Photo Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
2022.059.007 |
Object Name |
Print, Photographic |
Description |
Locomotive crossing a bridge with multiple flatcars. Written on the back: "Hillcrest LBR Co No. 10 backing down to Mesachie Lake. Serial No. 1395. Photo date unknown." Some specs for this Climax: Date of manufacture: March, 1928 Boiler Pressure: 180 lbs. Drivers: 36" |
Image File Name |
unk - Climax No. 10 - Mesachie Lake - 2022059007 - jpg72 - 001 |
Place |
Mesachie Lake |
Provenance |
In 1917, Carlton Stone built a sawmill in Sahtlam, BC, five miles west of Duncan, BC on Vancouver Island. His company was named Hillcrest Lumber Company. From 1942 to 1968, Hillcrest Lumber Company was at Mesachie Lake, after moving from Sahtlam. The mill closed when it no longer had an adequate timber supply. At its peak, it employed 450 people. There were 40 houses for employees and their families, a church, a school, a playing field and the community hall. This specific locomotive was built for Hillcrest Lumber Company and was the second to last Climax engine built & delivered and was initially designated as Hillcrest Lumber Company No. 3. It worked at the company's Mesachie Lake mill. It was eventually re-designated No. 10 at an unknown date. In 1968, the mill was shut down and the locomotive was the last Climax engine in regular operating condition in the world. In 1979, it was sold to the Mt. Rainier Railroad & Logging Museum. In 1917, Carlton Stone built a sawmill in Sahtlam, BC, five miles west of Duncan, BC on Vancouver Island. It was destined to become the largest independently owned family sawmill in British Columbia, employing some 300 employees in the sawmill / planer mill complex and another 50 in the logging division. The company operated in Sahtlam from 1917 to 1943 and when the timber was depleted, Stone moved the whole operation lock, stock and barrel by rail to Mesachie Lake, BC, 19 miles west of Duncan, BC past the town of Lake Cowichan (From: The Last Whistle - Hillcrest Lumber Company LTD by Cecil Ashley). |
Search Terms |
Hillcrest Lumber Company No. 10 Locomotive Climax flatcar Mesachie Bridge |
Collection |
Locomotives |
Subjects |
Locomotives Buildings & Structures Documentary, Cowichan Valley Bridges & Trestles |