mileage
0 VANCOUVER Pacific Central VIA station, 1150
Station Street. Elevation approximately 25 meters (65 ft). Vancouver is the 3rd largest city in Canada. (see “Thumbnail
History of British Columbia” at end of log). It is a major seaport, and is the center of commerce and manufacturing in British
Columbia. The city was named after Captain George Vancouver, the British Naval Officer born in King’s Lynn, England, in 1757. In 1772 and 12776, Vancouver sailed with Captain James Cook, and in 1791, Vancouver began his own expedition to the Pacific Northwest.
During Vancouver’s expedition, the area was occupied by the Salish people of the Coast. The first permanent white settlement,
established around the Hastings sawmill in the 1860’s, was colloquially known as Gastown (after a talkative leading citizen, “Gassy”
Jack Deighton). This settlement was renamed Granville in 1870. After the arrival of the transcontinental Canadian Pacific Railroad,
in 1886, the settlement was incorporated and renamed after George Vancouver. The community grew as a wood-processing center,
a railroad terminus, and a port. Vancouver surpassed Victoria (which nevertheless remained the provincial capital) in population and
commercial and financial importance at the turn of the 20th century.
In 1986, Vancouver was the site of Expo ‘86, an international exposition whose theme was transportation. Canada Place, on Burrard
Inlet, now comprising a convention center, cruise-ship terminal, and hotel, was constructed for this event, while the fair’s main
site on the north shore of False Creek was sold to private interests and is currently under development for high-density housing.
Geologically, British Columbia is composed of several distinctive rock assemblages known as terranes, all of which are composed of
unique assemblages, and were created during fairly specific geologic eras. All the terranes began accreting onto the North American
subcontinent beginning during the Mesozoic Era, as various continental plates were transported toward the continent and subsequentlysubducted beneath older continental rock masses. The terrane which underlies the Vancouver area is known as the Wrangelia terrane,
which is composed primarily of early Jurassic volcanic rocks and late Triassic basalt. In the Vancouver area, late Cretaceous
and early Tertiary-aged sedimentary rocks, primarily sandstone, conglomerate, and shale, were deposited after the accretion of the
Wrangelia terrane. North and east of Vancouver, across the Burrard Inlet, the primary rock type exposed on the earth’s surface
are granitic rocks of Jurassic through Tertiary age.
As we depart Vancouver, we will not see any of these Cretaceous and Tertiary-aged sedimentary rocks; however, to the north, the bold
front of the granitic Coast Mountains can be seen plainly. In local geologic nomenclature, the general term for the mountains
north of the Fraser River is the “Coast Mountains,” while the mountains south of the Fraser, both in the United States and Canada,
are referred to as the Cascades.
2 John Hendry Park is
visible on the right (southbound).
4 Cross beneath Canada
Highway 1, the Trans-Canada Highway, which crosses the country from Vancouver to Toronto and Montreal.
5 Pass through Burnaby. This city was named after Robert Burnaby, who was born in 1828 in Leicestershire, England. Burnaby
came to B.C. in 1858, after working for several years at the Customs House in London. He took part in the Royal Engineers survey
of the area around New Westminster. Burnaby later became a coal miner around Burrard Inlet.
Originally an agricultural and logging community, Burnaby has become an urban center with service, commercial, and industrial sectors.
Manufactures include steel, trucks, telecommunications equipment, and processed fish. Major employers include government corporations,
electronics and computer software companies, and educational institutions. Burnaby is home to Simon Fraser University, located
atop Burnaby Mountain. The university is acclaimed for its innovative architecture. The British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT)
is also located in Burnaby.
7-9 Burnaby Lake Regional Park is adjacent
to the railroad on the right (southbound).
10.5 Pass through Maillardville, named after
Reverend Edward Maillard, the first priest of the Roman Catholic parish of Our Lady of Lourdes. Maillard ministered to French
Canadian mill workers in Fraser Mills, who were brought to the Vancouver area from Quebec.
11 As we make a bend to the south here, the route of VIA Rail Canada’s Canadian, diverts from the BN/CN line we are on to the east. Fraser Mills is visible in an island in the Fraser River to the left (southbound).
12 The Fraser River is adjacent to the railroad on the left (southbound). The Fraser River is named after Simon Fraser, a Vermonter
loyalist who emigrated to Canada after the American Revolution to join the North West Company. In 1808, thinking he had found
the Columbia River, Fraser made a journey from Prince George, at the head of the Fraser, down to its mouth south of Vancouver.
The Fraser River was discovered in 1793 by Sir Alexander Mackenzie, who named it “Tacoutche Tesse” (“Columbia River”). The native
Indians in the area called the river Cowitchan’s River.
