficiency right now I'm just conditioning the brakes getting them ready to go down the hill [Music] most of the Hill would be 50 miles per hour depending on the size of train as for the subdivision itself Max B would be 45 miles per hour 50 50 miles per hour I'm not an engineer yet as you can tell I've got probably the second fastest speed down this field Hill the only one that beat me was the dream that derailed this Train's not gonna it's not going to lose that fight 35 years experience gives Robin innate feel for how far he can push his train gotta be cautious where it went over the edge is it named after the conductor of the engineer named after the conductor it's now known as Gilbert's Gulch you don't want to have an accident on the railway because they'll name it after you well that's a fair statement definitely is we are arriving in beautiful downtown field every time I come on a train the engineer about the subdivision they work on and they have their own way of getting their train down the hill safely it's actually quite amazing [Music] halfway across Canada in musume there's pliers on this side here make sure it doesn't catch on to this I'll break it off helicopter pilot Chris Eden is hooking up the polar bear trap so he can airlift it to the island of moose Factory only way to get it across unless if you wait until the river thaws out then they get the barge in and they bring it over by barge you want to just make sure that it's all equal and level so it flies nice because it gets pretty hairy at times when it needs to get spinning it's rocking swinging back and forth so you feel all of that but just as they gear up for takeoff [Music] clouds threaten to obscure visibility see where he's going Chris would need to fly beneath them at a level of just 200 feet we have to be within gliding distance of short if our engine fails and if we're only 200 feet off the ground you lose your engine I'll make it and it's that River's cold and it's moving pretty quick [Music] at the helipad in musane wait and see what happens Chris waits for Clear Skies to airlift the polar bear trap to the island of moose Factory [Music] right now is looking better [Music] it should be on this side any minute and I can't wait to receive it [Music] all right [Music] Delta India is off Expedition [Music] Chris needs to keep the load steady if it spins out of control over the icy River it could bring the helicopter down [Music] spin it a little bit [Music] nice and slow it's rocking [Music] after a precarious six kilometer Journey touchdown [Music] this is Fairchild made quite a journey all the way from Cochran Ontario VIA Rail via helicopter it's a moose Factory so I'm glad I made it in one piece Warren can now use the trap to help protect the lives of both moose Factory's people and its polar bears we're glad to take some positive action on the polar bear activity in the area and have a Humane option to relocate these animals [Music] three thousand kilometers West [Music] Rob and carrier through the Rocky Mountains and across Nick's new track those jobs where you have to have to someone who's willing to help it it makes your job so much easier as a new hire conductor [Music] this is where we get off the train it was a long trip time to get some rest another crew handles the final leg of the trip into Vancouver at the Port belts and shoots Channel all fifteen thousand tons of grain into the ship's massive Hull hey guys good day today yeah the grain can't sit idle in one spot or one tank for very long we've got to keep the process moving we used to open these cars up manually now our operators can sit in a booth with a joystick and a computer screen this is much like sitting at home playing a video game this shipment will head to markets in Europe and the Middle East for Pasta Production Canadian Pacific's Heavy Haul Grain Train has done its job [Music] safely transporting its precious load through tunnels from hell and Ice encrusted mountains to put food on tables across the world all on account of the Brave Crews who battle the brutal weather to keep this crucial Lifeline running in the winter months on the mountains the biggest challenges we have are winter itself where you may have Avalanches one day and then be fighting with an overnight snowfall of six feet the next the pace that you operate at the responsibility that's placed on you honestly this job gets addictive in the heart of the Rockies I'm gonna be honest with you terrifying smashed tracks this isn't good we got a huge potential derailment and Century old bridges if you're afraid of heights this is not the job for you challenge Crews as they haul a crucial 16 500 ton payload of coal across the mountains there's the black stuff we Haul you're not going to survive at those speeds and without weight your hat foreign [Music] Rockies veteran engineer Jeff mosiff and conductor Grant Bay are racing their empty train East to collect a valuable 3 million dollar shipment of coal I'm driving a 152 car cold empty [Music] cool trains are the biggest the longest hardest trains to run so you got to be where your train is you can rip it apart easily I know how a train feels what a train should be doing it takes a while to get that feel it's night and day driving a train in the winter and then it's in the summer a lot more to worry about and think about in the winter as an engineer I like to run a train through the Rocky Mountains teach a lot more on the ball you can see that in your blood or it isn't it's loaded we'll take four separate locomotives producing more than 17 000 horsepower as well as great skill to power this Goliath through the mountains I worked the main line in signals for 15 years Grant worked him for a few years too so kind of a Senior Crew you got today yeah I'm a conductor on CP Rail and uh Jeff runs the train and I make sure that everything's in running order for 8 300 feet so we're well over a mile and a half We Go From Here down to whatever Coal Mine the Train's uh destined for this train today at uh dust for Green Hills [Music] Jeff and Grant must take a winding path through the mountains crossing the century-old Stoney Creek Bridge to reach a coal mine in Green Hills here they'll take on 16 500 tons of freshly mined coal and begin its 1 000 kilometer Journey West back through the Rockies to the port of Vancouver that's where a ship is waiting to be loaded and it must depart before nightfall [Music] I would say of 70 of our work is is coal and it's been since 1970 they started the cold trip coal is a vital part of Canada's economy it's used to manufacture the steel needed for buildings Bridges ships and railroads the industry is worth over four billion dollars in British Columbia alone the pressure is on Jeff and Grant to deliver their load on time costs money right if it's delayed long enough time is money coal run will take them up into the heart of the Hazardous Avalanche Zone where history weighs heavy on the minds of the crew actually there was an incident in 95 where two of our co-workers got killed over on I did come down when they hit it and there was three men on the crew that day and one survived we all become to know each other on the railroad as a kind of family and yeah they were one guy was pretty close yeah so it was tough for a while ahead of Jeff and Grant's train in Glacier National Park CPE Foreman's down the Cameron structures captains in his modified rail truck engineer Kent Jones is on call we take care of bridges culverts retaining walls tunnels we're on our way down to Stoney Creek Bridge model 76.19 in the cannot track and we're going to be performing our Ridge inspection there are more than three thousand Bridges across Canadian Pacific's network of tracks today Kent is heading to one of the most spectacular pinch points on the coal run the mighty Stoney Creek Bridge Stony Creek Bridge is a steel structure it's one of the highest we have on our territory here it's 300 plus feet to the ground it's a pretty historic Bridge it's been here for a long time originally it was a wooden structure when completed in 1885 the original Stoney Creek Bridge became the tallest wooden bridge in the world this bridge was a crucial link enabling the first transcontinental train to run across Canada in the same year the bridge was rebuilt from Steel in 1893 to increase its resilience to heavier and longer trains carrying Lumber and coal for over a century the bridge has been an integral part of the route through the Rocky Mountains to reach the bridge take a look at that Jeff and Grant must first guide their coal train through the Selkirk mountains that are currently buried in snow our job just involves making sure the track is secure for trains to go across country trains can't run safely if there's more than 10 centimeters of snow on the tracks so 31 year old assistant machine operator Amanda cymac and production manager Kevin Thompson are working hard to clear the way it's a big deal when go down and every minute counts [Music] Amanda has been working on the railroad for three years I was a legal assistant before this and all I really looked at was concrete walls but out here I mean I love it I love being a Railroader you look around and you remember just where you are and how beautiful it is I can't imagine what it would have been like way back in the day having less Machinery than what we use out here in the early days of the Railway Crews of men one thousand strong armed with little more than shovels were used to clear the snow off the tracks it wasn't until the iconic wedge plows were developed in the 1880s that machines took over this grueling task unchanged in designed since these powerful machines Remain the Mountain Railroad workhorses to this day [Music] shape on them to both sides they can clear it off and then the trains can come out behind us we're getting into the area where there's quite a bit foreign there's tons of trains a day it's never ending so we've got to make sure that every bit of it's safe it's very important just as they clear the final stretch of the tracks are considerable too high an avalanche warning forces Amanda and Kent's Cruz to a halt [Music] [Applause] it's terrifying right now to be honest with you terrifying all right [Music] in Glacier National Park we'll have to wait and see if anything comes down then we can travel an avalanche warning has brought work Crews to a complete standstill performing Kent Jones stopped in the main track Kent Jones is trying to reach Stoney Creek Bridge to carry out a crucial inspection all it takes is the schedule to change a little bit and your track time either gain it or you lose it [Music] oh four and a half the minor Avalanche didn't reach the rail but the 30-minute wait has messed up Ken's schedule [Music] higher up in the mountains Amanda and Kevin also get the go-ahead everything's clear nothing hit the track today so we'll move on their 1920s snowplow has cleared the path for the coal trains get out of here I mean look at this I get paid to see this pretty sweet to be Canadian I'll tell you that much at Stoney Creek Bridge yeah now down yeah exactly perfect if you're afraid of heights this is not the job for you Kent is working with Bridge inspector Bill Buss to maneuver the railway's custom-built inspection vehicle into position this machine costs more than half a million dollars and is equipped with a hydraulic arm that can lift engineers 15 meters out over the edge and underneath high bridges and viaducts this vehicle is called an under bridge inspection truck it'll actually pivot a little more than 180 degrees under the truck but as soon as you start trying to swing away from the bridge the limit switches will stop it from doing that the truck itself is a heavy vehicle it's 55 000 pounds or 25 000 kilos all eastbound trains through the Rockies must cross this bridge including Jeff and Grant's Coltrane we're running 40 45 trains a day that's a lot of tonnage coming over here and the trains are now close to two miles long truck long or 50 years is pretty pretty fast track here running a two and a half kilometer long train over Stoney Creek Bridge's 90 meter drop is a daunting Prospect even for the railroads most experienced Crews there's quite some treacherous and mountainous for jeans and heavy terrain and you know there's increased opportunity for things to happen out there but I've had a couple derailments over the years they're not fun if you're going with children keep Bridge something did happen it'd probably end of life story actually to be honest with you it's a long drop [Music] engineering breakthroughs like the Stoney Creek Bridge allowed Canadian Pacific Railways to forge this legendary railroad across the country but there are other smaller Railways that are helping tie the country together 2500 kilometers east just south of the Arctic Circle the Ontario Northland Railway shuttles crucial supplies to the remote communities between the towns of Cochrane and musane and Beyond we're on and off stuff moving stuff all the time to go to mussini this will be the stuff that'll be on the head end it's one of the last Flagstop railroads in the country it's up to Jay faldine and the team to keep the trains rolling in the sub-arctic temperatures Winters aren't fun no but it's something you get used to but there are some days where you'd much rather be just about anywhere else and outside when it's minus 50. [Music] six coaches to spot 18-6 today 23 year old rookie Jody Nichols is working with the crew to prepare for a special Journey I'm a conductor trainee for the Ontario Northland Railway so I've only been working here for about four months it's really fun so far it's very male dominated I came from serving and bartending and it's mainly just females in that industry and my friends were like oh I didn't even know you could do that I didn't even know that was a job Jody is still coming to grips with the challenges of being a Railroader the cold weather affects a lot about our job and not only what we're doing in the yard even on the main line perfect it's a completely new lifestyle you don't really have a schedule anymore so you're basically you're on call 24 7 365 days a year today I'm going to be working with conductor Sheldon he's a lot of fun to work with since 1932 the Ontario Northland has provided the only year-round land link to get passengers and freight to the remote James Bay communities [Music] the ordinary for us to run a Saturday to Moose knee but it's a hockey tournament for the First Nations down in Mississauga so it's a little different but it'll be a fun day Sheldon and Jody need to run the polar bear Express 300 kilometers North through plummeting temperatures to pick up the group of children waiting at the end of the line in musane [Music] then transport them back down to Cochrane in time to get to their tournament [Music] without the special train today a lot of the coastal communities wouldn't be able to make it about 200 kids and their families are going to go down so we're going to be there around 11 30 this morning Canada is associated with hockey I mean that's why we went all the time sometimes you learn to skate before you learn to walk here North near the end of the hockey coach and Dad Jeff Moore wraps up practice before the team catches the train South [Applause] Carolina during the winter seasons are not there's not a whole lot for our Aboriginal children to do up here in Universal hockey yeah is a very huge part of our lives oh [Applause] at the Stoney Creek Bridge in BC Kent and Bill are racing to carry out their inspection and get off the tracks so that the coal train can pass through holder you're clearing the walkway now they're hunting for any signs of metal fatigue or loose bolts that could compromise the structure's ability to support heavy trains we had a 15-foot extension there that he's just lowering in right now but we're looking at being able to pretty much wrap right around this bridge really it's the only way we get to inspect the underside of our bridges nowadays generally you get used to Heights I was a little nervous the first year I came out here 25 30 years ago now it's second nature you don't even think about it whether it's 50 feet or 300 feet to the ground um it's still the ground [Music] for cracks missing bolts anything that shouldn't be there leading rivets bleeding rivet is a rust Mark coming down we call them bleeding rivets and that indicates that the rivet is moving itself so it has to be replaced A Century of extreme weather has corroded its steel Kent has thousands of rivets to inspect there's a little bit of rust jocking right here on the between these plates this shows the separation in the plate there from the rust pushing over the ears the rust still actually it it pushes the plates apart it just depends on how fast it starts to rust jock but if there's a whole bunch in an area then obviously we have an issue that we have to address immediately the steel is corroding in one spot if this came to the point where uh it was cracked or broken you'd break the rivets off here and you would change that out and put a new piece of Steel in there uh we'll go back up to the deck there I'm satisfied that uh I've seen everything I need to see today with the rust limited to just one area Kent decides that the bridge can stay open this bridge is over 100 years old and it stood the test of time it will probably be here long after I'm gone but they'll need to keep a close eye on it watched a couple trains go over it from down below and up top see what's happening with the deck and see how things are reacting and moving [Music] Bridge clear the whole thing about this job is don't think five steps ahead they slow down as they make their approach we have to work as a team you and the conductor are always communicating because that's when you'll miss something and get into trouble these are the things that happen if it's whether it's erosion it's slides your train stops I turn too great as you can you can't move anywhere you look way down it says that's a big drop the worst thing maybe uh derailment that'd be the worst issue some things that are out of your control [Music] as Jeff and Grant approach the historic Stoney Creek Bridge down the railway nothing leads experience because you see that you've been there you've done that but never get too far out of yourself there is no turning back you got to realize we're on moving equipment and potential for an accident or danger is imminent thank you trust in the structures that you go over and you trust in the rail that the foreman have fixed I mean that's part of the job [Applause] further down the line are they coming out here yeah why what's up Roadmaster Chad deschamp is taking his first call of the day on a stretch of line outside Revelstoke [Music] Greeley uh I haven't seen it nope I think we're gonna need to uh maybe stop trades here the whole point area it's gonna crash right through one side cross the problem back down the other six you come and have a look then we'll see what you think I'll be there in five minutes a special section of track called a frog is damaged I got a frog it he's saying it's cracked out really really bad so we might have to change the Frog Out [Music] a frog is a rail component that allows a train to switch onto another set of tracks Engineers cast this component from a super hardened stretch of Manganese steel to withstand the weight of the millions of tons of rail traffic that run over it each week but cold weather can make the Frog brittle if the point breaks it can force the Train's Wheels to take two different directions as they roll over it potentially derailing a train this isn't good any movement in here like if this isn't sitting nice and tight on the ties it just up and down action even side to side this can blow out and essentially have a big hole here we got a huge potential derailment replacing the frog is a time-consuming job and Chad isn't happy that the crew didn't flag this problem sooner you get the Frog I told her about that the other day you know what start telling me okay and she told me she said oh that's fine don't bother that's fine remember that's a line outage so you guys can work till midnight in Frozen Northern Ontario [Music] Jody and the polar bear Express power North to musonee today the polar bear is made up of six coaches which is a couple extra than we normally have a dining car two apus so those are the power units that power the coaches and put heat and light towards them and we have a baggage car for all the hockey bags and all the hockey sticks [Music] but 160 kilometers out of Cochrane the low oil pressure up there I wonder this one right off did it make it into trouble you can set it up it'll start again so we're in the AP right now um the power's off I can't really see anything uh it's really cold in here half the coaches have lost power and heat currently we're just looking at it just trying still up and running but it's not heating the whole train that's a big problem out here with temperatures at -35. hopefully we'll be able to get it fixed we've lost all our [Music] power West some of our tracks up to 45 50 miles an hour in places so we're moving pretty heavy Jeff and Grant's Mammoth coal train is hurtling towards the mine it can be costly if the mind's expecting a cold cream by a certain time and then it's delayed you know what I mean time is money there's the black stuff we hold Green Hills mine in East Kootenay has produced more than 130 million tons of steel making coal since 1983 with the CP Railway transporting it from the start of operations back then it didn't have the technology to run all that many cars [Music] Canadian Pacific was a Pioneer in transporting coal by rail in 1970 they introduced coal trains that could pull 88 steel rail cars back then the trains could only haul 9 000 tons of coal but by switching to lighter aluminum cars both loads and profits grew with the newer power and the newer cars lighter cars aluminum cars were were able to transport quite a bit more coal that's important as the coal industry employs more than 40 000 people across Canada we bring the trains up to the entrance and the mines take over it rests on the shoulders of Fred Plessy to load the train we produce about 9 000 clean tons a coal every 12 hours so it'll be about 18 000 a day we now run the train Through The Silo and and load it so we're running the train and loading it at the same time a remote control system guides the 152 empty cars through the loading plant but just as the cool starts flowing care skills I worked on Freddie they hit a problem the problem is the empty cars that come from the port are still full of some coal in the bottom so we need to weigh that and right now the scales aren't working so we need to send the train back out try to three-way it it's possible right now I'm gonna have to stop this train at the Green Hills Coal Mine the railway has a schedule they like to keep so it's unexpected to lay faulty scales threatened to hold up Grant and Jeff's train your car roughly there's 152 empty coal cars each car roughly holds 100 ton of coal if I reverse the train past the scales reset the scales on the computer and hopefully that will fix the issue hello okay thanks talk to you later senior Tech just gave me the green light to go ahead with loading on the train all right let's see some coal going those cars [Music] thank you this train here is roughly works out to about 16 500 pounds the coal for the whole train it's usually a very smooth operation well there's obviously always a chance of some kind of mechanical failure you know you're going over the passes and everything so that engine has to know what it's pulling they want it at the weight you're saying you're putting out at you have to know the weights when you're stopping these dreams as an engineer your can get scary all right final car is loaded and she's ready to go load and call yeah all set you set yeah okay we're all set to pull then we can depart yeah in Revelstoke ahead of the coal train okay perfect thanks Chad is assessing the damage to a crucial section of track used to Route trains called a frog the biggest thing is this clock right here like the Wilder kid come here and cut this out and rebuild this whole point but I think if you took a ball peen hammer and just kind of topped it it'll probably be Hollow underneath this piece could break out which is the most important vinyl part of a frog on this side it's even worse a train hits that at 35 mile an hour and this whole piece could break over it's so badly cracked the chat has no option but to replace the whole thing 23 year old rookie Jimmy Taylor joins the reinforcements the best bit of the job would probably be you're always out you're always doing something rain or shine it's never really a boring day honestly working on the railway is very dangerous you always have to be alert you always