Bridging the gap
Without a doubt Shawnigan Lake's biggest piece of history is the Kinsol Trestle — literally — and yet it almost didn't make it to the present day.
Also dubbed the Koksilah River Trestle, this wooden railway trestle located on Vancouver Island north of Shawnigan Lake was built as a crossing over the salmon-bearing Koksilah River.
The breathtaking bridge stands 144 feet high, and spans 617 feet long, earning itself the title of the largest wooden trestle in the Commonwealth and one of the tallest towering timber trestles worldwide. It was built as part of a plan to connect Victoria to Nootka Sound, while passing through Cowichan Lake and Port Alberni.
One of the most impressive things about the trestle's rich history is that it was originally built by a mere 55 local men who were not bridge-builders by trade, but rather farmers and general labourers.
"These guys were literally out in the middle of nowhere with equipment that was nothing like we have nowadays," said Shawnigan Lake Historical Society Executive Director Lori Treloar. "They were just out there plugging away, and of course there is not one timber on the trestle that could have been carried by one person. Now, skip ahead to the rehabilitation, where there were over 100 guys, five stationary cranes, and the list of equipment that they had at their disposal goes on and on, compared to what the initial 55-man crew had."
Treloar who grew up in a cottage on Shawnigan Lake said she had no idea about the Kinsol Trestle until she began working with the Shawnigan Lake Museum in the early 2000s. The sight of it blew her away, and she has been exuberantly steering people there ever since.
"It's gobsmackingly gorgeous," said Treloar. "There are so few large heritage structures like that around anymore, so I think we benefit, and it's why people are so interested in it. It's really a marvel, especially when you think about the small number of local general labourers who built it."
The original trestle was built during a time when forestry had shot up on Vancouver Island, and a more efficient way to transport the region's huge, old-growth timber was needed. Surveying of the Cowichan Subdivision began in 1910.
The much-needed line got on track in 1911, and was started by the Canadian Northern Pacific Railway (CNoPR) while the trestle was in the design phase by local engineers. The Canadian Western Lumber Company, which happened to be the largest lumber company in the world at that time, supplied the funds, while local farmers and loggers supplied the blood, sweat, and tears working on the trestle.
Unfortunately, under CNoPR's watch the line only reached as far as Youbou, before construction was terminated. The fate of the grand wooden trestle was saved once CNoPR was taken over by Canadian National Railways in 1918.
"The feds forcibly took over the debt-ridden Canadian Northern Pacific Railway and incorporated it, as well as the Island extension, into the Canadian National Railway," said Treloar. "At that time, only eight miles of steel had been laid from Victoria."
The total cost to build the original trestle was $26,000 and it was completed in February 1920 as part of the 'Galloping Goose' rail line which carried not only passengers but also freight that primarily included timber, and other forest products. By April of that same year steel crossed the canyon, and according to Treloar several logging companies chose to establish their mills near the trestle.
"Once the trestle was in place the hope was that the line would travel all the way up to Port Alberni where they were running trains across Canada with the intent get into the silk market," said Treloar. "Unfortunately it never happened, the line got within four miles of Port Alberni, and I believe it was the First World War that also interfered with the completion of it."
It was christened the Kinsol Trestle after the nearby Kinsol Station, which took its namesake from a mining venture in the area that was given the grandiose name of 'King Solomon Mines' which at the time used three rail cars to mine copper and silver between 1924 and 1927 and operated just north of the trestle.
Over the next few decades the Kinsol Trestle saw its share of ups and downs with its first bout of extensive damage stemming from flooding and large trees being hurtled into the structure during the early 1930s.
Reconstruction took place in 1934 adding Howe Trusses to the bottom of the trestle which aids the bridge in moving when transporting a large load of freight. The upper Howe trusses were left in place until 1936, then were removed and filled in with bents.
Treloar noted that the thick timber planks had Roman numerals hand-carved into them to show where they belonged on the trestle which is quite the task in itself. After 1958, repairs to the trestle remained sporadic and minimal.
The final ride.
The last locomotive to ride the rails across the Kinsol Trestle was in 1979, which ended up being just the beginning of the structure's slow demise and disrepair. That same year both organizations and individuals petitioned the provincial government to have it designated as a heritage structure.
With CN's rail service being deserted in the 1980s the legal rights were left to the province's Ministry of Transportation. TLC was abandoned on the trestle, once higher-ups decided that it posed a threat of environmental concern, and was deemed a potential danger to the public. Faced with the probability of being torn down completely, permission was then granted to abandon the trestle and line between mile 1.9 and 57.9.
After the last ride, came one final freight. Canada's tallest wooden flagpole, which was built from one of the fir trees from the Shawnigan area, was part of the last load to cross the trestle. Being made of wood it eventually yielded to rot and was replaced by steel. Treloar said there will be a mini exhibit dedicated to this inside the expanded Shawnigan Lake Museum that will be open to the public sometime this fall.
In 1982 the province approved in principle the acquisition of the right-of-way and officially acquired it in 1984. The rails were removed the year prior which was the beginning of the structure's deterioration, furthered by vandalism, encroaching vegetation, and eventually fire.
In June of 1988, the first of two fires were set deliberately on the trestle with the Shawnigan Lake Fire Department first on the scene followed by two neighbouring volunteer fire departments arriving soon after. According to Treloar the fire left an eight metre gap on top of the trestle.
