This profile of Canadian Pacific's "unit train", also known as the Supertrain, dates to the 1980s. The film shows how vast amounts of coal are moved from coal mines in British Columbia to the port of Vancouver and the Superport of Roberts Bank. The film begins as coal is moved through processing plants via conveyer systems, and then stored in silos (:50). Specially designed gondola cars capable of carrying 150 tons of coal each are used. The locomotives are automatically controlled by computer (1:04) as the cars are loaded. Cars are weighed at 1:15 and simultaneously scanned. At 1:44 the train begins its 700 mile journey across the Rocky Mountains and then through B.C. on CP Rail's mainline to Vancouver. At 2:00, robot locomotives are shown operated by remote control in the middle of the train. There are 11 diesel locomotives moving the train, all coordinated through the engineer's cab, for the Rocky Mountain segment of the journey. Later the train reduces to only four locomotives as it approaches Vancouver and the Roberts Bank Terminal. At 4:30 the train approaches the ocean terminal and into the rotor dumpers where automated machinery takes over. At 5:00, cars are rotated in the dumper and out tumbles 105 tons of coal destined for Japanese steel mills. The entire train of 10,000 tons is unloaded in 4 hours. The entire cycle is 3 days. The cost of the system was $38 million dollars.
Roberts Bank Superport is a twin-terminal port facility located on the mainland coastline of the Strait of Georgia in Delta, British Columbia. Opened in 1970 with Westshore Terminals as its only tenant, Roberts Bank was expanded in 1983-84, and in June 1997 opened a second terminal, the GCT Deltaport container facility.
Part of Port of Vancouver, Roberts Bank is also known as the Outer Harbour of Canada's busiest port. Westshore is the busiest single coal export terminal in North America and is operated by the Westar Group on a long-term contract. It typically ships over 20 million tonnes of export coal a year and early in 2010 completed a $49-million equipment upgrade, bringing its capacity from 24 million to 29 million tonnes per year.
Like the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal to the southeast, Roberts Bank was built at the end of a long causeway over a shallow bank. Originally created as a 20-hectare (49-acre) pod of reclaimed land for a major coal port, it is now four times that size. In January 2010, Deltaport added a third berth and doubled its capacity. It is now one of the busiest import/export ports in North America and a major hub for container trucking companies. Roberts Bank is serviced by CN Rail, CP Rail, and BNSF Railway. Seaspan International provides tugboat services to both terminals at peninsula.
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