Island lumber not logging...
Vancouver Island isn’t all logging railroads, yet even as I found this wonderfully modellable scene whilst looking for something else, you’ll notice that the subject is still forest products…
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| Gorge Road Sawmill, Victoria, BC. Dave Royston photo (https://flic.kr/p/5MsXAa) |
Victoria had both Canadian Pacific (the former Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway) and Canadian National routes until the 1980s. Today, it has no rail connection with the outside world and wrangling continues over the state of the old E&N north to Courtney. However, come with me and take a journey back to the 1980s - dwindling traffic and CNs expected privatisation meant the writing was on the wall. A GMD-1 was stabled in Victoria and ran between the E&N interchange, a number of barge slips and inland to the pulp mills at Cowichan Lake (I appreciate this is a gross simplification, and would thoroughly encourage anyone interested to dig around the subject as it is fascinating). In this single snapshot, our GMD-1 is removing a single loaded spine car (for export from the island) at the BC Forest Products plant off Gorge Road in down town Victoria. Today, this is all gone and a sight for what look like 'expensive' apartments. Progress for many, but part of me yearns for this single car load operation - so lets recreate this in miniature...
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| Island lumber, illustration by James Hilton. |
A casual Google search for the mill's name and location through up a plan in the City of Victoria archives showing the footprint and track plan, which helps with general arrangement (https://archives.victoria.ca/plywood-mill-addition). Obviously, cast in my typical 'cameo' footprint requires a bit of a squeeze and compression in the middle, and I've dropped a track (or assumed it is off set). Conceived in H0 (for a Rapido GMD-1) but possible in half the space in N (as proven with Paxton Road recently) operation is not as limited as you imagine. I'm picturing overgrown trackage, with curves and perhaps the hint of a gradient. I'm imagining our GMD-1 using every ounce of power and traction on slippery rails to inch that loaded car out of the spur and onto the main. Slow speed but heavy on the other senses, operation in many ways very much like my existing 'Kinross'.
Scenically, the overpass provides a stage left, but stage right is more contrived and uses the usual wings. Trees in the foreground help split the scene and give us something to peer around. The rear spur could be slightly lower than the main, to add to the drama of operating in this small space. If 'operation' is really your thing, extending this spur through the back scene (right) would allow you to switch loads and empties off set. I'm picturing lush greens, an overcast sky and a 'damp' look to it all, as if it's just rained. High drama, of the railroad type...
If you like this sort of narrative and it's interpretation of a prototype in cameo form and you HAVEN'T yet seen my book, then you might enjoy the 80 pages of print, story telling, theory and concept all about the art of small layout design. Available from all good model and railway bookshops, including the publisher's Wild Swan and Light Railway Stores.
In the meantime, more soon...
EDIT:
More on the CN on Vancouver Island from Trainboard:
CN had it's own rail network on Vancouver Island until 1990. Which ran in Victoria, on the Saanich Penninsula, through Sooke, and in the Cowichan Valley. Totalling some 100 miles at the line's peak in the 1930's. First to go was the Pat Bay Sub that ran up the Penninsula in 1931. In 1958 the steam locomotives, all 2-8-0' including 2141 and 2149 were replaced by MLW RCS-3's, the MLW's were replaced a few months later by the GMD-1's and GE switchers. Initially GMD-1's 1000-1003, 1010 and 1030 worked on the Island, but by 1960 the four GE switchers were removed and one SW1200 replaced them. Two GMD-1's remained in service 1000, and 1003. In the 1960's the Colquitz River bridge needed replacement(see one of the above photos) with the Concrete abutments in place and the steel spans ready to go in CN decied not to replace it. Instead opting to send traffic bound for the rest of the line to go via railbarge. GMD-1 1000 was based out of Deerholme, the junction between the Cowichan and Tidewater Subdivisions and worked all traffic to Youbou and the occasional wayfreight south to Colwood. In 1979 traffic south of Deerholme was put on an "as required" basis. Until there was so little traffic that the CN had no choice but to abandon the line south of Deerholme to Victoria. In 1987 the Ogden Point yards were abandoned and the SW1200 was reassigned somewhere else. 1003 continued to run out of Victoria and switch the industries in Victoria.