have to pay attention if you're not you have a potential of getting injured or worse you know killed keeping an extra close watch on Jimmy who was recently reprimanded for leaving a critical switch open leaving that switch open was honestly probably one of the worst things I've ever done I couldn't even imagine the feeling I'd get if they said you left that switch open and then a Train derailed killed the conductor cost millions of dollars worth of damage thankfully none of that happened obviously but uh it could have it very well could have happened Chad is feeling the pressure he's responsible for both the safety of the team and the trains that run on this track you know you run 20 25 trains today or something like that 15 of them or 20 000 tons or more or something like that and that's a lot of tonnage going over this front I can't even imagine the way to the trains and uh you likely you're not going to survive a derailment with those speeds without weight in Ontario's North we're having a few problems right for one train Jody and the team are scrambling to fix the broken power unit on their train I think the coaches will freeze up so I'm trying to figure out how to get the power back up if you lose your heat you're in a lot more trouble when it's minus 20. as opposed to when you're in the summertime it's minus 36 at 4 this morning with three of the trains six coaches below freezing they may not be able to pick up and transport all the kids to their hockey tournament coaches if we didn't have power to them things can go wrong in a hurry and once one thing goes wrong it just snowballs after that so we had to stop the train because the power cables are located in between the cars and we're gonna hook it up to the other Apu now and see if that'll run our power through the other coaches in musane 100 sure what a trade is but we're here Hockey Coach Jeff Moore arrives at the station to bad news passengers running late today what look at this She's Tight when you're trying to fix stuff in the cold that's a challenge especially when you're 100 miles from Cochran these are the power cables okay didn't get a sock yet so that's good [Music] oh with the cables hooked up to the one working power unit the big test it should work after we put the power back on to the coaches it should power the whole train now did you guys take that Loop out of the other AP okay give it a shot okay that's it we've got no power to the three North End coaches [Music] south of the Arctic Circle Jody and the crew are limping into moosinee with power still out on three of their six passenger cars and this generator car with two F2 engines and neither one of them is uh we can't get them to run out of high idles that we need to produce the amps to power the three coaches on this end it's kind of where we're at I don't know too much about electrical so I'll just do my best [Music] there are a lot of kids oh they look so cute trading's finally arrived everybody's a little impatient but I think we're all relieved that it's here there's so many people Jody squeezes all the kids into the heated coaches while the crew scrambles to fix the power one last time I don't know what we're gonna do [Music] we're gonna try [Music] so yeah we're gonna unplug some cables between the coaches and we're going to try to power these coaches from the Apu at the North End of the train [Music] throw the power on power in there sounded like something come on in there and there yeah we got power to the right here [Music] oh there we go we got power forward we're doing good we got power and car five freaking hey holy cow sometimes when you when the train set gets moving that'll trip something with the generator car too so we're not under the water yet okay let's get this going here if this fix holes Sheldon may be able to heat and open the Frozen coaches stay here for the weekend [Music] in the Rockies every time we get on the track we need a track occupancy permit which is provided by the RTC which is rail traffic control Chad needs to shut this stretch of line down to replace the damaged Point called the Frog schedule here and if we can't get it done it's hit his ass on the line it's his job it's he's in charge of the whole situation basically rtcc formed Jake steams the Greely over the Frog's in bad condition the frog is no ordinary piece of track it takes Canadian Pacific Engineers two days to forge and machine each point at a workshop in Winnipeg rails Point Trails we do everything about the rails workers here Forge up to 130 switches and frogs every month to help keep the railroads 20 000 kilometers of track open [Music] the most important part of this part is to machine this Trail correctly otherwise down the road it might cause any number of accidents track points must bear massive weights so workers use special impact explosives to compress the steel making it even stronger right now they're actually laying the explosive on the casting it's an impact sensitive explosive so if you smack it with a hammer there's a good chance it's going to go off it's about a 28 000 feet per second explosive it's it's a little less than C4 but it's still got a good bang to it this controlled explosion creates just enough Force to send a compressive shock wave through the steel without destroying it the actual explosive itself actually compresses the steel probably about a 30 second of an inch making it harder we need that hardness in them for uh wear so they last longer okay we're live that's it everybody else [Music] oh once blasted workers reassemble the hardened steel the assembly itself is the most crucial part I mean everything has got to be perfect it's important you got lives on the line so you don't ship anything out until you know it's right and deliver it to the field my material truck is ready and bring out the new frog and we can put it in [Music] in Ontario Jody and the crew are navigating the wounded polar bear Express South originally when we left Cochran we had two apus powering three coaches each but that Apu is no longer working for us so we've hooked the whole train up to one generator car and as of now it seems to be holding the power but now if we lose power we're gonna lose it in the whole chain Sheldon checks how well the fix is holding up we're gonna open up the coach here that we had locked up and we're gonna see how warm it is and hopefully uh everything is good and we'll be able to open it up so people can move and they're not so cramped in the other coaches it's pretty warm like everything seems to be working keep wise power's on everything's warming up just want to check the bathroom the toilets are froze so I don't know if they're going to uh flush check out in here this would be coach six and we've had we had four five and six locked so and this one feels quite warm [Music] the coaches warm I don't know if the bathrooms are going to work but we should be able to let some people in it perfect thank you so much we're just doing this just for a precautionary measure of that test no one tries to use it and realizes they can't halfway through with having nothing happen in an hour I don't want to say yeah you don't have no wood to knock on but hopefully we're out of the trouble and we're gonna make it home [Applause] [Music] in the Rockies the sights you see on the rail when you do on the highway it's completely different the country's beautiful I think in the Rockies Jeff and Grant are powering their fully loaded coal train through the Mountain Wilderness I'm not one for sitting in an office so so I enjoy the outdoors you know the job is great when you're out here and enjoying it as long as everything's working together it's it's fine I think Jeff would agree oh yeah definitely [Music] ahead of the train here what's up help Chad's team is running out of time to slot the new rail frog seamlessly into place the Frog isn't sitting as well as we thought it should it just doesn't want to go [Music] right now I believe we have train stopping for us at the moment which isn't a good idea days long from being over with we got guys measuring we got guys hitting things eventually isn't this one though rusted Under Pressure Jimmy's attitude is bothering Chad you get it Chad is running out of patience we're here for one thing and that's make sure that there's no train accidents it's not because we're being strict it's it's to save people's lives I don't know for me making a leeway here but we work in a lot of situations where it's urgency lots of moving equipment pinch points you know it's fast and you just got to really you know keep your head in the game work safe I might be hard on guys but I'm hard on for one reason when there's a lack of communication or a breakdown that's when an accident or tragedy happens in the last you know six months it's just been a challenge I do really love it here yeah I know you do it but we have rules and unfortunately a lot of the rules were written with blood like uh every rule that is in that we go by someone either got injured or killed so that's why my goal here is to be injury free and make sure everybody goes home every day safe you know I have a lot of young fellas working they don't want to work safe then they're not going to be uh welcome here [Music] Jeff and Grant's Coltrane is fast approaching Chad's team as they race to repair the broken track yeah I have been the victim of broken rail a few times I've been the victim of derailments I've Seen It All The railman's Broken rails happen it's out of our control unfortunately there's those incidents where there is accidents and people get killed but I mean our maintenance Crews do the best they can but it's it's just the potential of things happening [Music] following a strong word from Chad I know a lot of people have their doubts about me and I need to prove these people wrong Jimmy's focus is back on the job at hand should we use the old spikes uh do you have new spikes on board yeah good the team uses spikes to secure the new Point onto the wooden ties it takes a lot out of you spiking especially being me I'm asthmatic I'm a next smoker I'm obviously a little on the overweight side we just finished the Frog it fits well we gotta let a train come through the traffic's about to keep moving hang on to your hat [Music] the team keeps a close eye on the repair as Jeff's coal train rolls through job done but Jimmy's future with Chad's Revelstoke crew is far from certain it seems like Chad is under a lot of stress at all times frankly I I keep looking up and I mean no boss boss we're at about mile six six miles on account after taking a beating from the cold weather Jody and the team are closing in on Cochrane everybody kind of hold it together and [Music] a huge part of our lives up here and train getting in and out of town or bringing in Freight bringing in groceries bringing in fuel it's more of our Lifeline than anything else for a lot of us back homes we got the coaches working again so it's all under control and everyone's happy to be back in Cochrane pretty soon [Music] Jody's almost finished her first little NHL scary trip Cody being a trainee was a good day for her to see the stuff that can go wrong especially like on the road when you're when nobody can help you so she did great she's uh she's doing fine she's gonna do really well you got through it I told you to get through this day you get through everything so we did it you know all right folks here we are welcome to Cochrane hope you enjoy your stay finally made it here guys after a good five hour ride nice little nap we're all rested up yeah should be a good one Against All Odds the polar bear Express got Jeff's hockey team to Cochrane [Music] an this coltrane's coming to stop in about a mile and a half the coal train is now gunning towards Neptune terminal in Vancouver to offload the coal into this massive 77 000 ton cargo ship [Music] it's been a good run it's been a good run today [Music] our part's done for the day I will pass the train off to this new crew here with a new crew the coal train reaches its destination now it's down to the team at Neptune terminal to complete the job we want to get the cargo through our very small terminal and onto a vessel as quickly as possible operations manager Dave Foy uses this ingenious dumping machine to unload all 152 rail cars without taking the train apart as the train moves through the dumper special clamps lock each car onto the tracks and turn it upside down the coal tips onto a conveyor belt that feeds it into the waiting ship this extraordinary fast and efficient machine means that workers don't even have to unlock the rail cars the dumper rotates them through the same axis as the Train's connections this system unloads one rail car every 90 seconds that's 4 000 tons of coal every hour very important for us in this logistical chain that is coal delivery and the last car is in the pit with all the coal unloaded it's ready to be shipped the end of the line I mean once it passes over those last few conveyors on those two ship loaders uh that's it we're not touching it anymore so it's all about turning this one getting the next vessel in and uh keep the trains coming Canadian Pacific's coal train has done its job navigating smashed rails and antique Bridges to deliver its 16 500 ton payload of coal it's way cleared by the crews who battle brutal weather and terrain to ensure this crucial Mountain Railroad keeps on running in the heart of the Rocky Mountains I gotta check the water level on that a sudden spike in the weather wreaks havoc on the Canadian Pacific Railway quite a mess triggering a Mudslide these things can happen in the blink of an eye and a washout it's not water raised nine inches overnight all it takes is one little mess up and it'll Escalade quickly that threatened to shut down this Lifeline to start ending metal the price tag is huge [Applause] [Music] carved into the rugged passes and deep Canyons of British Columbia lies the backbone of a country the people who laid this track fought for every mile some paying with their lives the Canadian Pacific Railway built this country and I'm proud to be part of this if this Railway hadn't been built there's a good chance that this country wouldn't look the way it does on the maps but right now a snap warm spell has triggered thunderstorms that threatened this treacherous stretch of railroad the pounding rain melted the snow on top of the mountain creating massive mudslides throughout the Rockies for engineer Jordy Hunter today's delivery will be no ordinary Journey I've punched slides with the trains we've hit rocks I've had close calls but being an engineer is the Pinnacle of my life I'm gonna give notice here Jordy yeah okay Jordy and conductor Jim Smith are transporting six high priority 540 ton cars of red Shale to a cement plant in Alberta shale a hardened form of clay is a crucial ingredient for making the cement this used to build hospitals schools sidewalks and skyscrapers across the country [Music] cars of shale are being shipped alongside containers crammed with household goods including pop and beer as part of a mixed merchandise or manifest train I've been accused of using the word sexy and manifest in the same sentence I have to say that the sexiest trains out here are manifest trains and manifest trains are trains that have box cars tank cars flat cars just about anything you can imagine that rules on Rails some of that stuff is really old but it's beautiful so we'll look after the breweries beer yeah we gotta look after the breweries beer but the beer isn't what keeps Jordy up at night they're also carrying a single car of hazardous material which is highly explosive we're giving emergency response on how to deal with that car in the event of a derailment this specific car is saying that it contains flammable liquid it's got diesel gasps Jordy and Jim need to haul their 3600 ton load 614 kilometers east across the country from Ashcroft BC they must navigate around shushwap Lake through Revelstoke up to kicking Horse Pass before descending down into ex-sha Alberta we're here to move Freight that's what we do best right oh yeah [Music] in the mountains who's on the other side PK in France Roadmaster Chad deschamp and his team in Revelstoke are battling floods to make sure Jordy and Jim don't get delayed or worse derailed right now our biggest monster out there is water the snowpack is melting rapidly which impacts the the Waterway systems around the railway tracks the water is rising really rapidly right now that causes washouts might not seem like much but as you can see the mud holes starting to start too with this condition right now we're appearing drastic mudslides and rock slides impacting the tracks Mother Nature if we don't stay on top of her she's going to take advantage of us when we got her guard down Holly yeah see that I gotta check the water level on that they've got water level rises rapidly tonight we could have a flood in a washout because it wasn't that high yesterday so we former Travis Clark Challen over uh we're just gonna head over this bridge at 25.8 Chad needs to investigate the rising water under the bridge at Eagle River you got to come down here right uh holy about water raised nine inches overnight if we get too much water with this rain we could face a situation where it could wash out our tracks oh yeah we got to get prepared for a possible flood [Music] the Rockies make their own weather the Air at the bottom of the mountains is warm and wet at the top cold and dry as these two systems Collide all hell breaks loose yeah Roadmaster Shane Goodyear saw it happen here just last night 160 kilometers up the line at shoe swap Lake on Saturday night about 11 p.m a train reported hitting a rock slide that turned out that higher up the Mountain Water came down and it washed all the rock and debris from the Ravine here plugged up the Culvert and then went over top of the track in front of the train you can actually hear the Rocks tumbling for about one to two minutes before they would hit the lake Shane captured this video of the washout alright so in the video it shows just how quickly this could happen within a few minutes of the water creasing over the track as you can see here they take away the whole shoulder of the track washed it Down Right From Below the rail out the Lakeside so now that side of the truck see the end of the ties they're all unsupported the force of the water caused the shoulder of the track to completely disintegrate [Music] washed rocks mud and trees down the side of the mountain this debris blocked the special drain called a culvert that runs under the railroad and forced the flood water to rise over the tracks the water washed away the soil underneath the wooden ties leaving the rails suspended in the air by the looks of the mud right here on this you can see it's about eight nine feet down to the creek so it shows you how much momentum that energy had when it came down and like you say these things can happen in a blink of an eye so we could go by one minute and it happens uh right there in front of you are right behind you or worse yet it catches you Shane's crew has been working through the night to clear the debris away from the Culvert to allow the water to drain we had to come in with a lot of rip Rock and re-shore up the whole structure and build it back up to the track great so so far we've dealt with nine of these locations we're expecting uh another three days of heavy rain coming so we're having to be on standby about 55 hours that maybe five hours of sleep because it was just one after the other after the other so you're just constantly going you get it going and another one would hit and then another one and it keeps you on your toes very well if uh train is going to be coming by Shane is under tremendous pressure to get this track back in service so Jordy and Jim's train can roll through this Zone this is a valuable Expedia Freight that has priority shipments so they can't delay this train because it's got all the expedited and time sensitive Freight it's a scheduled train and it has to arrive just on time time is money the train can run between 500 to a thousand dollars a minute to hold up I always think of us is the waistline of The Hourglass and we're that pinch point of how much flow can get through on the edge of shushwap Lake a few feet up into the Ravine there as you can see how the washout erodes the banks up ahead here and takes out the material and deposit it's down here Roadmaster Shane Goodyear is struggling to get the track back in service after a Mudslide obliterated it Mother Nature's always in control no matter what you can try to do or plan Jordy and Jim's Shale train is scheduled to pass through here in less than an hour but they're already entering the edge of the mudslide Zone that's overwhelming the rail Crews we're coming up to a Mudslide three or four weeks ago and I had actually just just missed it oh yeah yeah the cliffs and ground along this stretch are unstable areas like this that have already been hit by a slide are the most likely to cave in again Rock and mudslides have plagued this mountain line ever since it was constructed over 135 years ago in 1903 82 million tons of rock fell from the summit of turtle Mountain into the Crow's Nest River Below in what's now infamously known as the Frank slide rolling Boulders trees and debris rained down onto the coal mining town of Frank Alberta for a minute and a half the slide killed 90 people and annihilated two kilometers of the railroad that had to be cleared one Boulder at a time around the next curve they're close to the intermediate they'll be up there it was a substantial one too and fortunately they went through it but you don't want to end up in a lake quite a mess I'm gonna put it down a bit more extra balance [Music] you do is you just react and sometimes they're big slides you don't know what's in it it could be Boulders it could be trees you don't want to pull the air and then end up in emergency stopped in the middle of a slide that's bad because now you're stuck I'm not going to stop I'm punching that I'm going through it hopefully we're going to stay on the track whenever I hear something about trains from Jordy I'm almost always learning something new you got to absorb that information because it might just save your life Keep Calm and Carry On 2500 kilometers east of the Rockies in Ontario the Ontario Northland Railway shuttles crucial supplies to remote communities that lie between the towns of Cochrane and mussini yard foreman Jay faldine and his crew are battling bone chilling temperatures to load up a critical shipment of prefabricated houses to send North where abouts you Taylor it's a cut here in shed one Winters aren't fun but it's something you get used to temperature wise probably the worst I've dealt with was in musane and it was -53. that that was pretty extreme though I'd say average in the winter time -30 is you can pretty much expect that every day as long as you [Music] know the houses are headed to Adam Scott a remote First Nations Village which is just south of the Arctic Circle new construction is nearly impossible in this extreme environment the winters can get really cold up here minus 40 45 if you could get extremely cold that's when we have trouble with our equipment Wheels won't turn everything freezes truck won't start you know adawa Scott has a housing crisis cracked walls poor insulation flooding and mold have led to one quarter of the houses here being condemned but families haven't left them yet there's nowhere else to live the old houses around here they get extremely cold you know they're not built for this kind of weather you know poor houses but new homes that we bring up here they're well built they're super insulated today's shipment contains four new prefab homes and for the families waiting for them every day counts when these houses get there they'll be happy I'm there Taylor Crews need to need all the houses 300 kilometers from Cochrane North to the end of the line in musanei then things get tougher the houses need to be loaded onto trucks that haul them 312 kilometers further north across an ice road to reach their final destination in atawabiscat at 12 feet right on Jay's crew Stacks the houses high on blocks so they will ride up and over the guard rails of the narrow Bridges along the way all the hoses they've been measured they've been chained down that one there sticks out the end so going around curves up to on the way to moosine that might cause problems those ones there as well how close they are together we got to put an empty flat in there just to make sure none of the hoses bump into each other on the way [Music] nothing gets a little cockeyed on the flats because that would be one heck of a mess if one of these fell off putting the last one on there now then all of them will have locked and loaded the houses head north [Music] in Revelstoke Roadmaster Chad de champ is struggling to beat Mother Nature at her own game in the last week or so the water is Rose above four feet I was watching the weather net and they're calling for storms in the next couple days go for a helicopter ride too just to make sure that the last rainfall didn't impact anything up top so that one we always have trouble with across team Chad is trying to predict when and where mudslides strike so he doesn't get taken by surprise to do this he needs a bird's eye view when we do our earlier surveys what we'll do is we'll find these drainages so they will follow them all the way up to see if there's any kind of a blockage that's starting maybe some tree debris came down Roots you can see the water pooling then you'll know that it's going to come down to hit us oh yeah looks like there's a pool down there too you could probably clean up yeah how's the Bieber in this Pond here I even move it back and forth from the north side to the south side just have a little look at the Gully there to make sure there's nothing plugging it but the uh Beaver down yeah they've spotted a beaver dam that could cause problems Believers use mud and branches to create flooded areas that protect them from predators such as wolves but if this Dam grows too big it could block the river and cause the tracks nearby to flood I go in there with that high tracker and uh if we can disrupt this fever down took it out to get a hole in there that one you could yeah at shoe swap Lake the train is going to be coming by here in uh one or two minutes Roadmaster Shane Goodyear has the track back in service so now we've cleared the truck there a few minutes earlier we have our first train coming and he should be coming through this tunnel here within one or two minutes [Music] 8754 West approaching 25 mile far slow [Music] yeah the slide is just up here around this curve here we don't run through them every day no they don't see those every day it feels good and that's that's basically what we're here for right we got to overcome these challenges uh now you know these guys can travel through here safely and go home at the end of the day unharmed [Music] 200 kilometers east ahead of the train and 2600 feet up the mountain temperature is still far below zero we're at Mile 19 right here and we're about to get on track and change the rail here in Golden Canadian Pacific's track crew needs to replace a damaged piece of rail this is one of the more challenging and dangerous places to work at all CP due to the mountainous train trains have to go through and the amount of Curves in the tracks all right ready to go 24 year old Jesse Dahlberg is a rookie he hasn't earned his stripes yet or in this case he hasn't earned the right to wear orange yet yes they refer to me as the green vest supposed to have it on for one year and then I graduate to the CP orange vest I'm very eager to get out of this green vest get a little bit more respect from the guys maybe to earn that respect Jesse has to do the toughest jobs good old-fashioned manual labor thank you I worry about messing up as a green vest I don't want to let anyone down cause my foreman to be in trouble because he had a hell of a so there is a little bit of stress there for enough chassis Jesse's boss is Foreman John lindhorst yourself now in any particular place the rails used or to some degree use trains have run over it so we have to find a piece of rail that we can with the technology we have match in to fit within certain tolerances the closer we can get it to match the better the surface of the replacement rail called the headwear must match the width and thickness of the old track if it doesn't the drain Wheels could catch as they ride over the repair causing damage or Worse an accident get yeah [Applause] all right now I'm just drilling holes for the joint bars we've got six holes in each joint bar put track bolts in there bolt them together for bigger jobs a welder would be on hand to fuse the track together but for single track Replacements like this they connect the pieces using a metal bar called a joint bar give it a little love tap Maybe there we go The Joint bar must sit flush to the new piece of track to hold it securely but there's something wrong just trying to get the joint bar on very properly it's uh it's not sitting quite right I've never seen that like that before I'm not a hundred percent of what the problem is that's why I'm the rookie see that 19 minutes [Music] in Golden I'm just gonna put the little knot on the end Jesse and the crew are struggling to replace a broken rail in a joint bar that attaches the new section to the existing rail won't fit properly on transpose which means [Music] to form the rail to a degree and you have to grind that deformation off in order to get the bars to seat properly and hold correctly the replacement track was chosen because the headwear matches the existing rail but they Salvage the rail from used track its outside edge has been worn down by passing trains the deformation isn't easy to spot but it's enough to prevent The Joint bar from sitting flush under the new rail so we're going to take this off they have no option but to tear the joint bar off and grind down the deformed replacement track [Music] we tried to get transpose rails yeah [Music] nearly done last step was making sure that the train flows nicely over top no bumps or anything when it goes by it's complete now it was pretty good one hiccup could have gotten a little better but it wasn't not bad at all [Music] halfway across the country engineer Sean Mills is in the hot seat of the Ontario Northland train [Music] alongside him Philip Selman and trainee Thomas Skinner 1806 North a mile Gale to no restrictions they're hauling the prefabricated houses to the end of the line in moosinee when the trade taken up North with us today so we've been busy they're approaching the first hurdle of the trip after that come to a stop here in a couple of miles and proceed with caution over this bridge uh up here [Music] Four Bridges offer the only route through this landscape which is all Creeks rivers and swamps the bridge girders sit high above the ground to allow ice to pass underneath during spring breakup but the high girders make transporting wide loads like these a nightmare we'll proceed By Radio communication we usually have enough clearance but I've been on one train where there's been just enough there's maybe half an inch [Music] let me know we'll stop here if there's any rocking whatsoever there's a chance the houses could hit the bridges thank you don't look good so far and they're clear one Bridge down three to go in Revelstoke Chad has Tracked Down The Beaver Dam he spotted from the air well this is the prime suspect here this was a problem that was causing the stagnant water a single Beaver Dam can redirect an entire River flooding hundreds of Acres unchecked this one could grow blocking the Waterway and submerging the nearby tracks I've had previous footage it would wash away the shoulder so I want to get on it now before it gets to that point Jeffy I'll show you later I take the grapple and just loosen it up a bit I gotta watch out for the wires Chad's called in a 10-ton truck equipped with a grapple to remove the dam as soon as I get set up I want you guys to watch for power lines somebody's going to keep an eye out that I don't clip them it's a big truck on a small Road so lining up the grapple with the dam won't be easy to make Chad's task even more difficult one of his guys is a no-show oh and this isn't the first time there's an issue yeah oh [Music] Jimmy Taylor is Chad deschamps biggest headache I guess everyone just looks at me as a dumb kid which is pretty true in the last six months he's committed the cardinal railroading sin I ended up leaving a switch open I lost a lot of pay I lost a lot of Privileges and especially spoused a lot of respect I apologize to Chad for not showing up on time or just being a general smart ass and it's never good when your boss hears you've been bad-mouthing him behind his back it seems like Chad is under a lot of stress at all times but the thing is he relays the stress that he's under onto his employees and quite a bit too when everybody has a problem with you maybe everybody else isn't the problem maybe it's yourself that is the problem [Music] but the thing about Jimmy that really gets under Chad's skin you want to see a magic trick no is the Jimmy loves magic more than he loves the railroad if you do this it feels like you're running an accelerated rate thank you I'd love to just spend my life on Magic you have the fantasy which is the magician thing but then you have real life which is you know the CP thing I think I need to move to a bigger city revelstoke's best magician because I'm Rebel Stokes only magician it's funny but it doesn't pay the bills Chad's biggest concern is Jimmy's lack of focus the operations of the Railway is a huge commitment and you have to have your heart into it there's that log right there I'll try and pull it from the bank our team here we you know we try to work safe and comply with all the rules probably just sometimes you're giving person advice but they're not taking it serious that's what worries me is the lack of seriousness I know he's going to get injured just because he has that attitude and I don't want that to happen I just need him to really focus and know that this is the real thing you can go back to where you were at the very beginning but closer in they have no choice but to start tearing the dam apart one man down right there good good while Chad tries to track down his problem child that's [Music] 140 kilometers east [Music] Jordy and Jim Roll Clear of the mudslide Zone rule is always waved to the kids it changed my life when the engineer the conductor waved to me it was was like me to God so we got someone up here they might wave let's see this is the best part of the job there's an older kid no he doesn't care I love working with Jordy because he loves trains he's crazy about trains he loves trains ftn stands for a freaking trainer he's one of them a proper term would be a former former yeah yeah yeah that's why I'm a former yeah foamer as in foaming at the mouth for trains he's a former the thing that attracts me to this job is everything it's the size of the equipment it's the power of the equipment it's just the total assault on the senses of sound and sight and it's even got its own smell near Revelstoke Chad and his crew are almost finished removing the Beaver Dam not bloom down yep Jimmy finally shows up for his shift but not in time to save his skin after the job is done Chad pulls Jimmy off site to have a talk absentees yeah I've shown up late many times I believe my running count is five yeah which is nowhere near acceptable I'm not putting up with it so you know what I mean like when you come to work you got to be focused I'm serious I'm worried about you [Music] after suffering months of bad behavior from Jimmy Chad has had enough I'm worried about you I don't care about the soap opera stuff around here they care about your well-being I care about you working safe that's the bottom line you might think I'm Stern you might think I'm a tyrant but this is the real deal here because if you get injured I have to live with it for the rest of my life my best friend got killed on the railway a long time ago my best friend was unfortunately uh crushed by a piece of equipment and he was pretty proud to get a job with the railway he's watched me and we were good friends and he's seen what the railway done you know employed me and and he wanted to be one of those people and uh unfortunately he's gone [Music] I think for your best interest is to go try something else Chad is sending Jimmy to work with a different crew that lays thousands of feet of rails a week it's called working on the gangs because it's like doing hard time Jimmy will finish out the week and then pack up for North Bend BC as they pull into Revelstoke it's the end of the line for Jordy and Jim while they rest up all right a fresh crew will take over to navigate the train through the high mountain passes perilous even in the best weather right now the forecast is calling for snow 2500 kilometers east in Northern Ontario engineer Sean Mills and his crew are just 15 kilometers south of mussini where they'll hand off their load of prefabricated houses to the trucking crew it's good news but with just one more bridge to cross they run into trouble I'm not imagining it right oh okay uh we're just checking this containers he's not straight mostly straight one hand's a little crooked yes you're not leaving the right way no no no no no see this whole thing it's collapsed it's not good one of the rail cars close to the houses is carrying two containers their combined weight is 40 tons they're so heavy that they've caused the steel Trestle that supports them to collapse one of the two chains holding the crates has lost its grip putting the second under intense strain if it snaps the load could roll over [Music] oh sure it's got a metal frame collapse on the card uh we're gonna tighten the chains up on the one side and we should be able to get it into moose and eat anyway [Music] I can't see going anywhere foreign if we didn't have the big dimensional houses on and had the guys go and checked at the bridges we would have that we would have never noticed that if it did fall off it could have definitely derailed the train it could have been a disastrous I think it's a good thing that those houses were on there today and we were checking it out that's for sure we have to uh proceed to rest the way into moose knee at restricted speed [Music] snow is hitting the Rockies hard burying the tracks just as the Shale train heads into steep Terrain if you get more than three inches of snow it does affect the adhesion to the rail so we end up becoming like a toboggan sliding on the rail itself the new crew engineer Andrew dockrell and conductor Jordan Gillis must fight the snow to coax the train down the mountain into the foothills of Alberta you can get a runaway really really easily it was pretty severe and life-threatening for sure foreign leads to this part of your trip right here the downslope here is 2.5 percent it's one of the steepest rail descents on Earth it's not an ordinary train ride down this hill it's got to be on your game and expect the worst and pray for the best the key to navigating a slope like this in the snow is to gain control of the Descent before it even starts I have to keep an eye on brake adhesion and if I'm not on top of it we can pick up quite a bit of speed and increase in in a like a matter of seconds so I have to apply a couple extra pounds air brake or more Dynamic brake [Music] locomotive that powers the train is fitted with Dynamic brakes but these aren't enough to stop the fully loaded 3600 ton train so each rail car has its own set of air brakes air tanks pressurized to 100 pounds per square inch power all these air brakes distributes the compressed air along the length of the train constant air pressure keeps the brakes off a lever allows the driver to release Air from the system activating the brakes on each car slowing the train down foreign and every train is different heavier trains you need more braking application compared to the lighter trains when you get to complacent is when accidents happen on this hill all it takes is one little mess up and it'll escalate quickly [Music] Andrew and Jordan's 3600 ton train is dipping into a legendary steep descent through a whiteout steep with our tonnages that were hauling on long trains things can get out of hand it takes great skill knowing how much braking Force to apply to keep the train Wheels gripping the icy tracks so we have to be 100 focused going down this hill if we're not we could uh Runaways [Music] theater you made her no better feeling than making it down in one piece with time he's showing in 29. in Revelstoke I'm heading out to the gangs Jimmy is packing up to go work on the steel gangs laying Railway track honestly I know where Chad's coming from he's given me a lot of helpful and useful advice and I'll take it to heart he'll be working eight days on six days off living out of a hotel I heard it was a good idea to bring a toaster oven in case there's no microwave and the entertainment this right here is my magic box it doubles as a stage wherever you might be never leave home without it literally I mean I'm playing it off like I don't really care but uh it's a scary thing leaving off for the first time like this I have no idea what the work's going to be like basically any first job uh worries you might have it's all happening right now see you there buddy have a good one I'll keep my head down keep my mouth shut I know that's pretty hard to believe me keeping my mouth shut well you watch over the place while I'm gone there's a lot of new ahead of me a lot of old behind me and that's kind of the way I wanted to keep it I'll be back I know I will foreign Horse Pass Andrew and Jordan face the last hurdle we're about to enter spiral tunnels there's no ventilation in the tunnels so something does happen and the train does come to a stop there are gas masks for a conductor and engineer to use because when you do stop the exhaust from the locomotives still the tunnels pretty quickly pretty bad position to be in if you don't have a gas mask [Music] the spiral tunnels were completed in 1909 to reduce the grade of the deadly Hill leading down into field here's for Canadian Pacific Crews to blast and drill their way through nearly a mile of solid limestone unlike most train tunnels these ones were bored into the core of the mountains making ventilation impossible the solution was to install gas masks and oxygen kits at regular intervals should the train have to stop suddenly Midway through which is exactly what happened to Andrew three years ago I was involved in an incident we were derailed and I had to do my inspection where I had to go back check the train out within 10 minutes of me being in here I had to get a gas mask and thank God through their masks and these oxygen canisters to help with us breathing I don't think I would have made it these gas masks weren't here thank you it's a great feeling hey Jordan when you come down through the upper and the lower tunnel after a long trip eh feels good to make it down no issues it's nice to see the population again after coming down that Hill makes you know you made it in one piece [Music] in Ontario it's for us Sean and his rail crew made it to moosini intact and in time to hand off the houses to the trucking crew [Music] houses need to reach out of wapascad by day's end the 312 kilometer Journey will take five hours by Ice Road that's if nothing goes wrong we're getting some fuel so we don't we're out of field nice to have a full tank just in case something happens on a winter road the trucks might be idling all night or whatever good to have it check the back Ice Road Trucker Jim Wesley heads up the Convoy the drivers stay in touch with each other via radios and everybody's in a mad rush team to get all their Freight right now and the surface of the Ice Road is roughed up regularly but the more traffic that passes the smoother it gets and on a sunny day it's like a skating rink the road is all ice cap and it's super slippery makes it a little bit more dangerous I guess you on your toes [Music] here's a pickup truck and a snow bike just up ahead here he went right on top of the snow bank and he came down on the other side but that's why he faced to go slow around these corners and just take your time because you never know what's going to be around the corner hitting one of these snow banks at 50 kilometers an hour is like smashing into a brick wall it's gonna be a sharp right turn coming up highest it's a slip reader Jimmy washed the corner there uh okay thanks a little slow here we gotta go slow on the ice road to Adam Scott [Music] damn oh my goalie did you see that it must be likable inches [Music] made it across a little heavier than but we made it after an arduous five-hour Journey the new houses finally arrive in atawapiscat but come on a journey they've come first by train then on the ice Road and here they are they found their new home it's a huge relief for Lawrence who will install the houses on their foundation pads for the owners yeah we're very glad that they made it up here on time over the next year Lawrence's team will hook the houses up to Services ready for families to move in thank you [Music] Andrew and Jordan's train is leaving the foothills of the Rockies behind and closing in on its final destination our ship's done we're back at home and we're safe and sound after an epic Trek the crew has successfully delivered the six cars of red Shale to the cement plant just outside Calgary Alberta oh it's always a relief when we see the CP cars coming in without red Shale we would not be able to make our products for the schools hospitals we have 150 employees here there's over 7 000 indirect jobs that we that rely on this plant to be operating so it's really important that we keep the material flowing in the Rocky Mountains we deal with absolutely everything that mother nature could throw at us lethal Rock slides there's plenty of other rocks that are waiting to come down and smush US 23 000 ton trains if I start to power up too quickly I can rip the train apart and deadly Wildlife I hate snakes wreak havoc on the Canadian Pacific Railway anything that keeps things rolling as the winter ice starts to thaw not landed on them that'd be game over we gotta get this baby moving all right [Music] it's springtime in the Rocky Mountains Rising temperatures are melting the ice and snow as winter starts to release its icy grip [Music] spring things happen you still have a tendency of going from low concern to oh my God this is a panic and emergency in 24 hours [Applause] [Music] any seasonal change brings its own problems The Rock in the mountains just gonna have a lot of cracks water gets into those cracks and when it turns to ice it expands and it's going to push that Rocco which makes for a very unstable Mountainside we are going through that freeze thaw cycle with the weather we're having a rock so I can come down at any time the kitty Horse canyon section probably going to be the most at risk area especially in the spring Roadmaster Nick Beyer is on an emergency Patrol of his stretch of track which runs through the Rockies western border that's 89.9 miles of the most lovely challenging Rock slides here have plagued rail Crews since the tracks were first laid in the 1880s rockfall wise I mean looking in the ditches we definitely are getting some for rocks like candy raila trains we'll put a train on the ground we are going to be heading toward Rogers Pass continuing our aerial inspection of the track [Music] 180 kilometers West [Music] full time train engineer Jordy Hunter and conductor Justin Geary are setting off from Revelstoke all right we're ready to go they're heading east and must pass right through the rock slide Zone to load up with the crucial delivery before you get deeper to that can you give me a little toot toot as we come by the house kids are up are they waving at you they might be yeah there they are [Music] all right that was my wife and kids and dog was the dog waving no only wagging her tail does that count sure spending up to three days away from home at a time makes being a Railroader and having a family a hard balance to strike but once it's in your blood it's there to stay when it's my time to retire they're gonna have to drag me Kicking and Screaming off the train but I kind of like the idea of retiring too then I'll have more time to chase trains we got dogs salivating when he seems a bone that's Jordy when he sees the train my wife Pauline asked me you know is there any other women in your life I said well yeah there is and she's a 300 ton diesel burner but she's a sweetheart hello today Jordy and Justin's 170 empty cars will be used for transporting potash a mineral fertilizer once fully loaded the combined weight of the locomotives cars and dense potash will be a staggering 22 700 tons train on the network Canada mines and ships potash to more than 40 countries worldwide fertilizer is vital to help farmers around the world grow food crops including corn wheat and sugar cane potash train gets the heaviest train on the system so we got good power today that's good because we're a nice long train and on the Hills it's nice to have lots of power because then you can go up at a good speed instead of crawling so we should do good today they need to maneuver the empty three kilometer long train through the unstable mountains at Revelstoke to reach the potash mine in kalonzi Saskatchewan there they'll load up with 17 500 tons of potash then the