Draft:Cowichan Valley Railway 1

Cowichan Valley Railway 1
Cowichan Valley Railway 1 by an Ohio Steam Crane at Vancouver in 1986
Type and origin Power type Steam Designer Carleton Stone Builder Hillcrest Lumber Company Serial number 3147 Build date December 1920 Total produced 1 Rebuild date Ongoing
Specifications Gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) Total weight 59,700 lb (27,100 kg) Fuel type Oil Boiler pressure 160 psi (1.10 MPa) Cylinder size 8 in × 8 in (200 mm × 200 mm) Loco brake Air brake
Career Numbers CVR 1 HL Co. 1 Restored Ongoing Disposition Undergoing restoration into operating condition

Cowichan Valley Railway 1 is a Class-24 ton 2-truck Shay locomotive was designed by Carleton Stone who founded The Hillcrest Lumber Company, was a British merchant mariner who came to BC to escape the hardships of life at sea. Entering the lumber trade as a sawmill labourer, he learned the business from the ground up. In 1917 he established the HLCo in the Sahtlam District, 4 miles west of Duncan on the Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway’s newly constructed Cowichan Lake Sub-Division. By 1920, the post World War I building boom and Stone’s attention to the requirements of the British construction industry had increased business beyond the capability of his small homemade gasoline locomotive. He decided to buy a new Shay, but the only suitable one available was a narrow gauge model that had been constructed for dealer stock. Lima converted the locomotive to standard gauge in order to meet the rush order. NB: In 1920, a Class-24 (nominal weight of 24 tons) locomotive was considered to be in the correct size range for smaller operations such as Hillcrest Lumber, and narrow gauge logging railways were about to be prohibited by the Department of Railways. Then the locomotive was built in December 1920 by the Hillcrest Lumber Company after World War I. No.1 was converted from wood to fuel oil and served the company until the purchase of a larger locomotive in 1931. In 1934 it was sold to McNeil and Munn (later Export Lumber Co.), 2 miles down the track, as their No.1. In 1943, the locomotive was sold to the Mayo Lumber Company, which operated a used locomotive business. It then sat idle until 1947, when it was sold to the newly formed Osborn Bay Wharf Company, a consortium of mill owners (lead by Hillcrest Lumber Company), which operated a deep sea dock served by the E&N Railway’s Crofton Spur. While at Crofton, the locomotive was fired with coal. In 1963, the dock’s lease expired and No.1 was sent to Hillcrest Lumber’s new operation at Mesachie Lake to be converted back to narrow gauge and oil firing, for donation to the soon to be opened Cowichan Valley Forest Museum. In May 1986 the engine participated at SteamExpo 86 in Vancouver British Columbia alongside with V&T 22 Inyo, CP 374, CP 3, ERM&L Co. 1 Falk, Dunrobin (2nd), PL Co. 12, GW 51, AP 2, CN 1392, UP 4466, MB 1077, QRR 2, Tom Thumb (1927 Replica), Best Friend of Charleston (1928 Replica), MRSR 91, John Bull (1939 Replica), CP 2860, CP 1201, CN 6060, John Molson (1970 Replica), and Stephenson's Rocket (1979 Replica). In 1990 the locomotive was sold to the Hillcrest Lumber Company dressed as Hillcrest Lumber Company 1 In 1995 the engine did a bunch more excursions until being retired and out of service for being put on static display. As of 2024 the locomotive is still being restored into operating condition.

Gallery

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  Hillcrest Lumber Company steam locomotive 1 Shay at Forest Museum Duncan BC 16-Jul-1995.
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  Hillcrest Lumber Company steam locomotive 1 Shay on Someons Lake trestle at Forest Museum Dancan BC 16-Jul-1995.