By 1986 traffic on the remainder of the Cowichan Sub(Youbou-Deerholme) and the Tidewater Sub(Deerholme to Cowichan Bay)dropped from 300 carloads per year to 70 per year! CN ended up loosing $885,000 in 1986 for service to the Timberwest mill in Youbou. CN Petitioned the CTA to abandon the Youbou-Cowichan Bay section, permission was granted for 1988. By 1989 the only part of this once great railway was the trackage in Victoria. Ferry service(the only connection with the mainland) was cancelled in 1989. All traffic to the CNR Victoria trackage arrived at the E&N barge slip in Nanaimo via the CPR and was interchanged witht the CNR in Victoria at the Johnson Street Bridge. In 1989 1003 was rebuilt into a GMD1u and 1070 was temporarily assigned to Victoria. In 1990 GMD-1 1070 switched the last grain car at Borden Mercantile and the line was abandoned.
Today the old right of way and locomotive 2141 are being restored. The right of way has become part of the Trans Canada trail and 2141 went to the city of Kamloops.
By 1986 traffic on the remainder of the Cowichan Sub(Youbou-Deerholme) and the Tidewater Sub(Deerholme to Cowichan Bay)dropped from 300 carloads per year to 70 per year! CN ended up loosing $885,000 in 1986 for service to the Timberwest mill in Youbou. CN Petitioned the CTA to abandon the Youbou-Cowichan Bay section, permission was granted for 1988. By 1989 the only part of this once great railway was the trackage in Victoria. Ferry service(the only connection with the mainland) was cancelled in 1989. All traffic to the CNR Victoria trackage arrived at the E&N barge slip in Nanaimo via the CPR and was interchanged witht the CNR in Victoria at the Johnson Street Bridge. In 1989 1003 was rebuilt into a GMD1u and 1070 was temporarily assigned to Victoria. In 1990 GMD-1 1070 switched the last grain car at Borden Mercantile and the line was abandoned.
Today the old right of way and locomotive 2141 are being restored. The right of way has become part of the Trans Canada trail and 2141 went to the city of Kamloops.
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Hi James
ReplyDeleteYour ideas etc. on railroads on Vancouver Island were interesting and thought provoking as usual. While you are right there seems little rail traffic on the main ex-E&N/CN line “up island” and with the demise of the Englewood logging railroad no significant movement of logs by rail, there is still I think some rail operations on the island worth looking at.
At least two pulp and paper mills use rail to service the plants. These are at Crofton and Harmac both south of Nanaimo and disconnected from the main island railroad. There was a further mill at Elk Falls north of Campbell River but that closed several years ago. All these mills were/are served by barges several times a month. Elk Falls was the last user of steam on the island firing up a “modern” Shay to switch tank cars off the barge and up a steep grade to the yard where the cars were stored and unloaded. When I visited there in 2003 they had an ex-CN SW900 but it was not in use as a barge had been unloaded a couple of days before. They had also used an RS-3 and a Baldwin VO-1000
I have never got to Crofton although it is on my list if I go back to Canada but I did visit the Harmac mill in 2006. The railroad was not working awaiting a barge in the next few days, but unlike Elk Falls they switch box cars as well as tank cars and the loco was out in the open. This was another SW900 but an early one, apparently built in the late 1930’s, and acquired in 1996. It replaced a General Electric centre cab unit, which was underpowered for the work.
The shipping manager stated that around 30 box cars of finished pulp and at least double that number of tank cars of chlorine and other chemicals are handled each month. The rail system was integral to the operations, without which they would have difficulty in operating. The barge dock had three tracks and like similar operations idler cars were used to keep the loco off the barge and apron. These cars were ex-BCOL 50-flat cars with added weight and additional steps. The shipping shed held 7 cars and there was a two track chemical unloading shed with a capacity of 4 cars.
I think these operations might fit within your cameo layout format very well
Best regards
Alan
As usual a pleasure to read a comment from you Alan, thank you for stopping by!
DeleteI’ve covered these topics briefly elsewhere https://paxton-road.blogspot.com/2021/07/isolated-lumber-railroads.html
However I do wonder if these two you mention deserve more coverage. Thank you for the email too, I’ll put something together!