train will head 1600 kilometers West back through the rock slide Zone to reach the port of Vancouver this is a nice trip we've got mountains valleys there's snow visible all year round up high nothing but scenery bears yeah this is the view from our office window it's like the best screensaver ever it may look beautiful hey there's a bighorn sheep on the track get off but 65 kilometers down the line Nick's flying over a stretch of track through Rogers Pass that sends shivers down Railroader spines in 1910 we had an outlet employees because of that the decision was made to drill the cannot tunnel the Canon tunnel was completed in 1916. the Canuck tunnel took more than two years to construct and cost the equivalent of 120 million Canadian dollars in today's money able to take trains heading east or west the eight kilometer tunnel Cuts right through Mount McDonald it's an extraordinary feat of engineering 500 workers removed millions of tons of limestone and quartzite using little more than air powered drills it was the longest tunnel in North America when completed but its length causes problems for trains even today when we do have the trains pulling their loads through the tunnel they create a lot of exhaust and a lot of bad air in there considering the amount of tonnage that we put through here it is of a particular concern to push the dirty air out of the tunnel Engineers installed two massive ventilation fans today mechanic Roger magarian is gearing up to repair one of the fans with help from father-son Team John and Kevin Meyer he's a high-tech guy and I'm an old-fashioned guys I need him more than need he needs me or probably half and half the cannot tunnels fan house sits at its Western entrance sensors trigger the 3.6 meter tall fans into action when they detect a buildup of carbon dioxide in the air [Music] Motors connected to the drive shafts power the fans pushing out the polluted air by channeling 700 000 cubic feet of fresh air a minute through the tunnel the gearbox and the fan itself is later in place here the minus 30 degree temperatures have Frozen the grease that lubricates one of the fans drive shafts that's why we have to replace the parts the wore out of the fans in the canal tunnel stopped working the exhaust gases would be poisonous for any Cruise or maintenance forces that needed to work in there [Music] that's going on the bolt it's looking good at Rogers Pass mechanics Roger John and Kevin are working above the live train line inside the fan House of the cannot tunnel to repair its ventilation system if things go very badly it could mean new we may lose our 100 year old fan and have to get it replaced every job in the railway is important to keep that Freight moving I am using a grease gun to make sure it is full we need five tubes total in them five tubes of Grease and I'm only on tube three and I do want to get home for dinner tonight they want to test the fan before jordy's train hits the tunnel we all filled up for Greece I am starting to put the auto louvers onto this gearbox I set it for uh six months the grease Roger has pumped inside the shaft will slowly squeeze out over time Auto loubers top it up that's why they call it auto Luber but they'll have to wait to run the test the train is going by so we have to wait till the train is through the tunnel [Music] cannot test the fan right now because the train will push the air in Reverse it's just like using a Blanchard so we'll suck the air through the fan and we'll start rotating it right now you can see it outside and we have to wait till it stops it really is the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel yeah 500 kilometers west of the cannot tunnel in North Bend British Columbia everybody off the bus Jimmy Taylor is gearing up for his first day laying rails on the steel gang since everyone's here he's been transferred here following disciplinary action by Revelstoke Roadmaster Chad deschamp when you come to work you got to be focused I'm serious I'm worried about you I think for your best interest is to go try something else some may say I don't fit the mold of a typical Railroader which is probably one of the reasons why I'm still here because I really do enjoy proving people wrong and I do believe I can do this the steel gang isn't a demotion for Jimmy but it is the toughest job a Railroader can do every inch of Steel track was laid by hand before modern machinery it was sweaty brutal physical labor the Hard Men of the gangs used picks shovels and hammers to drive metal spikes from coast to coast this back-breaking work gave the steel gang the reputation it retains to this day nice to meet you how you doing Foreman Kyle higas runs this 38 strong crew this is huge compared to what I'm used to yeah so this is our crew over here at steel gang welcome back hopefully everyone had a good weekend on the first day of the shift back that's usually the day where things happen so we all need to get refocused to make sure we don't have any incidents and whatnot so let's hop in our machines there's three pullers at the front of the crew there you can hop in one of those cool thanks a lot a little overwhelmed I'd say I didn't think it'd be this big 23 year old Michaela Buchanan takes Jimmy to today's work site where they'll be replacing tracks damaged by snow ice and heavy trains if there's like any anything I'm supposed to or not supposed to do that's kind of what I'm worried about so far you haven't been on Steel Creek I've ever been on any Cruise ever section pretty much everything out here is a risk to anyone blocks are risks slipping's a risk the rails a risk all the machines are the risks another person with a Hammer's arrest I heard this is rattlesnake country too oh yeah raid I hate snakes with a passion I'm just gonna keep my head down and kind of go with the flow figure out how everyone else works and I'll try and work like them my new best friend Jimmy and the steel gang will need to replace thousands of meters of rail throughout the spring to keep Canadian Pacific's trains rolling [Music] three thousand kilometers east of the Rockies the Ontario Northland Railway ships critical supplies to off-gritters in First Nations communities that live on the edge of the Arctic there's pretty much two ways to get supplies or people back and forth and that's playing and train in Cochran Ontario yard form and Jay falding is gearing up to send the polar bear Express 300 kilometers North to the last Spike in remote not too many planes that fly up North can haul the sort of things that we do on the trains it's Lifeline for sure because if for some reason the train doesn't run they'll feel it up north we're 21 good to go on time [Applause] foreign today is 26 year old conductor Mitchell Simmons Pool owners one of the last leg stops in Canada it's got like a railroad hitchhiking where you have a lot of camps out here and people will be flagging us down waving crazy and we'll slow down let the ramp down sitting board continue on there's all sorts of people along the line that do live off the grid and so we they have supplies they are usually waiting at the stop that we need to throw the package off at we just tossed her down at some track speed sometimes if they're used to it and that's what we call airmail at the head of the train is locomotive engineer Dale Church River today we will have flagstaffed or anybody that wants to get on the train this line is very important to everybody [Music] 100 kilometers down the tracks there any trinkets here before 11. I want to make sure I'm over there George Ross and his 15 year old son George Jr are hoping to flag down the express to travel North ah we're rushing to get ready for the train from last minute stuff getting ready to take our boat on the train we're gonna go try some River hunting part of the spring hunt when we go on the rivers and try to shoot some some ducks and geese greens basically whatever flies I know it's edible hunting for uh all First Nations like everybody up here in Northern Ontario everybody does it a lot of people would rather have our own wild meat than going to a grocery store most times everything that flies except for crows and seagulls I'll eat it rabbits Partridge beavers muskrats moose food I don't eat Caribou I don't ever really like that other than that I'll just just put eat everything out there George plans to load his boat ATV and hunting gear aboard the train at fraserdale then travel 100 kilometers North to Moose River here they'll unload and drag their boat across the ice to reach the hunting grounds the train makes just one return trip a day so they must be back track side in time to catch it or they could be stranded in the wild I'm bringing my son with me Georgie we've been taking him with me since he was a toddler I've taken him a spring hunting I used to carry him in a pack sack bring him in a sleigh I've taken him on a boat in the fall spring and he is always with me George's supply of meat which he smokes and cures himself got his family through the winter today he's hoping to stock up with Geese the trainer should be here soon 21 one mile fraserdale hurry up [Music] above the Rockies yeah just a little slower oh slower yep Roadmaster Nick Beyer is scouting the mountains for rock slides phew this time of year is now all that rock that's been frozen up and that ice has expanded is now thawing everything that it's broke loose wants to come right down on the track Rock slides are significant threat and because of that we have measures in place such as slide fences Canadian Pacific Engineers have built more than 450 meters of special barriers called slide fences uphill alongside the rails in areas prone to rock slides a weak electrical current passes through the fence wires to create a circuit that's monitored by a sensor any Boulders crashing down from the cliffs hit the fences and snap their wires breaking the circuit which triggers an alarm any alert is picked up by rail traffic control and the sensor automatically activates signals along the tracks warning train Crews to slow down or stop slide fence is an important safety device because that way we're not running trains and track speed into a possible issue issue we're just on our way back to the airport gold now finished applying the West section of the territory do you think to keep an eye on so we're going to wrap it up just East this tunnel is over 100 years old Jordy and Justin creeped through the cannot tunnel the tunnel Cuts straight through Mount McDonald for the time being at least they are safe from Rock slides a hazard that Jordy has experienced firsthand I hit a boulder the size of a Volkswagen Beetle everything worked out we didn't go off the track you don't really think about how frightening it is their potential for derailment is there that's just part of the job I guess [Music] above Jordy and Justin in the fan house confident this is going to work if it doesn't then the exit's that way with the train clear Roger's team can finally put the ventilation fan through its Paces we gotta get this baby moving starting fast [Music] is that good for you John put it on automatic yeah out of here okay job done Jordy and Justin make Headway to the potash mine in kalonzi keeping a close eye on the Train's 170 empty cars 8740 East out most the radio procedures are left to me he's busy driving a train well he's got you know two miles of train doing this and this and this and this and uh should have managed all that at the same time so he doesn't need to be dealing with talking to anybody on the radio I tell people where we are he pushes the levers forward and backwards and makes us go there he's the boss of the engines I'm the boss of the train that's right if they're trained finally at the mine please loader Keith Boucher takes over to fill the cars with potash fertilizer as they pass through the plant [Music] Keith's loaders can fill a 113 ton car in only six minutes [Music] which is Railway regulations at any time it goes over we unload it because too much weight on the rail car can make it derail potash formed in Canada long before it was even called Canada 400 million years ago Inland Seas dried up leaving potassium-rich crystallized salt behind it's been mined and exported from this country since 1943. safety seals I'm gonna make sure there's one seal on each side those are not allowed to have any organic contamination [Music] from here we make sure that nothing goes in there that's why we still [Music] Jordy and Justin's fully loaded train now weighs more than 22 000 tons they head out back across the Prairies to run the gauntlet of the rock slide Zone once again [Music] in Northern Ontario the polar bear Express closes in on George Ross's camp we help Mo get the stuff on and off as quick as we can so we don't delay the train and they're happy we're happy I'm hoping to show you quite a few Birds I don't like holding up the train crew too much I've done in the past quite a bit [Music] Georgie my boy just like you trained on pretty dress up there my [Applause] [Music] four more now [Music] and the trainer here is pretty lenient than what you can put on and a lot of times they'll give you bricks if you get to know the crew like me I've grown up with most these guys and they all know me you don't worry about having to take stuff on the train with you bring Maybe the weather here can change in a heartbeat people off and on and usually when they're coming back and that so this is where we use the board we just we just put here so moose River and I usually mark down a boat have an ATV Hunters sometimes stay out in the bush for weeks at a time Wayne's checklist is a potential Lifesaver if someone fails to show for a pickup he knows something could have gone wrong we're gonna stay in the water along the edge so I'm not going to go on a river yet I didn't bring my big molar oh yeah I just want to try it out after two hours the train pulls to a stop at moose River it's an area George knows well my dad and all my family members worked on early and we grew up along the line from Gardner to muser to mushni [Music] see you guys [Music] West in North Bend BC did I get your name out of a magician you see Jimmy gets to work on Kyle's steel gang I'm Gonna Keep The Magic on the down low until everyone gets more comfortable with me but I'm introducing myself as a the wizard there's no time for Jimmy to get up to his old tricks Kyle's team has just six hours to replace 150 meters of track so Jordy and Justin's train can pass through here curve is where you get the most railware because of heavy train traffic and this curve is 480 feet long not so much rail we're going to be putting in here this 12-ton machine has a special 180 degree rotating boom arm that lifts drags and lays new stretches of track that are up to 100 meters long that's my setup Speed swing there what he does first is he throws the new rail in so it's in track so it's ready to be installed so what the guys do now is they go along and bang off all the old anchors so then the rail will come out nice and freely [Music] watch it here Jimmy yes when he uh throws a rail out like that yeah before you go close to it like that you always want to watch and see where his boom is okay if he's close to grabbing it when he throws it out up there it can move back here because it's a long piece right okay so you always want to have good eye contact never get too close to that sure thank you I'm gonna be quite a bit more diligent than I used to be back in Revelstoke because out here one small move you can cost your life if you hear the speed swing and the ads are honked their horn get off the track okay because they'll be moving that rail I see I see that's a warning you definitely don't want to be in the wrong place at the wrong time around here they catch on pretty quick if they don't they're going to get hurt thank you [Music] harder than it looks [Music] well I gotta do it over there you're the new guy I'll remember that they picked on me when I was starting up really [Music] in Golden Roadmaster Nick Beyer has arrived back at base from his aerial survey but one of the rock slide fences has triggered an alarm anytime the slide detector fence comes down it's a concern East End of Glen Ogle that particular rock face is unstable at the best of times just based on their geology jordy's drain needs to pass through Glen Ogle and kicking Horse canyon it's a high potential to be something big right here but training could derail in kicking Horse canyon a suspected rock slide has triggered an alarm on Roadmaster Nick buyers section of track I have actually seen rocks and rock slides that do pose such a significant danger to the passage of freight or stopped all traffic it's extremely important that we go there and check this out immediately Nick must coordinate his plan with rail Traffic Control in Calgary this team of 80 controllers keeps watch over the movements of up to 300 trains a day across Canadian Pacific's 12 000 kilometer Network I'm going to be Crossing you to the south track we coordinate and are intimately aware of every train movement happens between Calgary all the way to the coast RTC answering over it's a massive undertaking our level of safety is the same as we would expect from for example an air traffic controller this amounts of RDC with the emergency call Cliffside Channel whatever all right so you can show me clear yourself former section 129 129. I uh protector fences down uh we could have possible Rock ball we're just going to make sure that it's not an issue for train traffic give me a minute to do some counting I will need you off the track at 12 o'clock please rail traffic control gives Nick just one hour of track time to investigate the rock slide ahead of us on track is uh the supervisor of track inspection Hal Porter this is his uh territory that he inspects twice weekly but most of the time he's out there five days a week keeping an eye on things Sam nuggets are between the rails that come down no I wasn't there the other day track time's so precious out here that uh we just keep going and sometimes I'll go home I'll have dinner and I'll just look up my screen and if I see a couple hours a big gap out there all the Holy Smokes there's two hours of drive time out there we'll all just come back out and uh get some of my work done get some of my inspections done take advantage of track time whenever I can get it that includes weekends as well I don't know how my wife puts up with me sometimes anything to keep the chains rolling on route to the slide fence how far stop that 20.3 there they spot another Hazard this rock probably came from a couple hundred yards above us and you know after I landed on you it hurt the freeze thaw cycle of spring causes ice in the quartzite Cliff face to expand and contract cracking off massive chunks of Rock the side of the mountain here is coming down as we speak it's pretty active through here as far as rockfall and on to the next one okay the slide fence we're coming up here too uh pretty quick this rock right here is the one that came down and that's what broke the fence so that is a pretty good size to folder and it took out one two three wires and that would be the reason why the slide fence was tripped fine piece of quartzite right here came out of this rock face probably two three hundred yards above our heads where there's plenty of other rocks there waiting to come down and smush us but obviously a rock this size is a major concern because that on the track High likelihood of a derailment and obviously if I had men working here and that landed on them that'd be game over [Music] this is the most Northerly on the Main Line This is yeah right here this curve this little curve I know [Music] restricting restricting signal I gotta slow it down here the slide fence has triggered a signal alerting Jordy and Justin of a hazard we've had to slow down a fair bit so that we are able to stop quickly should something untoward come up in front of us the fear of hitting an obstacle on the tracks is never Far From Any Train Cruise mind I was listening to the news last night the logging Railway on Vancouver Island had a derailment there the other day apparently the third person has died now that's the part of the job I don't like it's a part of the job we have to deal with it's quite a sobering thing to happen I imagine their families are feeling it you know what caused that derailment was it weather factors was it crew factors was it public doing something you don't know those things right now and when bad things happen they happen in a big way 30 kilometers ahead of the train now this is one of our most active side phones that we have here we get a lot of debris that comes down a lot of rock comes down every year this is for sure the culprit so mystery solved on this slide fence I'll send a crew out here and they'll repair this let me know okay I'm not sure if I get any more time I got 10 minutes left we're pressured for time we got to get going CPE supervisor track inspection Hal Porter Roadmaster Nick fire on 13 over and Signal 274-274 political East we got a pot ash train coming we gotta get with this section of track safe to pass Nick and Hal clear the line was a little clearer I think it might be the train [Music] everything runs on a schedule if I delay a Train by an hour that might make it one hour late for its Port arrival in Vancouver which could lead to a ship being delayed so we need to make sure that we're not delaying trains when we're doing our work [Music] 500 kilometers ahead of the train we're throwing Michaela is teaching Jimmy the tricks he needs to survive the steel crew [Music] coming up there's nothing in the Middle East I get it okay doing what I'm doing now just moving place is pretty simple I'm barely working up a sweat it's not too bad but when I was uh Hitting off the anchor is I had to take so many breaks it was pretty exhausting because you're just swinging swinging and Swinging you gotta keep up with the person in front of you if you want to keep going because if I wouldn't have helped him out and I would have walked away he'd been there for a while he'll need to pick it up if he wants to stay around that's for sure when not helping out the rookie Michaela's job is working the spike puller how long you've been operating the puller he must like it then he's better than being on the ground hey come on now I like this this is nice I've chalked my fair share of plates it took me a year before I got a machine and you also have to put in the hours he'll be spinning a hammer for a while I definitely think I came here with a false sense of fear honestly it's quite a bit better than what I expected or is Michaela just going easy on the Newbie working like a dog tomorrow [Music] at moose River time to go for a walk George Ross and George Jr start their goose hunt [Music] the section guys they were just saying that there was a black load of geese that were over here and took off before they came in and this time of year usually like you saw in that corner over there if you get the boat in there I might have to drag it on the ice by the way that's where I'm going [Music] I'm gonna cut the streets in my way [Music] push it down [Music] for me hunting on the river with my son and I'm very cautious with it with it friends you see how quickly the water rises I'll put together the ice moves and how much power is behind it it's very unstable a lot of hunters they don't hunt along the shore like that it's just too dangerous it's the worst time of year to fall in the water you fall in there within minutes you can use a hypothermia officially you're finished [Music] in Northern Ontario we have George and his son fight the ice to set decoy geese to lure in their prey a number of instances where I was in the water like this and you don't realize how much power is in the ice it'll push it but no problem you have flip you over if you you know if you try to fight it these plastic Birds should trick the geese into thinking that this is a safe spot to land so I'm gonna try to make it as decent as possible so I can pull the pool right in here [Music] laughs [Music] [Music] all right oh yeah now we just gotta get them you know where you gotta go in here we go out in this truck coming down yeah hurry up there's a shoreline over there just go down that trail over there he has a lot of responsibility when he's with me he's able to go on ATV take his gun walk around he has a lot of freedom might try to show him that if he wants to do it he can do it oh here comes the storm the lovely clouds the weather is turning they need to move fast to avoid getting stranded Junior returns with the two geese they shot the geese will provide A Feast for George and his family what they don't eat will be preserved for the months ahead yeah with the bike uh to make the time go faster don't have to put a boat by hand you got the winch on the bike