The BC Forest Discovery Centre, located in
Duncan, chronicles the history of
logging
Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars.
Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...
in
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
, Canada. It is a site with of operational
narrow gauge railway
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structur ...
.
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 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 heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...
, a train pulled by a century-old
steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
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
ATLAS-I (Air Force Weapons Lab Transmission-Line Aircraft Simulator), better known as Trestle, was a unique electromagnetic pulse (EMP) generation and testing apparatus built between 1972 and 1980 during the Cold War at Sandia National Laborato ...
over Somenos Lake and an operational
water wheel
A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with a number of blades or buckets ...
.
The Forest Discovery Centre has seven
steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
s in its collection:
#
Mayo Lumber Company Mayo often refers to:
* Mayonnaise, often shortened to "mayo"
* Mayo Clinic, a medical center in Rochester, Minnesota, United States
Mayo may also refer to:
Places
Antarctica
* Mayo Peak, Marie Byrd Land
Australia
* Division of Mayo, an Aust ...
#3
Shay (class B) (was on loan to
Kettle Valley Steam Railway 1995–2009)
#
Hillcrest Lumber Company #1
Shay (class B) ( gauge)
#
Bloedel Stewart and Welch Shay (class B) #1 (})
#
Shawnigan Lake Lumber #2
Climax (class B) ( standard gauge)
# Hillcrest Lumber Company #9
Climax (class B) ( standard gauge) - the only operational Climax locomotive in Canada)
#
Cowichan Valley Railway #24
Vulcan
Vulcan may refer to:
Mythology
* Vulcan (mythology), the god of fire, volcanoes, metalworking, and the forge in Roman mythology
Arts, entertainment and media Film and television
* Vulcan (''Star Trek''), name of a fictional race and their home p ...
0-4-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents one of the simplest possible types, that with two axles and four coupled wheels, all of which are driven. The wheels on the earliest four-coupled locomotives were ...
T "Suzie" ( gauge)
# Cowichan Valley Railway #25
Vulcan
Vulcan may refer to:
Mythology
* Vulcan (mythology), the god of fire, volcanoes, metalworking, and the forge in Roman mythology
Arts, entertainment and media Film and television
* Vulcan (''Star Trek''), name of a fictional race and their home p ...
0-4-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents one of the simplest possible types, that with two axles and four coupled wheels, all of which are driven. The wheels on the earliest four-coupled locomotives were ...
T "Samson" ( gauge)
In addition, these
diesel locomotive
A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...
s are also part of the collection:
# Cowichan Valley Railway #23 "Sandy"
Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth ...
# Cowichan Valley Railway #27 "Handy Andy"
speeder
# British Columbia Forest Products #9
Whitcomb Locomotive Works
The Geo D. Whitcomb Company was founded by George Dexter Whitcomb (1834–1914), of Chicago, Illinois, who started a modest machine shop in 1878, and began the manufacture of coal mining machinery, laying the foundation for the concern that beca ...
(
0-4-4-0 diesel)
File:Bloedel Stewart & Welch steam locomotive 1 Shay at Forest Museum Duncan BC 16-Jul-1995.jpg, Bloedel Stewart & Welch #1 (Shay)
File:Hillcrest Lumber Company steam locomotive 9 Climax at Forest Museum Duncan BC 16-Jul-1995.jpg, Hillcrest Lumber Company #9 (Climax)
File:Cowichan Valley Railway diesel locomotive 23 (Sandy) Plymouth 8-ton DLC6 at Forest Museum Duncan BC 16-Jul-1995.jpg, Cowichan Valley Railway #23 "Sandy"
Cowichan Valley 25.jpg, Cowichan Valley Railway #25 "Samson"
File:Hillcrest Lumber Company steam locomotive 1 Shay on Somenos Lake trestle at Forest Museum Duncan BC 16-Jul-1995.jpg, HLC #1 Shay over Somenos Lake trestle
Site
The site has a reconstructed
fire watch tower
A fire lookout tower, fire tower or lookout tower, provides housing and protection for a person known as a "fire lookout" whose duty it is to search for wildfires in the wilderness. It is a small building, usually on the summit of a mountain or ...
, which offers a commanding view of the site and nearby Somenos Marsh.
The Centre borders the
Somenos Marsh Wildlife RefugeSomenos Marsh Wildlife Society website
/ref> 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
*List of heritage railways in Canada
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
*List of museums in Canada By province and territory
* List of museums in Alberta
* List of museums in British Columbia
* List of museums in Manitoba
* List of museums in New Brunswick
* List of museums in Newfoundland and Labrador
* List of museums in the Northwest Terr ...
References
External links
Centre's websiteVancouver Island attractions
{{authority control
Duncan, British Columbia
Heritage railways in British Columbia
Forestry museums in Canada
Museums in British Columbia
Open-air museums in Canada
Railway museums in British Columbia