|
|
Post by BrianWilliams on Sept 2, 2006 16:29:13 GMT -8
We're just back from a 1,000+ mile ramble thru BC's Kootenays. In this post, I'll just show photos of the 3 ferries we enjoyed: Needles-Fauquier on Hwy 6 across Lower Arrow Lake-   Too bad, we crossed at sundown, hours behind our own schedule; so we missed seeing the Arrow Park ferry a few miles north, and also the Galena Bay ferry at Nakusp. Days later, we crossed Kootenay Lake on the 2-ship route from Balfour to Kootenay Bay. We rode Osprey 2000 on an early sailing, and I missed catching sight of older MV Balfour. However, Osprey 2000's trip was a treat. A pic of her bridge en route:  -- but better was the sight of an osprey nest on the channel marker as we left Balfour. How appropriate! You can see two young sea hawks in the nest. Mom and Dad were out fishing, I suppose. (pardon the enlargement that stretches the limit of the digital pic):  Later still, we met the Glade ferry between Castlegar and Nelson.  Glade is as pretty as its name suggests. Although this stretch of the Kootenay River is part of a staircase of four dams, the cool green river flows nicely at Glade. The massive powerline cut on the mountains is obvious, though.  Hey, wait for me! Bo and Virginia swam in the Kootenay for a while on this hot morning, but Bo wanted to have another free ride:  More travelogue photos later in the non-ferries topic. Old trains in Cranbrook! Mountain peaks and caves! Fort Steele and more --- |
|
|
|
Post by Low Light Mike on Sept 2, 2006 20:45:33 GMT -8
I didnt' realise that the Needles vessel was that new....from 1990.
I don't believe that a bridge will be built anytime soon, in spite of Gov't announcements from a few years ago. I think that ferry will be there for many more years.
|
|
Koastal Karl
Voyager 
Been on every BC Ferry now!!!!!
Posts: 7,747
|
Post by Koastal Karl on Sept 2, 2006 21:32:16 GMT -8
haha, looks like Bo missed the boat, lol!!! We actually missed seeing that ferry when we went by there. I thought it would be like the Harrop Ferry but it is a bit different. They are neat little ferry crossings up there!
|
|
|
|
Post by BrianWilliams on Sept 5, 2006 0:21:53 GMT -8
Bo, the great chicken, could have swam the Kootenay and beat the Glade ferry to the far side.
But oh no, he swatted the green water with his paw and howled like a puppy. He does love that ferry.
|
|
|
|
Post by Curtis on Sept 5, 2006 7:08:47 GMT -8
Those are great photos Brian
|
|
|
|
Post by BrianWilliams on Sept 8, 2006 21:52:05 GMT -8
"great photos" Thanks!
My answer is, as always: It's BC. Just point the camera and something nice will appear. Whatta place we live in.
|
|
|
|
Post by BrianWilliams on Sept 11, 2006 20:48:38 GMT -8
Please, help! I didn't ask when I had the opportunity. How do you say "Faquier" ?
Is is "fowk-wee-er", "fahk-wee-eh" or "fah-keer" ?
Shame on me, a born British Columbian ...
|
|
|
|
Post by Low Light Mike on Sept 12, 2006 6:57:09 GMT -8
Please, help! I didn't ask when I had the opportunity. How do you say "Faquier" ? Is is "fowk-wee-er", "fahk-wee-eh" or "fah-keer" ? Shame on me, a born British Columbian ... The owner of the Arrow Lake Motel said it was " Foo-kee-yay". I'm undecided. |
|
|
|
Post by BrianWilliams on Sept 13, 2006 22:57:04 GMT -8
Foo-kee-yay?
Yep, allowing for our text limitations, it must be the French pronunciation. Thanks.
(Jeez, better than Bossier, Louisiana. Last year, a CBC Radio reporter was assigned to cover the court martial of the USAF jet jockeys who killed four Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan. Their home base was Bossier City, LA and the trial was held there. She filed a couple of audio reports datelined "Boss-ye" until a local corrected her. In Loozian', Bossier is pronounced "booze-yer". Ya never know.)
|
|
|
|
Post by ruddernut on Sept 14, 2006 5:54:35 GMT -8
However, Osprey 2000's trip was a treat. A pic of her bridge en route: How come the Interior people get free ferry service on a ship this exquisite over a 35-minute run, but the coastal people don't? |
|
|
|
Post by Dane on Sept 14, 2006 12:19:49 GMT -8
Different Departments of the Gov't is the short answer. The longer answer depends on how you look at the service. Firstly the coastal servcice has always had a toll (fare) because they all started out under private operations, whereas many of the inland ferries started and still are public. The coastal ferries also in most places aren't part of the literal road, whereas the inland ferries are.
