Esquimalt & Nanaimo train Number 1 lead by DRS4-4-1000 number 8004 crossing Arbutus Creek bridge northbound - 1949 Nicholas Morant.

26 October 2011

Island Rail Line Promised to Run "In Perpetuity"

Nanaimo Vancouver Island British Columbia - To the Editor:
 
Re:  E&N (Esquimalt & Nanaimo) Line Destined to be a Walkway - Letters 22 Oct 2011.
 
There is a steady drip, drip, by anti-railway buffs, hoping that their view of the future of railways on Vancouver Island, will prevail and derail the current infrastructure of the various rail systems.
 
By the way, there used to be three rail systems on the Saanich Peninsula alone, and several others on Vancouver Island.
 
But the most important rail line was the E&N.
 
Because of a contract between the Crown and contractor Robert Dunsmuir whereby, in exchange for mineral rights 20 miles either side of the E&N rail line, Dunsmuir and his company were required to run a passenger train every day in both directions, seven days per week in perpetuity.
 
The phrase "in perpetuity" means "forever".
 
If that contract is reneged upon, then all the mineral rights should revert immediately to the Crown, including those mineral rights already scalped and asset-stripped.
 
David J. Weston.