![]() | This article is rated Start-class on Wikipedia's
content assessment scale. It is of interest to the following WikiProjects: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
There is no CP 7527, suggest check image for correct number. Also, what is the name on the sign? This should be in the caption to enable locating the point (one mile before) where the picture was taken.
Yes, since it is a newer photo (5727?) this might be a better choice. The real Big Hill was actually just the old switchback over the top. The Field Hill is the tunnel route, yet it gets referred to as "The Big Hill". Old names die hard, especially on the RR! R.L.Kennedy 17:51, 22 Mar 2005 (UTC)
You are mixing two factors here. This was the most diffficult section of railway line to OPERATE due to its extreme grade, as well as snow etc. Superior was the most difficult section of railway to ENGINEER, to actually construct. As for citation, see all the References given for this article. R.L.Kennedy 01:41, 30 January 2007 (UTC)
When I saw this I thought of the famous Big Hill on the Chilcotin Highway, where the descent to Bella Coola is; and there's lots of others worldwide. Skookum1 06:29, 27 April 2007 (UTC)
The author of the "It cannot be said that the railway ever conquered the mountains, only that the railway copes with the challenge and the mountains tolerate the railway" sentence justifies its addition on the grounds that he/she is famous. This is specifically covered in WP:COS: a further, reliable source making this point is always required. Furthermore, the poetical personification style used doesn't seem encyclopedic and jars harshly with the factual tone of the rest of the piece. -- Old Moonraker ( talk) 07:58, 10 February 2010 (UTC)
This edit has engendered a discussion on my talk page, but it may benefit from input from other editors:
Didnt' know people from Wiltshire knew where Field BC is. Big Hill edits. The actual figures for the CPR railgrade is 1200 feet in 3.5 miles. I originally went off the mileage profile for distance but that does not account for the steep hill. I also read it in Turner, Lavalee, and on line. I changed it back to 3.5 and you changed it back to 10 miles my original wrong figure. Doing the math, the [bank] grade is 1200 feet in 3.5 to make it 4.4 percent. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.7.23.169 ( talk) 00:40, 16 April 2011 (UTC)
I went back and checked the figures and was SHOCKED, SHOCKED to see it is actually 1200 feet in 3.5 miles. Bloody steep in anybodys books and the wrong place to build a railway. I have never cycled that route tho did hear the CPR had a small train to bring the guests to the Hotel at banff. Anyrate, I will rent the bike at the top of the hill and cycle down, getting a ride back up. Too many bloody hills in this province.
Even after the introduction of modern locomotives with dynamic braking and continuous pneumatic brakes, accidents were not eliminated.
On a quick skim, the source abstract seems to say that a (probably) sleep-deprived engineer who wasn't properly trained in the conceptual model of that particular locomotive did something—against the grain of professional common sense—that the manuals should have explicitly disallowed, but didn't. This is the usual layer-cake of human error in these kinds of scenarios.
What it boils down to is that a 2.2% descending grade is still dangerous if you don't operate your fancy equipment properly.