E & N R AILWAY

Coal mining became a very profitable venture in the late 19th century on Vancouver Island. The Nanaimo mines were a major source of coal and were originally developed by the Hudson's Bay Company. The H.B.C. mines were later taken over by the Vancouver Coa l and Land Company and this company was in competition with a company run by Robert Dunsmuir, a former mine manager with the H.B.C.. Dunsmuir employed great numbers of Chinese labourers to work his mines and build the Esquimalt - Nanaimo (E & N) Railway w hich was completed in 1886, reaching Victoria by 1888. In order to build this railway Dunsmuir received a large subsidy as well as significant land grants from the federal government.
Dunsmuir
Robert Dunsmuir
The E & N Railway increased the already substantial Dunsmuir family fortune; however, there were significant differences between the coal miners and the Dunsmuirs over conditions of employment (the mines were considered deathtraps) and rates of pay. The CPR purchased the E &N Railway in 1905, extending it to Courtenay.
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Description of the E & N line taken from the British Columbia directory, 1887

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