I myself am suprised they're not tolled, however.
|
|
|
|
Post by WettCoast on Sept 14, 2006 16:56:31 GMT -8
Fresh water = free; salt water you pay! It has been that way for decades. The inland ferries are essentially bridges on the highway system. You could make the same arguments in favour of free ferry service over salt water routes.
|
|
|
|
Post by BrianWilliams on Sept 16, 2006 3:20:33 GMT -8
Fresh water = free
Yep, until the gov't cancels the service, as they did at Marguerite (Fraser River in the Cariboo), and nearly did at Harrop (west of Nelson).
Not a political point - no more than highways are political.
We are wise to operate inland ferries as free carriers. We save the cost of big bridges -and their endless maintenance- on light-traffic crossings.
The Balfour-Kootenay Bay ferry is unusual. It's a long trip for an inland ferry, and MV Osprey 2000 is really big for an inland boat: probably larger than all the other inland ferries combined.
Look at the map, though: overland, Nelson to Creston is a 150 mile detour, including the climb over the Salmo-Creston summit. That steep, icy road is often closed for many hours in winter by avalanches.
Watch for this: if CPR succeeds in closing the RR from Creston to Castlegar via Nelson, there will be a real crisis. The Celgar mill at Castlegar depends on wood chips from all over southern BC.
Chambers Transport hauls chips from everywhere to Celgar on our highways - except from the east. CPR still runs chip trains thru Creston to Celgar. If that stops, there will be trouble.
BC's Kootenay Lake ferries can't handle big trucks.
The Salmo-Creston highway is too steep to be economic, and is too often closed in bad weather. Hmm.
CPR would like to close the Creston-Procter-Nelson-Castlegar line (a lakeshore route so rugged that the Creston-Procter section wasn't built until 1930).
|
|
Koastal Karl
Voyager
Been on every BC Ferry now!!!!!
Posts: 7,747
|
Post by Koastal Karl on Sept 16, 2006 8:27:46 GMT -8
The traffic demands during the summer on the Kootenay Lake Ferries is pretty high as I have seen leave behinds even with the Balfour running too. Mid days during the summer are probably the most busiest with tourist and people travelling throughout the day. We took the Osprey 9:50am sailing from Balfour on a Wednesday this July and it wasent even full, see photo travel.webshots.com/photo/552462049/2354547290073795431escqxN, Coming back on the Balfour at 11:30am from Kootenay Bay it was full up and left cars behind. See photo, travel.webshots.com/photo/552462049/2889685620073795431LjBRds I agree the Osprey is probably the biggest Inland Ferry. How big was the Anscomb?? That one looked fairly big. |
|
|
|
Post by WettCoast on Sept 16, 2006 23:17:54 GMT -8
Fresh water = free The Balfour-Kootenay Bay ferry is unusual. It's a long trip for an inland ferry, and MV Osprey 2000 is really big for an inland boat: probably larger than all the other inland ferries combined. The Osprey 2000 is the largest of BC's inland ferries. It apparently carries 70 vehicles. It is not, however, larger than all the others combined. So far I have been able to find the following info on the vehicle capacity of other BC inland ferries... Anscomb - 40 cars - Kootenay Lake - retired, now sunken; replaced by the Osprey 2000Balfour - 36 cars - Kootenay Lake - additional summer service on this route Galena - 35 cars - Upper Arrow Lake Shelter Bay - 28 cars - Upper Arrow Lake supplementary vessel - this vessel was originally the named the Needles and operated at the Faquier - Needles crossing Francois Forester - ~45 cars - Francois Lake - second largest of inland ferries
Omineca Princess - 34 cars - Francois Lake - replaced by the Francois Forester, now used as a back up vessel.
No info on other ferries... |
|
|
|
Post by NMcKay on Sept 17, 2006 7:39:48 GMT -8
there are 7 - 9 2 Car Reaction Ferries too
|
|
Koastal Karl
Voyager
Been on every BC Ferry now!!!!!
Posts: 7,747
|
Post by Koastal Karl on Sept 17, 2006 8:20:30 GMT -8
I just looked up the Francois Lake Ferry. I dident think we had another big Inland Ferry like that. I dont even know where that lake is. I saw photos of it before but dident think it was in BC. lol!
