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To compete with the Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway's (E&N) ability to quickly move their freight onto a barge for the mainland, CN built a spur line in 1925: the Tidewater Subdivision (Mile 59.9 to Mile 7.2), linked Deerholme with Cowichan Bay.

Flooding on the Koksilah River in the winter of 1931-32 brought rushing water and large trees hurtling down the river, and the trestle suffered extensive damage. During reconstruction in 1934, repairs were concentrated between bents 1 and 27. At the same time, design modifications put a shorter Howe truss span at the bottom of the structure. The 1934 truss, now resting on top of massive concrete piers, supports bents 12 through 20. In 1936, the section between bents 28 through 36 and the area above the truss underwent repairs. The original upper Howe truss was removed at this time and the space was filled in with normal frame bents. The north section was rebuilt in 1958, between bents 36 and 46. After that, repairs were sporadic and minimal.

As CN intended to abandon the line, their policy was to maintain, not rebuild. According to John Romak, former Bridge and Structures foreman for the CN Cowichan Subdivision, "In '58, they still had four bridge crews on the island, so somewhere in 1961, they figure well, we're going to abandon the island, no more maintenance, so we'll only need one crew."

By the 1960s, the forest industry on southern Vancouver Island was declining. CN continued to haul some freight over the trestle until 1979, even though regular service south of Deerholme was discontinued in 1975. In 1979, CN applied for and received permission to abandon the line between Mile 1.9 and 57.9. This included the Kinsol Trestle. To accommodate one last load over the Trestle, some repair work was done to the Trestle in 1979. CN then decommissioned the rail line in June of that year.
On June 20, 1979, the last train, a locomotive with four cars carrying cedar poles, crossed the trestle.

The CN officially abandoned that section of the Cowichan Subdivision on June 30, 1979.

AUDIO: Richard Pope
I was just in awe of it and I wish I had known at the time, in 1979, that I actually was watching the last train going over it. Had I known it, I would have definitely had my camera with me that time, but I didn't. I just thought it was going to be there forever...way, way back, Jack (Fleetwood) saw it as something unique and special, and he foresaw the end of it. As I said earlier, I wish I had, I wish I'd known that day that I saw the train go over it, whereas I think Jack saw that. He knew that its time was coming.

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Last locomotive crosses Trestle
20 June 1979
Kinsol Trestle, Cowichan Valley, Vancouver Island, BC Canada


Credits:
David Wilkie, Photographer
Western Canadian Railway Association Archives