Hogging Logs On Vancouver Island

by Chuck Lee

Hog is a slang railroad term for locomotive, and the engineer is sometimes referred to as a hogger. During the month of November, 1998, I was, briefly, a guest hogger on the last logging railroad in Canada. (The only other logging railroad left in North America is in Washington, a few hundred miles away.) I spent a long day riding logging trains: hauling loaded log cars to a port where they are shipped away, and then bringing the empties back to the loading sites. At both ends of the trips there were track switches to throw, cars to couple and uncouple, and much waiting for things to be ready for the next step. Although I did sit in the engineer's seat and control the locomotive for a few minutes, the senior employee with the railroad was right beside me, showing me what to do and ready to take over if any emergency occurred. This was a man born only a couple of weeks after I was. He joined the railroad about the time I left home for college, and we enjoyed comparing our careers. He had never gone more than a hundred miles from where he grew up, and had worked for the same employer, doing pretty much the same thing, for about 46 years. The part of me that loves railroads so much was envious of his lifetime of riding the trains - and I believe he thought that perhaps he had missed something by not exploring more of the world.

The Englewood Railway is owned and operated by Canfor, a large Canadian forest products company with operations throughout much of western Canada. At the location I visited, at the northern end of Vancouver Island, the trees are felled and brought to nearby off-road truck loading facilities; the trucks in turn carry the logs to one of several re-loading operations located along the railway main line. At each of these transfer points the trucks pull alongside empty logging railcars, and a derrick transfers the logs. Generally, it takes two truck loads to fill one railcar. After the railcars are unloaded at the seaport, the logs are placed in the water and grouped into large "floats", and towed to lumber mills on the mainland.

Motive power is provided by four diesel locomotives, each operating separately on a different portion of the line, and coordinated by radio from a centrally located dispatcher. As logging operations have declined in recent years, one of these engines is now considered excess and may be sold in the near future. Even with three units, one of those is often idle and serving as a spare in case either of the two "regular" trains needs assistance. A steam locomotive (in railroad terms, a Mikado or 2-8-2) is also maintained, but in recent years has been used only for community relations purposes during the summer. It will probably not run again under steam on this line, due to the gradual retirement of the employees qualified and competent to operate and maintain it.

Most of my railroad related activities were extremely rewarding to me, and the high point of the trip, but probably not of general interest to most of my friends; therefore I have only described them very briefly.

Vancouver Island is oblong in shape, about 300 miles long, and about 50 miles wide, off the southwest corner of Canada. The major axis runs northwest-southeast, and the island is separated from the mainland of Canada by the 25-mile-wide Strait of Queen Charlotte and Strait of Georgia. The principal urban center of note is Victoria, located at the southern tip of the island, and home to most of the population and employment. I merely drove through Victoria, to and from the ferry terminal where the boat from Port Angeles, Washington, docks.

The northern end of Vancouver Island has no cities, and very few settlements of any size. One can drive for over an hour along the main highway without encountering a single commercial establishment, and there are very few homes along the road. One sees rivers, mountains with timber and snow, and sometimes a glimpse of a private logging road. Here and there one can find a "logger bar" which is a combination bar, cafe, grocery store, phone booth, gas station, and sometimes there are rooms to rent. After visiting a few of these I expected to see a sign "no boots, no parka, no service" but I didn't. That is the way everyone dresses just to keep warm and dry. It is often hard to tell if a person entering is male or female, since everyone dresses pretty much the same, with many layers of clothing. I noted that bar stools are spaced farther apart than here, due to the extra space each person takes up when seated at the bar. Just about everyone smokes constantly, and some put away a bottle of beer as fast as a cigarette.

The people I saw (mostly men) in the logger bars were polite but not friendly. I observed no hostility, but it was clear that there were cliques of people in each bar who did not socialize outside their own circle. I was generally there to eat lunch or dinner, and most of the clientele was there to drink, smoke, play darts, gamble electronically, and catch up on the news. Couples would generally split up, with the man joining his buddies, and the woman sitting down with a group of women. The women talked mostly about children and cooking, the men about driving in the snow, the weather, sports, and other men where they worked. Since there was often no other commercial establishment for 50 miles, my choice was to spend the evening overhearing the bar talk after dinner, or reading in my room. I did half and half. Unlike time I have spent lounging in bars elsewhere on my travels, no one here initiated any conversation with me or invited me to sit at his table.

