Attention BC Rail Fans:

In case you missed the first announcement on this book, Railway Rock Gang, we have lately been in contact with the retired head foreman of the Rock Gang on BC Rail.  He has only a few books of the Limited Edition left.  The First Edition is  a book with pictures in glorious color, and full descriptions of major derailments and the efforts of the Rock Gang to extricate the railroad engines and equipment and to prevent or recover from major landslides, which is usually the cause of derailments.

With pictures like this,  used to describe what happened and how it was resolved:

BC Rail 705 on its side:

BC Rail 808 being pulled from Lake Seton after hitting a landslide and taking a swim:

And little stories within the overall story like this:

"I was only about 50 feet to the north of where Fred was helping two scalers jackleg on the other side of the big rock we were getting ready to remove. He was watching me off and on while I worked. I was prying on a rock when I heard a brief grinding kind of noise somewhere above me, not very loud, like two pieces of sandstone rubbing together. I looked up, just as a slab of rock, about 3’ x 5’ wide, and 6 or 8 inches thick, fell straight towards me from about 50 feet directly above my head.
I had no time to decide what to do. I was hanging on a rope, scaling bar in hand, and couldn’t go up or down. If I needed to move, the only thing I could do was jump backwards away from the rock face, or to the left or right. A split second before the rock flashed by I realized it would miss me by about a foot, and that I didn’t have to move. I held my scaling bar in an “on guard” position, as a few bits of gravel and dirt pattered down after the big rock. Fred had been watching me at the time, and immediately called over to ask if I was okay. I was untouched, but I realized that my legs were shaking, so I climbed up my rope to the ledge I’d started from, and sat down to calm down. It had been a very close call."

Railway Rock Gang is fascinating. It's not just a coffee table showpiece, it's a book to read, and read again.

This book is a masterpiece, telling of the work on the BC Rail.  It provides an inside view and a good idea of the tremendous effort required to run the line and keep it open.

RAILWAY ROCK GANG is a collection of stories about working on BC RAIL Rock Gangs in British Columbia from 1978 – 1987, from Horseshoe Bay to Tumbler Ridge. The book has chapters on Cheakamus Salvage, Seton Salvage, and Tumbler Ridge, as well as special projects such as Slide Mile 140, rock removal at Mile 130, and blasting along the Green River near Pemberton.

The book is extensively illustrated with photographs & illustrations by the Author, and includes a glossary of terminology and slang as used on the Rock Gangs, related to drilling, scaling, blasting, rigging, heavy salvage, falling, track work, and railway terms in general.

… never use a stick (of dynamite) where a case will do …  One motto of the BC Rail Rock Gang.

Railway Rock Gang is a personal memoir of nine years work on BC RAIL rock gangs in British Columbia. Chapters include heavy salvage and special blasting projects. Extensively illustrated in full colour, includes an 800-term glossary and index.

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reb/njs