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Damaged Trestle after flooding
Circa 1931
Kinsol Trestle, Cowichan Valley, Vancouver Island, BC Canada

Credits:
Jack Fleetwood, Photographer
Shawnigan Lake Historical Society

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After the CN abandoned the rail line, the survival of the trestle became questionable. The removal of the rails, in 1983, marked the beginning of the deterioration process. The structure was less stable without the rails and now deliberate damage became a frequent problem. The constant assault further weakened the structure. Ed Donald, who lives near the trestle, recalls an incident that took place in the 1980s:

AUDIO: Ed Donald
Once the rails came off then people started taking the ties off the trestle as well and some of that was just out-and-out vandalism. They would pry up the ties and drop them over the side. And, as they would drop, they would break the pieces of wood underneath. So a lot of the damage was caused by that kind of vandalism. Some of it was just vandalism for the sake of seeing what would happen when they threw the wood over. But, one day when I was out for a walk I heard some noise at the trestle and I found there was a crew of people stealing the ties from the trestle. They had a couple of trucks and a big winch and they were winching it off so I went up to one of the operators and said, "well, it looks like you are vandalizing the trestle and stealing the wood". And he said, "Oh, oh no we wouldn't do that. We are only pulling up the ones that other people have dumped off the side." So I said, "Oh, that's interesting, well it sure looks like you're pulling them off the trestle." "Oh, no we wouldn't do that!" So I went down to the house and got on the phone to the police and they sent out an official RCMP 4x4 which came bumping down the tracks and the people who were stealing the wood were heading away with a full load...

Lori Treloar:
Oh, my goodness.

Ed Donald:
...and the police blocked their way and everybody stopped and all the local kids were watching the drama and the men had to explain to the police why they had wood in the back of their truck.

The trestle had already survived flooding and forest fires. Another serious implication for the survival of the structure, after abandonment, was the force of nature. Opponents to the restoration of the trestle argued that the structure was so weak that it would not survive a serious snow load or a severe windstorm. A report prepared by McCall Engineering Ltd. for the provincial Ministry of Transportation (MOT) determined that the trestle had deteriorated to a point where it was no longer economically viable to either replace or repair it. They viewed the neglected trestle as a fire risk and felt that it would likely collapse if confronted with strong winds or an earthquake. This has not proved to be the case. However, one natural element that did affect the health of the trestle was encroaching vegetation. The forest and underbrush, no longer kept at bay by CN, gradually crept towards the trestle and settled in. In addition to the potential fire hazard from the close proximity of the trees, the scrub and brush insinuated themselves between the bents and timbers.

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Ed Donald commenting about vandalism on Trestle
September 2010
Kinsol Trestle, Cowichan Valley, Vancouver Island, BC Canada

Credits:
Ed Donald, Speaker
Shawnigan Lake Historical Society

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Snowy Trestle
2004
Kinsol Trestle, Cowichan Valley, Vancouver Island, BC Canada

Credits:
George Edwards, Photographer

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Around 7:00 a.m., on June 26, 1988, a loud cracking sound alerted a nearby resident to a fire on the trestle. Volunteer firefighters from Shawnigan Lake were the first on the scene and found a fire on the deck of the trestle. Fire Chief Glen Sanders recalls the fire in his interview:

AUDIO: Glen Sanders
Right, it was, what, nine years after the last train had gone over, I believe, so you can see that most of the actual railroad ties were still on there but the rails had been removed. So, as you can see from the way that the hose is stretched out over there it was very difficult because the hose kept looping down through the voids or the spaces between the structural members.

Lori Treloar:
Of course.

Glen Sanders:
So when I first got out on that trestle I am thinking to myself, well this will be easy, we can just buck off the timbers and, you know, let the burning ones fall down to the bottom and put the rest out. And then I quickly thought, probably not a good idea because it would weaken the structural integrity of the bridge and it could be a domino effect and just collapse on us.

Crews from two neighbouring volunteer fire departments and the BC Forest Service were called to help so that the fire could be attacked from both ends of the trestle. Chief Sanders said, "I think it was one of the most hazardous fires we have encountered in a long time because of the height involved." The task was made more dangerous (for the crew) by missing ties and a concern that if the fire wasn't doused quickly, the trestle might collapse. The fire caused an 8-metre gap on the bridge top.