|
|
|
|
Post by Low Light Mike on Sept 17, 2006 11:49:05 GMT -8
I just looked up the Francois Lake Ferry. I dident think we had another big Inland Ferry like that. I dont even know where that lake is. I saw photos of it before but dident think it was in BC. lol! I think that Shane had a thread on Francois Forrester route, with pictures. It's somewhere on this board. The lake is Nechako Lake, and is a large narrow circle lake, partially caused by damming for Kemano. (Mr. Thorne can correct any misrepresentations here). Interesting that those of us in South-Western BC refer to up-there as "The North", which is actually a huge chunk of land, with diverse climate / geographic zones, and if far larger than our little neck of the woods. It would be like people lumping-in Cranbrook, Kelowna and Victoria together, and calling it "the South". And congratulations on creating the new word " dident".....is that like a trident-spear, with one prong missing?? |
|
|
|
Post by CN2972South on Sept 17, 2006 13:48:06 GMT -8
Fresh water = free Watch for this: if CPR succeeds in closing the RR from Creston to Castlegar via Nelson, there will be a real crisis. The Celgar mill at Castlegar depends on wood chips from all over southern BC. Chambers Transport hauls chips from everywhere to Celgar on our highways - except from the east. CPR still runs chip trains thru Creston to Celgar. If that stops, there will be trouble. I don't see the Kootenay Valley Railway; CPR's internal short line, that operates from near Creston to Nelson and Trail, with the Robson spur at(Former east-west mainline that eventually connected with the Kettle Valley Rwy at Midway, now terminates about 5 miles west of)Castlegar; going any time soon, it still generates quite a lot of revenue for the CPR. A friend of mine works out of Cranbrook as a conductor, and they take the train out to a station near Creston, IIRC, where a Kootenay Valley Rwy crew takes over, trains can get up to 8900 ft. long. The KVRy takes the train to Nelson, switch out their cars for the mills up the Robson spur and the cars for Trail, then head west. They usually drop the cars fo the mills at Castlegar where a yard job pulls and spots the mills up the Robson spur. |
|
|
|
Post by WettCoast on Sept 17, 2006 19:45:26 GMT -8
I just looked up the Francois Lake Ferry. I dident think we had another big Inland Ferry like that. I dont even know where that lake is. I saw photos of it before but dident think it was in BC. lol! I think that Shane had a thread on Francois Forrester route, with pictures. It's somewhere on this board. The lake is Nechako Lake, and is a large narrow circle lake, partially caused by damming for Kemano. (Mr. Thorne can correct any misrepresentations here). Interesting that those of us in South-Western BC refer to up-there as "The North", which is actually a huge chunk of land, with diverse climate / geographic zones, and if far larger than our little neck of the woods. It would be like people lumping-in Cranbrook, Kelowna and Victoria together, and calling it "the South". And congratulations on creating the new word " dident".....is that like a trident-spear, with one prong missing?? Nanaimo, your details are not quite correct. The lake in question is Francois Lake which is a natural lake about 50 km away from the Nechako reservoir, and is not part of it. The ferry is located about half way along the length of Francois Lake, about a half hour's drive south of Burns Lake.  For more info on the Francois Forester, and the lake that it sails on, see the following thread: ferriesbc.proboards20.com/index.cgi?board=smallbcferries&action=display&thread=1148365683 |
|
|
|
Post by Low Light Mike on Sept 17, 2006 20:15:55 GMT -8
Thanks Jim, for the clarification and the weblink.
|
|
|
|
Post by BrianWilliams on Sept 21, 2006 0:02:54 GMT -8
To CNR:
Thanks for the insight into CP's Creston-Nelson-Castlegar operation!
Your pal's description of the business CP is doing gives me hope. I had assumed that the line west of Cranbrook was alive only because of the US interchange at Porthill, ID.
Railways are the most efficient mode for moving freight. It's a d*mn shame that we've lost so much of the southern BC network.
And --- with summer traffic jams on the Okanagan highways, we might be better served with some passenger trains, too. *sigh*
|
|
|
|
Post by ruddernut on Sept 21, 2006 0:10:26 GMT -8
And --- with summer traffic jams on the Okanagan highways, we might be better served with some passenger trains, too. *sigh* My thoughts too. If they ever do restore Vancouver-Calgary train service, they should run it through Kelowna instead of Kamloops. It probably is a more popular destination and would serve more people along the Okanagan corridor, not to mention leave a better impression of the region to tourists. Let the train to Edmonton go through Kamloops instead. Now, I guess they've got to build the tracks. |
|
|
|
Post by BrianWilliams on Sept 21, 2006 0:43:11 GMT -8
Vancouver-Kelowna trains:
There never was a direct RR connection from the coast to Kelowna. CPR's Kettle Valley line ran from Hope to Penticton, then climbed from Naramata into the highland at Chute Lake. At Bellevue Canyon, Kelowna is so-o-o close, but 2,000 feet below.
Our Coquihalla Highway system works, sort of. No RR construction engineer would have built this. 8% grades!
CPR built up the Coquihalla Canyon from Hope in 1912, topped out at Merritt and zig-zagged down to the Similkameen valley at Princeton. Maximum grade? 2.2%
|
|
|
|
Post by lubicon1 on Sept 21, 2006 12:22:45 GMT -8
I could be wrong but I think Teck Cominco still ships their concentrate to the Trail smelter via Cranbrook too, but I may be wrong. Perhaps it comes up through the US.
|
|
