How are rail operations going on Vancouver Island? Is there much frieght traffic between Victoria and Courtenay then over to Port Alberni?
The only regular freight activity on southern Vancouver Island of which I am aware is the movement of propane cars from the barge-slip at Wellcox Yard some six miles to a distributor at about MP 74. I live nearby and usually hear air horns about twice a week. The bascule bridge over Victoria harbour (MP 0.1) was removed in late February of this year, isolating VIA’s station on the city side. Given the refusal of the city to finance a replacement bridge any future commuter operation is unlikely. From said bridge to about MP 35.5 (Koksilah) the main line has been officially removed from service to eliminate the cost of maintaining it. I doubt if there has been a train south of there since the “Dayliner” quit running 3/19/11. A feed mill just north of Koksilah is now the only revenue siding south of Nanaimo (MP 70) and sees service once a week or so. To the north of Nanaimo the only traffic is a very occasional run to a chemical company in Parksville. The once weekly pole traffic from Courtenay has been discontinued in favour of trucks. The poles are trans-shipped to railcars in Wellcox Yard. The Port Alberni Sub has not seen a through train since Rail America’s last run 12/29/01. It is kept open by a railfan group against the day that freight comes back to the branch. The Western Vancouver Island Industrial Heritage Society operates a steam-powered tourist operation over the first five or six miles out of town. To finance their activities they rent some cars and their RS-3 diesel to the British Columbia Institute of Technology for use with a conductor-training course; several 50-foot boxcars donated to the Society languish in Wellcox , stranded by weight restrictions placed on trestles along the P.A. Sub. The May 2012 issue of TRAINS has a good article about the WVIIHS’s successful operation.
I am not conversant with efforts to get passenger service re-instated; perhaps someone who is will fill us in on that controversial subject.
On a happier note Western Forest
Worldrails thanks for the information which is very helpful. I travel all over the United states and Canada photographing trains and I used to visit Vancouver island on a regular basis but have not been there for over 3 years. I was very curious about what has been happening on Vancouver island. I am shocked to hear they removed the bridge in Victoria! What the??? I remember many years ago reading that the VIA passenger train stopped running but due to public outcry it was restored. But now you say it is not running anymore?
I remember a station burned up in Nanaimo? What is it’s status?
I can not remember the date of the most recent Nanaimo Station fire (2007?). At any rate not much happened until a local organization, the “Young Professionals of Nanaimo” took up its restoration as a project. Among many other fundraisers they sponsored a public 6-car passenger train to dinner and speeches in Duncan (the first such train on the E&N in decades). Fare was $200, half of which would be a donation to the cause; I’m happy to say that the train was almost full and the dinner was excellent. To meet current code, the building needed a proper foundation so it was raised while a basement was built underneath. I’ve forgotten the figures but a LOT of money and even more effort was spent. Grand opening was 7/25/12 and the building looks better than it ever did. An Irish-style pub is the main tenant.
As for the Dayliner, it always seemed to be threatened for most of the fifty years I have lived on this island but never actually stopped running. There was always a last-minute
court-ordered reprieve. On 3/19/11 its luck ran out. The track was pronounced unsafe for passenger traffic (slow-speed freight is still OK). Our provincial government is highway-oriented and reluctant to finance rebuilding (except to offer small amounts for “Studies”).
The federal gov’t offered one–third of the estimated $100-million needed with the proviso that the province and others put up a third each. Beyond that my understanding of the subject is murky…I hope someone will update me on this.
The last RDCs were VIA 6135 and 6148. They sat under wraps in Wellcox Yard for several months before being quietly moved to the mainland and then to eastern Canada.
Early this year, the Feds and the Province of British Columbia agreed to give the Island Corridor Foundation, the mostly Aboriginal consortium that operates the lines north from Victoria and into Courtenay, about $16M. http://www.islandrail.ca/
About the same time, a full engineering study of the bridges and trestles pretty much spelled the end of the operation because it was plain that another $8-10M are needed still in order to get the bridges up to their rated and safe standards.
I don’t expect to hear the RDC’s horns again unless someone does a superb rug dance that dazzles someone with the money and a short memory.
