Photo Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
2019.014.001 |
Object Name |
Print, Photographic |
Description |
Photograph depicts locomotive Cowichan Valley No. 24 "Susie" (1964.001.476). It has a 3' gauge. It is an 0-4-0T built in 1906 by the Vulcan Iron Works for the Pittsburgh Eastern Co. as #11. The last known owner before acquisition by G. Wellburn was the Elk River Collieries Ltd. |
Image File Name |
1958 - Susie Locomotive - Deerholme - 2019014001 - jpg72 - 001 |
Date (y/m/d) |
1958/ / |
Place |
Deerholme |
Provenance |
Susie was built in 1900 and her construction number is 916. She was used for mining. It is unknown where Susie worked for the first 20 years of operation as earliest records are from 1920. In 1920, the W.H. Mussens Co., of Montreal, sold the locomotive to the Crow’s Nest Pass Coal Company. In 1943 the CNPC opened the Elk River Colliery where No. 4 worked untill 1958. While at Elk River Colliery a balloon-stack was installed and the wooden cab was replaced with a metal one, by a British engineer, who incorporated the porthole-type windows, used on British railways. In 1958, No.4 was saved from scrapping when Gerry Wellburn purchased it to be No.24 on his fledgling Glenora & Western Railway in Deerholme. In preparation for use on the GV&R, the loco was converted from coal to oil and a tender was added to carry the fuel oil tank, making it a 0-4-0-STT. She is named "Susie" in honour of a former conductor. Born in Yorkshire, England in 1900, Gerry Wellburn moved to Victoria and later to Duncan in the 30s. Since a kid, Wellburn had been an avid collector first finding interest in stamps. In 1963, the Cowichan Valley Forest Museum Society (CVFM) was formed, and Wellburn, with the help of friends like Hector Stone, moved his collection of forestry artifacts (and more) from his home in Deerholme to a 15-acre site in Duncan overlooking Somenos Lake. It took several years of organizing and planning before the first visitors were welcomed in 1965. The museum was officially opened the following year. The name was changed to the BC Forest Museum (BCFM) in 1973. Gerry visited the BCFM for the last time in 1991 stating that, "I think you're finally getting it right." In 1999, the name was changed again to the current BC Forest Discovery Centre. |
Search Terms |
Locomotive Susie Cowichan Valley Railway No. 24 railway tracks Elk River Colliery Collection BCFDC Glenora & Western Railway Deerholme Vulcan Iron Works 0-4-0 |
Collection |
BC Forest Museum Collection |
People |
Wellburn |
Subjects |
Locomotives Documentary, Cowichan Valley |