A decade later firefighters responded to a second fire where they found flames burning through timbers on the upper deck which were sparking fires below. Chief Sanders of the Shawnigan Lake Fire Department who had his team up to speed to effectively deal with such a blaze called in the Martin Mars Water Bomber from Port Alberni which made four passes and dropped a mixture of water with foam. This did not extinguish the fire but gave firefighters more time as helicopters swung buckets of water on timbers underneath.
"To see the Martin Mars fill up on our lake, was incredible because its not a big lake," said Treloar. "Then to witness it dropping water over the Kinsol Trestle to save it was another magical thing to see."
According to Treloar, following the fire, the Ministry removed the first few bents from the north and south sides to restrict access.
Community rallies
Community members who also saw the magic of this structure constructed from old-growth Douglas fir timbers, with a rare seven-degree curve, were soon up in arms, and putting their best foot forward to save it. A handful of local groups at the time began putting their heads together for fundraising efforts to preserve the Kinsol Trestle for not only its historic value, but also for what it could do for tourism is the valley.
Yet, not everyone was fuelled with this passion. Some argued to simply repair the break in the Trans-Canada Trail as quickly and cheaply as possible. According to Treloar, in the beginning timber bridges were thought to be only temporary structures with the idea that they would later be replaced with steel. While the Goldstream Trestle was eventually replaced with a steel bridge from SISCO British Columbia, Treloar counts her lucky stars that the Kinsol Trestle did not see the same fate.
"From my point of view one of the most important things is that the community saved the trestle when the government wanted to tear it down," said Treloar. "The community agitated until the government finally broke down, and now through tourism roughly 300,000 people go out there every year, so the government was clearly wrong on that.
"It's not just people from Shawnigan that go, it attracts visitors from all over the world. It's an amazing story of survival that countless people were involved in."
In April 2006, the B.C. Ministry of Transportation announced that the Trestle was coming down and it was transferring $1.5 million to the Cowichan Valley Regional District to dismantle it in an effort to mitigate potential liability issues. The CVRD later held a special meeting on June 7, 2007 and decided it would not only be spared but resurrected. During this initial first meeting with the CVRD, Macdonald & Lawrence Timber Framing Ltd., a firm that specialized in building conservation, proposed a strategy that would see the bridge fully restored for pedestrian use as part of the Trans-Canada Trail network.
"They picked the right people to do it," said Treloar. "MacDonald and Lawrence were hired to do it because they had a real passion for the project, the same could be said for everyone who worked on it, including the community members who came together to save it."
A few months later on Sept. 20, the CVRD voted to move ahead with a feasibility study concerning the viability of the Kinsol Trestle. Three firms threw their hats on the rail in response to the CVRD's request for restoration proposals with the Vancouver-based firm Commonwealth Historic Resource Management Limited winning the contract and joining forces with Macdonald and Lawrence who had proposed the conservation strategy just months earlier.
By November that same year, a major and thorough inspection of the trestle was completed by Macdonald and Lawrence where they drilled hundreds of test holes with the end result showing that 80 per cent of the major timbers on the trestle were still sound, making the dream of restoration a reality.
Commonwealth then used M & L's findings as the major component of their report which was then presented to the CVRD the following year on Jan. 23, 2008. Board members voted unanimously and overwhelmingly to have Commonwealth forge ahead with Phase 2 of the study to provide a detailed plan of restoration, including a full evaluation of costs. The report was delivered later that month.
Rehabilitation doesn't come cheap
In 2010, the estimated cost to rehabilitate the trestle was $7.5 million. With many donations from community members and organizations coming in, more than $7 million was raised. Many can argue that it was money worth spending, leaving valley residents and visitors with one of the few accessible and visible reminders of the early mining and logging industries that once thrived on the Island.
The Kinsol Trestle, which is now a part of both the Trans-Canada and Vancouver Island Trails reopened on July 28, 2011 to awe the public with its rehabilitation, staying true to its heritage with little nods such as returning telegraph poles to their original places.
Amazingly, out of the original 44 bents only 17 had to be replaced in the eventual refurbishment, and today it's nearly impossible to distinguish between the old and the new.
"I could confidently say that 95 per cent of those living in Shawingan Lake would recommend to a friend or a visitor that the trestle is one of the first things that they should see," said Treloar. "There is just something magical about that bridge."
Treloar said tourists will often visit the museum with excitement after seeing the trestle for the first time. The museum has always been a strong advocate of the Kinsol Trestle and on top of offering a wealth of information, visitors can also take in old photographs, copies of the original plans, and some must see models.
The Shawnigan Lake Museum currently houses two scale models of the trestle, one built in 1979 by Jochenm Boehm, a Grade 9 student who then attended Shawnigan Lake School, and another more recently built by the society's longstanding board member Bill Camden. Camden used his 3D printer to create a kit consisting of a tube with all the components to build a bent based on bent number four of the Kinsol Trestle.
Visitors to the expanded museum that will open later this fall will be treated to an even more impactful model of the trestle built by one of the timber framers that worked on the bridge's rehabilitation. Treloar is passionate about leading guided trestle tours and when escorting large groups only asks for a mere donation. Book your guided tour today by contacting Treloar directly at lori@shawniganlakemuseum.com.
"I love to inspire people through these tours. The story is so big, it's almost unbelievable that we have the trestle in the condition that we do today," said Treloar. "When you stand at the bottom of the trestle and look up, one would be hard pressed to find anything as beautiful.
"I hope all who visit it feel a sense of respect for it, to those who built it, and to the community who saved it from demolition. It's a must see!"