Crandell
I do not remember the year but in September we rode on the last BC Railtrip from North Vancouver to Prince George then to Prince Rupert then by ship to Port Hardy on the northern end of Vancouver Island. A bus took us to Courtney then VIA on the E&N in Budd RDCs to Victoria’s station which is about the size of a garage. Box lunches were served by the conductor. Beautiful scenery and I am sorry that it is out of service.
It was 2002. We rode the next to last trip on the BC Rail route. It was amazing, with first class service and scenery. There were few passengers, so it was clear the end was near, but it did give me the chance to pretend to be a railroad tycoon, riding alone in the obs with my own private waiter.
We didn’t ride the RDCs from Victoria, so it appears the opportunity is lost forever.
At least VIA still runs the Skeena from Prince George to Prince Rupert. Rocky Mountaineer runs on the old BC Rail route, but stops only at Quesnel en-route from Vancouver to Jasper.
A bit of an update on this: the ICF has asked the 5 regional districts the E&N runs through to provide one time funding of $3.2 million for upgrades to bridges and trestles; the Alberni Clayoquot Regional District has agreed to their part of the funding ($115,000), it is now up to the remaining 4 to vote. According to the local news here in Port Alberni, the federal and provincial funding of $15 million is dependent on the regional districts approving their funding. There is also a very strong feeling that the fed/prov funding is at risk as the Foundation has not been able to use it yet.
On another note, RailAmerica has put in a bid to haul the Raven Coal output by rail to Port Alberni. They are including financial incentives including building all the loading/unloading facilities. As a PA resident, if the Raven Coal project goes ahead, and they ship it out of PA, I sure hope it goes by rail. I am not sure how the current Highway 4 could handle the extra truck traffic, estimated to be around 2-300 loads per day, nor how the city street system would take to that. Anyone who as driven Highway 4 will understand the huge impact that will have.
Quick update: 4 of the 5 Regional Districts have now agreed to the extra funding requested by the Foundation. There is only the Comox Valley Regional District to make a vote.
This has not been without negative feedback however. The Qualicum Beach village member on their regional district was instructed to vote against the proposal.
I would be curious to see the reasoning. I am an ardent rail fan. Even so, I really feel that this is going to merely extend the process of the end for the E&N/Island Valley Corridor Foundation. Each additional grant of money has come with the proviso that it be a one-time affair. Assuming it’s a serious statement and limitation, and knowing how passenger rail fares over time in non-densely populated areas with long runs between termini, I really can’t justify the cash. There are better uses.
If the rail organization can make a go of it with eventual coal deliveries, assuming the Raven Mine and at least one other ever start digging, or if they can make money hauling anything else, sheep carcasses maybe, I say good for them. However, the public perception is that the money will help to get the RDC’s back on line. Why they have taken this short-sighted strategy is beyond me, especially in the Comox Valley where its population is increasingly retired academics and professionals who won’t be hoodwinked easily.
And, this may account for the delayed approval.
Crandell
There’s a couple of RDCs sitting in Mimico yard here in Toronto, I wonder if they’re the ones from BC? They weren’t there a few weeks ago.
From what I have read in the local news, all the regional districts have now approved the extra funding, but there are some strings attached. The key one is to get VIA to commit to reinstating service on the Island. Right now, there is nothing from VIA indicating that passenger service will be coming back.
And to Crandel’s points, the ICF has no publicly available business plan, so who knows how viable the E&N will be, at least in the short term.
Sad to see the bridge in Victoria was removed. Who authorized the removal and what was the reason? Been across the bridge in years gone by and did not think it was an eye sore.
It had reached the end of its engineering life and needed to be replaced. The debate was acrimonious, long, and loud. It took at least three years before the dust settled and the City and partners argreed to replace the Johnson St. Bridge. Unfortunately, due to the chokiingly high cost, keeping the added feature of a rail bridge concomitant with the road bridge was not a popular idea, so that part had to be let go. In fact, once the agreement was reached, many clamoured to have the rail component dismantled first so that there was no going back.
Crandell