Regarding the current brief on the Esquimalt & Nanaimo Rwy. there have been rumors or threats of abandonment for many years. I was pleased to read in 1989 an article in a Victoria newspaper outlining a plan to extend it an additional 180 miles beyond its present 140 in order to reach Port Hardy on the northern end of the island. This, it said, would greatly increase its usefulness by allowing it to reach the large area of active logging. An existing heavy duty logging railroad could be used for about 40 miles. This wold seem unlikely in an age when few railroads were being built were it not for the many hundreds of miles of new line constructed since WWII by the Pacific Great Eastern and its successors the British Columbia Rwy. and BCRail whose operations then included the E&N.

As a passenger, I thought what a splendid improvement that would be since the existing line to Courtenay was largely through heavily forested territory with little sign of the intense commercial development along highways 1 and 19 that parallel the railroad. The bus trip from Victoria to Port Hardy is a wretched all day trip with very little sight of the mountainous coast line that one sees along the inland passageway. The existing subsidized rail passenger service is useful mainly for tourists being too infrequent to be of much use to people who really need to get there. An extension to Port Hardy would give the railroad a real reason to exist and would greatly increase potential passenger usage. I have heard nothing further about any such extension and assume it is not to be. The present ride through rugged terrain includes much beautiful scenery with some unique aspects. It is most regretable that it seems now the entire E&N is about to disappear. Bob Reich

RJReich@aol.com