4th of July, 1961. Part 3

Canadian Pacific Railway, Port Coquitlam, BC, July 4, 1961. Our 4th of July odyssey continues. Pacific Great Eastern movements will come later in the afternoon, so we head east of Vancouver to Port Coquitlam, on the confluence of the Pitt and Fraser Rivers, to the largest Canadian Pacific Railway yard in BC.


The name “Coquitlam” comes from the First Nation’s Salish word "Kwayhquitlum," meaning "red fish in the river," referring to the river’s annual salmon spawning run.

The Canadian Pacific Railway moved its freight operations from Vancouver to Port Coquitlam in 1911. The city was incorporated in 1913.

Railroad Stuff: CPR 8641, GMD GP-9, built London Ontario, 2/57, sn: A-1097, rebuilt by CPR to GP-9u in 1987, and renumbered CP1648, shown here with the "multimark" paint scheme.