Like my first extended visit* to Vancouver Island, I again drove my car which provided me greater scheduling and privacy convenience that would not have been available on public transportation. This was a low-energy trip, and I did not undertake any preparatory physical conditioning. I experienced no health problems while I was gone. I was prepared, however, to live for a few days if necessary out of my car, with food, emergency supplies, and cold weather clothing. However, the weather was generally warmer and drier than expected, food and restaurants were easily available, and lodging was not a problem.

The primary reason for my first extended trip to Vancouver Island was to experience days and even weeks of constant rain. That did not happen then, in February, but I was assured locally that November was the month that had the most rain, so I planned my return to maximize the opportunity for heavy and constant rain. As it turned out, I again had the bad luck to encounter unseasonably warm and sunny weather all the time I was on the island. There were a few days of light rain, but nothing heavy or prolonged. One pleasant surprise was the colorful fall foliage I did not realize existed on Vancouver Island. Although not up to New England standards, the patches here and there of yellow, orange, and red leaves amongst the predominate evergreens was beautiful.

On my previous trip I had been unsuccessful in riding either of the railroads on the island, and I believed my chances would be better this time. When I was there before, the Englewood Railway had shut down for the winter, and it was uncertain whether it would ever open again. As the timber industry continues to decline, the economies of scale that justify a logging railway sometimes give way to other modes of transportation, such as using trucks for longer and longer trips between the forest and the mills or ports, so it was not at all clear then whether the line would reopen for the summer 1998 logging season. The staff had been very friendly, and my impression was that I would be welcome to visit and ride along if operations were resumed. At the other railway on the island I had not been warmly received, and was not allowed to ride, but since that time I had reason to expect a warmer reception on a second visit.

This time I was received much more courteously than before at the second railway, and was provided with modest hospitality at the headquarters, but was again firmly refused when I asked about riding. Although I have twice been thwarted in my efforts to ride this railway, which runs, primarily, between Nanaimo and Port Alberni, I am encouraged by the fact that this line was recently sold to an American shortline operator, Rail America. The staff will be changed somewhat, and the long-time general manager who has so courteously refused me in the past will be retiring and replaced by someone else. Thus, I may make a third trip there someday if I first receive indications that my requests might be more favorably received.

Thus, two of my three primary purposes for this trip were thwarted, which was very disappointing. However, as mentioned above, my visit to the Englewood Railway was extremely successful. I spent time with at least a dozen employees, from the General Manager on down, spread over two days, and was allowed a free run of the shops and facilities. I rode in the cabs of two trains, and was driven around in a company truck to see other points of interest.

After a few days of railroading at the northern end of the island, and exploring various logger bars there, I drove south and west to the small village of Tofino, a small community with a year-round population of perhaps 1,000. As on the previous trip, I made an extended stay there. For most of the time that there has been a place called Tofino it has been a small fishing village. It is located on the west coast of Vancouver Island, about halfway up the island from Victoria, and until recently it was the western terminus of the Trans-Canada Highway. Just a few years ago, however, the tourism industry in Victoria convinced the government to designate that city as the official western terminus; however, the sign still stands near the municipal pier that announces Tofino as the end of the Trans-Canada Highway. Spanish explorers first noted the area well over 200 years ago, and named it after an admiral in the Spanish Navy. Only in the last 50 years or so has Tofino been connected with the rest of the world by a road, and that road has only been paved for about 20 years. The closest other village (Ucluelet), even smaller, is 20 miles away. One must drive abut 60 miles to find a modest city (Port Alberni). Commercial fishing has dwindled in recent years, for reasons not fully understood but basically because there are not sufficient fish in the nearby ocean to catch. Some claim over-harvesting, others blame global warming, and almost all of the fishing done today in Tofino is for home or local consumption, or done by the tourists who are discovering this remote and idyllic place during the summer months. At the height of the tourist season the local population increases by a factor of about 10, and it is hard to find a place to stay at any of the many motels and campgrounds nearby. Increasingly during the fall and spring Tofino has become attractive to affluent people in Vancouver who make the 2-3 hour trip for a weekend out of town.

Since my previous visit to Tofino Internet access has been established at the library, and at two local restaurants. An exorbitant fee is charged by the library, but access is free at the restaurants. However, while I was there one restaurant had closed for the season. At the other restaurant no one knew how to maintain the computer; and various visitors and I spent some time each day trying to restore a connection and keep the computer working. Fortunately, my motel host also had Internet access, and was very comfortable with my sitting in his living room and using the computer every other day or so. Thus I was able to keep in contact with my family and close friends at home.

