This line was opened in 1891 by the BC Electric from Vancouver to New Westminster. The original routing of the line was identical to the final routing from Boundary Road (Central Park) to somewhere around Royal Oak, whence it went on a route roughly following today's Kingsway. The currently-existing section from the Royal Oak area to 12th St yard was opened in 1912, and with the ending of passenger services, the Vancouver - Boundary Road and the Kingsway routing in Burnaby and New Westminster were closed. The Central Park line was finally closed in the late 1990s, some years following the sale of BC Hydro Railway and the creation of the Southern of BC.
This page will mainly be a photo documentation of the line as it exists now, as an attempt to preserve what there is there now, before further development finishes the line off for good.
Looking north from the southeastern entrance to 12th St yard, the Central Park line follows the outermost track on the right side. South of the level crossing visible the track is still used for storage, but over it to the north, a piece of rail has been removed already. The track continues up the sharp hill in behind the string of freight cars, paralleling Stewardson Way, crossing 5th Ave (visible in the background on the left where the greenery starts downhill, and continuing parallel to Stewardson.
Looking downhill (eastwards), Stewardson Way is on the left, the yard on the right. This photo gives a good idea of how steep this approach was: it takes only the length of six autoracks to reach the height of an autorack. Certainly not a difficulty for the BCER's electric power, I wish I could remember seeing the SWs working up this incline.
A tie bar in the uphill track.
At the top of the sharpest part of the hill, the line crosses 5th Ave. It's probably been ten years since any wheels rolled along this track; the crossing warning lights have been plated over with red discs replacing the lenses.
The line continues uphill parallel to Stewardson Way after crossing 5th Ave, and the first industrial siding is only a handful of yards past the level crossing, to the smaller secondary building of Scott Paper. Note the steep incline of the siding itself, sharply going downhill from the steep uphill of the mainline.
Looking back downhill towards the 5th Ave level crossing from the switch leading to the Scott Paper siding.
A closer look down the Scott Paper siding. From this view, the sharp difference in elevation between the mainline and the siding track is clearly visible. Since the closure of the line, this building has been served by trucks; Scott Paper's main building (off image to the left, on the river side of the track from 12th St yard to Trapp Yard) is and was served by CN. From here the mainline continues uphill to cross the intersection of Stewardson Way, 6th Ave and Marine Way at the base of Grimston Park.
The track through the road in the three-way intersection has long since been pulled up and paved over, but once off the street, the rails resume. This photo was taken looking eastwards, with Grimston Park to the viewer's left from this spot.
From the crossing, the incline eases up and the line continues westwards on a gentler uphill. It crosses 20th St, where again the tracks have been pulled up from the road and paved over, and the rails resume about 30 feet in from the street. This portion is very heavily overgrown until just before the access road to the bus loop at 22nd Street SkyTrain station, visible in the foreground of the image above. In the background (where the do not enter sign is visible), the track crosses 7th Ave (again, the rails have been pulled up from the road), leaving only a very short stretch of some metres length of intact trackage. Note the 'W' sign hanging decrepitly from the post to the right of the foreground - a sign only ghost trains take into consideration nowadays.
From 22nd Street SkyTrain station the line took a turn towards the north, running uphill and crossing Southridge Drive/10th Ave on a bridge. This bridge is no longer there: it would be between the SkyTrain bridge on the left of the photo and the footbridge (for the trail running along to Hydro line for much of its length) on the left; the photo was taken almost exactly where the middle of the track was.
The end of the track on the western (northern) side of where the bridge once was is now covered in a mound of ballast, only a small bit of the rail peeking out...
Now in Burnaby and heading westbound from the Southridge Drive overpass, the track roughly parallels Griffiths Drive; to the left is, since 1985, the depot/shop area for SkyTrain. The rail here is partly in place, partly pulled up.
A closeup of one of the tieplates visible in the above photo; note the year (1950) - this was laid by BC Electric, most probably, before passenger services ended.
A prototype for foam roadbed?
The line takes a gentle leftwards curve as it heads westbound; the SkyTrain shops are to the viewer's right. In the past, there was rail-served industry there.
Straightening out as the track approaches the one 'tunnel' on the line, there is a switch that led to an industrial siding just before Southpoint Drive.
Looking back eastbound over the switch.
The siding crossed this bridge on its way to the industrial area that used to be here. I can't recall what it was, but I have a childhood recollection of a Lucerne dairy complex here; whether this is where it was or not, I am not certain, but I do remember rails and trains in this area. (I seem also to remember tracks going across the street somewhere, to the far side of Griffiths Drive, or 19th Ave as it was called then, but again, I'm not certain).
