By Ben Tompkins

On the right track

Central BC Railway and Forestry Museum opening student-led exhibit

Aug 12, 2021 | 11:44 AM

PRINCE GEORGE – Have you wondered how the railway tracks are maintained? Or what happens if there is a train accident?

“Derailed: keeping the click-clack on the track” will immerse you in the experience of auxiliary crews. These crews were ready at a moment’s notice to respond to a railway clean-up call. Come learn about various equipment and tools that maintained the railway, dive into the salvage at Seton Lake, and come create your own accident report at the Dispatch Station.

Derailments on the railway were often caused by train collisions, trains going off the rails, and natural disasters such as rockslides. Auxiliary crews were usually a group of 15-20 workers called to derailment sites to clean up accidents and to put trains and cargo cars back on the track as quickly as possible.

The auxiliary crews of both Squamish and Prince George were called to the derailment at Seton Lake. The derailment at Seton Lake in 1980 happened near the town of Lillooet, BC where two locomotives went into the lake as a result of a rockslide. Grab a seat and watch the video footage of the salvage at Seton Lake, and check out the model diorama and its story in detail.

“This exhibit has given our summer students an opportunity to learn about the lives of railway workers and the connections that they had in Prince George. The students have put together an amazing exhibit that the community will enjoy!” Maria Martins, Curator.

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With files from Central BC Railway and Forestry Museum