The most complicated and highest trestles on all of the Canadian Pacific Railway
in 1887 were in the Beaver River Valley east of Rogers Pass.
For the most part they crossed streams, which much of the time have little
water flowing down them or, indeed, may be perfectly dry. But during spring
thaw they become raging torrents sometimes carrying slides of snow and mud.
In the early years one trestle had to be replaced six times.
Heading west towards Rogers Pass the first of several trestles was Mountain
Creek Trestle.
Although the approach on either side was easy, a gap of over 1,000 had to be
crossed. The central Howe truss over the creek was 150 feet long. On either side
were smaller 300-foot trusses. In all it was 1,086 feet long and 164 feet high and
required over 2 million board feet of timber making it one of the largest timber
structure in the world at the time.
