- BC Forest Discovery Centre
-
Coordinates: 48°48′07″N 123°42′55″W / 48.80194°N 123.71528°W
BC Forest Discovery Centre
Hillcrest Lumber Company #1,
a class B Shay locomotiveEstablished 1964 Location 2892 Drinkwater Road[1],
Duncan, British ColumbiaType Forestry Museum Director Vicky Holman Curator Aimee Greenaway Website www.bcforestmuseum.com The BC Forest Discovery Centre, located in Duncan, chronicles the history of logging in British Columbia, Canada. Its mission is to be British Columbia's foremost interpreter and presenter of the forest community – past, present and future. It is a 100 acre site with 3 km of operational narrow gauge railway.
Contents
History
G.E. (Gerry) Wellburn, a collector, was the founder of the Centre which opened in 1964 as the Cowichan Valley Forest Museum. It was later known for a time as the BC Forest Museum.
Collection
There are indoor and outdoor exhibits spread over a 100-acre (40 ha) site, including operating steam and gas rail equipment plus logging trucks. There are forest and nature trails, picnic area, playground, gift shop and a concession. At the Centre visitors can explore a reconstructed logging camp, forest fire lookout tower and the ranger's station.
The Centre has its own heritage railway, a train pulled by a century old steam locomotive which was once used in the filling in of the North Vancouver harbour. Along the route is one of the first pre-fabricated school houses, a trestle over Somenos Lake and an operational waterwheel.
The Forest Discovery Center has seven steam locomotives in its collection.[2]
- Mayo Lumber Company #3 Shay (class B) (was on loan to Kettle Valley Steam Railway 1995-2009) [[3] [4] [5]
- Hillcrest Lumber Company #1 Shay (class B) (3 ft /914 mm gauge) [6]
- Bloedel Stuart & Welch Shay (class B) #1 (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in/1,435 mm standard gauge) [7]
- Shawnigan Lake Lumber #2 Climax (class B) (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in/1,435 mm standard gauge) [8]
- Hillcrest Lumber Company #9 Climax (class B) (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in/1,435 mm standard gauge) - the only operational Climax locomotive in Canada) [9]
- Cowichan Valley Railway #24 Vulcan 0-4-0T "Suzie" (3 ft /914 mm gauge) [10]
- Cowichan Valley Railway #25 Vulcan 0-4-0T "Samson" (3 ft /914 mm gauge) [11]
In addition, these diesel locomotives are also part of the collection:
- Cowichan Valley Railway #23 "Sandy" Plymouth 8-ton [12]
- Cowichan Valley Railway #27 "Handy Andy" speeder [13]
- British Columbia Forest Products #9 Whitcomb Locomotive Works (80-ton 0-4-4-0 diesel) [14]
Site
The site has a reconstructed fire watch tower, which offers a commanding view of the site and nearby Somenos Marsh.
The Centre borders the Somenos Marsh Wildlife Refuge and Ducks Unlimited pond. Many types of water fowl and other birds can be found in this area. Red-Eared Slider turtles can be found sunning in the field next to the marsh.
Two bald eagles have built a nest in the stand of trees west of the North Cowichan Station at the Centre's lower grounds. These eagles successfully raised eaglets in 2006 after relocating from a previous nest site along the South Forester's Walk the previous summer. There are currently three eaglets in their nest. The nest is best viewed by standing at the flag pole outside the Wellburn Building at the lower grounds.
See also
References
External links
Heritage railways of Canada Current Defunct WSJR • PWR
Railways of Canada Common freight carriers APR • Arnaud • Battle River • BCRY • BNSF • BTR • Cartier • CBNS • CEMR • CFL • CFO • CN • CP • CSXT • CTRW • EMRY • ETL • FLR • GEXR • GFR • GSR • GWRS • HBRY • HCRY • IRRS • Keewatin • KFR • KPR • LMR • MDW • MMA • NBSR • NS • OBRY • ONT • OS • OVR • PAR • QGRY • QNS&L • QRC • RCRR • RLHH • Romaine • RS • SCR • SLQ • SORA • SRY • SVI • TRR • TR • TRRY • TSH • Wabush • WHRC
Private carriers GWWDR • Inco • Port of Montreal
Class II and III Railways Class II and class III railways of Canada Current (operating)
regional railways[citation needed]Former or fallen flag
regional railways[citation needed]Current (operating)
short line railwaysANR • APR • APRE • ARM • Battle River • ARND • BCRY • BFDC • CBNS • CBC • CEMR • CFC • CFL • CFM • CFMG • CFQG • CFRR • CFRS • CR • CRM • CTRW • CWRL • ENR • ETR • FSSR/EKRC • GEXR • GHRP • GFR • GJD • GRS • GWWD • GWR • HCRR • HCRY • HCWR • HPHV • INCO • IRRS • KFR • KHR • KPR • KVSR • LWR • L&PS • NBSR • OKAN • OBRY • OSR • OVR • OVO • PDCR • PCHR • POM • PSTR • QGRY • RLHH • RLK • RMRS • S&HR • SCR • SLQ • SOR • SRCL • SRY • SSR • STCR • STER • SVI • TRRY • VDHR • WABL • WSJR/WCR • WCRA • WHRC • YDHRFormer or fallen flag
short line railwaysANY • B&HER • BCER • BR • C&K • C&SL • CVR • CVR • CW&LER • DH • DVR • DWP • EIR • G&LS • GFCR • GRNR • GVR • H&BIR • H&DR • H&NWR • HER • HG&BER • HGR • HIR • HRE • HSR • H&SW • IRM • K&P • K&S • KLR • KVR • L&LER • L&MSR • LEN • LB&PR • M&MR/M&M • MKNR • MSRT • NBEC • N&NR • N&NWR • N&S • NN&RW • NGR • NSR • NSR • NYR • O&Q • OCRR • OLO • O&RRR/ORRR • PAD&WR/PADW • QC • S&L • SAR • SOO • STLH • SW&AR • T&MER • T&SER • TG&B • TCR • THB • TNR • TRC • TS&MJR • TSt.R • TSR • T&YRR • WI • WAR • WCR • WE&LSR • WESR • WG&B • WTV&IRSee also: List of Canadian railwaysCategories:- Heritage railways in British Columbia
- Forestry organizations
- Museums in British Columbia
- Open air museums in Canada
- Forestry museums in Canada
- Railway museums in British Columbia
- British Columbia building and structure stubs
- Canada museum stubs
- Canada rail transport stubs
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