Port Metro Vancouver: At the crossroads: Rail and Marine Tankers at the Second Narrows

Before any Aframax Tankers make their way into the docks at Kinder Morgan's 'Maximize-Me dining area', east of the Second Narrows, there needs to be discussions on the timing of Rail car crossings athwartship, and their ups and downs needs of the Lift Span so as to not impede marine traffic and the Tides.

For Instance:

CN Rail payloads  -  152 cars per train

2003 -  62 crossings of Burrard Inlet via Thornton Tunnel per week
         -  9 crossings per day

2011 - 84 crossings of Burrard Inlet via Thornton Tunnel per week
         - 12 crossings per day

2015 - How many per week N/A
         - How many per day  obviously N/A

2021 - 95 crossings of Burrard Inlet via Thornton Tunnel per week
         - 14 crossings per day

Kinder Morgan Aframax promise: 2018 - 1 per day dependent upon Low Tide

         CNR

Thornton Tunnel North Vancouver Rail Traffic
Page 9 of 18

Weekly Train Movements 2011 - 2021

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As taxpayers have you enjoyed the time and tribulations that are being spent on the deck of the Second Narrows Ironworkers Memorial Bridge?  The 'benefit' is for the safety of cyclists and pedestrian sharing the same space with funding coming from Transportation Minister Todd Stone's budget.  What if .........

 ..... there's a different need for a Ten Foot high spiked top guard rail that is NOT there to stop cyclist and pedestrians jumping from the bridge deck?  What if ....  Kinder Morgan oil tanker owners need to be reassured that objects can NOT be dropped onto their craft from above.

Why then are we paying for security that is Kinder Morgan's responsibility?  NEB?

Over to you Translink!

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Port Metro Vancouver Security video:

 Shows vessels escorting a hypothetical 'Aframax' Tankers during DAYLIGHT hours, only???.  Actually the oil tanker in the video is NOT an 'Maximize-Me' Aframax tanker at all.

The vessel in the video is the Gulf Jumeirah, rated as an MR, NOT Aframax.

               MR                     Aframax
         Gulf Jumeirah        Gulf Vision        Differences (Hint: the Aframax is larger)
                   
               Dimensions        Dimensions       
                   
SDWT      46,488   MT      114,700    MT    68,212
On Draft    12.216    M               15    M            3
TPC           52.26    MT           99.2    MT        47
LOA          183.22    M             249    M          66
Beam             32.2    M            43.8    M          12
Depth            18.8    M                21    M           2
KTM             48.8    M             48.4    M           0
BCM             89.8    M           113.8    M         24
                   
                   
            Tonnages        Tonnages       
                   
GRT      29,508        63,500         33,992
NRT      11,943        19,050           7,107
SCNT    26,605        55,930        29,325
PCNT    24,498        N/A        ?

Great Exercise in PMV flotilla management but the departing Gulf Jumeirah is EMPTY

Gulf Jumeirah Stats

Will the Rail bridge span at the Second Narrows be more up than down during daylight hours for the silent running Aframax and its escort vessels   OR  will the bridge lift span be down at night for the long trains to whistle on through, disturbing the sleep of all those living in the immediate surrounding area?

Wikimapia

In 2013 CNR made the bold announcement that they were removing 'Man' from their Second Narrows Railway Bridge Control Office to operate it remotely from New Westminster....


We took a walk on the wild South side of Burrard Inlet last Fall to escape from the North Shore's heavy industries lining the waterfront east of the Second Narrows.   We chose to use the Trans Canada Trail (TCT)  from Vancouver's New Brighton Park/Pool on McGill.  We meandered through streets of warehouses, a parking lot and eventually made it under the Second Narrows Bridge with seagulls fast tracking down their next meal.

East Side

There was a fork in the trail, one leading up and over the CNR Thornton Tunnel and the other down to the Bridge (to the Left) / Tunnel (to the Right).   There are CNR signs that the TCT is on a Right-of-Way, No Cars Permitted and that the area IS patrolled by the CN Rail Police force.  T/F

We had no intention of accessing the bridge so why would there be a need to call.....

CN Rail security system protecting the service area where Tunnel meets Bridge consists of four motion sensors and a loud hailer.

A 152 hopper car train rolling by negates the well intended purpose of a loud hailer.   

