dave2
Chief Steward
Deckhand!: Todo: Introduction post (I was born less than 100 feet from the ocean. The tide was...)
Posts: 162
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Post by dave2 on Jan 27, 2015 17:46:35 GMT -8
I found this photo on an old disk. E&N train No.1, the dayliner at Nanaimo a few years before VIA Rail took over the passenger service. Photo is by Bob Hunter.  Photo may be from 1978' when 9067 joined 9103. Attachments:
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Post by CN2972South on Jun 1, 2015 7:51:31 GMT -8
Some old school Dayliner photos. Unknown photographer.   |
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Post by westernflyer on Jun 1, 2015 9:11:38 GMT -8
Article in PQB news concerning the continuing politics around the future of rail on Vancouver Island. "Regional District of Nanaimo directors applying pressure to Island Corridor Foundation" Article Here... www.pqbnews.com/news/305351011.html |
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Post by Blue Bus Fan on Jun 6, 2015 17:52:28 GMT -8
If the Province of British Columbia provides a funding for Via Rial to starting operating on Vancouver Island with Island Corridor Foundation owing the line and upgrading the railway. nanaimobusinessnews.ca/2015/04/23/province-blamed-for-delay-in-railway-upgrade/I think that this has no hope of being funded by the BC Government because they have shown the only way to get around is the personal vehicles and have a lack of clear vision for BC transportation system. |
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Post by hullnumbers on Jul 15, 2015 14:26:25 GMT -8
I don't know if anyone knows this but can anyone explain how trains on the Esquimalt And Nanaimo Railway turned around in 1886 and where? The catch is that it was a steam train before the 1887 extension to Wellington. At this time it was from Esquimalt to Nanaimo as the name says. This is the biggest question I have been wondering. One answer I have come up with was there was a train at each end. But I do not know, could someone answer this question?
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Post by WettCoast on Jul 15, 2015 15:17:31 GMT -8
I don't know if anyone knows this but can anyone explain how trains on the Esquimalt And Nanaimo Railway turned around in 1886 and where? The catch is that it was a steam train before the 1887 extension to Wellington. At this time it was from Esquimalt to Nanaimo as the name says. This is the biggest question I have been wondering. One answer I have come up with was there was a train at each end. But I do not know, could someone answer this question? Surely, at each end of the line, they constructed a turn-table and/or a wye. One or the other was pretty much the norm in railway operations back in those days, and even up to the present. I have a book entitled "The Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway - The Dunsmuir Years: 1884-1905". It's author is Donald F. MacLachlan. It is likely out of print but probably available second hand or through libraries. I had a quick look in the book to find an answer to your question, but nothing specific in detail is there. If they had to reverse the train all the way from one end of the line to the other it would likely have been noted. It seems the early E&N locomotives burned cord wood. |
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Post by hullnumbers on Jul 15, 2015 16:36:45 GMT -8
In 1886, there was no roundhouse. The E&N Roundhouse is the only one and it was built in 1912. A wye is the only way to turn around. There was one in Esquimalt. Where would the wye in Nanaimo be located?
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Post by WettCoast on Jul 15, 2015 18:00:57 GMT -8
Do you have any information on when the Wellcox Spur went into operation? There surely is a wye &/or turn table there?
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Post by hullnumbers on Jul 15, 2015 18:48:58 GMT -8
Yes I do, Wellcox yard was built in 1955, same year when the Princess of Vancouver was put into service between Nanaimo to Vancouver. Before 1955, it was run by a logging and mill line. It did connect with one part of the EN line but there was no wye till after 1955.
As a fact CP took control of all the EN Railway in 1905. The middle section was sold to RailAmerica in 1998 and finally in 2006 the whole line was sold to Southern Railway of Vancouver Island.
here's one idea of how a train turned around. There was a wye at Cassidy (now gone) where the train stopped, unhooked, backed up pass the cars on a siding, turned around on wye, hooked up to the cars and backed up all the way to Nanaimo.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Jul 15, 2015 18:51:57 GMT -8
The middle section was sold to RailAmerica in 1998 and finally in 2006 the whole line was sold to Southern Railway of Vancouver Island. 2006 transaction was actually a donation, not a sale. And it was to the Island Corridor Foundation. - Island Corridor Foundation then hired Southern Railway of Vancouver Island to operate the line. minor quibble. |
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Post by hullnumbers on Jul 15, 2015 19:02:53 GMT -8
Ah, thanks for that correction Flugel Horn.
So what does everyone think. does 'here's one idea of how a train turned around. There was a wye at Cassidy (now gone) where the train stopped, unhooked, backed up pass the cars on a siding, turned around on wye, hooked up to the cars and backed up all the way to Nanaimo.' work as to solution?
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Post by WettCoast on Jul 15, 2015 21:46:51 GMT -8
Here is a BC Archives image of the original Nanaimo E&N station that is listed as being from 1886: www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/cgi-bin/www2i/.visual/img_med/dir_140/g_02040.gifI gather that Nanaimo was not the end of steel at that time, but that the line extended a little further north to Dunsmuir's older rail line linking his mine to Departure Bay. Lots of interesting stuff on the BC Archives site. You have to look for it. |
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Post by hullnumbers on Jul 16, 2015 15:03:09 GMT -8
Good find on the station. Possibly it did continue but the main line was extended to Wellington in 1887.
