Whistler Train Wrecks – Art by Accident

In 1956, the area around Alta Lake was a remote stretch of forest and fishing country in British Columbia. The idea of Whistler becoming the vibrant destination that would co-host the 2010 Winter Olympics was entirely unimaginable. So it is perhaps no surprise that the Pacific Great Eastern Railway took a rather unconventional approach to recovering a derailed freight train. A local forestry company was brought in to drag the stricken wagons off the tracks and into the woods. And there they have remained ever since.

Over the years the wrecks fell into obscurity, until mountain bikers rediscovered them in the 1990s and began using them as a parcours. The first graffiti appeared. Then in the summer of 2011, artist Chili Thom organised what he called a Paint Jam, inviting a group of local artists to the site. In a single evening they transformed the wrecks into an open-air gallery. The wagons have looked different ever since. The construction of a suspension bridge over the Cheakamus River in 2016 helped the Whistler Train Wrecks establish themselves as a proper tourist attraction. Until then, the only way to reach the site was to walk along active railway tracks – illegal, needless to say.

I had the Train Wreck Trail on my photography list as an optional extra, something to fit in if time allowed during my visit to Whistler. What I found there surprised me. The suspension bridge over the roaring Cheakamus River sets the tone before you even cross it, announcing that you are about to enter a different world. The thunder of the river carries across the entire site, giving the atmosphere a strange restlessness. On the other side you encounter a scene that has something deeply surreal about it: railway wagons and nature, two worlds that have no obvious business being together, woven into each other in the most fascinating way. There is no shortage of unusual photographic subjects. I am very glad there was still time for this location.