Industrial History: CN and CP Bridges over Fraser River south of Lytton, BC

Sunday, July 24, 2022

CN and CP Bridges over Fraser River south of Lytton, BC

The CN bridge is the deck arch and the CP bridge is the through truss.

Steven J. Brown posted
Canadian Pacific coal eastbound across the Fraser River at Cisco, British Columbia - July 21, 2002.

Satellite

When I looked at Lytton on a map, I recognized that as the location of some severe flood damage in Nov 2021. I see today (Jul 24, 2022) that a wildfire alert is marked on the map.

Road Map

Cisco Bridges has many more photos and the following description:

The Cisco Bridges are a pair of railroad bridges at Siska (historically known as Cisco) near Lytton, British Columbia, Canada. The Canadian Pacific Railway and Canadian National Railway both follow the route of the Fraser River, one on each side, and the routes exchange sides at this point. The easier CPR route was laid first; when the CNR arrived later they needed to follow the more difficult route. The area is popular with railfans due to the proximity of the two bridges (which allows both bridges to be taken in one photograph, sometimes with a CPR and CNR train on each bridge simultaneously), and the easy access to the area (the Trans-Canada Highway (BC Hwy 1)) is parallel to both bridges down the east bank of the river. Directional running in the Fraser Canyon means that both CPR and CNR trains may be seen on both bridges.
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National bridge is a truss arch bridge, long and high. The north-west end of the bridge abuts into a near-vertical rock face. The south-east end of the bridge crosses the CPR tracks about north of the CPR bridge.
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific bridge is a 3-span, -long truss bridge. There are two short Pratt truss spans at each end of the longer Parker truss main span. The south end of the bridge (on the west bank of the river) enters directly into the Cantilever Bar Tunnel, in the side of the Cisco Bluff.