In a country that is multicultural where there are two official languages (two instructions on flight safety in and out of Canada are REQUIRED) where English is no longer the dominant language in Metro Vancouver, CNR uses ENGLISH to communicate.


There's no barrier that comes down blocking pedestrian access, nor is there a chain link fence encapsulating the area.  Security is based on a large dose of Trust!


From the TCT above the Thornton Tunnel there's a clear view of the bridge filmed by enthusiasts of all things related to the movement of rail traffic.

Looking North out of Thornton Tunnel

Looking

Right to the South:

Hopper Cars heading into/out of Thornton Tunnel

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Arriving and Departing vessels from Kinder Morgan.....

Burrard Inlet has 8 Anchored Ship positions, swinging on their single bow cables, dependent upon the tide to keep them tethered in an East / West Direction as an Aframax slithers by, so too for the MR.

Translink Seabus service Times 2, crisscrossing North and South every fifteen minutes from Lonsdale Quay and Waterfront Station.

Through the midst of the anchored ships (not including barges, commercial vessels, sea plane, pleasure craft) in Burrard Inlet, the Aframax's Red Line runs through as if it were entering a Kinder Morgan Tank Farm on Burnaby Mountain. Right?

8 anchorages Burrard Inlet

4 anchorages between Kinder Morgan and Cates Park And Indian Arm

3 anchorages east of Lighthouse Park

16 anchorages off Spanish Banks

If you happen to be wondering what the name of those anchored vessels are......

Port Metro Vancouver Anchored Vessels

Interactive Map  highlight an anchorage, name and statistics pops up

Let's not forget about incoming and outgoing normal shipping traffic.

Enthusiast

Caboose Coffee

Note to A.R:  There is no fence protecting the public from danger, just walk on down

Second Narrows Lift Span

1916: "Oliver Fruit and Gardens" fueled by Water. 99 years later same technology in use but moving Petroleum

 One of our hobbies is to find where a photographer had to stand to get his landscape photo.

Haynes Ecological Reserve

 49° 5'28.52"N 119°31'49.64"W

Allan Brooks - Naturalist - near Osoyoos

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 T.D. Pattullo, Minister of Lands  1916

IRRIGATED LANDS NEAR OLIVER.

Situated in Southern Okanagan Valley, south of Penticton, the warmest, lowest, and earliest portion of that well-known fruit-growing district, a tract, of several thousand acres is being subdivided in fruit growing areas of 10 to over 20 acres and prepared for settlement and development.

An irrigation system has been installed which will be operated by the Government until development allows of the creation of an irrigation district, after which the water-users will administer and manage the system. The areas now being offered a re confined to those within scope of the completed portion.

The tract extends from a short distance south of Vaseaux Lake to the International Boundary. The northerly part is 22 miles from Penticton. Agreement has been made with the Kettle Valley Railway Company by the Government for completion of a branch, now under construction, from Penticton a divisional point of the company's main  line-through the tract, with a station at Oliver.

OLIVER

Which will be the administrative centre of the district, is a new townsite laid out in a picturesque part of the valley on the west of Okanagan River, 25 miles south of Penticton. It has been subdivided into business and residential blocks, with graded streets and domestic water and sewerage systems to be provided; electric light and power will be available, as the transmission-line from Bonnington Falls passes within a mile; railway service with station and yards, parks, etc.; in fact, Oliver is expected to be a modern business centre with all conveniences required by modern business and social life. The main highway will pass through the centre of the town .

Dog Lake is now called Skaha Lake

Where was the photographer standing to take this photo?  Has the area changed?  Orchard Stands dot the Highway?  Houses?  Picker Shacks?  Resorts?

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Oliver Then

Oliver Now

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Zoom in on the workers: see the 'wall' creating the pipe, crib supports below

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Contact Us Page
 

  Oliver Museum And Archives - Event Calendar

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 PRESS RELEASE: Tales of the Ditch

posted Apr 7, 2014, 1:11 PM by Oliver Heritage 

“The Ditch” that carries the lifeblood of the valley, water, is the reason the Town of Oliver exists. Yet most people today    do not realize it is right under their feet as they do business around town.

