Since the 1880's the Canadian Pacific Railway has faced a multitude of sometimes desperate challenges caused by winter snows. The Rogers Pass in the massive Selkirks is the personification of the Winter Devil himself. This short length of rail has claimed its toll in lives, destroyed equipment, and lost freight. Stretching from Revelstoke to Field the pass is only 125.7 rail miles. However, it is threatened throughout the harsh Canadian winter by over eighty avalanche prone slopes along its twisting route. Each mountain tenuously holding millions of tons of hard packed snow ready to scream down without warning. Annual snowfalls of up to seventy-two feet have occurred in the Rogers Pass. SNOWPLOW through ROGERS, filmed in January 1999, takes the viewer briefly into the history of this mountain pass, but concentrates on the crew of CPR Unit 5803 working their way through the snow. The men of 5803 labeled the time spent as, "an ordinary day".
However, the producer and his camera man, Chris Clark, saw it as an extraordinary experience. You'll enjoy the fabulous colour footage of the plow unit comprised of a steel plow built in 1911, a late 1930's spreader, an up-to-date diesel locomotive and a vintage caboose, pot-bellied stove and all. The Winter scenery alone is worth the price of admission!
SNOWPLOW through ROGERS - ISBN 0-9698645-9-0
Full colour. 53:23 minutes. NTSC or PAL