On this visit to Tofino there were four restaurants open for business. Two of them were all non-smoking, and the other two had non-smoking sections - a nice improvement for me since my previous visit. Unfortunately, the level of customer service was not what many Americans would expect. The staff is mostly teenagers or very young adults, often somewhat bitter about their lack of better paying options, and sometimes resentful of the more affluent tourists who come in large numbers during the summer. One result is amateur food preparation by the kitchen staff and inattentive dining room personnel. This poor service, as well as the lack of selection in these restaurants encouraged me to prepare some meals in my room from the simple groceries I bought at the local store. Peanut butter sandwiches, canned beans and spaghetti, and fruit with cheese exhausted my culinary skills. As has become my practice outside of the USA, I drank coffee, soft drinks, and beer - instead of my usual iced tea that is so hard to obtain in other parts of the English-speaking world. I also enjoyed hot cider and sweet pastries as I sat and read and watched the sky, but obtaining them together was a complicated process, since each came from a different bakery. One bakery had excellent donuts, cinnamon rolls, and other baked goods, but only cold drinks. The other bakery had coffee, hot tea, and hot cider, but the bakers were health-food proponents, and the pastries they prepared had little flavor and no sweetness. So, I bought my cinnamon roll at one place, and went to the other for my hot cider. There I sat in a glassed in gazebo and read and watched the clouds, the occasional light rain, and the interesting people that came and went all morning.

My days of relaxation in Tofino generally consisted of a morning walk of less than an hour, then reading for an hour or so over a pastry and hot cider. Then another walk around town, ending up at the small restaurant where I ate most of my breakfast/lunch meals. I would then use the computer there if it was working, or go and read in the library if it was open that day. Mid-afternoon usually found me back in my room for a snack and more reading or just watching the ocean. Late afternoon I would again wander around town, and either buy something at the store to fix for my evening meal or eat at one of the restaurants that was open for dinner. By the time it was dark I was back in my room, reading; sometimes I wandered out again, just before 10 p.m., to get an ice cream bar at the grocery store before it closed.

Again on this trip I generally stayed at a Motel 6 or other modest lodging. In Tofino I stayed in the same room at the same motel as on my previous trip. My room was of adequate size, well furnished, with a modern bathroom and an outstanding setting. The room looked out on the islands in the distance, and the sea. The waves were crashing on the rocks about 50 feet below my balcony. On my first night back in this room I read late into the night, and when I grew sleepy I turned the thermostat down, left the sliding glass door open, and enjoyed listening to the crashing waves as I went to sleep. As the sun came up and the room became lighted, I awoke in a cold room, closed the door, turned the thermostat up, and went back to sleep for a few more hours. Then I awoke again mid-morning in a cozy room with a beautiful view.

The next evening, however, at dusk I was visited on the balcony by a friendly (or at least hungry) raccoon who accepted my hospitality - mostly cookies and nuts from my traveling food supplies. When I ran out of cookies, and retired to my bed to read, the raccoon entered the room through the open door, still apparently hungry. I did not look forward to having my food stores ransacked during the night, so when I returned to the door the raccoon slowly and respectfully retreated outside, and sat by the sliding glass door. I closed it most of the way, leaving only four inches or so for the sea sounds to come in, yet blocking the raccoon. That worked, and the next night there were three raccoons, and on the nights after that I had four such visitors every evening about dusk. I bought more nuts and cookies, and spent nearly an hour each evening watching them eat, scuffle and snarl, and scarf down whatever I gave them.

Costs:-

The approximate costs involved were as follows:    

Category                    Amount
  Gasoline                   $170
  Ferry                        60
  Lodging                   1,100
  Food                        500
  Guest meals                  70
  Miscellaneous               100
        TOTAL              $2,000

*Other trip reports are: Tramping New Zealand, 1994; Bushwalking Papua New Guinea, 1995; Waltzing Tassie And Other Tales, 1996; Foaming Nova Scotia, 1997; Neqemgelisa On Vancouver Island, Plus ... , 1998; Fadging Around The Rock, 1998. Available by email for free upon request.

C. W. Lee, February 9, 1999
cwlee@post.harvard.edu

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©1999, C. W. Lee, cwlee@dhvx20.csudh.edu, all rights reserved.