CNR North Thompson Bridge - Kamloops, BC, Canada - Active Rail Locations on Waymarking.com

Completed in March of 1914, this 1209 foot long steel girder bridge rests on 14 concrete piers and was built with a 93 foot moveable span to allow passage of river traffic. It was built by the Canadian Northern Railway which, a few years later, was merged with the Grand Trunk Railway to become the Canadian National.

Though this was actually the second bridge built at Kamloops by the Canadian Northern, the first was a temporary bridge across the South Thompson and removed in 1913, making this bridge the first permanent CNR bridge at Kamloops. Speaking of firsts, this is also the first vertical lift railroad bridge ever built in Canada. This was necessary because the river was plied commercially by steam boats between 1866 and about 1914, with a swan song by one sternwheeler between 1933 and about 1948. Nowadays it is used only by pleasure craft which pass easily under the bridge.

As mentioned above, this bridge is on the CNR's mainline, making it a great train watching location. Given that Kamloops is one of the rare spots where the CNR and the CPR main lines come together, this is a fine train watching town. The CNR runs down the north side of the Thompson River, while the CPR runs down the south side.

Coordinates given are at a viewpoint along a riverside trail north of the bridge on the western river bank. The trail continues south under the bridge, so one can watch from either the north or south side of the bridge. Pack a picnic lunch, grab a folding chair and your camera and make a day of it!

The North Thompson lift bridge, which was built in 1914, had a moveable span of 93 ft. and a vertical Lift of 55 feet above high water mark. The span was held between two towers and connected to two 59 ton concrete counter weights by cables running over pulleys on the tower heads. A gasoline engine, located under the track at span centre, was used to turn the sheaves that moved the holding cables. This was the third railway lifting bridge to be built in North America and the first erected in Canada. The designer and consulting engineering firm came from Kansas City, Missouri. Its erection was supervised by the CNoR Divisional engineer. As anticipated by CNoR, the lift span was little used. In 1937 the CNR was given permission by the federal government to remove the suspended counterweights and bolt the lifting span into a fixed position.
From Canadian Rail