Rail Sites of Interest

The Last Spike
It is a little-known fact that the Last Spike on the railway across Canada was actually driven at Cliffside, just south of the village on the east side of Shawnigan Lake. Visit the stone cairn marking the spot.

Kinsol Trestle
The Kinsol Trestle, spanning the Koksilah River in the southern Cowichan Valley, is one of the largest and highest wooden trestle bridges in the world. The 1921 trestle was originally built as part of the railway to service the King Solomon Copper Mines (which are now defunct). The Kinsol trestle is a popular destination for hikers and horseback riders, but once at the trestle, the only way to cross the river (if not on horseback) is to swim the cool waters. To get to the Kinsol Trestle from Victoria, take Highway #1 up the Malahat to Shawnigan Lake. Access is off Glen Eagles Road, on the right of Renfrew Road, west of Shawnigan Lake.

Kaatza Station Museum
This Lake Cowichan community museum is housed in a 1913 Esquimalt & Nanaimo (E & N) Railway station. Features include pioneer life display highlighted by a 12 foot high mural at the foot of Cowichan Lake. Displays include a store, post office, mining tunnel and a tribute to local logging heritage. Outdoor displays include a 1918 CN wooden caboose, a 1916 CN wooden boxcar and a 1927 Shay locomotive. The newly-renovated Bell Tower School will feature a classroom display and an art gallery and gift shop. Extensive archives for research are available in the museum.

Cowichan Valley Museum
This Duncan museum is located in a 1912 train station and has a 1.5 metre (five foot) replica of a steam locomotive on its roof. The museum displays items relating to settlers in the Cowichan Valley, including furniture, clothing, tools, utensils, books and photographs, as well as many artifacts related to the E & N Railway. Guided walks of historic buildings and totem poles in Duncan are also available through the museum.

Old Power House Museum
The Old Power House Museum in Qualicum Beach houses an E & N Railway exhibit in the adjacent, restored train station. The entire building is dedicated to showcasing the history of the railway on Vancouver Island.

Russell’s Roundhouse
Russell's Roundhouse is the third (and final) roundhouse to serve the E & N. The first was a one-stall engine house built in 1884 when the line was first constructed. Today, the roundhouse is condemned and only one stall is still in use. Currently, VIA Rail uses the roundhouse, machine and car shops. The roundhouse and its facilities have been declared historic monuments by the federal government and a ceremony was held in October of 2000, with speeches from the government, Canadian Pacific Railway and the E & N division of the CHRA. It is not possible to visit the roundhouse, but you will pass by this facility when taking the train from Victoria up-Island. For more information and photos, visit http://enrails.homestead.com/roundhouse.html.

Craigdarroch Castle
Craigdarroch Castle is an imposing Victorian mansion completed in 1890 for Robert Dunsmuir and his wife Joan. Robert Dunsmuir, who initially funded the E & N Railway, died in 1889, just months before his castle was completed. Although the Dunsmuirs arrived on Vancouver Island as poor Scottish immigrants, Robert Dunsmuir made a fortune from mining Vancouver Island coal; it made him the wealthiest and most influential man of his time in British Columbia. Craigdarroch Castle is a reflection of the Dunsmuir empire and is now a national historic museum, featuring an extensive collection of stained- and leaded-glass windows, magnificent woodwork, Victorian furnishings and decorative arts. Craigdarroch Castle is located at 1050 Joan Crescent in Victoria. Summer hours are 9 am to 7 pm and off-season hours are 10 am to 4.30 pm.

Hatley Castle
Construction of Hatley Castle and Hatley Park, originally a 700 acre (284 hectare) estate, was completed in 1908 by James Dunsmuir, the son of Robert Dunsmuir. Hatley Castle was built after James sold the E & N Railway to the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1905. James Dunsmuir was an entrepreneur and a politician; he was the Premier of British Columbia from 1900 to 1902 and the Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia from 1906 to 1910. James Dunsmuir hired local Victoria architect Samuel Maclure to design Hatley Castle and had local stone (including Valdez and Saturna Island sandstone) used in its construction. Messrs. Brett and Moore, landscape architects from Boston, Massachusetts, were responsible for planning the garden and surroundings. Dunsmuir lived on the estate until his death in 1920. Following the death of his wife Laura, in 1937, the site sat vacant. In 1940, Hatley Park was sold, almost in its entirety, to the Department of National Defence. The first of a series of related institutions to be set up there was the naval training centre commissioned as HMCS Royal Roads, in 1940. In 1946, the combined Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Canadian Air Force College was established. Royal Roads Military College began as a tri-services college with training programs for all three branches of the Canadian Armed Forces. Royal Roads Military College closed in 1995.

From downtown Victoria, drive north on Douglas Street (which turns in to the Trans Canada Highway (Hwy #1)). Take the Highway #1A exit. Follow the road as it becomes Highway #14 (or Sooke Road). Turn left at the Royal Roads University entrance at Aldeane Road. The property includes three different gardens: one Japanese, one Italian and one rose garden. Simply let the guard at the gate know that you want to visit the grounds and park in the designated area.

BC Discovery Centre
50 acres of living forest are home to this museum which is located a few kilometres north of Duncan. A restored logging camp of five buildings, steam donkeys, traction engines, trucks, crawler tractors and other logging machinery are featured. The Man and the Forest exhibit displays photographs, artifacts, dioramas, an operational sawmill, BC Forest Service collections, buildings and several locomotives (Shay, Climax and Rod, gas and steam). The narrow-gauge operating railway is two kilometres long and is quite a popular attraction. The BC Discovery Centre is directly off the Trans Canada Highway, at 2892 Drinkwater Road.

Galloping Goose Regional Trail
The Galloping Goose Trail is a linear park that stretches 57 kilometres from Victoria to Leechtown, an abandoned mining site near Sooke. It is built on an abandoned railway line and named after a 1920’s gasoline-powered passenger car. The Galloping Goose is part of the Trans Canada Trail and the trail surface is wide (two to four metres), mostly flat and leads through a wonderful diversity of landscapes. Some sections are paved and ideal for bicycles, in-line skates and wheelchairs. The unpaved sections are suitable for pedestrians, mountain bikes and horseback riders.