and try and get the boat out [Music] it feels like November it's April end of April yeah Springtime is really odd yeah weather changes so fast we gotta put everything away reorganized wait for that train finally cool I was expecting winter [Music] the weather changes so fast you try to be prepared for everything I got lucky this time when I was prepared enough it sucks sometimes but just the way it is come on Jordy [Music] all right Jordy and Justin's potash train has safely made it through the rock slide Zone emergency our length is 98 55 9855 if you ever notice as well please 37.71 on this one uh we got 37.71 on the leader here we did not get fuel levels in the rest of the train before the final 500 kilometer Trek to the coast they need to make a pit stop to check that the Train's three 400 horsepower locomotives have enough gas for you uh 87-40 East [Music] I am going to go back to the second unit so let's go check it out the locomotives are spread along the length of the train to even out the pushing and braking power we're on The Pusher unit I checked the fuel level 3 480 gallons so that's good doors are locked keeps the hobos off the trains fuel checks done they need to restart the 22 700 ton train on a hill no simple task so there's a bit of a different train handling procedures and I'm sure all my locomotives are loading before I release anything like brakes or anything this is where bad things can happen jordy's head end locomotive remotely controls the two other engines along his three kilometer long train radio frequencies send his commands to the support engines instantly Jordy needs all three engines to work in unison to successfully start the train in the mountains if the head end locomotive pulls while the rear engines still have their brakes on [Music] the car's connecting Knuckles will snap I let the train come to me that way I know the brakes are releasing because if I start to power up too quickly I can rip the train apart and we don't want that we want Jordy to drive it as well as he can because Knuckles break then I get to carry a 80 pound chunk of metal from quite a distance usually back to go uh fix the broken part [Music] in Northern Ontario This is Our Family Camp here George and his son have returned to their Camp from their hunt we're gonna smoke some geese I already got some up there you smoke them and you can it's already pre-cooked right if you freeze them just gotta boil it or throw in the oven my family we love it though we eat it all the time I'm keeping all the feet here my aunt and uncles eat that obviously we'll roast that can pick it all the meat off of it this part here the same thing you'll boil it for gravy and put dumplings and potatoes in there I'm keeping the hearts you know my kids like eating that the gizzards my parents are going to keep that he got some elders and then what a couple of each we'll give away I've always made a point to give Elders a wild meat I still give a lot of meat away to my uncles and aunts and grandfathers I'll just give what I can [Music] this is the goose that we shot in our moose River got it debone it and uh smoke it I enjoyed hunting rocking enjoy being in the bush we've accomplished what we wanted to today they're all smoked they'll last us until the fall time I'm just getting hungry looking at it can't wait to eat I feel way more at home when I'm out here a lot of people I think it's a lot of work but for us it's it's the norm we always do it we've always been doing it and always will but the bush life is the best life to have it's simple and safe [Music] ahead of Jordy and Justin's potash train in North Bend BC and there all the plates are sitting nicely Jimmy and the team have laid nearly 150 meters of new rail any anchors the machines Miss I gotta put on by hand and any loose scrap I gotta take and just throw on to the back of this machine simple really it's just not as repetitive that's what I've been doing before I was always told that the laborers put on all the anchors I've never heard of an anchor machine modern machines have definitely made life on the steel gang more bearable Kyle's crew uses Grinders to rub up the edge of the rail before the final welding after we lay in the new rail what we have to do is weld in the new rails of the old rails because this guy actually clamps onto both ends of the rail and actually just pushes them together and then welds it the yellow thing that's actually on right now is called the puller that's what pulls the new rail into the old Rail and pushes it up tight and then this torch he said that's the actual welder head the welder heats the ends of the rail to more than one thousand degrees to fuse them together the puller only lets go once the weld is cool it's a pretty cool process job well done Jimmy's first day on the steel gang is nearly over I've been the new guy before I know what to expect the guys teasing me a little bit but it could have been much much worse I think I can do this honestly I think I can do this I think you'll do well just CC has a pretty good head on the shoulder so he just needs to keep focused keep working at it with the track secured the potash train can pass [Music] Jordy and Justin have successfully hauled their 22 700 ton train back through the unstable mountains that's it we're done another crew takes the potash to the port of Vancouver from there ships will transport it to China and Brazil where it will be used to help farmers grow essential food crops the team has taken on tunnels and rock slides this is for sure the culprit to make their delivery on time it's important that we ship hot ash because it's just part of the integrated supply chain for Canada Saskatchewan mines the pod ash we ship it across Alberta we ship it across British Columbia we put it on ships at the port and it goes to its destination it just keeps all of western Canada moving in the Rocky Mountains Canadian Pacific's railroad Crews must haul the most challenging load of the Season we're way up here Willie knows what could happen while track Crews scrambled to stay one step ahead it's the weight of a battleship and it's just pounding the trackpad down [Music] 2500 kilometers east of the Rockies in Thunder Bay Ontario Dock Workers are unloading a unique piece of cargo that will test the railroad and its Crews to their limits giant urea reactor is more than 33 meters long and weighs a colossal 210 tons nearly two and a half times the weight of the Space Shuttle steel cylinder will be used to help manufacture nitrogen-based fertilizers critical for Canada's agriculture industry and exports just getting it from Europe to Thunder Bay via the Great Lakes was a huge challenge we're 2300 miles Inland so it's farther to sail from the coast to Thunder Bay than it is across the Atlantic 16 locks lift the ship 602 feet so it's quite a remarkable engineering fee to get this far inland with an ocean ship it will take the pork crew all day to prepare the reactor for loading before Canadian Pacific's railroad crew can haul it across the country a journey actually starts in the Rockies from Revelstoke rail Crews will guide a mixed manifest train 2400 kilometers east on a milk run the train will stop in dozens of locations along the way dropping off and picking up cars until it reaches Thunder Bay there it will pick up its most precious load the urea reactor and then carry it 1300 kilometers West to Moose Jaw Saskatchewan [Music] the first of several Crews that will take on this cross-country challenge heads East out of Revelstoke yes do some railroad engineer Jordy Hunter is at the helm and riding shotgun is Tom waiver because Tom essentially is the boss right yeah Tom's the bus I'm the boss if I get promoted to a locomotive engineer well we have train 400 today we picked it up in Revelstoke it's heading east through to Thunder Bay Jordy and Tom are driving a mixed manifest train to pick up the reactor mix manifest trains are to me more interesting than standard bulk trains all types of different cars includes the dog's breakfast train yeah you know there's Lumber cars tank cars so all the weird stuff is on there and sometimes we have to follow restrictions and keep an eye on certain things because it's an exception to what we usually deal with thank you in Thunder Bay project manager Willie gavinchuk is gearing up to lift the 210 ton reactor off the ship grab that side oh you think yeah we got the forklift here right away we can slide it it's so heavy two shipboard cranes will be needed to lift and lower it onto a pair of custom-made flatbed rail cars Engineers have fitted two special metal plates called bolsters onto the cars these rotate and slide forwards and backwards the reactor will be welded to these plates Distributing its weight across the two cars the rotating plates allow the 33 meter long reactor to Pivot and slide independent of the Train's direction as it navigates tight turns without the moving plates the welds could snap and cause the train to derail [Music] this assembly here the the large plate on the bottom and the narrower plate on top is a bolster assembly this plate slides as 14 inches of travel so that when it travels down the railway tracks that slot allows it to go around curves on the tracks what I want to do is I want to get it centered before we put a load on it we're very close on that you know I think he's got to go a little bit let's open up this Fork he's pretty good yeah I can see both lines and yeah we're good okay it's looking good the Rockies Jordy is settling back into the controls for the long trip ahead he's been off exploring his railroading routes jordy's great great Uncle George Stevenson is known as the father of railroading well I took a month's vacation and I went to the United Kingdom George Stevenson designed a locomotive in 1829 and they called it the rocket I wanted to see the actual locomotive because that's what started it all I stopped the rocket and that was in the London Museum of Sciences so to me that was something special the design of Stevenson's locomotive is a design that's been carried through to this day with steam locomotives I'm the only one in my whole family who works on the railway actually scanners going off Justice Jordy and Tom get up to speed five six zero they run into trouble five six zero five six zero 12 18. a Trackside sensor called a hot box has detected something wrong with an axle in one of their wheels now we have a clear signal there are only 150 kilometers into the journey but have no option but to pull over into the rail yard at Golden for an emergency inspection 8693 East clear to stop oh I guess we are stopping perfect okay the locomotive maintenance team gets to work trying to find the source of the problem we're looking for uh Missing brake shoes burnt off brake shoes missing broken parts [Music] Diesel service attendant Tom Broder prepares the train for inspection I need to put the train in emergency so that we can work on it and also to ensure that it doesn't roll away anywhere and that is now locked nobody can drive this dream we're locked lag disabled Train's an emergency on the south end to work hey thanks Dougie uh okay to go to work maintenance engineer Dan Van Diest starts at the front end locomotive we'll spec make sure there's nothing broken cracked get there and we'll start walking around uh inside of the locomotive here is your sander here these apply sand with air so when the rails get icy we can apply sand to the wheels which gives it better traction Springs are good we also want to be checking our Wheels wheels are very important if you get a high flange there's a chance for a derailment [Music] foreign thinks that he's found the defect that set off the HotBox alarm one of the wheels has a dangerously worn flange and needs to be replaced so just gauge the wheel with this gauge a high fun well Kate's going to call it in as a bad order and this car is going to get set off got a wheel for you here for now jordy's train isn't going anywhere let's go [Music] in Canadian Pacific's rail maintenance yard in Golden BC one of Jordy and Tom's train cars urgently needs a new set of wheels replacement so it can travel onward to Thunder Bay to load up the 210 ton fertilizer reactor back up we'll take her in the shop it rests on the shoulders of mechanic Ken Sutter a little more and his new rookie Caitlin rayon to swap out the Colossal wheel set fast the train runs on 200 pairs of solid steel wheels called the set each wheel set weighs more than 1300 kilograms every wheel has a rim on its Inside Edge called the flange these keep the wheels safely locked between the rails but after billions of revolutions carrying millions of tons the wheels wear down over time the height and thinness of the flange increases if it becomes too high and too thin it can ride up over the rail or snap off derailing the train I'm working with Katie and basically we're going to move the car down to the Jacks Jack it up and change the wheel [Music] first one over yeah I am a Apprentice Railway car mechanic I've always been a tomboy I've always wanted to work at CP my dad my grandpa both worked at CP you got her got her okay I'm technically a third generation excited about it actually [Music] we're gonna lift the end of the car so we can roll the truck side out from underneath [Music] there we go I'm swinging over the gym cranes so we can lift the side of the truck so we can put a new wheel in we'll roll this under and then we'll just lower it down that one went good all right so basically the whole truck's Gonna Roll right back under again [Music] here we go everything's tight yeah you gotta light this system it's probably 200 years old and still works we better get going here with the new wheel set fitted Jordy and Tom can continue on feels good to be back on steel wheels hopefully when everything stays smooth and running like a well-oiled machine [Music] 2500 kilometers east of the Rockies in Cochrane Ontario the crew of the Ontario Northland Railway is gearing up to make a crucial Supply run for a local Bushman and Trapper who lives off the grid on the edge of the Arctic what time we got here three minutes two nice conductor Jay faldine is loading up the polar bear Express a service train that runs along this Flagstop line from Monday through Friday we're just uh passenger train going up to Moose and E making sure everything that we've got to be offloaded if we have to stop along the way gets there and making sure everybody on here gets to where they're supposed to be okay I'm gonna get out of here [Music] [Music] [Applause] basically the two Engineers up in the head end they're in charge of the engines and all the coaches behind that that's mines and Tom's responsibilities and that includes the passengers making sure that the coaches are stocked with what they need got some solar panel batteries off at Mile 131 for William poser's camp William Tozer local Legend is probably a good way of putting it in the bush there's nobody that you'd rather be with than William Tozer William Tozer he's one of the first guys I met working this job and he's I don't think eccentric is the right word but he's created character and his whole family they're a lot of fun to be around they're really good we chopped a bunch of holes there I don't want to step in one I know it's not a Martin is that like a beaver you got him yeah definitely a beaver there's not worth a lot of money right now maybe 40 50 bucks if you're lucky maybe make some hats and mitts my mom's uh Cree we grew up just down here maybe 11 10 miles from here and uh up here we have a lot of First Nations people parents and grandparents they always run the summer camps we've been running the camper maybe 20 25 years now Williams Camp is named camp onakawana but locally it's known as Camp 131 because it's located at Mile 131 on the Ontario Northland Railway line [Music] so you started ringing School groups teach them about trapping fishing some traditional stuff from this area hopefully you can get everybody to enjoy the outdoors and their culture again born and bred in the bush William wants to pass on his outdoor skills to local youth he's building an education center where he can do that take that activities that that they'll be doing in there is feedwork Tamarack geese and the Moose tiny that kind of stuff William aims to fit the center with solar panels to save fifteen hundred dollars a month in fuel costs if it works as good as he does uh should pay for herself in the well the first year three now we're waiting for the batteries are going to be coming on the train and we'll be able to hook everything up and see if it works in addition to the solar panel's batteries William will need to bring in eight tons of lumber plywood and insulation to build his Center the solar panel batteries and building supplies are coming from different sources the batteries are coming from Cochrane so Jay and the team will transport them North to mile 131. the building materials are coming from moosine and we'll head south on an overnight freight train Freight crew will drop off the boxcar into a sighting for William and his team to unload then they'll have to haul everything eight kilometers back to Camp using nothing but snowmobiles if it wasn't for this train some of the stuff that he has brought into his Camp there's there's no other way really to get into him a couple years ago we've pretty much brought up an entire brand new kitchen for him it'd be kind of tough to haul it up here on a four-wheeler in the Rockies ahead of Jordy and Tom's train yeah we'll get a Jack or two we'll just level it put it up level track maintenance Foreman Ryan McDonald is getting ready to write Winter's wrongs there's some low-hanging ties every time a train goes over it kind of a soft spot over time you get lots of trans over it and ties settle in the ballast the unstable track means this section has a speed restriction of 25 miles per hour something 24 year old green vest Jesse Dahlberg hopes to change my job today is digging the holes putting Rock under the ties I think I can handle it Jesse's role will be as much manual labor as possible that's what his green best is for Jesse has spent the last eight months working the rails I do remember the days of a green Vesta when I started the rate of pay was a lot lower and it seemed like the work was harder that's how you learn if you do something wrong you get picked at and you don't do it wrong again I got a lot more to learn but I think I'm ready for the orange Fest [Music] Jesse needs to raise up and level out this three quarters of an inch dip in the tracks we're just trying to get the track level all in one line hang on good yeah I've done this lots and I feel confident we were working on the main line now so there's a little bit more urgency we need to uh make sure we get the job done in time we're not holding up trains outside the town of gold in British Columbia green vest Jesse and the track maintenance crew are under pressure 20 minutes not a lot of time the team needs to raise a section of damaged track to make it level again so that the speed restriction through here can be removed we use lining bar to get underneath the tie lift the tie hold it solid to the rail and the hydraulic tamper just to poke Rock underneath the tie to do the job they need to compact a ballast they've added under the tracks to exactly the right height using a Pneumatic tool called a tamper Jesse is going to run the tamper foreign nice to be camping again the ground's been frozen all winter and it's a little easier now to get the ties up on their Journey East to the shores of Lake Superior Jordy and Tom's mixed manifest train is approaching fast they're relying on the newly repaired track to help speed them through the railway's a 24-hour industry massive heavy trains they're always moving and the track has always got something that needs to be tended to when you think about it it's the weight of a battleship and it's just pounding the trackpad down for running between 15 and 20 000 tons so it has to have integrity that's a massive amount of weight the clock is ticking on the tamping team as Jordy and Tom approach Justice got good endurance he likes to run the tamper usually until he almost Falls over to hold up the track the ballast has to be compressed to interlock properly so it takes Focus and force till good there now we're just waiting for some trains to move over the work that we've done Gordy and Tom's heavy train will give Jesse's ballast a final Tamp down performance will look at it and say the problem is solved see if I've done my job properly if the defect that we tamped stay [Music] slow and if it doesn't stay we can blame Jesse this is decision time for Jesse to make sure he did good work if he didn't do a good job he's going to buy everybody lunch it doesn't make me nervous I like to do a good job I don't like to screw anything up so I don't have to buy everybody lunch I like Clubhouse sandwiches french fries and gravy I did my job right the track shouldn't be too high or too low [Music] yeah it looks good looks good looks like uh that's where we want it we're gonna be canceling the slope Jesse did a good job and I'm unfortunately I don't get lunch maybe tomorrow maybe tomorrow yeah tomorrow is another day [Music] 2500 kilometers east Jay faldine is heading deep into the Ontario wilderness roughly an hour for a critical shipment of batteries to William Tozer he's not in the middle of nowhere but he's pretty darn close which up here is kind of in the middle of nowhere [Music] you want to come and grab these boxes for me here Tom ah I better go wonderful at the drop-off point for Williams Camp Jay unloads the batteries for Tozer to pick up later William knows we dropped this stuff off for him he'll come pick it up probably snow machine in a sled [Music] what we got planned is get all the batteries connected a little more generator [Music] the railroad was an octopus I don't think we'd be able to do what we're doing we just haul it all back by a stone machine while William transports the batteries to his Bush camp an hour north in musane the rest of the building supplies are being loaded up by William's friend Tony all total we have about eight tons of uh materials to move Tony tourville a musane resident has organized a donation of 100 sheets of plywood 48 bags of heavy duty insulation and six skids of lumber to frame and clad the recreation center I'm a builder by trade I just volunteered my time to help as part of my contribution to the community I've worked on many of many remote communities along the Jays Bay coast and I've always used the onr to ship light materials the Ontario Northland freight train runs overnight once a week between the towns of Cochrane and musane that's it now huh do I get a lockup this is it we've got all the materials that we need for our new recreation center in Nebraska The Boxcar will be leaving uh three o'clock in the morning [Music] 700 kilometers West in Thunder Bay Ontario [Music] try to get it done before the weather gets too bad Willie gavinchuk is offloading the mass of 210 ton urea reactor ready for its Journey West Saskatchewan looking good the huge steel reactor must be precisely positioned onto the specially adapted train cars so it can be welded down for transport the reactor's mounting section known as Saddles needs to be lined up with a rotating bolster plates on the train cars below they'll be okay everything seems to be lining up I think we're going to be close enough but as the reactor is lowered closer to the rail cars watch on the saddles oh we are way off here Willie I'm gonna drop two feet [Music] in Thunder Bay Ontario Willie gavinchuk is struggling to load a 210 ton urea reactor onto the rail cars that will haul it halfway across Canada I got an issue with the cars run I'll ask your expertise here 25.9 on the saddle that is 85 feet saddle Center to Center and the car is 86 eight and a quarter Saddles are good rail cars are out the reactor is fitted with two steel Saddles which are supposed to sit on metal plates welded to the rail cars but the Saddles aren't lining up with the plates we've discovered that the rail cars do not match up with the Saddles the Saddles are in the correct position as per the engineered drawings they will have to move one of the bolster plates but that will take time and the ship needs to leave the dock now the edge here is going to be on that Mark there just a little bit good the reactor has to be offloaded so they need to find a safe way to secure the reactor temporarily and fast pulling it over so that we get it flush on this edge here we'll get it positioned we'll bring it down your fingers yeah [Music] let's Square the plate after the saddle push push the plate a little a little more oh I got the reactor off the ocean vessel where we've got one hand positioned on the rail car finally they managed to secure it well enough for