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CPR train at Wapta Lake, Yoho National Park
Train du CFCP à lac Wapta, dans le parc national Yoho

Named for a Cree expression of awe and wonder, Yoho National Park in the Canadian Rockies is a place of vertical rock walls, waterfalls and towering peaks. At its western edge, Wapta Lake lies close to the Continental Divide, where the Kicking Horse River begins as a small stream. This Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) freight train was photographed heading east on Wapta Lake’s south shore. To reach this point, the train would have climbed 11.5 miles (18.5 km) up the steep route from the base of Mount Stephen and continued up through the Spiral Tunnels and Kicking Horse Pass. 

This stretch of the line travels through some of the most spectacular mountain scenery in Canada. The completion of the transcontinental railway spawned a thriving tourism industry in BC, with this route being a crown jewel. When the Trans-Canada highway was built in Yoho in the 1950s, it became a very popular place with visitors, who could stop at viewpoints to see trains looping through the pass. 

This photograph appeared in Beautiful British Columbia Magazine, a travel publication produced by the provincial government using large-format, full-colour photographs. The magazine experienced a sharp increase in sales in the early 1960s, as British Columbians started to send issues and subscriptions to friends and relatives worldwide.

BC Archives Series GR-3306 contains thousands of photographs taken by BC government staff ca. 1966 to 1982. I-06672 is “Spiral Tunnel, Yoho National Park”; I-06671 is “Viewpoint For The Spiral Tunnel, Yoho National Park”.

Nommé d’après une expression cri d’admiration et d’émerveillement, le parc national Yoho dans les Rocheuses canadiennes est un lieu de parois de roche verticales, de chutes et d’imposants sommets. À son extrémité ouest, le lac Wapta est près de la ligne de partage des eaux, où la rivière Kicking Horse prend naissance en tant que petit ruisseau. Le train de marchandises du CFCP a été photographié se dirigeant vers l’est sur la rive sud du lac Wapta. Pour atteindre cet endroit, le train a dû monter la route abrupte sur une distance de 11,5 milles (18,5 km) à partir de la base du mont Stephen et à travers les tunnels en spirale et le col Kicking Horse.

Cette section de la ligne passe au travers certains des plus spectaculaires paysages de montagnes au Canada. L’achèvement du chemin de fer transcontinental a donné naissance à l’industrie du tourisme en Colombie-Britannique, cette route étant un bijou de la couronne. Lorsque la Transcanadienne a été construite dans le parc Yoho dans les années 1950, celui-ci est devenu un lieu très populaire auprès des visiteurs, qui pouvaient arrêter dans des belvédères pour voir les trains passer dans le col.

Cette photo a paru dans le magazine Beautiful British Columbia, une publication consacrée aux voyages produite par le gouvernement provincial en utilisant des photos couleur grand format. Le magazine a connu une forte hausse des ventes au début des années 1960, car les Britanno-Colombiens ont commencé à envoyer des numéros et des abonnements à leurs amis et parents partout au monde.

La série GR-3306 des Archives de la Colombie-Britannique contient des milliers de photos prises par le personnel du gouvernement de 1966 à 1982. I-06672 est le « Tunnel en spirale, parc national Yoho »; I-06671 est le « Belvédère pour le tunnel en spirale, parc national Yoho ».

Details

Selected by: Royal British Columbia Museum and Archives
Date 1972
Record I-06955

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