We are passing through New Westminster on the right (southbound) along the river. Founded in 1859, New Westminster was named
by Queen Victoria of England. It incorporated in 1860 and was the capital of colonial British Columbia until 1868. It
is the province’s oldest incorporated city. At the end of the 20th century, the city revitalized its downtown area; the revitalization
included the addition of the Royal City Star Riverboat Casino and the Fraser River Discovery Centre on the waterfront.
New Westminster is the site of a junior college; the Royal Westminster Regiment Museum, which contains a collection of military artifacts;
the New Westminster Museum and Archives, which is located behind the Irving House Historic Centre; and the Canadian Lacrosse Hall
of Fame. The city also has a public market at Westminster Quay, the location of the retired paddle wheeler that houses the Samson
V Maritime Museum. Other attractions include the Art Gallery in Queens Park, which features changing exhibits by local artists,
and paddle wheeler river cruises. Annual events include the week-long Hyack Festival, held in May, and Fraser Fest, held in July.
13 Make a sharp bend as we cross the Fraser River. Notice the high bridge on the right (southbound) past the highway bridge, and
you will likely see one of the Vancouver area’s “Skytrain” monorails crossing high above the river.
We are now crossing the Fraser River Delta, and will be traversing this wide flat area all the way to the U.S. border.
Alluvial deposits in the Fraser River Delta are Quaternary-aged, and consist of fine sands, gravels, and silts deposited by the Fraser
as it flows down to the sea from its mountain headwaters. The sediments are approximately 700 ft thick. In parts of the
Delta, saturated delta sediments overlie more highly-consolidated glacial deposits laid down during the Pleistocene Ice Age. During earthquakes, the saturated delta deposits can liquefy, convert to a very fluid mass, and can lead to the development of sand
dikes and soil instability on the surface. This process is known as liquefaction. Major construction in such a delta environment
requires special engineering practices, such as supporting buildings on pilings which penetrate the sediments which are prone to liquefaction,
or placing sand on top of the liquefiable layers. The Vancouver International Airport is built on the Fraser River Delta.
15 We are passing over a small flood plain of the Fraser River, which has been cut down through the delta deposits in Holocene (very
recent) geologic time.
17 On the right (southbound), Annacis Island
is visible within the Fraser River channel. The island was named after François Noel Annance, who was a Hudson’s Bay Company
clerk. Annance sailed up the Fraser with James McMillan in 1827 to establish Fort Langley, the first significant settlement
built by the Hudson’s Bay Company in the area.
18 At Townsend, the
railroad is adjacent to the Annacis Highway, which connects the delta area to Annacis Island.
21 Pass through the suburban community of Sunshine Hills. We are traversing the edge of the modern Fraser River flood plain, which
has been cut down through the older Fraser River Delta deposits.
22.5 Pass through
the suburban community of Panorama Ridge.
25 Cross Serpentine River.
27 At Crescent, cross Nicomekl River. This river, along with the Serpentine River, are distributary channels of the Fraser River Delta.
28 The town of Crescent is located on the left (southbound), and Crescent Beach is on the right.
Tidal marsh wetlands are visible on the right (southbound) in this area, and the San Juan islands are visible across the bay on the
far right.
29.5 As we make a bend to the east, we are passing through Ocean Park. This community is named after the Ocean Park Syndicate, a group of Methodists in lower Canada who attempted to find land in the area
for their church. The church camp that was founded is visible on the left (southbound) as we go around the bend at Kwomais Point. The community was named by Reverend W.P. Goad, around 1910.
32-33 Pass through White Rock, named
after a large white rock on the beach. We have now left the Fraser River Delta, and are following the shore of Semiahmoo Bay. The bay is part of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and is named after the Semiamu Indians. The word “semiamu” means “half moon.”
In White Rock, your Cascade train will likely stop and pick up a U.S. Customs Agent, who will typically ride the train across the
border, conduct his customs inspection, and then detrain at Bellingham, Washington, the first scheduled stop for the Cascades.
34-35 Pass the Semiahmoo Indian reservation on the left (southbound).
35 At the border, the Peace Arch Provincial Park is located adjacent to the tracks. This park straddles both Canada and the United
States, and is known as “Peace Arch State Park” in the United States. The Peace Arch is located primarily in Canada, and was
built in 1921 to symbolize the ongoing good relations and friendship between the United States and Canada. The park contains
beautiful flower gardens, but the park itself is not exactly on the International Border!! Most of the park lies in Canada,
although most people will assume they are on the American side of the park at the designated “border.” However, when the boundary
was surveyed, along the 49th parallel in the early 1800’s, there was a miscalculation, and the established international border was
found not to be exactly on the parallel. In 1847, both countries agreed that the border would not, however, be changed to coincide
exactly with the 49th parallel.