now we're going to secure that to make sure that we don't lose that positioning so what we're gonna have to do is shift the bolster plates we'll lose about 24 hours in the process [Music] foreign west of the Canadian Rockies and North Bend VC amateur magician Jimmy the wizard Taylor is settling into his new job on the steel gangs in just a couple of weeks he's developed a brand new attitude I try and have this enthusiasm about me because I find when you're happy and in a good mood it rubs off on people no matter how I feel I always have to be in a good mood Jimmy now works 500 kilometers from his home in Revelstoke it's a grueling schedule of eight days away six days home got missing the girlfriend and it wasn't until I got into the car is when I teared up because I bought a greatest hits of the 1980s they're all breakup songs the very first song was don't forget about me today Jimmy meets his new boss Alina Miller I something out here happens it does fall on my shoulders her reputation is tough but fair with an emphasis on tough that's his name the wizard a lot of them also he tells people and just like Alina Jimmy's reputation has preceded him so I'm gonna make him work see if he cries at the end of the spot and if he doesn't then he's okay in my books I just got to keep thinking each day that I can do it I can come here every day I try and shove a smile on my face Jimmy will need more than a winning smile to win over Alina Miller got the wizard on it Jim your name's Jim yes have you set plates before you want to place them so they're right here comes along you can push it into the side [Music] the steel gang's main job is to replace large sections of worn rail once the worn rail has been removed the steel plates that fasten the new rail to the ties must be repositioned and to speed up the process they use an automated machine called the plate liner to make sure the plates all line up [Music] I am throwing Jimmy the wizard on the plate ladder so it basically keeps the gauge for when the Steel's laid cool the trick is to never fall behind the machine oh there's more plates which is nearly impossible when the plates are upside down keep it they're leaving plates upside down for me and backwards and every which direction just to get to me playing jokes on the new guy I'd most likely do it too to the new guy on the plate setter aim after 90 meters on the plate liner Jimmy's test for the day is over is that it but Jimmy still has a long way to go before he proves himself on the steel gangs we get a lot of new house straight off the bat that makes you progress forward I hope she sees me as a tough worker I want to definitely show her that I'm not an underdog I know a lot of people have their doubts about me that's why I keep working harder and harder and harder each day because I need to prove these people wrong [Music] spent the maximum time allowed at the train controls Jordy and Tom are nearing the town of fields British Columbia you know they say Well a true professional makes it look easy well that's great but you know this is one of those jobs you can't screw around you know it is a fun job but at the same time it is serious because of what we are dealing with their leg of the cross-country Journey has come to an end well Tom and I have had a long day the outgoing crew and we're going to be taking our train onwards to Calgary and and progressively make its way across Canada to Thunder Bay I'm looking forward to a little down time catch a well-deserved nap that's right yeah absolutely yeah all right well that's that another successful trip not for you Noah thank you very much in musane Northern Ontario five more 18095 I D A.M the Ontario Northland crew is securing William tozer's eight ton Lumber delivery on the southbound overnight freight train closer has a camp at 131 we're spotting a box car full of building materials so they could build a rec room for the kids during the summer they they get to go there and learn how to fish in First Nation stuff and the stuff they don't get to learn in school I guess yeah we're all set to go now [Music] I'm first Asian my mother was uh was a Cree she's from up North about a mile down the track there my job as a conductor on the railway I'm conductor on freight from moose knee to Cochran I basically just in charge of the train getting the clearances and make sure we run safely just as they get going is we got a Hot Wheel on the detector and I'm just going to get off and check the 10th car a track side detector that monitors the temperature of the Train's axles as it passes has registered a Hot Wheel triggering the in-cab alarm us not handbrake power include that's the problem just a snug hand brake that we we missed on our initial expection the parking brake wasn't fully disengaged so the friction against the wheel caused it to heat up luckily for Phil he caught it before any serious damage was done almost there you can get the cut comma so I'll get the switch we'll put the car in the siding uh where we think he can get it the best the crew will leave the building supplies in the boxcar overnight so that William can pick them up in the morning and that's it we're done with the box and like I say we won't touch it again until William empties it out in Thunder Bay Ontario Willie and the team have worked through the night to move the bolster plate to its correct position now they're racing the clock to weld the reactor to the rail cars for its 1300 kilometer Journey West to Moosejaw we've got the welder securing down the Saddles to the bolster plates we were in lousy conditions yesterday in the rain and the sleet and it was very difficult to get a good weld be ready to roll and they'll get it to the destination safely conductor Stephen olshanowsky and engineer Conrad party gets set for the epic journey west across Canada the load is 40 mile an hour today we can't exceed 40 mile an hour usually we'd be 60. so it's going to take us a little longer to get home today the car is carrying the massive reactor have been securely hitched to the mixed manifest train goes around too tight of a curve it can pop off that's why it's on those special cars they have a dimensional notice conventional shipment is one which exceeds a maximum standards of size weight and or height of center of gravity as established by CP you learned something today well I knew it just you know not in those particular terms High heavy wide Conrad and Steven's leg of the journey may be across flat prairies but with loads this big the risks are still high you're concerned about the car back there we uh looked back and when we stopped Steve checks it out and when he's walking by just as a visual just to make sure nothing's broken and let me keep a good eye on it [Applause] if you have a Crossing accident and you get something big God only knows what could happen that weld could break on that car God help us it don't happen [Music] 700 kilometers to the East Ontario Northland Railways crew have successfully delivered William tozer's boxcar of building materials but before William picks up the rest of the Timber and supplies he wants to test the solar panels to see if they work first he needs to charge up the batteries so they never really uh installed one before but they said they got all the instructions of that stuff his friends from the local community have rallied to help out including local Evan O'Rourke heavy the batteries store excess electricity generated from the panels for when the weather doesn't play ball the solar panels are a pretty good idea I mean green energy is good save on some fuel in the generator I save on Mother Earth it's gonna be good to her she's a nice lady really like a burning a year really because I was in 1500 a month from here holy smokes yeah so this is well worth it yeah not having to bring in fuel by uh sleigh and whatnot from the train to here in time and effort Willy's not a spring chicken anymore foreign now we're gonna put the panels up wow you guys are really doing it coming together quite well we're getting pretty close now to connecting everything together oh I hear a noise it should be making power now with the batteries charging up they head out to unload the eight tons of lumber and building supplies it's an eight kilometer Trek through the icy Wilderness to the site where the rail crew dropped off the boxcar [Music] here we are when we do something like this with the boss guy we try and get it unloaded as quick as possible five miles let me transport everything by a snow machine and we use flat slaged plugins whatever we can call it good load we like to have four or five guys helping us we had a warm weather the other day and the trail is pretty lumpy enough because uh we rented it up by uh diving on it now it's froze like a brick and it's very uh rough it will take dozens of trips through the snow to shuttle all the supplies to the camp my finger two of them yeah I got smashed in between two logs the other day nice and swollen it has got a big knob on the end there okay not even straight anymore looks like I said it's easy living the dream hauling up to half a ton per sled over the rocky uneven ground is tough work in -30 conditions yeah we're gonna leave me here until we're ready probably middle of may maybe the third we can make we'll cover it up it was a blast I don't want to do this again the team plans to build the recreation center when the snow thaws but the new solar power system is ready to test here we go hey turn it on or what here we go foreign [Music] Steven are hauling the 210 ton reactor across the Prairies that is correct and their train is about to get a lot shorter there's a potash mine up there we're going to deliver about 75 potash cars empties so that they can come down and grab them and go and load them 10 41. we're about to take the siding and I gotta jump off right now and do some work set those cars off derailing deros off lined up for track three when we come in the siding I got a certain amount of distance to Stop This Train stopping for 11. [Music] breaking up the train like this is called switching their first task is to release the link of 75 potash cars then Conrad uses his locomotive to shunt the potash cars onto the Side Tracks where mining Crews will pick them up this maneuver takes Precision driving and a steady hand on the throttle to prevent fishtailing the train I'm trying to watch that load that load is real heavy the gigantic reactor straddling two rail cars makes this task even tougher I gotta know everything like I got to be watching everything I don't know if some stuff is going to weaken after a while this merchandise is pretty expensive stuff millions of dollars probably on the Canadian prairies it's in Saskatchewan train crew Conrad and Steven are dropping off 75 empty potash cars on a signing for a local potash mine Conrad has to reverse the one kilometer long section of potash cars into the siding without damaging the valuable reactor [Music] thank you look at cfx 741 [Music] done yeah we got a medium to clear we're good to go Train's a lot lighter now went very well now we'll go over to the Moose job the train may be shorter and lighter but they still have 100 kilometers to travel with the 210 ton reactor if I look back and I see uh some some smoke back there on that load we would stop check it out based on what's wrong with it we would go from there there's there's different things you could do right if it's a Hot Wheel there's certain corrective action we can take but if it's a hot bearing then we have to immediately set off the car it takes two hours keeping one eye on the rails and one on the load to guide the reactor West [Music] all right finally the town of Moosejaw rolls into view it's good that the journey is over and we got to do it safely then line for us [Music] just got to tie these brakes on to secure the train if I don't put these on the train could potentially roll away done the reactor will be collected and taken to its new home this crucial component will contribute towards the millions of tons of urea fertilizer Canadian plants produce and Export across the world each year Canadian Pacific's railroad Crews navigated across half the country through massive mountains this was from a windstorm was it the whole thing wow is that ever awesome and vast prairies I gotta know everything like I gotta be watching everything to make this unique delivery that's it guys we're done for the day thanks for riding with us in Northern Ontario after five months of hard work Williams Camp has a new addition the recreation center is almost ready to host its first youth groups probably 95 done and yeah and the rest of it we'll use for whatever group is here and whatever you want to do solar power saves us a lot of money on gas as opposed to uh running with like with a generator okay with our panel should be able to run all these buildings on the green energy we should be self-sufficient the last few years would be a lot of interest uh bringing the use out or school trips and we're getting a lot busier so they'll have a place to go and get outside more and you know learn part of their culture for years to come hopefully [Applause] [Music] in the Canadian Rockies it's Go Logo all the time as spring heats up it's going to start getting busy around here an emergency track fix it's a little tricky when you're working on the main line dangerous rail work still don't have mercy on skin and bones and a monster breakdown every minute that this unit is sitting still is costing thousands of dollars test the skill of the teams as they battle their way through the mountains this isn't just a Sunday drive it's serious business [Music] foreign [Music] we gotta go a brutal winter has left the mountain tracks weathered and worn it just beats it to death as Ty split the track gets out of Gage Canadian Pacific's rail repair Crews urgently need to access the tracks but so do the freight trains now that the snow's gone the crews are going to start showing up in full force yeah think of the railroad has its own little ecosystem Lake of nature everything depends on everything else to survive we depend on the track gangs these trains do have to be at a certain point at a certain time the repair Crews now have just six weeks to replace a staggering 130 kilometers of track while the trains keep running it's a perfect storm foreign there wasn't any indication from the incoming crew mechanical issues or not no there's not it's just your chair leaks there veteran engineer Jordy Hunter and conductor Tom waiver are settling in for a 200 kilometer long journey through the mountains you make your trip miserable yeah I'll be deflating you'll see me slowly going up and down jordy's chair might be uncomfortable but their partnership isn't Jordy and I have been working together for about two and a half years on and off Jordy is responsible for running the engines and handling the train and I'm here to help him with anything he needs and at the same time I'm learning stuff from him because he's been here six times as long as I have [Music] we're on a 16 000 ton Grain Train we have three locomotives two on the head end and I have a mid-train remote locomotive we're moving 119 cars of grain this train originated out of Swift curtain and it's going to the coast and from there the grain will be loaded onto ships and it'll go all over the world on board is a five million dollar load of canola grain for cooking oil production to make their delivery Jordy and Tom must guide the mammoth three kilometer long train west from the town of field they'll need to dodge track Crews replacing more than 100 kilometers of damaged rails and navigate winding mountain passes before descending into the rail yard at Revelstoke British Columbia Final Destination the port of Vancouver where doc Crews will offload the canola onto a ship Bound for Asia it's starting to warm up the snow's all melting but high in the mountains there's still plenty of it now the Springs here is constant maintenance there's always men and Machinery all over the place replacing the rail replacing the ties that have been beat up over the last winter here so it's going to get pretty hectic here [Music] ahead of the canola train I'm going to say another seven or eight crew boss Bruce Moore is in his six-man team are gearing up to roll out massive new lengths of continuous welded rail train we pull the rails off this train is 1850 feet to rails itself is 1440 feet wherever the rail is worn they drop new rail for another crew to install across every section or Sub in British Columbia closing for all of BC [Music] we started off on the coast at Vancouver and we lay all the rail for each song we're on the shoe swaps up and we got 60 or 70 000 feet to go here in the mountains curved track gets damaged the most by banking trains so replacement rails are critical the rail train is one of the most important jobs because you can run trains with bad battles you can run trains with bad ties but you cannot run a train without steel so you need the rail to run the railway [Music] to drop the rail along these curves Bruce's crew needs a heavy duty winch it pulls the 33 ton rails onto a series of rollers that guide them down alongside the track their extreme length makes it possible to bend them around curves but it's still a precarious process if the weather is too hot the rails will buckle if it's too cold they'll get brittle and break compared to straight track it takes three times as many spikes to hold down curved rails to take the force from cornering trains okay Peter dig the hole we dig a hole between the ties and then we put the chain in and we chain in the rail okay work train from seat Eastward three feet to take the chain up two three mile an hour for three cars over once the train gets going the rail will stay with the chain and train will pull the rail off on the ground okay walk trains rails moving up to five mile an hour for a dozen one two it's a painstaking process where one mistake could spell disaster [Music] this is one of the most dangerous jobs because when the train is moving and the rails moving something jams up while the steel is going to bend we see rail breaking off and shooting in the ditch the rail is going to go somewhere because it's Steel and still don't have mercy on skin and bones 100 kilometers east high in the snow-clad Rockies we're coming up to the 10 mile per hour slow right now and yeah Jordy and Tom get a signal to slow down but they don't know why here is very important we need to know what's going on at all times so we can make a plan as to how we're going to operate the train 119.68 North tracks a major delay could hold up the canola delivery to the waiting ship until they know more it's a frustrating crawl I hate driving five miles an hour I don't like driving five miles an hour on the highway but when it comes to slow orders on the tracks we have to be paying attention to what's going on just 40 kilometers ahead of Jordy and Tom hey Bill I got locked axle for you to take care of on the North Main Roadmaster Chad deschamp races to the source of the Slowdown we have a train with a locked axle and it's causing congestion on the shoe swap sub it's a big urgency to get that broken down train put away and fixed this broken down locomotive is stuck on the tracks sure that's bad it's up to head mechanic Bill barterson to figure out how to get this paralyzed 200 ton locomotive off the rails fast it's too far gone we'll get a crane in here and I'll have to lift it up off the ground closing in on the rescue crew we just got a word that there's a train ahead of us with a locked axle I've had lots of breakdowns on the track some pretty spectacular ones too I was working with a good friend of mine he was working as my conductor I was the engineer and the whole train did a Lurch and he says oh look at that and I looked back in the second unit was erupted into a 50-foot Fireball and we brought the train to a stop as safely and quickly as we could fuel the gut into the crank case I guess and pressurized it and ignited blew everything apart I can officially say that I had a hand in killing a locomotive Jordy and Tom are headed straight for the dead locomotive how this goes started out and we've already got delays [Music] at the breakdown site basically like a flat tire Bill sizes up the problem the axle locked up and obviously the wheel wasn't turning the amount of friction that's created with the wheel not turning we'll rail to metal it calls them in a flat spot flat spots a little damage rail every minute that this unit is sitting still is costing thousands of dollars [Music] to fix the flat build tap's diesel mechanic Dan Van Diest to help do some heavy lifting because it has a flat spot on it we have to put a new wheel in so it doesn't do any damage to the track so they're bringing up all the lifting stuff we're gonna lift the front end of the locomotive one crane on each side and then we'll yank this thing out of here it's go go until you uh get it complete and get out of the way as fast as you can it's a risky job hoisting a 200 ton locomotive five meters off the track [Music] Bill and Dan need two cranes to make the lift so the wheels can be rolled out they'll position a 120 ton boom crane on the south side and a 120 ton excavator crane on the north for maximum lifting power they need to get close they also must lift in sync from a solid footing but that won't be easy the excavator crane will be sitting on uneven gravel that's lower than the boom crane so the team has to level it on blocks keeping the load even as they lift is key slightest tilt of the 200 ton engine could force a crane to collapse [Music] let's just try this let's put another tray right there okay I'll see what happens here [Music] it looks pretty good eh okay Jake right there we've got to get it quite high and then they'll drop the wheels out and drag them out and we'll put another set under train back down [Music] it's a little tricky just gotta stay vigilant stay safe most important thing of uh hazards around here we're on the cup for time we got two hours it's a huge responsibility and if you feel stressed but now you just keep moving forward get it done get off the track without something uh going sideways [Music] yeah in the Rocky Mountains that was a lot the Hoist crew is under the gun to get a broken down engine off the tracks ready they need to work fast so Jordy and Tom's canola train can pass stuff that runs 24 hours a day is gonna eventually need repair and sometimes it's a pretty spectacular event off we go [Music] the cranes take the 200 ton weight okay there [Music] every level that's good okay I gotta drive forward now yeah with the engine balancing five meters in the air the crew hauls out the faulty six-ton wheel set [Music] easiest and quickest fixes to put a dummy axle and then take it to a shop next task drag the temporary wheel set into place let's do it yeah the new dummy Wheels getting put on right now probably okay we can come down as the cranes lower the engine that's good Dan and Bill need to connect the new Wheels [Music] how are your spring sitting good yeah I think mine's not quite in there so you're going up a bit yeah just a hair [Music] I want to make sure the Springs line up bottom and top take some of the weight off knock it into position and it'll tell you when it's in place okay that went really well it was quite quick so now we'll get this buttoned up and get out of their way you know it's okay to move it'll get set off for repairs we didn't hold up any trains and uh they can have the north track back and continue uh running trains instead of dodging us as soon as we cleared there's already a train coming by okay we got some guys up here they're in the clear now anyway track looks clear eh yep waving only one track side that works for the company is an acknowledgment of the fact that they're there and they're doing their job to keep us all moving just as Jordy and Tom get back up to speed thank you 8766 West Oak there's our mid-train cooler to stop there to stop they're called off the track for a fast fuel up we call it the Splash and Dash we don't quite have enough fuel to make it all the way to the coast so we're stopping here in Golden the three engines powering this train can carry up to 15 000 gallons of fuel we don't want to sit here and fill it right to the top it's not necessary so we're gonna put in 500 gallons which is all we need per locomotive and then we're gone [Music] this truck here is capable of filling two locomotives at the same time so it's a little quick Splash and Dash and we're out here [Music] he's just about done we got a signal so we better get going here [Music] [Music] further down the line from jordy's train and heading towards it you guys didn't see any Bruce and his rail delivery crew are hunting down a marker showing where to lay the next curved rail usually we got a stake