Nostalgia & History > Signal Sunday, Ladysmith BC interlocking tower

At Ladysmith BC, the Comox (Crown Forest Products) railway crossed the Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway using a manual interlocking on its route from the Nanaimo Lakes logging camp to an ocean log dump at Ladysmith.

A parallel "logging main" private road also crossed over the E&N and under the Island Highway at this location. The tower was manned by the Comox Railway on days that logging trains operated. The logging railway closed around 1985. Note the yellow highway semaphore controlled by the interlocking tower.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/22 21:05 by eminence_grise.

A Crown Forest Products log train is shown crossing the E&N at Ladysmith. The locomotive is a former CP RS3 propelling a water spraying car. Note the highway semaphore displaying stop, and the very substantial tell-tale in the distance designed to displace any logs which may strike the highway overpass.

Thanks for sharing. They sure went to a lot of expense for a crossing that probably didn't have that much traffic. Maybe Canadian law required such a set-up? Wow, derails too. In the States many locations like this would have just had a target signal that required trains to stop first and set the signal and possibly call the dispatcher.

In the States I know of a couple of places where a tower was built that didn't require such and the towers were never used from day one! Very odd.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/22/11 12:58 by wabash2800.

wabash2800 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks for sharing. They sure went to a lot of
> expense for a crossing that probably didn't have
> that much traffic.

Back in steam days, the logging trains would have been shorter and more frequent, and there would have been more trains on the E&N also. The "logging main" private roads had rudimentary traffic control also, usually a radio controlled block operation. The logging trailers on the road were wider than permitted on public highways, as were the Kenworths, Pacifics , and Hayes tractors that powered them.

Great photos Phil. Got any more photos of the Comox operations that you can share? Didn't they operate steam relatively late? When was steam put out to pasture? Did Comox cross or connect with any other logging railroads on the island?

Being young yet, I've never seen a derail like the one shown. Did it have a hand throw like a switch that closed the
gap? It seems like unless the train was going slowly it might be a bad wreck? Trains in the other direction could pass through with it positioned the way it is shown? Aaron 23

EG might confirm, (by the way thanks for the clarification on the amount of traffic) but most likely the derails were operated by the tower operator by rod linkage on the ground just like the signals and any switches. (The semaphores appear to be mechanical.) If a train did not respect signals set against it on its conflicting route, the derail would in theory derail the train before it collided with another train on the other route. However, yes, it did often amount to much damage(and possibly injury and loss of life) anyway even if there was no train in the interlocking. For that reason many railroads got away from mainline derails, though there are a few example left.

Edit:
On a second look at the photos, one can see rod linkage to the signals and the derail.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/22/11 16:44 by wabash2800.

It was an old "Armstrong" interlocking. The E & N had the right of way and the signals were always set for them.

I was told in later years, the brakeman on the logger would climb up where the levers were, make the line up, pull across and the conductor would climb up and line everything back. For some reason, I thought the building was gone but the interlocking plant was still sitting there all by its lone some out in the weather and was still used that way towards the end.

Would love to see some close ups of an old arm strong with the levers, interlocking dogs and pipes. It was an engineering feat back then getting the pipes to move through different seasons and keeping them adjusted just right.


Nudge

Other than the Bridge in Victoria, I assume this was the only other interlocking and signals on the island.

lynnpowell Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Great photos Phil. Got any more photos of the
> Comox operations that you can share? Didn't they
> operate steam relatively late? When was steam put
> out to pasture? Did Comox cross or connect with
> any other logging railroads on the island?

Steam survived into the 1960's on Vancouver Island, and a few railfans were on hand to photograph it. The logging companies in California, Washington, Oregon and BC seemed to be in contact enough to exchange railroad equipment and many of the steam engines on Vancouver Island were former US logging engines.

The late operation of steam meant that many locomotives were saved, usually in local parks, but some went to operating museums.

There have been some books published on Vancouver Island logging railroads. A very typical style of operation was a permanent "main line" like this one between a camp and an ocean dump, with temporary branches operated by geared locomotives reaching up into valley that were being logged. BC was a big user of "spar tree" aerial tramways to transport logs also.

ats90mph Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Other than the Bridge in Victoria, I assume this
> was the only other interlocking and signals on the
> island.

The CN had the substantial Selkirk trestle a mile or so south of their Point Ellice terminal which included a lift span. I'm assuming the lift span was protected against train movements somehow.

Today many miles of the former CN lines on Vancouver Island are collectively the "Galloping Goose" Regional hiking/biking trail. Several railway bridges are included in the paved trail.

Another half mile south of the trestle there is a wye type junction where industrial tracks to industries south of Victoria split from the main line. The junction is plotted out in paved trail and is substantial enough to possibly have been controlled by an
interlocking. CN's operations around Victoria carried on until the early 1980's.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/22 21:05 by eminence_grise.

There’s still a logging railroad in operation on Vancouver Island but farther north near Woss.......Nice article in this month’s Railfan & Railroad Magazine.