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The fonds consists of miscellaneous correspondence, forms, notes and circulars.

The fonds consists of terms of construction, articles of agreement (signed by Robert Dunsmuir), progress estimates, and bills of guarantees. Fonds includes a locomotive fuel book (1930) and miscellaneous notes of the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway Company.

The fonds consists of a scrapbook containing photographs, correspondence and clippings regarding the railway on Vancouver Island. Fonds includes Barr's correspondence pertaining to his research into locomotives in British Columbia.

Diaries, 1886-1907, 1912-1913, 1921-1927, 1929-1930: reminiscences of life on Vancouver Island as employee of the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway and in various business ventures (vol. 3 incorporates events of Coburn family, 1859-1929); "Early History of Town of Ladysmith" by J.W. Coburn; scrapbooks relating to participation in municipal and business affairs, Ladysmith and Nanaimo.

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RECORDED: [location unknown], 1979-11-15 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: A.L. Robinson discusses his experiences railroading: running from Prince Rupert to Prince George and then back to Prince Rupert (22.5 hours on shift alone) -- bad track, sore feet, once was off track for 1000 yards before anyone noticed, very frequent trips between these two towns; describes what he would do on a shift; places on the Grand Trunk; picking up and sorting the mail; never received overtime pay; incident when he was stuck in the woods for three days with no food due to a washout or a slide; the Island line is considered the best run in Canada; employed by the post office department, not the railway; 8 to 10 cars on a train on the Grand Trunk line; working on the Island meant shorter days than working in northern B.C.; postal service was much better in those days; salary of about $50 a month plus mileage; describes routes he traveled; mail service changed when it began to use trucks; letters with cancellations; incident at South Wellington where the track had been washed out. TRACK 2: Mr. Robinson discusses: incident in Chemainus when engineer lost a piston; celebrating the 93rd anniversary of the first train arrival in Nanaimo- only 3 people went; helping a young kid who was 'riding the rails' in the Depression. (End of interview)

Notes and sketches of Hunter's exploration, Quesnel to Salmon River, 1874; Canadian Pacific Railway Survey, Division Y Camp, Chatsoquot River, 1876; journal re Golden River, 1897; letterbooks, Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway business, 1893-1902; diaries and inward correspondence relating to Canadian Collieries (Dunsmuir), Ltd., 1913-1918; incoming correspondence Canadian Pacific Railway; surveys of: Alaskan and Canadian boundary; Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway; Stikine River; North Thompson district; miscellaneous inward correspondence, invitations, notes, etc.

Joseph Hunter was a surveyor and Member of the Legislative Assembly.

Records include notes and sketches of Hunter's exploration, Quesnel to Salmon River, 1874; Canadian Pacific Railway Survey, Division Y Camp, Chatsoquot River, 1876; journal re Golden River, 1897; letterbooks, Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway business, 1893-1902; diaries and inward correspondence relating to Canadian Collieries (Dunsmuir) Ltd., 1913-1918; incoming correspondence Canadian Pacific Railway; surveys of: Alaskan and Canadian boundary; Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway; Stikine River; North Thompson district; miscellaneous inward correspondence, invitations, and notes.

Source: MS Finding Aids

Finding aid: item list.

The fonds consists of three photograph albums created by Donald Lawrence McMullan between 1928 and 1946. The photographs document his work on forest survey teams for both the provincial and federal governments, as well as surveys conducted by logging and railroad companies.

The first two albums contain photographs from several survey jobs, arranged chronologically. They are divided into sections with an introductory page and a cartographic drawing showing where the particular survey took place. The photographs are usually dated with captions and are as follows:
Album 1 (1928-1933)
Amiskwi and Beaverfoot survey, 1928, Forest Service, Dept. of the Interior, Canada
P.G.E. resources survey, 1929, Forest Resources Branch, British Columbia
Preliminary survey of a proposed logging railroad, 1930, Bloedel, Stewart & Welch Ltd. logging company
Elk Forest survey, 1930, British Columbia Forest Service
North Kamloops Survey, 1931, British Columbia Survey Branch
Railway belt survey, 1932, British Columbia Forest Service
Railroad logging operation, 1933, Industrial Timber Mills Ltd.
Album 2 (1934-1939):
Surveys for logging railroads, 1934-1935, UBO Industrial Timber Mills Ltd.
Kettle Forest Survey, 1935, British Columbia Forest Service
E&N Survey, 1936-1937
Harrison Survey, 1939

The third album, created between 1940 and 1946, contains photographs from McMullan's later career and show general forestry activities on Vancouver Island, mainland British Columbia, Yukon and Alaska. Captions and dates are inconsistently applied.

The fonds also includes a copy of McMullan's thesis entitled "The Work of the Surveys Division: British Columbia Forest Service" written in 1932 during McMullan's studies at the University of British Columbia. This thesis is illustrated with five b&w prints and an annotated map. Also included in the fonds is a notice of permanent appointment to the British Columbia civil service dated March 25, 1937 with attached salary schedule and a letter to McMullan dated January 20, 1938 regarding a new classification grading system for Foresters.

The item consists of a coloured rolled map printed in 1910 that shows the Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway Company's land grant on Vancouver Island.