"Blaze at Kinsol Trestle work of fire bug" was the headline in the Citizen newspaper, July 29,1998, for the second major fire on the Kinsol Trestle. Ten years after the first devastating fire, arsonists once again had put the survival of the trestle in jeopardy.

When Shawnigan fire fighters reached the scene, flames were burning through the timbers on the upper deck and had sparked several smaller fires on the timbers below. Chief Sanders said, "I saw the fire getting a good hold at three spots." Because of the hot, humid conditions that day, the Chief immediately called in the Martin Mars water bomber to assist.

AUDIO: Glen Sanders
We realized this is a structure that is what we call a protect-in-place structure. We couldn't let it burn because of the toxic cloud that the smoke would create and would probably move over the heavily populated areas of both Shawnigan and Cobble Hill and Cowichan Bay areas. We couldn't let it fall down because it would probably create a dam in the river and also, again, the creosote and the toxic chemicals used to treat the wood would not be good for the stream as well so it was…we took it very seriously.

The water bomber made four passes over the trestle. In addition, a helicopter hovered over and swung buckets of water in underneath the bridge.

AUDIO: Glen Sanders
The water bombers that came down were the Martin Mars and they were just dropping water with foam in it so we had to ask the question, "Is this going to impact the structural integrity of the bridge?" When it came in, it was just like a snowstorm. They flew right over top of the bridge almost like on the same curve that it is, so from north to south, and the water and the foam just fell like snow all over everything.

In spite of the numerous aerial passes, the water bomber failed to extinguish the fire. However, the drops bought time for the firefighters on the trestle to continue their attack. Fortunately, after their experience at the 1988 fire, Chief Sanders had made an important decision. He had bought new gear and instituted high-angle rappelling training for his crew so that they would be prepared to deal with similar incidents in the future. This paid off during the second fire. Because of his foresight, the fire was quickly under control and further damage to the trestle was minimized. After the second fire, the Ministry of Transportation removed the first few bents on the north and south ends of the Trestle to restrict access.

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Glen Sanders commenting about 1988 fire on Trestle
August 2010
Kinsol Trestle, Cowichan Valley, Vancouver Island, BC Canada

Credits:
Glen Sanders, Speaker
Shawnigan Lake Historical Society

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Martin Mars water bomber responding to 1998 fire on Trestle
1998
Kinsol Trestle, Cowichan Valley, Vancouver Island, BC Canada
AUDIO ATTACHMENT


Credits:
Ed Donald, Photographer
Shawnigan Lake Historical Society

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Glen Sanders commenting about 1998 fire on Trestle
August 2010
Kinsol Trestle, Cowichan Valley, Vancouver Island, BC Canada

Credits:
Glen Sanders, Speaker
Shawnigan Lake Historical Society

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The Kinsol Trestle, like many railway bridges of its era, was built with timber and spanned potentially volatile water. These wooden structures required ongoing maintenance and weren't expected to last forever. Many wooden buildings and bridges have come and gone on Vancouver Island since then, but this trestle remains. The E&N (later Canadian Pacific Railway) rail line on Vancouver Island, completed in 1886, had numerous wooden trestles. Many of these impressive bridges were in excess of 1000 ft. long. The Victoria Daily Colonist newspaper described the trestles on the E&N as "...magnificent timber, well bolted and on solid foundations." However, soon after the line's completion, the E&N buried most of their trestles, with gravel and fill, due to the costly maintenance of wood structures. It is remarkable, therefore, that the Kinsol Trestle has survived despite constant threats from the elements, wilful human destruction and finally, abandonment.

AUDIO: John Romak
Some people might think that you can repair a bridge forever but it's not the case because you are only fixing the weakest links and unless you replace the whole thing you are not replacing it so it can only go for so long by maintenance, you know, it comes to a point where everything is bad.

Lori Treloar:
So, essentially what you are saying is that the trestle, if it was still used for railroads, couldn't have gone on forever?

John Romak:
No, no way, it would have to be replaced because repairing it is. I can do different analogies. Say you have a roof and you change the shingles, that doesn't mean you replaced the roof. No, it's the maintenance. Some people will criticize, "Why did the CN maintain it?" Yes, they maintained it…to make it safe - there was never a time where any train was in jeopardy of going through it.