Today was my one weekday to railfan in Vancouver and it started off by taking my grandmother out to YVR Airport. After dropping her off around 9:30 I started my station to station of Vancouver SkyTrain with all stations on each of the three stop branches of the Canada Line. Next with decent weather and good weekend service I saved its underground stops so I went back into downtown and checked into my Youth Hostel and moved my backpack over from the Hampton Inn.
The next portion of my day was starting on the older two SkyTrain lines getting the Millennium Line between its terminus at VCC-Clark and Lake City Way.
After that it was time for the highlight of the weekday, photographing every West Coast Express Station except the last Mission because no transportation back into Vancouver exists, thought of Greyhound but it only stops once a day not in the evening. Even better there tickets are valid for 3 hours of riding so I could get everything for just a $5.75 since I already had my Translink Day Pass. At 3:30 I bought my ticket and took some photos of the platform before boarding too late to snag a seat though on the right hand side for coastal views of Vancouver Harbor.
At 3:50 we slowly left Waterfront Station passing the four other West Coast Express trains that would leave later in the day. Next was the container port as the ladies next to me discussed their weekend Thanksgiving Dinner plans. It was quite full train with more passengers than normal probably due to the long weekend. The line had just one lone track clear going through the port. Freight trains block the view across the Harbor in many places before the scenery opens. This view exists for most of the ride.
4:05 – we pass a huge container ship. I hear the train whistle since I’m in the first car as the water view with trees blocking it in places continues.
4:09 – pass more docks of the port, and then a view of pleasure boats before more port activity with round container cars.
4:12 – We leave the waterfront and enter a town with that the announcement for Port Moody is made we arrive 4:13. Next I had a half hour layover at what is probably the least interesting West Coast Express Station, chatting with some locals waiting for the train before getting on the next train at 4:44 for a quick ride to Coquitlam Center. There I photographed a freight train passing in view of a security guard before my 5:02 bus on route 160 down to Port Coquitlam.
The staion at Port Coquiltlam is awesome. it is on the edge of a busy freight yard with tons of contantainers. The same security guard is there who comes to talk to me and doesn’t complain just telling me to be careful since a railfan got killed standing too close to the tracks recently, loosing her depth of field in her lens.
I could have enjoyed more time at Port Coquitlam but with fall’s daylight diminishing I could only afford to railfan via the first four trains.
I took the next trip down two stops to Maple Meadows arriving at 5:38pm where I double backed on bus route #791 to Pitt Meadows arriving at 6:14pm. From there I got back on my final train ride to Port Haney were the sunset was wonderful on the water beyond the station and I arrived at 6:24pm, just before darkness overcame everything at dusk.
Unfortunately the West Coast Express runs just 5 peak direction trips each rush hour on the busy CP main line. This meant I had a long hour and a half diesel bus ride just to get back to a SkyTrain stop. First it was a minibus on route C43, the driver playing the radio and I got off at a random strip mall intersection (at a red light not the actual stop) for a ten minute wait for bus route 701. This took me just back to Coquitlam Center and I got some night photos of the station entrance. From there it was a 15 minute layover before I got on route 169 to the Braid SkyTrain Station where I arrived at 8:06 happy to be off buses. I got some night photos, enjoyed the single forward window facing railfan seat on a new Mark II train and at 8:45 I was on the escalators at Denville.