BC Forest Discovery Centre

48°48′07″N 123°42′55″W / 48.80194°N 123.71528°W / 48.80194; -123.71528

BC Forest Discovery Centre
Hillcrest Lumber Company No. 1, a class B Shay locomotive
Established1964
Location2892 Drinkwater Road,[1]
Duncan, British Columbia
TypeForestry Museum
Websitebcforestdiscoverycentre.com

The BC Forest Discovery Centre, located in Duncan, chronicles the history of logging in British Columbia, Canada. It is a 100-acre (40 ha) site with 2.5 km (1.6 miles) of operational 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge railway.[2]

History

G.E. (Gerry) Wellburn, a collector, was the founder of the Centre which opened in 1965 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 diesel 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 water wheel.

The Forest Discovery Centre has seven steam locomotives in its collection:

  1. Mayo Lumber Company No. 3 Shay (class B) (was on loan to Kettle Valley Steam Railway 1995–2009)[3][4][5]
  2. Hillcrest Lumber Company No. 1 Shay (class B) (3 ft or 914 mm gauge)[6]
  3. Bloedel Stewart and Welch Shay (class B) No. 1 (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in or 1,435 mm standard gauge)[7]
  4. Shawnigan Lake Lumber No. 2 Climax (class B) (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in standard gauge)[8]
  5. Hillcrest Lumber Company No. 9 Climax (class B) (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in standard gauge) – the only operational Climax locomotive in Canada)[9]
  6. Cowichan Valley Railway No. 24 Vulcan 0-4-0T "Suzie" (3 ft gauge)[10]
  7. Cowichan Valley Railway No. 25 Vulcan 0-4-0T "Samson" (3 ft gauge)[11]

In addition, these diesel locomotives are also part of the collection:

  1. Cowichan Valley Railway No. 23 "Sandy" Plymouth 8-short-ton (7.1-long-ton; 7.3 t) [12]
  2. Cowichan Valley Railway No. 27 "Handy Andy" speeder[13]
  3. British Columbia Forest Products No. 9 Whitcomb Locomotive Works (80-short-ton or 71-long-ton or 73-tonne 0-4-4-0 diesel)[14]
  • Collection
  • Bloedel Stewart & Welch No. 1 (Shay)
  • Hillcrest Lumber Company No. 9 (Climax)
  • Cowichan Valley Railway No. 23 "Sandy"
  • Cowichan Valley Railway No. 25 "Samson"
  • HLC No. 1 Shay over Somenos Lake trestle

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[15] 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.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Contact Us - BC FOREST DISCOVERY CENTRE". Archived from the original on 25 August 2010. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
  2. ^ Steamlocomotive.info
  3. ^ "Mayo Lumber Company Shay No. 3 - BC FOREST DISCOVERY CENTRE". www.discoveryforest.com. Archived from the original on 10 July 2011.
  4. ^ "Mayo Lumber Company Shay No. 3 - BC FOREST DISCOVERY CENTRE". www.discoveryforest.com. Archived from the original on 10 July 2011.
  5. ^ "Shaw Communications".
  6. ^ "Hillcrest Lumber Company No. 1 - BC FOREST DISCOVERY CENTRE". www.discoveryforest.com. Archived from the original on 10 July 2011.
  7. ^ "Bloedel Stewart & Welch No. 1 - BC FOREST DISCOVERY CENTRE". www.discoveryforest.com. Archived from the original on 10 July 2011.
  8. ^ "Shawnigan Lake Lumber Company No. 2 - BC FOREST DISCOVERY CENTRE". www.discoveryforest.com. Archived from the original on 10 July 2011.
  9. ^ "Hillcrest Lumber Company No. 9 - BC FOREST DISCOVERY CENTRE". www.discoveryforest.com. Archived from the original on 10 July 2011.
  10. ^ "Cowichan Valley Railway No. 24 "Susie" - BC FOREST DISCOVERY CENTRE". www.discoveryforest.com. Archived from the original on 10 July 2011.
  11. ^ "Cowichan Valley Railway Locomotive No. 25 "Sampson" - BC FOREST DISCOVERY CENTRE". www.discoveryforest.com. Archived from the original on 10 July 2011.
  12. ^ "Cowichan Valley Railway Locomotive No. 23 "Sandy" - BC FOREST DISCOVERY CENTRE". www.discoveryforest.com. Archived from the original on 10 July 2011.
  13. ^ "Westminster Iron Works - BC FOREST DISCOVERY CENTRE". www.discoveryforest.com. Archived from the original on 22 May 2011.
  14. ^ Whitcomb Locomotive, BCForestDiscoveryCentre.com
  15. ^ Somenos Marsh Wildlife Society website
Wikimedia Commons has media related to BC Forest Discovery Centre.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.