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Vancouver Island’s Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway
Vancouver Island's Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway: The Canadian Pacific, VIA Rail and Shortline Years, 1949-2013 by Robert D. Turner and Donald F. MacLachlan (Sono Nis $49.95 / $39.95)
As every school kid is supposed to know- but of-ten doesn't-the transcontinental railway made Canada possible and it remains a vital freight link.
Vancouver Island's segment of our national dream was a 250-km ribbon of steel along the southeast coast. That Vancouver Island rail line over the Malahat and through the rainforest was originally constructed by coal baron Robert Dunsmuir's syndicate. Donald F. MacLachlan's The Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway: The Dunsmuir Years, 1884-1905 (Sono Nis 1986) recalled that pioneering era. Property granted as an incentive totaled 4000 sq. km., one-tenth of Vancouver Island, including rights to minerals and vast stands of prime timber. More was granted later.
The Canadian Pacific Railway acquired the E&N and its lands, constructing branch lines to Port Alberni and Lake Cowichan, and extending the main line north to Courtenay. The railway serviced many logging operations and lumber mills, while distributing general freight and carrying passengers. CPR rail ferries connected the E&N to the company's mainland lines. This period of growth and consolidation was the subject of MacLachlan's and Robert D. Turner's The Canadian Pacific's Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway:
The CPR Steam Years, 1905-1949 (Sono Nis 2012). As the railway most remote from CPR headquarters in Montreal, the E&N was rarely issued new equipment. There was a lot of making-do with refurbished gear. Challenging terrain not only required extra bridge rebuilding and track maintenance, it kept average speeds low and led to a number of accidents. Turner and MacLachlan's final volume Vancouver Island's Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway: The Canadian Pacific, VIA Rail and Shortline Years, 1949-2013 begins with conversion to diesel-electric locomotives, then charts the long decline of the once-proud E&N. It's a feast for rail enthusiasts, and also documents part of the industrial history of Vancouver Island.
After many profitable decades, the E&N's steam fleet was suddenly scrapped. According to the co-authors, new Baldwin diesel-electric locomotives were much more efficient on this line. The rapid conversion was a cost/benefit decision made by CPR management. Other technical improvements included control of several locomotives by a single engineer.
The postwar loss of the railway's mail and express package contracts was a major blow. In spite of improved technology, the E&N's operations remained slow and geographically limited. The CPR's own truck and bus lines were, in effect, part of the competition.
In 1955, the passenger cars on
the line were replaced by Budd Dayliners. They were self-propelled diesel units operated separately from the freight trains. Again, this change was implemented for the sake of efficiency. The CPR also hoped to attract more passengers with the faster, air-conditioned Dayliners.
Vancouver Island had become much more populous and developed since the Great Depression. New pulp mills generated welcome business for the E&N. However, by the 1950s, the Nanaimo coal mines were exhausted, and accessible old-growth forests cut down. Long-time freight customers gradually closed, moved away, or changed to trucking. Many passengers abandoned train travel to use the improved highways.
The authors describe and illustrate many hazards E&N crews had to cope with: floods, washouts, slides, blizzards, forest fires and fallen trees. In 1964, a series of tsunami waves, generated by a huge earthquake off Alaska, caused extensive damage to rolling stock and infrastructure at Port Alberni.
Used General Motors locomotives were an improvement over the Baldwins, but then the CPR applied to Ottawa to cease E&N
passenger service in 1975.
The Canadian Transport Commission ordered it to continue. Soon after, federal Crown corporation VIA Rail took over all CPR passenger service. Commuter trains might have been viable around Victoria, but VIA had no mandate for transit operations. VIA attempted to end E&N passenger service in 1990. Rail passenger numbers were in decline across North America, but all the uncertainty didn't help business.
In 1998, the CPR sold a reorganized E&N to RailAmerica, a short line operating company based in Florida. RailAmerica tried a tourist excursion service, but there weren't enough passengers to keep it viable. As freight volume continued to decline, the company attempted to close down the railway. Finally, in 2006, RailAmerica and the CPR donated all their E&N assets to a new nonprofit organization, the Island Corridor Foundation, in return for tax credits.
The ICF includes municipal, regional and First Nations governments. The Southern Railway of Vancouver Island now operates the line for the foundation. In 2011, passenger service was suspended, as the track bed was no longer considered safe.
Turner notes, "Some freight is still moving on the E&N, but only on the trackage between Duncan and Parksville. All the service is based at Nanaimo.";
That seems to be the end of the E&N as Islanders have known it. However, Turner believes the railway won't disappear. There is still a possibility of funds for one-time upgrading. Many stations and some equipment are being preserved, and the right-of-way, if not renewed, may eventually become a recreational trail. According to Turner, "It is a complicated puzzle to put together, and the ICF is certainly trying to make it work.";
In its 125 years of operation, the E&N has experienced many booms and busts.
Most recently, suburban sprawl and proliferating roads have sidelined this stubborn holdout from another era. However, if that newer infrastructure is not sustainable, someday the island may require a prime travel corridor. Perhaps it will carry passengers once again, in electric trains, hyperloop air cushion capsules, or other post-carbon technologies.
Co-author MacLachlan, who had a long career as an engineer with the railway, died in 2011. Lead author Robert D. Turner's meticulous research traces E&N operations, its equipment, and key personnel over decades. Many photographs (half of them in colour) illustrate everyday scenes, and some special events, along the E&N. Many are from Turner's own collection. "It's a little startling sometimes to think that photos I took 45 years ago are in the book,"; says Turner.
hc 978-1-55039-213-5;
sc 978-1-55039-212-8
Retired librarian David Conn has recently edited Raincoast Chronicles 22: Saving Salmon, Sailors and Souls - Stories of Service on the B.C. Coast (Harbour $24.95).