The fonds consists primarily of the professional records of Bill Sloan, and document his career in the forestry industry—especially as it related to land management for Canadian Pacific and the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway. Many of the records appear to have been collected by Sloan either because of his personal interest in the topic or for his professional work, and as such, many of the records fall outside of the time frame of Sloan’s professional career.

The records have been described in two series: MS-3341, Professional papers; and MS-3342, Photographs.

The collection consists of photographic negatives that mainly depict railway operations in western Canada, particularly British Columbia, from 1886 to 1966. The collection was accumulated from photographs shot or collected by Albert Paull, Roy Jennings and P.H. "Spike" Brown, as well as some other private collectors. These photographs document the history, equipment and operations of the Canadian Pacific Railway, Canadian National Railways, Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway, and Pacific Great Eastern Railway. A wide range of subjects is depicted, including locomotives (steam, electric and diesel), rolling stock, snow plows, stations, water towers, trestles, bridges, right-of-way scenes, and interior views. In addition, there is a small group of industrial subjects, including images relating to the National Harbours Board, various collieries, the Victoria and Sidney Railway, and a number of lumber companies on Vancouver Island. The negatives are organized in five alpha-numeric series, using prefixes that indicate the subject railways -- CP, CN, EN, and PGE -- and IND (for industrial and miscellaneous subjects). The collection also contain a small amount of textual material, including two copies of Bordertown's published "Catalog No. 1" and two typescript copies of the complete Bordertown collection index, prepared in 1979. (See "Finding Aids", below.)

The fonds consists of records documenting the professional career of Stan Humphrey. As a train dispatcher for the E&N Railroad, the records relate to his work as an employee for the E&N and primarily his union work for the Order of Railroad Telegraphers. The records include minutes, correspondence, timetables, constitutions, and human resources records as well as 8 black and white prints. In addition, there is an sound recording of the last morse code messages via telegraph dispatched by Humphrey at the Esquimalt Station on July 12, 1973.
There are also some historic E&N records that Humphrey collected that date from 1905.

The fonds consists of records documenting the professional and personal life of Donald MacLachlan. The predominant theme of the records is MacLachlan's involvement in the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway, its history, operations, and advocacy when threatened with closure. The records contain textual material, photographs and plans, maps and drawings both created and collected by MacLachlan.

News item. Premier Bennett at a press conference. He says the CPR made a contract, years ago, with provincial government to run the E&N line "in perpetuty," even though the CPR has sold most of the land through which it runs. Traffic on the northern part of the line is increasing, Bennett says, as are the gross revenues. If service was discontinued, there would be a big increase in highway traffic, so its necessary to hold the CPR to its obligation.

Contains land records file relating to the Vancouver Island Settlers' Rights Acts, 1903 and 1904. Includes correspondence, memoranda, reports, legal briefs and sketches pertaining to land disputes between settlers and the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway Company. File 145321/12, 1912 Series.

News item. The CPR wants to abandon the E&N railway line because two trestles need extensive repair. Unidentified spokesman says BC government is willing to buy the line if the CPR will return all the free land it received when the line was first put in.

Correspondence, 1905, Robert (Robin) W. Dunsmuir to James J. Hill soliciting financial aid to purchase the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway from James Dunsmuir thereby preventing the purchase of the railway by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company.

Photocopy presented by David Wilkie, Victoria, 1976. Original in the possession of the Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota.

Amor De Cosmos, British Columbia newspaperman and politician, was born in Nova Scotia as William Alexander Smith in 1825 and migrated to Victoria, via the California gold fields, in 1858. As editor of The Colonist, and elected representative in Vancouver Island's colonial government, De Cosmos was active in public affairs. Upon Confederation De Cosmos represented British Columbia (Victoria District) in the House of Commons at Ottawa from 1871 to 1882. During that time he was appointed a Special Agent on 14 October 1880 by George Anthony Walkem's provincial government to present the views of the provincial government to Sir John A. Macdonald's federal administration on the subject of the Vancouver Island section of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Unable to achieve positive results in Ottawa, De Cosmos proceeded to London in May 1881 to present the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Lord Kimberley, with a petition to the Queen on the subject of Canada's railway obligations to British Columbia. He returned to Ottawa in November 1881 to pursue discussions with the various officials concerned. The provincial government relieved De Cosmos of his special duties in May 1882 whereupon De Cosmos returned to Victoria to contest unsuccessfully the June 1882 general election.

The papers consist chiefly of manuscript copies of telegrams, notes and letters between De Cosmos and others while he was acting as Special Agent of the government of British Columbia at Ottawa and London from 1880 to 1882. Some of the correspondence has been published in the 1881 B.C. Sessional Papers, pp. 490-494; see also "Papers relating to the mission of the Hon. Amor De Cosmos to London in 1881 . . . (NW 971B/B862pa); and 'Island railway papers compiled by Amor De Cosmos' (NW971B/D296).

One plan transferred to the map collection [also filmed with correspondence on microfilm reel A00792(1)]. One plan showing a proposed railway ferry between Nanaimo Harbour and English Bay, Burrard Inlet also between Gabriola Pass and Pont Grey has been transferred to the map collection as CM/A984. For related records, see GR-1306, Lieutenant Governor's correspondence.

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