The BC Archives has a lot of interesting stuff alright. I looked at the page many times, still do.
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Post by CN2972South on Aug 6, 2015 16:01:41 GMT -8
I don't know if anyone knows this but can anyone explain how trains on the Esquimalt And Nanaimo Railway turned around in 1886 and where? The catch is that it was a steam train before the 1887 extension to Wellington. At this time it was from Esquimalt to Nanaimo as the name says. This is the biggest question I have been wondering. One answer I have come up with was there was a train at each end. But I do not know, could someone answer this question? They had a wye at Esquimalt, that wasn't removed i until the 1980's by CP Rail. And a small turntable in Nanaimo. When the line was extended to Wellington they built a roundhouse complete with turntable. It was located across from where the current siding is at Wellington. The roundhouse in Victoria wasn't the first one on the E&N. |
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Post by hullnumbers on Aug 14, 2015 13:06:49 GMT -8
Thanks CN297South. I knew about the Wye in Esquimalt but thanks on when it was removed.  As for turn tables there was none till 1897 as it is said in the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway The Dunsmuir Years: 1886- 1905. Pge 127. The current heritage roundhouse and turn table that is in Esquimalt was built in 1913. For Nanaimo, with evidence and a bit of thinking (Logical guess)with Wett Coasts answer I can say trackage for passenger service ended in Nanaimo but the track did go further where a wye was used to turn the train. That would be the most Plausible answer. |
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Post by WettCoast on Oct 29, 2015 20:57:44 GMT -8
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Post by Low Light Mike on Dec 28, 2015 19:03:36 GMT -8
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Post by Chris City on Dec 29, 2015 17:18:21 GMT -8
Even though most of the E&N is designated "out of service," freight does still move, although not very far. The E&N now exists essentially as a terminal railway with a short spur, with a half dozen or so customers it can probably continue as is indefinitely. It has been just over a year since I took any E&N photos, and I haven't taken any since they switched to using rail barges instead of the Seaspan ferries so I thought I'd spend the day to take a few photos of the days activities. Seaspan Commander arriving with the weekly barge of 15 railcars:  Seaspan Commander ~ Nanaimo Harbour by Chris City, on Flickr Starting the unloading process:  SRY 110 ~ Wellcox Yard by Chris City, on Flickr After the barge was unloaded/ unloaded, they head out to Superior Propane with 6 loads. Superior is the only customer left that is not located at Wellcox yard:  SRY 110 ~ Nanaimo by Chris City, on Flickr |
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Post by Low Light Mike on Jan 5, 2016 20:16:27 GMT -8
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Post by Low Light Mike on Feb 18, 2016 12:17:34 GMT -8
Speeders on the Alberni Subdivision Great news, if this happens HERE |
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Post by Chris City on Feb 19, 2016 21:25:19 GMT -8
The latest addition to the E&N roster is caboose A5. Declared surplus by SRY and unwanted by MRL, it was sent to the E&N recently to be used in work train service should the money for track repairs ever come through. Either way, it's nice to see a caboose in the yard again.  SRY A5 ~ Wellcox Yard, Nanaimo by Chris City, on Flickr |
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Post by Chris City on Feb 21, 2016 16:36:51 GMT -8
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Post by Low Light Mike on Feb 21, 2016 17:27:10 GMT -8
Duncan, with the Forest Museum in the right background? I didn't realize they still ran trains down to Top-Shelf at Koksilah area. |
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Post by Chris City on Feb 21, 2016 17:42:09 GMT -8
Duncan, with the Forest Museum in the right background? I didn't realize they still ran trains down to Top-Shelf at Koksilah area. Yup, that's the spot. Photo is from February 2014, no trains currently run outside of Nanaimo. |
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Post by Low Light Mike on Feb 21, 2016 17:48:02 GMT -8
Duncan, with the Forest Museum in the right background? I didn't realize they still ran trains down to Top-Shelf at Koksilah area. Yup, that's the spot. Photo is from February 2014, no trains currently run outside of Nanaimo. Thanks Chris. ....you evil trickster poster you (meant in fun) ======== I was working at a client's near the tracks in the old city quarter area of downtown Nanaimo, last week (not 2014). I was surprised to hear train horns on a few different days. I remarked to my colleague that it was likely a train to Superior Propane in North Nanaimo, and that this was the E&N's final surviving customer. I was inside a building with no track view, so this was all speculation on my part, meant to impress my colleague (failure) |
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As for turn tables there was none till 1897 as it is said in the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway The Dunsmuir Years: 1886- 1905. Pge 127. The current heritage roundhouse and turn table that is in Esquimalt was built in 1913. For Nanaimo, with evidence and a bit of thinking (Logical guess)with Wett Coasts answer I can say trackage for passenger service ended in Nanaimo but the track did go further where a wye was used to turn the train. That would be the most Plausible answer.