to go by but I got the judge myself where I gotta take it to bed rail okay work train come to an easy stop and I'll see where we got to tell you there's nothing marked here but you can see the bed rail up there so I got to tell you into some good rail so we're going to tie in right here [Music] straight nice and easy Trail weighs 33 tons and is as long as four football fields their extreme length makes them awkward to handle but these massive steel rails revolutionize the railway in the early days lines were built from 10 meter long pieces of rail bolted together with joint bars [Music] over time as freight trains got heavier and longer the multitude of bolted joints would loosen opening dangerous gaps between the rails the uneven surface made the ride rough forcing trains to slow down or risk a derailment by the 1960s there was a solution longer rails with fewer joints so trains could run smoother and faster [Music] rails are assembled here at Canadian Pacific's plant in Winnipeg these are 80 feet in length we're going to weld 1880 foot lengths together it'll equal 1440 feet what we're doing is we're producing continuous welded rail there's going to be no joints in that rail the welds need to hold so they're tested not to break until reaching 600 000 pounds of pressure foreign [Music] has to be strong but also smooth when it comes out of the welders we're going to make sure that that weld is grounded for the proper specs this is our final quality check he's going to verify the Integrity of that rail to make sure that it's straight [Music] so the rail comes out of our inspection building here when rail comes out at this length it's really like a big piece of spaghetti we can bend that rail into almost a full circle Bruce is working as fast as he can but the next length he needs is undersized so it needs a time-consuming cut I got the list here how much footage I need on this curve that's where we make the torch cut John get the water pump going okay get on the holes the crew needs to hustle without cutting corners we're always working in a dry area this will go up just like gas it'll catch that fast but we water down the area that we're cutting you don't want to burn down BC this spring lightning has triggered the majority of the 100 wildfires burning in the British Columbia interior and Fire season is just getting started [Music] in these conditions it only takes one spark to start a fire Charlie Charlie [Applause] on the edge of the Arctic wilderness [Music] the Ontario Northland Railway is a critical Lifeline for people who live in Canada's icy Far North it's important you know they're so isolated all the communities up the coast with the First Nations [Music] train is the only way to transport essential supplies equipment and people back and forth another six or seven cars looking for we've got to be able to work outside in the elements to not mind doing that there is a physical aspect to it especially in the wintertime when things freeze it kind of challenges every part of you [Music] today in musane the crew is preparing the train to travel South to Cochrane just checking things for conductors Sheldon Renault everyone who steps on Board gets first class care do you want to go in one of the uh like one of the built-in crates or do you want [Music] the dog is a little hesitant to get in the crate but once we get rolling it almost allows them to sleep we got some little kittens that are going out they're going to be up for adoption and we bring them out and something the UNR does with this animal uh welfare group we bring them out on the train to Cochran and somebody will pick them up and find adoption homes for them this is a fun part of the job and we get to have the little ones with us and they're not the only special passengers boarding today [Music] at the youth center in the nearby town of moose Factory this would be a part big jump Ryan Wesley is preparing to take the train to a powwow near Cochrane Apollo is like a social Gathering it's like a time of healing through the weekend the whole point of the drum is to get the Good Vibes out to everyone right Ryan's drumming group is called The High Ridge singers [Music] we have 11 guys that sing with us we're all currently away from each other because attending school every time we meet up at Apollo it's always really nice because we've been doing this for about nine years and there's a really strong relationship between every single person within our drum group [Music] once Ryan and the other passengers are on board the train will set off from musini heading south traveling 300 kilometers across the ice packed moose river through the Wilderness to reach Cochrane Ontario [Music] there's going to be a lot of people going to the powwow on the train because it's quite a big Gathering and there'll be a lot of excitement for that this way they happen to get out of their little crate they'll still be okay and mama can keep an eye on them [Applause] and we're off on time foreign [Music] Jordy and Tom are powering their 16 000 ton canola train through the mountains towards the town of Revelstoke but 100 kilometers in here's hoping that we can get through they hit a stretch of rough rail these trains beating the track up pretty good and it doesn't take very long to wear the track coat it's not going to be just as smooth as butter it's not reassuring no basically the contact point between the wheel and the rail is no bigger than a dime through continued passage of trains it wears the head of the rail flat which starts to create more friction and there's an even bigger obstacle ahead the track crew delivering new rails my rail there coming at you are you kidding me sure as Jordy and Tom close in one crazy day Bruce's team hurries to drop the new rail beside the track and get out of the way [Music] they complete the cut John shut the pump off and get moving so we're just jumping rail here how long do you expect to be a very busy line especially the single track because it's only one track you're down to 20 feet to speed things up that's all quick hooks Bruce needs to rely on an old style technique to drop two super long rails in a row a little more but it's not without risk you do it too fast it'll break right here [Music] to the west of the Rocky Mountains there are down to seven feet Rail train supervisor Bruce Moores is wrestling a kilometer of Steel into place but he's running out of time keep her going keep her going man the hook is made two for two [Music] get back a lot more I mean that's what the train comes [Music] it's one of those days freight trains are going to make the money that's the railroad they Retreat to his siding just in time [Music] referred to as the royal family here on the train because we waved from the window you know the Train's moving but if it wasn't for those folks nothing had moved [Music] as the snow thaws repair efforts amp up ahead this team is about to tear up the tracks to insert New Wooden ties under the rails for support first day back on the cruise want to get out there and change some pies 31 year old Amanda cymac is a rising star on the tie gang hey good morning everyone we're gonna be changing role play ties inspection production 350 ties today all right let's have a safe day Marco are we putting stuff on yeah no that's a good idea thank you I've been with CP for about two and a half years now before that I was a legal assistant Amanda brings that drive to work she just jumps on machines if I tell her to and she operates them are you ready for your first skin Donna tie crew yes I sure am today Carrie Watkins has been paired up with Amanda to train on the spike pullers today they're going to be changing ties this is like a big string of machines and they each have a job to do the front machines the puller and I'll be learning how to run the puller it pulls the spikes out of the ground so that the ties can be pulled out from under the rail and then replaced this is the machine you had last year right I had the puller last year yet being a woman on the railway is challenging it's really hard work it's physical when you first come out here it's pretty difficult because you have a lot of people that think you can't do it so you have to prove yourself women have only just joined the front lines 100 years ago all male Crews had their own challenges without machines The Gangs jacked up the track by hand using long iron rods and tongs ties would be tugged out like bad teeth before spikers hammered new ones into place it was back-breaking work that today takes only minutes with machines [Music] I've never operated a machine on it's a little stressful I feel kind of nervous because I'll be the front machine and everyone will be behind it's really up to the pullers to set the pace for the rest of the crew it's a lot of pressure we gotta go let's do this let's go an experienced puller can remove 10 spikes a minute [Music] trying my best to keep up to the crew and deal with the stresses around me and everything [Music] they say that the rules are Written in Blood and I hope I don't ever have to see somebody create a new rule out here oh my God [Music] three thousand kilometers east in Northern Ontario I always look forward to Simmons the polar bear Express is taking Ryan to an important Powwow we usually take the trainer and that's our main way of getting out of moose Factory because all the other ways like a plane is expensive Ontario Northland have been giving us complimentary tickets because what we stand for is a drum group that wants to promote a healthy lifestyle they probably do about 10 to 12 pounds every year the tradition of powwows dates back thousands of years to the practice of War dances before battle over time the ceremony evolved into an important social Gathering that included drumming and dancing in 1876 the Canadian government outlawed the ceremony until native groups restored it in the 1950s as part of their cultural heritage [Music] [Applause] River Bridge that's why we're slowing down to go over the bridge here and we're going to take a look and see how the ice is breaking up they can have a devastating effect on the shoreline none of this was here yesterday this is all new in some years it really affects the bridge pillars it looks to me like building up around the pillars there have been years when they've had to Dynamite the ice because they didn't think it was going to break up properly [Music] the ice breaks up in huge ton chunks push against the bridge supports with extreme force Dynamite has long been the only way to break the ice into smaller pieces that won't damage the bridge hopefully we're okay to go over it and be able to do track speed and not be late [Music] in British Columbia's Selkirk mountains it's going to be a good ride Jordy and Tom are making good time doing a bang-up job thanks Tom How's my driving though they're not over it's all good I enjoy working to Tom he knows what he's doing and he's earned his nickname 20-year time he's only got a few years in here and it's like working with a veteran oh I'm trying to make you look good buddy yeah it's all good I've been called the Jedi and I'm not sure why the rainforce is strong I think it has to do with the train Force which is strong with this one [Music] just ahead of the Millennium Falcon the tie gang is hard at it it's go go all the time in the lead Amanda and Carrie are under pressure to help replace 350 wooden ties in eight hours you don't want to slow the crew down you don't want to slow down production to change ties efficiently an army of 15 machines must work in perfect Unison a process they call lockstep two Spike pullers set to Pace extracting four spikes from every time [Music] scrap loader rolls up hot on their heels it has a magnetic belt that collects the old spikes two powerful tie inserters follow closely behind they pull out the old ties and push in new ones next in line a brigade of eight machines clean Compact and fix the new ties into place a final machine the regulator then re-grades the track bed to finish the job foreign [Music] but just as the rookie closes in on her goal [Music] the operation grinds to a halt [Music] who knows if it'll even start again [Music] west of the Canadian Rockies you can see here that track's been all dug up Jordy and Tom are closing in on the tie gang work Zone clear to medium their time yeah clear to medium signal weather and Mountain conditions there's a huge effect on this track yeah now the Springs here everything's going from a frozen state to a thawing state and then this ties split the track gets out of gauge and the potential for derailment is always there so you got to really be careful eight seven six six [Music] just ahead you got about 15 machines waiting to go to work mechanics arrived to try to get Carrie and the rest of the tie operation back up and running to me like it came out of the work done but don't hold trains we're here to make sure that trains can run that's our business right they race to replace a faulty hydraulic hose there's uh coil it's shorted out inside and it started burning but she didn't realize it basically it just started going up in smoke so it started fine so I can finally get on with things are you good to go yeah I'm good okay as the crew gets moving again Amanda pitches in to help Carrie catch up [Music] they get you through a lot of hard days [Music] job is done okay you're all miss everybody travel into the clear travel safe over they need to clear their machines off the track fast so Jordy and Tom's train can pass we cleared up just on time and 15 seconds to spare today's a good day it makes our day longer when they start doing track work you know I want to get home so does Tom but you know track has to be repaired right yeah [Music] in Ontario's Far North Fishers are good and the coaches the Ontario Northland train has just crossed the Moose River Bridge on its way to Cochrane an nothing's wrong and Sheldon needs to check on a hockey game we have to call the real traffic control check the score of the game [Music] all right thanks he's gonna call us back and let me score another score to Montreal game talking is the lifeblood of Canada really you ask anybody especially Northern Ontario it's huge so this is our new coach coach 650 with our monitoring systems everything's telling us it's good but we still have to test it just so that we know everything's working properly Temple cave he's gonna run through all the wheels on this coach if the danger lights on it means there's something wrong with the wheel we're gonna stop the train check the wheels [Music] temperatures are good here's our highlights on the half game in 200 seconds that's really good news for us all our monitoring systems are working and the Montreal Canadiens are winning at the moment so so far so good on this trip [Music] [Applause] [Music] thank you we're about three miles out of town one last Bridge nice four hour ride yeah and they pull into Cochrane the kittens are here hopefully they can find adopt him Hold Us for them well the little ones are in here [Music] to be a Railroader it means you get to see a lot of places and meet a lot of people but you know usually get to watch too much hockey so I'll have to maybe rush home and get to catch some overtime [Music] south of the Cochrane train station in Timmins Ontario all right ladies and gentlemen College [Music] Ryan Wesley has finally made it to the ceremony to be reunited with his drum group you get to see different styles of dancing every dancer tells a story narrated by the singing and drumming Circle [Applause] how much really makes the power the train has brought them together but it's their Traditions that keep them connected [Applause] [Music] three thousand kilometers West that's downhill all the way to Revelstoke Jordy and Tom are coasting towards their last destination a job where he always needs me in control all the time it's almost like a beast you have to tame it is yeah and jordy's got all these little tricks that you can't learn from anybody else he's forthcoming with the information and stuff like that really helps out well thank you Tom that was nice no there is some legit legitimacy to that it helps me out you know to make me a better Railroader as I'm sure guys previously have helped him to make him a better Railroader that's a team effort all the time [Music] feels good to be getting home we've had a long day but the grain's in good shape we made it through the Rockies some of the nastiest treachers trained in Canada but we're going to see the lights of Revelstoke here shortly so our day is pretty much done we're gonna hand it off to another crew who's going to take it onwards to Vancouver [Music] well done after a further 600 kilometers the train pulls into Vancouver's port workers transfer all 16 000 tons of grain into the ship's massive Hull just tell them to start slow that's it there beautiful this delivery will head to markets as far away as Asia Canadian Pacific's Heavy Haul canola train has done its job thanks to hard-working Crews who've kept the railroad running they've dodged a broken down locomotive along with weathered and worn down track across the mountains I'm very proud to do what I do we're operating some of the biggest Machinery that moves across the face of the Earth it's a pretty neat feeling to be given the responsibility to operate such a massive piece of equipment best job in the world in the Rocky Mountains yeah they're ripping railroad police in Hot Pursuit there they are right there challenging Bridge overhaul something's binding there gem eh oh we don't get those rails in they're not going to trust me and a dangerous nighttime repair threatened to derail a vintage Train's historic Journey marking Canada's 150th birthday not coming home is not an option [Music] [Applause] every day across Canada more than 8 000 workers toil to keep Canadian Pacific's Fleet of 1 000 freight trains hauling crucial supplies from coast to coast [Music] but today this crew is preparing a very different type of train for a once in a lifetime Journey you guys working on one over this is the Royal Canadian Pacific a vintage passenger train some of the cars are nearly 100 years old Adam Meeks is part of a dedicated team of Engineers preparing it for a unique cross-country Trek in honor of Canada's 150 years of Confederation you're in for a bit of a treat a train like this goes by so rarely the likelihood that anybody sees a train like this ever again in their lifetime is practically nil so we're making history nobody has thought of doing anything this big a scale since this Railway was built two cars stop short there 1401 the luxury Passenger cars date as far back as 1914. the two locomotives were built in the 1950s they are the ICONic f-unit diesel Electric the f is for 14. because each one can generate 1400 horsepower it took hundreds of hours to restore this train back into working order we are dealing with antiques so in a lot of cases it's been modernized but there is still a lot of original equipment in these cars 1401 stop good joint three points [Music] 14 not one on the cell truck the train leaves Port Moody with 50 VIP passengers on board including the top brass from the Canadian Pacific Railway near Wally vaninsky and conductor Alan bodker are in the driver's cap for the first leg of the journey clear signal I worked with CT rail for just over 34 years now but I got told I was running this train today it was a special moment for me this lead locomotor that we're currently riding right now was built in 1958. yeah you don't see too many of these engines around anymore [Music] oh [Music] the Royal Canadian Pacific will travel 4 500 kilometers from Port Moody BC to its final destination in Ottawa the journey will take 26 days with stops in 13 cities along the way the stop that matters most is Revelstoke the prime minister is coming to honor the country and the railroad [Music] sure nothing gets in the way of this train our boss has put it to us playing the 150 train is not an option we just have to make sure that we just keep moving forward because you know School timing you'll have so much time to get this job done you know everybody does try to stay focused we want to look good like this is a big big deal but this journey couldn't have come at a worse time for the team the snow has thawed all the big track engineering projects are scheduled to take place now [Music] in the Rockies Roadmaster Chad deschamp is setting up to overhaul this massive swing bridge that passes over a channel called The sycamoose Narrows BC in the summertime it's household capital of the world basically I've got this is a pretty busy Channel this is a swing bridge but right now I can't swing for the fact that we have winter rails in this water is rising and it could be any day where somebody phones and says they need to get a boat through here and we don't want to look bad by not being able to swing the bridge well we're getting ready to do our Bridge job here waiting on two westbounds once they go by we'll get the main track [Music] 200 kilometers to the West 1401 East clear to medium the Royal Canadian Pacific commemorative train is making its way towards Chad's team at the Sycamore swing Bridge we have a lot of Manpower out here that you work throughout we're just looking for any debris that might be track we're consistently looking out the window looking for any obstructions or any other issues Wally has Decades of experience driving free but none driving people driving a passenger tank great trainers it's short and relatively heavy and the power is smaller the F unit has less horsepower than modern day Freight locomotives but its gearing system was designed for passenger service so it can accelerate much faster you need to be on the ball and pay attention to the track ahead of you because you can injure some people or build their drinks in its Heyday Canadian Pacific wined and dined the rich and Powerful from all over the world including King George VI and his wife Queen Elizabeth JFK and Jackie Kennedy and Sir Winston Churchill Wally has his own royal family on board he's on board with the president with us today as well and his family so you don't want to give him a rough ride and be that guy that is known for bunking the vice president the president around too much don't want to get fired today at the sycamu swing Bridge the tracks are clear and Chad's crew is ready to start the big jump Central pillar contains two sets of hydraulic jacks the team needs to replace the winter rails with Summer rails that unlock to allow the Jacks to lift and then rotate the bridge [Music] this allows large boats to pass underneath in the summer when the water is high the last truck's on the track they're already tearing apart the rail basically we're going to be taking out the winter rails which are just straight running rails through we clear these new red rails that we're putting in they're called ridex rails which allows the bridge to open and swing the ridex rails have a special mitered joint that creates a temporary connection when the bridge is shut tles the rails to be able to come apart as the bridge opens and swings comes box closes and the rail contacts again and it's possible for trains specialized rails are 25 times more expensive than traditional rails so workers remove them in the winter when the Narrows are frozen over button this up then we're gonna put that in together but that means every spring they have to be reinstalled they know the urgency that we have to get the rails in got a three hour timeline yeah put a bar in there and just spread that a little bit so that you guys can bring it up without knocking all the anchors the biggest thing on the back of my mind is delaying the 150. any delays is going to delay the whole scheduling [Music] spread this open a little bit let's give it a good one good that's good that'll work we've got one set of rails in here already getting ready to drop in the rails on the other side of the track let me get this ending and drop it in something's bind in there something's binding how close are we there is that tight love sucks well we can't really wedge it oh my God if we don't get those rails in it looks bad on us on the Sycamore swing Bridge Chad's crew is struggling to install one of the new rails not the right one that sucks okay just put it in the middle there for now as soon as he lets go that rail he's grabbing the other one they've been trying to fit the rail into the wrong side of the bridge I'm sorry bud one step back we set out one of the rails for The Other Side by mistake and put it on this side but we'll remedy that if you're coming down coming your way Chad like swing it to you good right there eh Jake give me a spike steak cost them valuable time the Royal Canadian Pacific is headed their way on a cross-country journey to celebrate Canada's 150th birthday we did this in about a half an