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Whistler Train Wreck

Abandoned Railway in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada

Nov 06 2023

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Recent status	Abandoned
Location #	20132

History of Whistler Train Wreck

On August 11, 1956, a train full of lumber started in Lillooet and headed down to Vancouver. Running behind schedule, the crew tried to make up for lost time by increasing the train's speed to more than twice its usual rate. At a sharp curve in Whistler, 12 boxcars derailed, blocking the passage.

After several days, the boxcars were moved off of the railway line and into the woods with the support of borrowed machinery from a local logging company. 5 of the boxcars were deemed salvagable, and the remaining 7 were stripped for materials and dragged into the woods.

In years since, the boxcars have been transformed into graffiti canvases, and surrounding trails have become popular with mountain bikers.

For a long time, curious visitors accessed the boxcars by following dangerous routes across CN railway tracks. After years, Whistler finally gave up on issuing tickets, and has now installed a marked footbridge to access the site as well as several informational plaques.

7 boxcars remain in total. Two commonly missed boxcars are a few minutes further south (downstream) from the main grouping.

I've listed this location as level 1 since it is a well-known tourist attraction, but it's definitely worth a visit. My partner and I camped in one of the boxcars overnight which saved a lot of money on Whistler hotels.

Latlng: (50.0814237, -123.0554661)

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