As every school kid is supposed to know- but of-ten doesn't-the transcontinental railway made Canada possible and it remains a vital freight link.
Vancouver Island's segment of our national dream was a 250-km ribbon of steel along the southeast coast. That Vancouver Island rail line over the Malahat and through the rainforest was originally constructed by coal baron Robert Dunsmuir's syndicate. Donald F. MacLachlan's The Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway: The Dunsmuir Years, 1884-1905 (Sono Nis 1986) recalled that pioneering era. Property granted as an incentive totaled 4000 sq. km., one-tenth of Vancouver Island, including rights to minerals and vast stands of prime timber. More was granted later.
The Canadian Pacific Railway acquired the E&N and its lands, constructing branch lines to Port Alberni and Lake Cowichan, and extending the main line north to Courtenay. The railway serviced many logging operations and lumber mills, while distributing general freight and carrying passengers. CPR rail ferries connected the E&N to the company's mainland lines. This period of growth and consolidation was the subject of MacLachlan's and Robert D. Turner's The Canadian Pacific's Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway:
The CPR Steam Years, 1905-1949 (Sono Nis 2012). As the railway most remote from CPR headquarters in Montreal, the E&N was rarely issued new equipment. There was a lot of making-do with refurbished gear. Challenging terrain not only required extra bridge rebuilding and track maintenance, it kept average speeds low and led to a number of accidents. Turner and MacLachlan's final volume Vancouver Island's Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway: The Canadian Pacific, VIA Rail and Shortline Years, 1949-2013 begins with conversion to diesel-electric locomotives, then charts the long decline of the once-proud E&N. It's a feast for rail enthusiasts, and also documents part of the industrial history of Vancouver Island.
After many profitable decades, the E&N's steam fleet was suddenly scrapped. According to the co-authors, new Baldwin diesel-electric locomotives were much more efficient on this line. The rapid conversion was a cost/benefit decision made by CPR management. Other technical improvements included control of several locomotives by a single engineer.
The postwar loss of the railway's mail and express package contracts was a major blow. In spite of improved technology, the E&N's operations remained slow and geographically limited. The CPR's own truck and bus lines were, in effect, part of the competition.
In 1955, the passenger cars on
the line were replaced by Budd Dayliners. They were self-propelled diesel units operated separately from the freight trains. Again, this change was implemented for the sake of efficiency. The CPR also hoped to attract more passengers with the faster, air-conditioned Dayliners.
Vancouver Island had become much more populous and developed since the Great Depression. New pulp mills generated welcome business for the E&N. However, by the 1950s, the Nanaimo coal mines were exhausted, and accessible old-growth forests cut down. Long-time freight customers gradually closed, moved away, or changed to trucking. Many passengers abandoned train travel to use the improved highways.
The authors describe and illustrate many hazards E&N crews had to cope with: floods, washouts, slides, blizzards, forest fires and fallen trees. In 1964, a series of tsunami waves, generated by a huge earthquake off Alaska, caused extensive damage to rolling stock and infrastructure at Port Alberni.
Used General Motors locomotives were an improvement over the Baldwins, but then the CPR applied to Ottawa to cease E&N
passenger service in 1975.
The Canadian Transport Commission ordered it to continue. Soon after, federal Crown corporation VIA Rail took over all CPR passenger service. Commuter trains might have been viable around Victoria, but VIA had no mandate for transit operations. VIA attempted to end E&N passenger service in 1990. Rail passenger numbers were in decline across North America, but all the uncertainty didn't help business.
In 1998, the CPR sold a reorganized E&N to RailAmerica, a short line operating company based in Florida. RailAmerica tried a tourist excursion service, but there weren't enough passengers to keep it viable. As freight volume continued to decline, the company attempted to close down the railway. Finally, in 2006, RailAmerica and the CPR donated all their E&N assets to a new nonprofit organization, the Island Corridor Foundation, in return for tax credits.
The ICF includes municipal, regional and First Nations governments. The Southern Railway of Vancouver Island now operates the line for the foundation. In 2011, passenger service was suspended, as the track bed was no longer considered safe.
Turner notes, "Some freight is still moving on the E&N, but only on the trackage between Duncan and Parksville. All the service is based at Nanaimo.";
That seems to be the end of the E&N as Islanders have known it. However, Turner believes the railway won't disappear. There is still a possibility of funds for one-time upgrading. Many stations and some equipment are being preserved, and the right-of-way, if not renewed, may eventually become a recreational trail. According to Turner, "It is a complicated puzzle to put together, and the ICF is certainly trying to make it work.";
In its 125 years of operation, the E&N has experienced many booms and busts.
Most recently, suburban sprawl and proliferating roads have sidelined this stubborn holdout from another era. However, if that newer infrastructure is not sustainable, someday the island may require a prime travel corridor. Perhaps it will carry passengers once again, in electric trains, hyperloop air cushion capsules, or other post-carbon technologies.
Co-author MacLachlan, who had a long career as an engineer with the railway, died in 2011. Lead author Robert D. Turner's meticulous research traces E&N operations, its equipment, and key personnel over decades. Many photographs (half of them in colour) illustrate everyday scenes, and some special events, along the E&N. Many are from Turner's own collection. "It's a little startling sometimes to think that photos I took 45 years ago are in the book,"; says Turner.
hc 978-1-55039-213-5;
sc 978-1-55039-212-8
Retired librarian David Conn has recently edited Raincoast Chronicles 22: Saving Salmon, Sailors and Souls - Stories of Service on the B.C. Coast (Harbour $24.95).
Submitted on November 9, 2013 in By David.