Not so for Oliver born orchardist Greg Norton, guest speaker at the Oliver and District Heritage Society’s Annual General Meeting which takes place on Wednesday, April 16th at 7 p.m. at the Quail Nest on Airport Road.

Greg will share stories of “The Ditch”, a daring do place of adventurous entertainment for generations of Oliver kids.  The gravity flow, concrete canal that begins its life under the shadow of McIntyre Bluff was the personal playground for Greg and his friends growing up in the 1950’s and 60’s.  In later years it was his place of work. However, well before that, this amazing and seemingly simply designed structure was what his grandfather Charles Norton and others wrestled to build in the early 1920’s. Then and now, “The Ditch” has always been a central part of Norton family life.

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The Ditch

Snip.....In 1918 soldiers began to return to the B.C. after the war; to their dismay they were welcomed by a crowded workforce and highly populated cities.  The Premier of B.C. at the time, John Oliver, sought to find a solution for the veterans, who he believed should be rewarded for their valiant fighting.  He instituted the Soldiers Land Act, under which he purchased 22,000 acres extending south of McIntyre bluff.  It was hoped to irrigate 8,000 acres of this land – this was to be the Southern Okanagan Lands Project.  The land was then to be sold to veterans who desired land and were given ‘special purchasing privileges’.  Snip     - Julie Cancela

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Southern Okanagan Irrigation Project

1922 version of GMO

Creosote

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2014 BBC POST

 225 recipes for British Columbian fruit, during the First World War, 1916 and 1918

Source: 1916

Trivia:

The Town of Oliver is named after “Honest” John Oliver, who became the 19th Premier of British Columbia following the death of his predecessor in 1918 and held the position of Premier until his own death in 1927. During his term in office, he was instrumental in developing the original fruit growing industry in the South Okanagan Valley, centered in what later became our community, and which adopted the Premier Oliver’s name as its own.

Irwin and Billings, Home for Sale $3,500 Grand Boulevard, North Vancouver City, 100 Years of Service

Since 1906, we’ve been meeting diverse commercial and personal insurance needs on the North Shore, in the Lower Mainland and throughout British Columbia. We’re a family business locally owned and operated by a North Shore resident. At Irwin & Billings, we know our business, we know our clients and we take pride in our freedom to truly offer you independent advice and efficient service. - See more at: http://ibib.ca/#sthash.XDweeFWg.dpuf

Since 1906, we’ve been meeting diverse commercial and personal insurance needs on the North Shore, in the Lower Mainland and throughout British Columbia. We’re a family business locally owned and operated by a North Shore resident. At Irwin & Billings, we know our business, we know our clients and we take pride in our freedom to truly offer you independent advice and efficient service.

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Meanwhile down here in North Hollywood..... 6591 Vineland

Vineland Metro has had 27 homes; three guest parking spots; parking for two cars per each home; Choice of 4 square feet of Astro Turf lawn therefore no lawn to mow which is good because Los Angeles drought rating is EXTREMELY high.   Did we mention the distance between the side by side house roof eaves?  One foot.  Something like East Vancouver homes.... and some places on the North Shore.

Plan

House below is looking at the front door of Building 4

 Sprinklers not necessary, No Water

Building 4

SOLD OUT! Located in North Hollywood, Vineland Metro is an intimate community of just twenty-seven single family homes, within minutes of all Los Angeles has to offer. Get inspired by owning amongst the culture, charm, and energy of the NoHo Arts District! From the mid $500,000s.

Two-Story Single Family Homes
    Approx. 1,629 Square Feet
    Three Bedrooms
    Two and One Half Bathrooms
    Two-Car Attached Garage
    Private Patio
    DESIGNER UPGRADES & FURNITURE INCLUDED!

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Los Angeles Department of Water and Power DWP rebates for turfing turf

The real water guzzlers are the swimming pools which are monitored by Google Earth for City Hall

Q: Does the LADWP provide a discounted water rate for filling my pool?

A:  No. Water usage will be billed according to your metered consumption.
 
You may be eligible for a Sewer Service Charge (SSC) adjustment if you filled your pool during the winter rainy season (typically from October through April). To request an adjustment, contact the City of Los Angeles Department of Public Works, Bureau of Sanitation at 1-800-540-0952 or fill out and submit a Residential SSC Request for Adjustment.

