As luck would have it, the Trail Switcher went on duty shortly after the Hotshot returned to Nelson. The first order of business
today was to take a cut of cars up the hill to Warfield. Well known Kootenay photographer Gib Kennedy took an image from
close to the same spot in 1956 that was later published by the BNMRA in Volume 8 of Canadian Pacific in the Rockies.
Except for some subtle details, very little has changed in the overall scene. According to the BNMRA caption, the grade here
is 3.54% and the track in the background is on a 16 degree curve although these figures may have changed since the highway
underpass was built. In Gib's photo the engine is an RS-3 that was rated at 420 tons on the maximum 4.05% grade.
Today,tonnage ratings for one of the GP38-2s seen in this photograph would probably be around 600 tons. According to the
Rossland Subdivision footnotes in a 2003 CP timetable, retainer valves must be in the high pressure position on all loaded
cars before decending the grade. During the cold war thr Russians apparently had a missle pointed at this facility.