A8
Thursday, March 13, 2014 • COMOX VALLEY RECORD
www.comoxvalleyrecord.com
Reprinted courtesy of
LAND OF PLENTY
A History of the Comox District
Early Mining in the Comox Valley (cont'd.):
Cont'd. from Feb. 20, 2014 During the years 1917 and 1918, coal production was high. The men returned after Armistice and were accused of bringing to Canada the influenza epidemic of that year. Contract miners were paid by the ton of coal produced. With contract work came pressure to get out as much coal as possible. Sometimes this meant ignoring safety measures such as adequate timbering. The labour market was overcrowded, so a miner could find himself fired for any hint of union sympathy. The Great Depression hit the coal mines, again limiting the field for union growth. However, miners did gain an eight-hour day. In 1930, a local of the Mine Workers Union of Canada (MWUC) was formed in Cumberland. The MWUC affiliated itself with the communist Workers Unity League (WUL), which caused the MWUC in May of 1936 to be called "communist agitators." Members of the MWUC then joined the United Mineworkers of America, which by 1936 had gained 50 per cent of the workers. On November 18, 1936, the UMWA signed an agreement with Canadian Collieries (Dunsmuir) Ltd., providing for uniform day wages of $5.50. The company had finally recognized the union.
Collieries Railroads
In developing Union Coal Mines in 1888, Dunsmuir sent two crews to Union Camp: one to open the mine, the other, which included gangs of 42 Chinese, to survey and build a railroad right-of-way to Hart's Point at Union Bay. John Dick supervised this construction. The shipping of coal through Royston, the plan which the Union Coal Company had worked towards, was not feasible. Although the distance was short, Royston Bay did not have the water depth required by the deep-sea ships that would load the coal. A plan to route the railroad to Port Augusta (Comox Bay) fell through when the owners of the
Union Growth, Collieries Railroads
300 acres at Port Augusta, the Robb family, wanted an excessive amount of money for their land. The survey crew marked out a roadway to Union Bay, the rights to which had been acquired by Dunsmuir when he purchased the Perseverance Coal Company. This main line emerged near the waterfront north of the Trent River, then ran parallel to the ocean to Union Bay, a distance of approximately 12 miles. Extensions to this line occurred with regularity as new mines and new mining camps were developed. One spur extended from the Town of Union to Mines 3, 1, 2 and 4 with a narrow gauge line running from Scott's Slope at Comox Lake to Number Four Mine. All lines, with this exception, were standard gauge, compatible with the E&N Railroad, the logging railroads of Bloedel, Stewart and Welch, and Comox Logging. When Number Seven Mine was opened in 1902 on the Puntledge River, a line was built to it from the spur which had served Number Five Mine. In 1911-12, this line grew to form a loop when Bevan and Puntledge Townsites were built. The loop continued directly towards Courtenay, touched the Gwilt Lumber mill, then turned east to join the old main line at Royston. Bevan, Puntledge, Headquarters, the E&N Railroad and this loop line were built during the period from 1910 to 1914. A large network of railroads now linked the new townsites and Courtenay to the south end of Vancouver Island. Near Royston, the Collieries Railroad joined with the Comox Logging Railway, thus allowing cars of coal to be placed on Comox Logging sidings loaded with the steam coal for use in their locomotives. A link with the E&N allowed passengers and freight to be exchanged between the Collieries and that line. This link, located north of Royston, was given the name Diamond Crossing. A second link with Comox Logging was made at Bevan where a railway bridge was built across the Puntledge River, giving the logging company access to the timber lying between Brown's River
Trestle collapse at Trent River, five died. (1898) and the Puntledge River-Comox Lake triangle. The railroad switchbacks above Brown's River became the roadway to the Forbidden Plateau Lodge. Because Comox Logging did not have a bridge across the Brown's River Canyon at this time, their railroad cars of logs were delivered to the Royston Dump by Canadian Collieries locomotives. Another logging railroad crossed both the E&N and the Collieries tracks to gain access to the boom grounds located just north of Union Bay. This was the logging railroad of Bloedel, Stewart and Welch, which ran parallel, but to the southeast side, of the Trent River. The Canadian Collieries (Dunsmuir) railroad system was to move over 13,000,000 tons of coal from the mines to the Union Bay shipping port. The first annual report of this new owner of the Cumberland Mines, dated 1911, indicates that two large locomotives ran the main line with four other locomotives for switching. The railroad inventory included 100 steel hopper coal cars,
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185 wooden hopper coal cars and 34 coaches, boxcars, flat and gravel cars. Total trackage at that date consisted of the 12-mile main line, and 18 miles of sidings. One of the obstacles met in the construction of the Collieries railroad to Union Bay was the canyon of the Trent River. This was overcome by the construction of a very high wooden trestle which spanned the canyon above the present Island Highway crossing. Less than 10 years after its construction, the trestle was the scene of a spectacular accident. Rene Harding describes the scene well in an article published in the Comox District Free Press: "On August 17, 1898, Number 4, the big new locomotive belonging to the Union Collieries, was ready to leave the Cumberland Mines for Union Bay, the shipping point, with 21 loaded coal cars. The cab was crowded when she whistled in answer to a signal from Matt Piercy, the second brakie, perched on the rearmost coal car, his position as rear brakeman.
To be continued
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