Stave Falls Railway
by Aidan Hildebrandt
The Stave Falls Railway trail is located twelve kilometres outside of Mission with a fourteen minute drive from downtown Mission. It is located on the west side of Hayward Lake situated between the currently active Ruskin Dam and the Stave Falls Visitor Centre that was the former dam and community that the railway serviced. There is no form of commemoration available on the site itself though the visitor centre does have some minute information on the railway’s history. The railway still holds the title of the world’s shortest railway. The powerhouse that the railway supplied also was the first fully automated electrical station in the entire commonwealth.
The railway and powerhouses are important to not only Mission but the entire Lower Mainland. Originally the construction of the electrical station offered work to men near Mission, it brought an influx to the city’s economy and offered work to unemployed members of the community for labour. Infrastructure was built to access the dam and the community employed 400 men and their families. Besides these facts the powerhouse not even a year after completion offered power to Vancouver, New Westminister, Burnaby, Coquitlam, Maple Ridge, Mission and Bellingham, Washington through two 7,500 kilowatt generators. The site deserves to be commemorated because for just over a hundred years it has been supplying the Lower Mainland with power, work and a boost to its income. It allowed B.C to advance technologically and supported its economy by giving nearby available power to factories and its residents.
The railway and powerhouses are important to not only Mission but the entire Lower Mainland. Originally the construction of the electrical station offered work to men near Mission, it brought an influx to the city’s economy and offered work to unemployed members of the community for labour. Infrastructure was built to access the dam and the community employed 400 men and their families. Besides these facts the powerhouse not even a year after completion offered power to Vancouver, New Westminister, Burnaby, Coquitlam, Maple Ridge, Mission and Bellingham, Washington through two 7,500 kilowatt generators. The site deserves to be commemorated because for just over a hundred years it has been supplying the Lower Mainland with power, work and a boost to its income. It allowed B.C to advance technologically and supported its economy by giving nearby available power to factories and its residents.
The railroad tracks were laid before The Ruskin Dam was constructed; this means that the Hayward Reservoir was not yet in existence. The piers today were built to avoid the natural curves and slopes of the former wagon trail, which is fortunate as they allowed the train to still run when the Ruskin Dam was constructed. Unfortunately when the railway was no longer of use to the dam and community it was decommissioned. The tracks were abandoned and soon after fell into disrepair. The on land portion of the tracks were eventually torn up and disposed of. The majority of the suspended tracks fell apart. Today the railway is a part of the larger Hayward Lake Trail that offers an excellent hike around the lake. All that remains of the railway are the piers that they used to elevate tracks when the land corners were too sharp to build on. They jut out from the water in several locations that offer picturesque views.
The railroad was built to meet the demands of the massive project. Originally the Hayward Trail was only a narrow wagon trail that proved to be an incredibly inefficient way to move construction materials for the plant. The WCP decided it would be wise to increase productivity and had the ten kilometre long railway constructed. The railway was used mostly for freight, but it also had passenger cars for the residents of the community to travel on as it connected to the main line leading to Vancouver. On an interesting note, during construction on the Ruskin Dam in the summer of 2012 the water was drained from the lake and the bases of the piers were dry. Scattered around them was a great deal of old glass alcohol bottles and shards of Asian pottery. This suggests that Asian labour was actively used in the construction of the railway.
History
Between 1901 and 1911, there was massive growth across the Lower Mainland. Vancouver alone quadrupled in population. As you may imagine this put a massive strain on power. With the greater demand for electricity various power companies attempted to create new plants to meet the need. The Stave Falls Power Company decided to exploit the 33 metre falls outside of Mission. The construction began in 1909. During the construction, the privately owned power company went bankrupt and disbanded. The site was purchased and completed by the Western Canada Power Company. It took several years and a whopping two million dollars to complete the station which was opened in 1912. The station was relatively advanced for its time using “new” technology first employed at Niagara Falls Ontario in 1889. There were two generators on site at the time and a year later contracts were signed to extend the dam adding two new generators. Due to complications including the recession and World War One the generators were not installed until 1916. The fourth didn’t make it until 1922. The WCP decided to build a small community for the workers with several houses, a general store and a small school for their children.
A secondary dam was constructed to increase the size of nearby Alouette Lake. In 1926 the company decided to increase the dam’s efficiency by constructing a powerhouse that was to be the Alouette component of the power grid. The powerhouse included a large earth filled dam and a 1,067 m long tunnel that connected Stave Lake with Alouette. At the end of the tunnel was the pen that was used to produce the electricity. With the construction of Alouette a fifth generator was placed in the powerhouse taking up all available space as the room was only designed for four generators. The Ruskin Dam, the currently operating dam, was also constructed in 1926. It took four years to build and with four generators is capable of producing 188,000 horsepower worth of electricity. When the dam was finished it plugged up the valley and created the Hayward Lake, completing the Hayward trail.
The dam and the railway were bought out from the WCP by the British Columbian Electric Railway on December 20, 1920. They proceeded to upgrade and electrify the railway. The BCER was later nationalized in 1961. The railway itself was abandoned in 1944 and left to a state of disrepair. Though a trail was available for use since that time it wasn't until 2000 when the Stave Falls dam was turned into the visitor centre did the company actively encourage its use and revival.
The dam and the railway were bought out from the WCP by the British Columbian Electric Railway on December 20, 1920. They proceeded to upgrade and electrify the railway. The BCER was later nationalized in 1961. The railway itself was abandoned in 1944 and left to a state of disrepair. Though a trail was available for use since that time it wasn't until 2000 when the Stave Falls dam was turned into the visitor centre did the company actively encourage its use and revival.
Links
A small list of books pertaining to the subject of railway archaeology
Ransom, Philip John Greer
1981 The archaeology of railways. World's Work. Social Sciences.
Straton, Michael. Trinder, Barrie
2000 20th Century Industrial Archaeology. London. E & FN Spon. 164
Legget, R F
1973 Railways Of Canada. New Abbot. David and Charles Limited.
Gwyn, David
2010 Railway Archaeology. Industrial Archaeology Review Vol. 32 Issue 2: 75-76
Sherman, Josepha
2004 Hydroelectric Power. Minnesota. Capstone Press.
1981 The archaeology of railways. World's Work. Social Sciences.
Straton, Michael. Trinder, Barrie
2000 20th Century Industrial Archaeology. London. E & FN Spon. 164
Legget, R F
1973 Railways Of Canada. New Abbot. David and Charles Limited.
Gwyn, David
2010 Railway Archaeology. Industrial Archaeology Review Vol. 32 Issue 2: 75-76
Sherman, Josepha
2004 Hydroelectric Power. Minnesota. Capstone Press.