In 1873, Prime Minister John A. MacDonald promised British Columbia that a railway would be built on Vancouver Island.
|
|
The railway offices in Victoria in 1876, decorated to promote an early start on the E. & N. Railway A-05929 |
With the news that a railway terminal was to be located in Esquimalt, the residents of Victoria were ecstatic at the prospect of a railway and the possibilities for prosperity it would provide through better access to the Island's recources.
In 1875 legislation enabling construction of the Esquimalt-Nanaimo Railway went to Parliament in Ottawa. Though it passed through the House of Commons, it was rejected by the Senate. In fact, it would take another decade before the rail line was completed.
There was a long political debate over whether or not the E & N should be part of the CPR or a separate company. This was finally resolved in 1884 when Robert Dunsmuir, owner of the coal mines in Nanaimo, was awarded the right to construct the railway as a separate company. As with the CPR, Dunsmuir received land rights along the track right of way as an incentive for construction.
The first stage of the E & N Railway was completed on August 13, 1886.
|
|
Construction of the E. & N. Railway in the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island, 1886 D-03935 |
In 1905 the CPR bought the E & N Railway and proceeded to attract American investment in the forest industry on the Island. Eventually the rail line extended from Victoria to Courteney-Comox, and west to Port Alberni.
