Photo Courtesy BC Forest Discovery Centre. Photo taken in May 2007 of Bruce Russell standing beside the 1958 LeTourneau Log Transporter, series T that he operated for Crabapple Creek Logging when it was new. Young loggers moved through various camps in BC and worked in many different positions from whistle punks to equipment operators. Although […]
(Cowichan Leader, November 1969) The attached article, Old Locomotives, old cars have a special appeal, is about the then Cowichan Valley Forest Museum’s new hire Fred Bell. Fred volunteered as a fireman at the Forest Museum during the 1967 and 1968 seasons, so as to supplement his firing time with MacMillan Bloedel’s Nanaimo River operation […]
The following article “Ghosts of the Grade” is by Tom W. Parkin is a Canadian non-fiction writer living in Nanaimo, British Columbia, who specializes in researching and writing on topics of western history. The much larger original story, which ran in the magazine Branchline, is about the long-defunct Lenora, Mt. Sicker Railway between Mt. Sicker and […]
The article “Gerry Wellburn’s Logging Collection” is from the December 1958 – January 1959 issue of the Harmac News. It was the last issue of the magazine, published by MacMillan & Bloedel Limited (M&B) who at the time was one of Canada’s leading fully integrated forest product companies. Gerry Wellburn was the founder of the […]
By Christine Holmquist, daughter of Peter Holmquist. My dad, Peter Holmquist, was a logger until 1956. He was a logging show participant for 50 years from the 1950s to 2000. He died in 2010, aged 83. Our family, my mom Doris, and younger siblings, Darlene, and Eric, along with myself, participated in the logging show […]
The curatorial team has been hard at work digitizing the photographic and archival collection with the goal of making these materials publicly accessible for research and general interest. We’ve come across many fascinating materials and photographs so far, such as last week’s find of the drawing by Disney animator Ward Kimball. One other collection that […]
Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan. These familiar names typically bring people fond memories of watching popular animated Disney films over the years. Initially, these films had no connection to the BC Forest Discovery Centre, until the curatorial team came upon an old letter written to Gerry […]
Dennis’ films on YouTube, showing the Norie Brothers Logging in the early 1960’s. Following up on last week’s article on the Norie Brothers, author Ken Wilson has provided us with a brief write-up on his father Dennis Wilson. Besides being a career logger, Dennis was an avid photographer. Dennis was born in 1929 to Morris […]
The following newspaper clipping and article – Norie Brothers’ – Mack Trucks is courtesy of Ken Wilson, Ian McCallum and The Supply Post newspaper. Ken worked in the logging industry for over fifty years and is a regular contributor to the Supply Post with his column Kenny’s Loggin’. Besides writing great articles, Ken has also […]
For those that visited the museum back when it was called the BC Forest Museum (BCFM), you may recall seeing a small contraption whizzing along the tracks powered by the excitement of riders. The handcar, sometimes called a pump car, was once a fast and fun attraction at the museum until it was deemed too […]