If you happen to be in Maple Ridge, anytime: Fibres Plus - Basketry, Weaving, Knitting, Spinning

Using the Rick Mercer's line of ... 'If you happen to be in .....' Vernon on September 13th and 14th ...' keeps cropping up as a common thread on this blog promoting unique places in British Columbia.  There are so many small businesses fulfilling the resource needs of hobbyists where all they need is a little bit of publicity.


Vaughn Palmer, in a recent column, mentioned that the BC Legislature calendar is going to be so void of new laws that it will be downright boring.  His headline writer selected:

  A quiet legislature session, knit-picked.   No major policy initiatives expected from B.C. Liberals.  

 Palmer punchline:

 ..... Liberals are deliberately concocting a snooze-fest ...   .... It’s enough to make a fellow take up knitting.

Knitting is fine, and dandy, except that Palmer's job is not to 'knit-pick' but rather 'nit-pick' a Minister who is not accomplished at knowing the difference between right and wrong, knit or nit wit. 

Nit-pick defined:  minute and usually unjustified criticism

Vaughn Palmer's idea of knitting is common hobby within the Legislature halls, both genders.  If he wants to show a bit of flare, not LNG, he could funnel his thoughts to include basket weaving along with knitting to pass the time of day.

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When anyone mentions Lodgepole Pine (Pinus contorta) there is an immediate vision of the devastating forces of the Mountain Pine Beetle here in British Columbia.

There's an aspect to the Lodgepole Pine that requires artists to use selective harvesting from healthy trees.  The needles.   Not the needles that fall from house-bound dry Christmas trees onto the homes' carpets, nor the ones that carpet the trails on the North Shore.

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Through the creative eyes of Dale Friend at Fibres Plus in Maple Ridge she has a fabulous resource for Basket Weaving and Knitting AND plenty of        Ideas like these photos ........ a thousand words .... and more .....

Vaughn (Arnold) Palmer golf chapeau

Fibres Plus

Basketry  Weaving 

Spinning  Knitting

Books, Supplies, Tools and Equipment

Dale

604-467-1178

Maple Ridge

Yellow Copper Wire Basket on Red Wheels


Did we mention Books?

The plight of Northern BC 184 Wolves being culled needs impact photos, not groomed cameo appearances from Hollywood North

This is the environment where the Caribou, Grizzly and Wolf are free to roam.

and Territorial 

and Territory

and Michael Smyth asks:  "Do we need to kill Wolves......"

What we need to do is tame Man from treading on the animals territory.  Somewhere up there is a photographer, capturing the moments.

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CFI of HNZ and bighorn sheep - Similkameen - Simmons argued that the sheep in Snowy have become accustomed to the training flights over the years and are not stressed as sheep would be experiencing helicopters for the first time. “If you asked the bighorn sheep, how many generations have been listening to helicopters? Much like deer in Penticton, they’re completely used to what they see and hear in their environment.”  

Territorial II

Looking at the bigger picture it's difficult to understand which entity is promoting the wolf cull.  Is it the Oil and Gas resource industry or  BC Hydro's Site C dam builders who see the animals as a threat to their safety?   Both are being serviced by the BC Liberal Government.

Whichever is the culprit, there are scientists out in the fields of Peace River Moberly district beavering away, generating their numerous reports on behalf of the government with all costs being borne by taxpayers.   Helicopters are the workhorses to and from the wilderness areas, to and from the overnight half-pipe shelter accommodations twice/thrice daily, entertainment supplied, FOOD delivered by air, fuel hauled in for the helicopters, travel expenses for the Government to pay, hotels/flights/car rental to the helicopter pads, add in salaries and benefits.

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This is Michael Smyth's idea of what a Wolf looks like in Northern British Columbia.

Marco Musiani photos

 

John Bergenske and Ian McAllister are two conservationists who care deeply about British Columbia’s threatened wildlife.  But when it comes to the government’s decision to shoot up to 184 wolves from helicopters to save endangered caribou herds, they find themselves at odds.  “Killing one species to save another simply doesn’t work,” said McAllister, a renowned wildlife photographer .... - Michael Smyth

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Bob Dylan: Pity the poor immigrant  Caribou MOU signed under duress distress

Mike or Michelle Wiegele?

or

Is Mike Mike and Michelle Michelle?

or

Mike and Michelle?