Morant’s Curve

A concrete viewing platform with metal railings sits directly across the Bow Valley Parkway from the parking pull-off—cross the road and you're there in under a minute. The platform is elevated just enough above the single-track mainline to frame passing trains at near-cab level, with the turquoise Bow River curving behind and the Bow Range filling the horizon.

Eastbound trains announce themselves well in advance: the rumble of locomotives throttling up or the whine of dynamic brakes echoes off the valley walls a full minute before the head-end rounds the bend from dense conifer forest. Consists routinely exceed 10,000 feet, so a single train takes three to four minutes to pass, with every car visible against the river for most of its length. Westbounds approach from the Lake Louise direction and curve away from you into the trees—still photogenic, but the classic composition favors eastbounds.

Between trains, the stillness is remarkable. No highway drone reaches the platform, just rushing water, wind through spruce and pine, and the occasional distant whistle. Wildlife sightings are common—elk grazing near the tracks, osprey diving the river, and bears (particularly in spring and fall) foraging along the corridor. A scanner tuned to CPKC frequencies can help predict approaching movements.

Morant's Curve sits inside Banff National Park at roughly 1,340 m (4,400 ft) elevation, on a broad gravel bar where the Bow River sweeps through a pronounced S-bend. The river runs a vivid glacial turquoise from late spring through autumn, fed by meltwater from the Wapta Icefield upstream. Lodgepole pine, Engelmann spruce, and subalpine fir crowd the banks and frame the composition on both sides.

The mountain backdrop from the viewing platform includes Mount Temple (3,544 m / 11,627 ft), the tallest peak in the Lake Louise area, and Mount Fairview to its right. On clear mornings, the peaks catch alpenglow well before direct sun reaches the valley floor. Temperatures can dip below 10 °C at dawn even in July, and frost is possible into June. Winter transforms the scene entirely: deep snow blankets the forest, the river freezes in patches, and locomotive exhaust plumes hang in the cold air, adding dramatic contrast to photographs. Wildlife—elk, coyotes, wolves, and black and grizzly bears—frequents the river corridor year-round.

The line is the CPKC Laggan Subdivision, part of CPKC's transcontinental mainline connecting Calgary with the Pacific coast via the Kicking Horse Pass. It is single track at milepost 113 with CTC (Centralized Train Control) dispatching. Freight dominates: long unit grain trains, potash hoppers, double-stacked intermodal containers, and mixed manifest are the staples, powered by CPKC's fleet of GE and EMD road units often running in distributed power configurations (head-end plus mid-train or tail-end helpers).

The Rocky Mountaineer tourist train—identifiable by its blue-and-gold "First Passage to the West" consist—passes through twice weekly in each direction during its April-to-October season, typically arriving mid-morning or late afternoon. In late November and December, the CPKC Holiday Train may also pass through, decorated with holiday lights.

Important correction: VIA Rail's "The Canadian" does NOT pass through Morant's Curve. That train runs Toronto–Jasper–Vancouver via CN tracks through the Yellowhead Pass, not via CPKC's Laggan Subdivision.

The classic composition is shot from the concrete viewing platform on the inside of the curve. A 24–70 mm lens frames the full S-bend with the Bow River and peaks in a single wide shot. For telephoto compression that stacks the locomotives against Mount Temple, step roughly 30 metres east along the informal footpath and use a 100–400 mm focal length.

Morning light (8–11 AM) gives front-three-quarter illumination on eastbound trains—this is the iconic angle that Nicholas Morant made famous. Mid-afternoon (2–4 PM) works best for westbounds, with warm sidelight on the river. In winter, low sun angles provide soft, even light throughout the day. A tripod helps for long exposures capturing headlight glow at twilight or in overcast conditions.

Trains can approach from either direction, so keep watch both ways. The viewpoint platform has a flat railing top suitable for a Platypod or small tripod head. Some trees near the platform can obstruct peripheral angles when busy; arriving early secures the best position. For video and audio recording, the location is remarkably quiet between trains—flange squeal through the curve and river rush are the dominant sounds with no highway interference.

The curve is named after Nicholas Everard Morant (June 29, 1910 – March 13, 1999), born on a dairy farm near Kamloops, BC, who served as the Canadian Pacific Railway's Special Photographer from 1929 to 1935 and again from 1944 until his retirement in 1981. Over a career spanning more than 50 years, Morant produced over 12,000 images for the CPR archives and an additional 50,000-plus photographs preserved in the Nicholas Morant Fonds at the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies in Banff.

This particular S-curve along the Bow River at milepost 113 was reportedly Morant's favorite shooting location. His photographs of trains rounding the bend appeared in CPR promotional campaigns that helped define Canada's image as a rail and wilderness destination. Several of Morant's landscape photographs (taken at other Rocky Mountain locations) appeared on Canadian banknotes: Emerald Lake on the 1954-series $10 bill, Okanagan Lake on the 1954-series $100 bill, and Moraine Lake on the 1969-series $20 bill.

The CPKC Laggan Subdivision itself dates to the 1880s construction of the original CPR transcontinental mainline—the engineering feat that unified Canada coast to coast. The route through the Bow Valley and over the Kicking Horse Pass remains one of the most celebrated stretches of mountain railroading anywhere.

Morant's Curve combines active Class I mainline railroading with a pristine national park setting in a way that is extremely rare globally. The composition—a sweeping S-curve framed by glacial river and 3,000-metre peaks—has no catenary, signal gantries, highway overpasses, or industrial structures to clutter the frame. National park protection ensures the surrounding landscape will never be developed.

The viewpoint's accessibility is another standout feature: a paved parking area, a concrete viewing platform with railings, and zero hiking required. Visitors with mobility limitations can observe from the platform or even from their parked car across the road—listen for the horn, then cross. This ease of access, combined with the world-class scenery and consistent freight traffic, makes Morant's Curve a destination that rewards both the patient railfan and the passing tourist with a 15-minute stop.