Morants Curve

[MikeRC]

If you are a railway fanatic you have probably heard of Morants Curve. It has been used for hundreds of photos, prints and paintings of trains. It is an almost ideal setting with the Bow River beside the gentle curves and the spectacular backdrop of the mountains of the Paradise Valley and Lake Louise groups.

 

It is also a nice ride out there.

 

Cool day, better stop in Banff for coffee. Here's Mt Aylmer which is just northeast of Banff:

 

 

If you have the time it's always nice to use Highway 1A (Banff Parkway) to get from Banff to Lake Louise as it's very scenic. They haven't cleaned the winter sand off the road and there are dozens of bighorn sheep, deer and elk feeding beside the road so it was even slower then usual. Best benefit was almost no traffic this early in the season.

 

About half way between Baker Creek and Lake Louise along the 1A is the little pullout for Morants Curve.

 

Looking at Morants Curve:

 

And the Bow Valley toward Storm Mountain:

 

 

There is only one passenger train a day now from Vancouver to Calgary, but about every 15 minutes there is a freight train:

 

 

 

Hopefully they'll get out and clean the sand off the streets in Field so I can get out to the Truffle Pigs Cafe soon.

 

Mike Cassidy

[Kitsap]

Thanks!

 

One more for the to-do list. The list gets longer as I grow older, hopefuly I'll never reach the end.

[Francois_Dumas]

Excellent pictures Mike, but #1 is my FAVORITE! Wonderful !!!!

[Steve1962]

Mike,

Nice photos .......... can you give us some background as to the naming of Morants curve ?

 

Steve

[Firefight911]

Beautiful shots. Thanks!

[MikeRC]

Mike,

Nice photos .......... can you give us some background as to the naming of Morants curve ?

Steve

Named after Nicholas Morant: "Nicholas Morant was a photographer for the Canadian Pacific Railway from 1937 until his retirement in 1981. Morant crossed the country on assignment for CPR. He had the remarkable ability to blur the distinction between an industrial photo and that of a fine-art photograph. Through the years, Morant's photographs have appeared in Time, Look, Life, the Saturday Evening Post and the National Geographic magazines. His photos have been used on the backs of $10, $50 and $100 Canadian bills. During the war he was on loan to the Department of Wartime Information. From the late 1930s until his retirement in 1981 Morant documented, with unparalleled ability, the changing face of the railway and Canada. For more than 9,000 black and white and 3,000 colour photographs by Morant see: The Canadian Pacific Railway Archives."

 

Quoted from the Canadian Pacific Railway Collection. Collection.

 

Mike Cassidy

[Tom P]

Great pics and story! Thanks.

[GelStra]

What a great combination of things I love:

Mountains, rivers, riding, trains. Beautiful shots. I have always wanted to go to that area and nirvana would be a train trip through there.

Sometimes I ride about 40 miles from here to the Cajon Pass where all the huge freight trains head out of and into LA. There's a spot down a dirt road where you can watch them lumbering up or down the grade. Too much fun to watch such powerful beasts. Before my plates arrived, this was my original avatar. I thought the GS and the train shared certain qualities.

Scenery SUCKS compared to where you are! You're very lucky to live in such a beautiful place.

[Mik]

Mike, very nice photos.

If you look at them for a while you can feel the fresh air

 

Mike

[Whip]

Was this place open???

 

 

This is where I want to stay next time....

 

Thanks for the pix...we have great memories of that drive...

 

The Whip's

[oldtime]

Mike , as always thanks for the wonderful pic's--- I fell in love that area after Cody UN 2 years ago---your a lucky man to have that area as a stomping ground

[MikeRC]

Whip:

 

Still lots of snow in the parking lots on the Columbia Icefields Parkway, so no going to Num-ti-jah for me yet. Maybe in a week or two.

 

Mike Cassidy