hour delay [Music] 140 kilometers West at the semlin West turnout well might as well go and walk the switch Roadmaster Rock Milan is gearing up to swap out a 60 meter section of rail that allows trains to change their route onto another set of tracks the switch has given us nothing but problems all winter we run a lot of trains on this truck it's tired 100 million tons of traffic moves through here every year see how the mud is right in here so what happens is when it gets wet the track starts to pump and you can have what's called a wheel lift where it actually lifts up off the rail and goes on the ground switch replacement used to be Rock specialty before he got promoted to Roadmaster two months ago I still love building stuff I love installing stuff there's a sense of accomplishment when you're done that you don't get from sending emails the switch replacement will shut down the main line for six hours nice work so it's been scheduled for the crack of dawn tomorrow when demands on the line are lighter I think she's done this once or twice uh here's the new Switch going in to save down time on the track the new Switch has been pre-assembled ties and all quite the equipment we need to haul this into place switch replacement is high pressure and high stakes especially when it will be done in the dark there are extreme dangers because we're talking about really heavy really fast pieces of equipment it's very serious I take it very personally making sure the job gets done right and safely because not coming home is not an option for me or anybody else that I know thank you 85 kilometers east in Kamloops constables Mike Malay and Dave Lucas are securing their beat for the Royal Canadian Pacific's safe Passage the Camp's still there under the bridge right along the rail there right along the rail and right by the entrance way out of the hole under the sign yeah cam loops has a large rail yard in the middle of town Canadian Pacific has 70 officers to patrol major hubs like this one to keep the tracks secure and the public safe dispatch whiskey kilo 3 any funny business happening within 500 meters of the tracks is their business Bradley Bradley that's the police we just want to talk to you for a minute about your camp and Mike and Dave have the same power as any other police officer in Canada say during the summer this becomes a shanty town and lots and lots of homeless people camp down here by the riverbank so that they have to cross the tracks to get to Our concern is that you're coming across back and forth across the tracks in order to access the camp so that's a safety issue for us obviously the trains are coming fast and sometimes you don't hear them yeah so believe it or not a train actually can't sneak up on you but if I believe it if you're standing in the middle of the railroad tracks very little sound from a moving train travels towards you almost all of the sound is directed out the sides experienced railroaders May detect a high-pitched singing sound about 30 seconds prior to the Train's arrival but the average person wouldn't hear the train at all until it's too late so brother's gonna have to pack up here today clean up all the stuff just don't cross the tracks see you later see you later every year approximately 46 people in Canada are killed as a result of Railway trespassing and Mike and Dave have witnessed some of these gruesome incidents firsthand a few years back a couple young ladies were out on a bachelorette party at a local Club that's close to the tracks and there was a train that was stopped at the time and the Bride of the party decided that she would crawl underneath the train as the train started moving she got stuck on her bachelorette party she became deceased alcohol and drugs are a common theme in these deaths so drug use yeah heroin so you got the saline there's the spoon they're shooting up right here like six feet from the tracks and they're gonna be all high possibly overdosing right here inside a train [Music] it's muddy you need to come on and talk to us for a minute okay in this town Dave and Mike know everybody got his dog back hey buddy you got it back well that's good then everybody knows them oh it's okay it's okay safety is Paramount here and that's why we like to clean some of these camps up right now where people decide to try and live [Music] just outside Kamloops the Royal Canadian Pacific is about to pass right by Rock blonde we're roughly an hour out of camels and this is how we stayed on the main track here to go through the turnout part of our responsibility is to actually inspect every train that goes by [Applause] rock is watching out for anything that could pose a safety hazard like Sparks on the wheels 14.1 at least answering over good on the PK both sides silver okay thanks gentlemen have a great one and you as well with the inspection complete they can resume normal track speed of 50 miles an hour that's it for the restrictions there Wally no more it's all about timing keeping a schedule yes [Music] in North Bend BC Jimmy Taylor is starting his fourth week on the steel gangs replacing worn rails so what we're going to do is what me as a laborer is going to do every day we're gonna stop at a spot I'm gonna run ahead and grab a spike mall I'm gonna smack off all the anchors then we're gonna go to the next spot and then to that spot I'm gonna grab a spike mall and smack off all the anchors and then after that this is this is where it gets complicated I'm gonna go to the next spot I'm gonna grab a spike hole you get the idea Jimmy used to be a part of the Revelstoke crew but he blew it by Behaving Badly one too many times his former boss Chad sent him here hoping that the hard work would set him straight this job is now a second chance and I am taking it a lot more seriously that's one of the reasons why I decided to come out here to actually take my career a lot more seriously [Music] Boss 35 year old Alina Miller knows exactly how to deal with her new charge keep working wizard we've got four more spots to bang on I can't wait my job is to make him sweat and almost pass out on track a few days ago he was pretty hurt and when he came to work so I worked him extra hard I don't think he'll be coming to work again like that I'll tell you that she's a good Foreman pretty annoying sometimes but good form and all in all annoying because what I make you work he's actually doing pretty good he's not really that whiny as everybody thinks he is and he has been working pretty hard actually 350 kilometers east at the sycamu swing Bridge Chad is counting down the minutes so we're looking at another half an hour right for you guys yeah we're just finishing buttoning things up signals is uh putting on their sensors and getting their bracketry on and ready to go there's a sensor on each rail that allows the bridge to open if that's out of whack then the bridge won't open if this isn't working nobody in Calgary knows if the bridge is down or up or held up with something it's still red still red that is correct there's too much of a gap between the sensor and the steel plate okay we're good the sensor wasn't actually seeing the metal because the sensor was too far down it's got the signal now I'm just tightening it down RTC Bridge job's all done thank you very much RTC uh that's all I needed for my clear coat [Music] finish just under the wire very pleased with how this job turned out the boss is pretty happy everybody worked as a team and it just came together really smooth and the guys walking around with their chest so basically popped out no you know I mean they're happy you couldn't ask for a better day they're moving [Music] with the crews off the track the Royal Canadian Pacific is cleared to pass [Music] but just as they clear the Crossing table or something hanging onto the side of the car it looked like fairly substantial nothing that came off the car but we caught some of them [Music] Wally and Allen have been forced to make an emergency stop of the Royal Canadian Pacific train just outside sycamoose BC there was a report of a cable on top of a car that may have done some damage conductor and the train Master are going to get out and they're going to see if they can find out what happened with it what we hit a board is train Master Mark Roussel who takes charge in situations like these uh aluminum cars luckily a drain is stopped on the opposite track it will provide the vantage point the crew needs to look for the loose cable yourself 14 not one going ahead eight parts so this would be the dish here Mark is the one who saw it and he suspects the cable may have come loose from a satellite dish I got two dishes over here but everything looks fine over here on my side there's no sign of the dangling cable anywhere you got to go here at the head and we'll be on our way [Music] 14 not one East to clear anything else so we're able to carry on [Music] not if it was a cable that was light enough you could damage Lakeside equipment signals to get caught up in the in our brake rigging hopefully no more issues across the road and get the all right in North Bend on the steel gangs let's go we're holding up production Alina and Jimmy have just one day to replace 90 meters of worn rail there shouldn't be anything too special about today just swinging hammers uh just gonna be a basic day surprisingly enough I do actually keep up I'm pretty good up front honestly as a labor so he has no idea that Alina has an extra special test in mind [Applause] I mean I'm not really dressed for ppeo drawings the rails need to be stripped of rust dust and grime before they're welded onto the new track extra sweaty today I can't wait are you ready [Music] I don't think he'll be bitching about how easy front end has it anymore after above the third grind your arms are like I've had a lot of rails but grinding is pretty bad because you've got to hold the saw at this awkward angle while bench right over moving up and down I definitely have a lot of respect for the other guy doing it he does about 19 of these a day I think yeah and I'm already dead on this one he sucks keep the one Big Jimmy has made to impress his boss Jimmy swept a little bit back there right now but he's already bumped up twice in pay today [Music] [Music] as the Royal Canadian Pacific pushes East thousands of CP workers across the country prepare for the night shift this is when the biggest track repair jobs are carried out it's 3 30 A.M Roadmaster Rock blonde is heading to the semlin West turnout for tonight's ambitious switch replacement I hope this rough road isn't messing up my hair [Music] okay here we go everybody's on standby we're gonna be ripping out the old truck throwing it in the weeds digging out the ballast and then reinstalling this new piece of truck [Music] switch is 60 meters long and weighs 55 000 kilograms Rox crew will have to remove it in three parts starting with the front section where the tracks start to separate [Music] right from the start we got six hours so the pressure's on to get it done Rock has an arsenal of machines primed to help out three excavators a 980 loader a crane and a special tamping machine designed to level the freshly laid ballast which supports the tracks okay the whole track's coming up the machines must work in perfect Unison good good keep going if switch replacement were a symphony rock would be the conductor hello Vern can you come in here and Vern in the excavator would be first violin hey Claire nope what do you need can you buff a little more of their uh but Vern can't carry the tune alone it takes Harold in the second excavator to help lift the massive piece of old track safely into the ditch well over here no good I've always enjoyed doing utility work it's fun because I walk into an old junky worn out turnout by the time we're done it looks good I like that go you got to pay attention making a mistake out here gets you killed plain and simple we've got the track crypto we've got the switch machines apart it's a very expensive piece of gear here we got moving switch links to computers in Calgary one thousand kilometers away where rail traffic controllers can switch the direction of the tracks remotely gonna try and make it as close to level as possible so that there's less surfacing time gotta go down some more probably another five inches it's gonna make a big difference for how fast we can get clear the time crunch is right from the beginning right to the end it doesn't go away till you're done [Music] back around into the front of the general yard office here railroad cops Mike and Dave have had a report of trespassers in the local rail yard the only track three is leaving tonight right yes so they were gonna jump on something this would be the one this would be the one they're on yeah the rail yard has 16 separate tracks and handles more than 3 000 cars every day lots of hiding places with so many trains coming and going it's an ideal place for Freight Hoppers to catch a free ride out of town [Music] handbrake looks good so yeah Freight hopping is as old as the railroad itself in the early 1900s migrant workers and homeless job Seekers rode the rails looking for a better life povos used to jump on moving freight trains so they wouldn't be caught it was illegal and dangerous and idealized as a symbol of freedom [Music] modern Freight Hoppers have to hide better not here eh no I don't think he's here all right let's go the trains and tracks seem clear [Music] they leave the yard let's go Dave okay they spot two cars speeding through the railway Crossing yeah they're ripping that wasn't cool at all what was it silverlink Ultima in Kamloops Canadian Pacific Police constables Mike and Dave are pursuing two cars they saw speeding through the railway Crossing there they are right there yeah all right you look like that newer car so I'm not sure this is him or not they catch up to one of them Diana girl dispatch was a kilo too cold three traffic lands down in 10th closer how are you tonight pretty good Orange Street I did not pass anyone no okay why are you nervous brother I don't know I've never even pulled over before everybody's out here kind of horsing around street racing is that the thing or while we were in the yard at a high rate of speed and we caught up to this vehicle it looked like it was ready to do a brake stand at the lights so who's the guy that drives the silver car okay does he know him yeah they're all together that's an industrial area where a lot of people work like CP works and all those employees he was doing between like probably 100 110 when he went by that guy do you know that that's a restable offense for Dangerous driving that guy's gonna kill somebody like that that is like stupid driving in town like there's a place for that race track okay back to your lecture for the night rather than a ticket okay have a good night you're free to go [Music] um we caught him he's a freaking ice we didn't caught right up to him because I knew he was going to get stuck at traffic it was that silver one that we uh the guy was looking at us like this one he was like I would have gave him careless driving that totally well actually was pretty good go ahead perfect you're the man [Music] your way at the semlin West turnout Roadmaster Rock blonde and his team have been working since 3 A.M to wrestle the new 55-ton switch into place oh I think we're good let's go down a little bit boys okay good I need you guys to come towards me and oh right there okay down just a little bit right there as Don breaks they finally position the new track in place we're under a bit of a Time they need to attach the new track to the old section so Harold we'll start right up here we're gonna realign the old crack to line into the new turnout that's different angles it's a different length switch more Herald if you could this is a critical point in the operation perfect good it's got to come in a bit time gradual we're going down there if they can't bend the old track to join up seamlessly with the new piece it could mean hours of extra work oh good go up a little more Harold that's pretty much it a okay can you come down a little bit on the tail in there a little bit yeah there we go perfect okay drop her down there little more run go pick that up now there you go okay and then down oh right there hold it there hold the bolt there's a lot of pressure super high stress there's a lot riding on it yeah we were kissing it when we should have been stopping them you've got potential derailments if you don't get it right I really don't care okay let's tighten those up Walter Walter [Music] what time is it still pretty good dude [Music] are we real close now yeah we'll be right on the right on the bubble final task lay down the ballast is the rock that holds the track in place all 40 tons of it it interlocks together it's all angled once it's vibrated together the trains run over it it actually creates a really good structure for the tracks to sit on and you dumped a bit too much rock rock listen you know that you can never have enough rocks the pressure's off now right you can relax a little bit now we're pretty much in the cliff with five minutes to spare so my boys did a great job today nice work Buddy once you surface it and you get to watch the first train over it it's a good feeling not not as good as a nice steak but it's pretty good [Music] 200 kilometers east a second crew has taken over the controls for the Royal Canadian Pacific's Journey all the years of working here at CP this is the first time I'll be running this train so it's really exciting at the helm is engineer Gord Meadows and riding shotgun is Conductor Garth dim Turco cp14 not one easy clear signal clear they're just 60 minutes from Revelstoke you got to keep your eyes open and watching because it's around the rock Bluffs here could be rocks or you see a lot of mountain goats down here sometimes that I don't like hitting anything especially on a unit like this where you don't want to be the guy that wrecks this unit you probably got six years in I got a long time to be that guy if we hit something with this thing so [Music] train and Revelstoke Crowds Are gathering in anticipation of this historic Train's arrival it's a big deal prime minister of Canada is going to be in Revelstoke our hometown it's going to be a huge thing we're going to have a big party there's gonna be a concert barbecue with work on the swing Bridge complete Roadmaster Chad de champ heads to join the welcoming party everything went smooth and the drinks on route we're done we feel really good but we made this happen and Chad's happy place comes crashing down around him broken right through and she didn't see that broken all the way through my 10 year old can see that well [Music] the Royal Canadian Pacific is due to arrive in Revelstoke in less than an hour this bottom piece is ready to fall right all day but Chad has just discovered a broken rail that could bring the historic train to a halt that's unacceptable eh I mean you guys go up and down these tracks right yeah like this is a huge indication something's wrong we need to throw in a rail at 12 34 and what's the problem there we got a broken rail North rail North track right at the poly Unfortunately today we found something that needs immediate attention it happens things get worn out they break we find stuff it's just this is not the day that you want to find this stuff it's going to be tough rounding up an emergency crew on such short notice hey Judd huh chicken can't work late today he said he's got his heart medication at home he hasn't had it he's got to get there and get it I'll phone chicken right now and I'll go to the pharmacy and get on some hard medication [Music] foreign [Music] at this point during the day we're up against trains now if you notice trains captain on no tracks here so we gotta get this going before they start telling us Jimmy Taylor has been doing such a good job on the production ganks that 'll put him in charge of the rookies look at how innocent he looks he has no idea what's ahead of him you're kind of like the older brother I wish I never had from what I've seen Jimmy's really stepped up his game he's really developed a lot so I got him to take the green vest under his wing and I hope that he's mentoring these new tires that are coming out in a professional way I'd like to say you're doing a good job thank you very much I'd like to say you're doing a good job but just kidding I use it he's he's one of my favorites that I forgot his name completely after a troubled start on the railroad Jimmy seems to be finding his place and is even working up the ranks as much as I goes around or play around with the guys I take my job 100 seriously there's nothing in the rulebook that says that we can't have fun at work down the railway it kind of works backwards so when I'm giving you a hard time and insulting you see I wouldn't do that if I didn't like you destructive criticism it's constructive criticism giving me wisdom now given the Wiz wisdom being sent to the steel gangs may be the best thing that could have happened to Jimmy here I actually feel needed I feel wanted I have this new feeling of confidence that I never had before and I'm literally happy and excited to come to work almost every morning I walk down the hallway of my hotel with a big smile on my face and singing a song the guys are like shut up wizard stop singing but I'll keep singing away [Music] I'm really proud of where he has gotten to so far but he is still very young and he still needs guidance but I think he's on the right path first round's on me [Music] the Royal Canadian Pacific is now just minutes away from Revelstoke cb1401 East clear signal virtual it's a ravel stove but Chad is still scrambling to fix the broken rail is that enough clearance here for you but from there to here anchors off spikes pulled on the high side he managed to scrape together an emergency crew but it doesn't mean they're happy about it right when I wanted to go home on time and try to have beer it's the way it always goes buddy that's railroading that is railroad not its finest okay firing hole tight it puts us behind the eight ball the urgency level goes way up we can't waste any time [Music] on their doorstep Chad's crew is racing to the Finish Line okay fellas hey thanks fellas got it under control you staying here you're gonna go you know 17 minutes so far they got the rail in drilled you just gotta get the bars on today it doesn't stop you just get used to it and you got your days that nothing happens I mean start to worry because it's just too good [Music] five minutes to get stopped we're here we got here on time with the tracks finally clear the historic train rolls into Revelstoke it's always nice when not everybody wants you to blow the horn and wave at them absolutely once in a lifetime experience awesome time and great trip I wish I could do it again [Music] well I guess that's it that's her good trip [Applause] [Music] you can have all the machines in the world but to deal with the Rockies you have to have a team to go with it the the men and women that work here tough mentally and physically you're away from home and it's a lot of work you got to really have your head in the game [Music] your Railroader is a tough rugged Man dirt all over his face with a big thick beard and a hammer over his shoulders but honestly what you think railroaders are isn't what they actually are railroaders come in all shapes and sizes I've worked many other places I've done the six inch Stilettos hair done you know and this I thoroughly enjoy this I like the fact that I can work around a bunch of guys and just be who I am and they take me as I am best things about the job is it's constantly changing there's always something new that you gotta go do the worst thing about the job is there's always something changing and you never get to build a plan for very long railroading does get in your blood you need to care about what's going on out here to do the job properly [Music] wow but it's totally true I love it out here this train is an example of how we bound the two oceans together and connected people from coast to coast it's great to see everyone to continue to celebrate 150 years all right Canada all right BC all right foreign [Music]

Channel: Free Documentary - Engineering

Views: 286,535

Keywords: free documentary, free documentary engineering, engineering, engineering documentary, tech, tech documentary, constructions, constructions documentary, technology documentary, rocky mountain railroad, train documentary, rocky mountain railroad full episode, train documentary canada, cp rail, rocky mountain railroad discovery full episodes, cp railroad, cp railway, trains documentary, Rocky Mountain Railroad - Season 1, Rocky Mountaineer, full series

Id: c6PDm1Zw0PY

Length: 345min 36sec (20736 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 30 2023