35.5 Enter WHATCOM COUNTY, Washington. We are
now back in the United States!! s Whatcom County was formed on March 6, 1854, and was formerly a part of Island County. The
county was named after Chief Whatcom of the Nooksack Indian tribe. The Indian word “Whatcom” means “noisy water.”
36 Pass through Blaine, which was first settled in 1856. In 1884, Blaine was named after James G. Blaine, a Presidential candidate. During the Fraser Gold Rush in 1858, the town was named Semiahmoo (see MP 32 above). Around 1870, after the Homestead Act, settlers
began coming to the area, and Blaine became a dairy center as well as a fishing port on Drayton Bay. Blaine hosts a ferry boat
across the bay to Semiahmoo Spit, from where good views of 14,410-ft Mt. Baker, the highest peak in the Cascade Mountains, can be
had.
Between here and Seattle, we will be
traveling through the Puget Sound Lowland, which consists primarily of glacial sediments deposited near the southern limit of their
maximum extent. The Lowland itself is believed to be a graben structure; that is, a fault-block valley which has dropped down
through the process of subduction of the oceanic terranes and accretion onto the North American continent (see MP 0 above). Beneath several thousand ft of glacial sediments, bedrock is believed to exist, which is most likely similar to the highly-deformed,
folded and faulted metamorphic rocks of the Olympic Peninsula further south. Later on we will pass fairly near some of the bedrock
of the Northern Cascades.
39 Off to the east (left if southbound),
the Cascade Mountains are visible.
43 Pass through Custer. This town was named after A.W. Custer, the first postmaster, who owned a store in the town in 1886. The town was once a shingle
manufacturing town, but now it is mainly a small farming town.
49 Pass through Ferndale. Ferndale was named in 1876 by Alice Eldridge, the first school teacher in town. She named the town
after a luxuriant growth of ferns around the new log schoolhouse. Ferndale is now an agricultural trade center in the region. Ferndale is the home of the Hovander Homestead, a Scandinavian-style house built in 1903. The Washington State University Demonstration
Garden is located on the premises. The town also hosts Pioneer Park, which contains a collection of 19th century buildings,
most with period furniture, and the Tennant Lake Natural History Interpretive Center.
Cross the Nooksack River just south of Ferndale. The river is named after the Nooksack Indians, and the word “Nooksack” is thought
to mean something like “fern-eating.”
53 Bellingham International
Airport is visible on the left (southbound). On the right is the town of Marietta. This town was called Lummi until 1892,
and at that time, it was a transportation center as riverboats frequently ran up the river to Ferndale and other towns. Marietta
was then renamed, after the daughter Mary Etta of early settlers Solomon and Mary Allen.
55 The train is now approaching Bellingham Bay on the right (southbound). Bellingham Bay is part of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. To the west, the mountains of the North Cascade Subcontinent are visible. These rocks are composed largely of Tertiary-aged
oceanic material, primarily mudstone and basaltic crust material. This material was “stuffed” into the trench at the western
edge of the North American Continent during the Tertiary period as the oceanic blocks accreted onto the continent. It was then
later uplifted by faulting and folding. The rocks above this oceanic material are older rocks, primarily Mesozoic-aged metamorphosed
sandstones, mudstones, and shales. The Shuksan Thrust Fault, which is not visible from the train, is the fault along which this
younger oceanic material was thrusted beneath the older material.
56-57 Pass through Bellingham,
along Bellingham Bay. The AMTRAK station is located south of town. Bellingham was named after Sir William Bellingham,
who accompanied Captain George Vancouver, of the British Royal Navy, on his 1792 expedition to the Pacific Northwest. Bellingham
was a navy controller who personally checked over the supplies for the voyage for Vancouver.
Bellingham is actually a consolidation of the 4 former communities of Fairhaven, Bellingham (which was originally called Unionville),
Whatcom, and New Whatcom (also called Sehome). The city contains many Victorian style homes, and is the home of Western Washington
University, founded in 1893. The Alaska Marine Highway Ferry System runs Alaskan ferries from Bellingham.
Manufactured products in Bellingham include boats, paper, and wood products, and the region is also an agricultural area which produces
strawberries, raspberries, and dairy products.
58 As we round the
bed to the right here (southbound), the large peak ahead of the train (Sehome Hill) is composed primarily of Tertiary-aged Chuckanut
Sandstone, which is highly metamorphosed, as a result of its subduction beneath the North American Continental plate and its subsequent
uplift and pressure.
60 Pass through South Bellingham. Peaks
of Chuckanut Sandstone are still visible on the left (southbound).
60.5 BELLINGHAM station,
401 Harris Avenue. Elevation approximately 17 ft. The station is actually located in the Fairhaven part of Bellingham. (See MP 56 above for information and history of Bellingham).