Westbound again, the line crosses Southpoint Drive and enters the one 'tunnel' on the line, the BC Hydro & Power Authority's office building to the right of the viewer. This building was opened in the 1990s, following the sale of Hydro's downtown tower.
Looking back eastbound over the Southpoint Drive level crossing. Note the guardrails.
Inside the tunnel. The switch starting the siding is inside the tunnel itself; the arrangement of the guardrails around the switch is interesting. It was on this siding that I last recall seeing freight cars anywhere on this line, sometime in the latter part of the 1990s - amongst them, a CN boxcar.
Closeup of the switch machine inside the tunnel.
Looking back eastbound towards the tunnel. The main track is still fairly free of overgrowth, but the siding is almost completely covered with grass, bushes, brambles and saplings.
Looking westbound again over the mainline and siding.
The switch closing the siding, leading back into the single-track mainline.
Looking eastbound over the spot where the line crossed Rumble St. The track has been pulled up from the road surface and paved over, but the "Railway Crossing" sign is still there...
An eastbound view of the line paralelling Rumble St at Hedley Ave. The track is completely overgrown, rail showing only in a few spots and only if one looks closely, but the manicured grass ends almost exactly along the line made by the ends of the crossties.
Same location as the above photo, but looking westbound.
Looking westbound over where the line, paralleling Rumble St still, crosses Gilley Ave.
A view eastbound from just before the point where the line diverges from Rumble St to cross Ermin St and run parallel to Prenter St.
The line has just crossed Ermin St a few feet behind the viewer, and a very interesting stretch of industrial trackage begins as the line parallels Prenter St. Here, a switch leads into another curved turnout that splits into two sidings that served the buildings visible. The siding on the left was, I think, one of the last industries on the line to be rail-served, as I recall various boxcars sitting at the loading dock in the middle 1990s.
A closer view of the curved crossing inside the road.
A few yards further westbound and the line comes to more switches. The closer right-hand turnout leads to a siding at the building with the yellow lining along the roof; the left-hand turnout crosses the street to an industry there.
A view of the spur crossing Prenter St to another industrial loading dock.
Moving westbound a few feet, this photo is taken from the centre of the second switch in the above image. Switch after switch here: the second (right-hand) turnout in this image leads to another loading dock.
A closer view of the second turnout mentioned above.
A view back eastbound over the interesting track layout described over the several photos above.
A handful of yards westbound of the 'turnout complex' above, the line crosses Buller St with Beresford St on the viewer's left, Prenter St on the right. The switch visible in the above photo is the beginning of the short Beresford spur.
The Beresford spur crossing Buller.
Eastbound along the Beresford spur. Much of the track is now overgrown, including this nearly intact whistlepost.
Eastbound along the Beresford spur. The overgrowth lets up towards the end of the spur, leaving the rails exposed. Here the track approaches the level crossing with the footpath, mere yards from the end of the spur.
A closeup of the guard rail in the crossing with the footpath. Notice the guardrail is simply made of a second piece of rail rotated 90 degrees.
A closeup of the casting information on the rail: 85 pound rail cast in 1964.
East end of the Beresford spur, just before Gilley Ave. The track and buffer are grown over with brambles.
A closer view of the end of the Beresford spur.
Back on the mainline heading westbound parallel to Beresford, just after crossing Buller.
Crossing MacPherson Ave westbound, there is a switch just before the road leading to a siding/passing loop.
The siding is mostly overgrown and partly pulled up, but the mainline is mostly intact. Looking westbound, parallel to Beresford.
The siding has a switch, that led to an industrial spur on the south side of Beresford St.
Looking off in the direction the industrial spur went, the track crossed Beresford roughly where the crosswalk is now. The industrial area was converted into a residential development some years ago.
Though the frogs have been removed from most of the turnouts on the line, this one is still in place.
End of the siding, returning to single-track mainline heading westbound.
Here, heading westbound, the line crosses Royal Oak Ave at Beresford.
Just past Royal Oak, a switch leading to an industrial siding.
Looking back eastbound over the switch. The track of the siding has been completely removed, and only the loading door on the building gives any evidence of that industry ever having been rail-served.
Westbound of the siding, the track makes a gentle right-hand turn. Note the 'SLOW 16' sign still standing there beside the track, though covered in graffiti.
The last bit of continuously-remaining track ends just before where it crossed Nelson St, just south of Imperial Ave. The end of the track has been covered in earth, and a large boulder placed in the middle of the track. Beyond this point westbound along the line there is no track remaining, apart from occasional very small chunks.
After crossing Imperial, the line turns left, moving to parallel Beresford and Central Boulevard (on the right). The area to the right, now covered by the sprawling Metrotown mall complex, was formerly mostly industrial. There was a Simpsons-Sears store (around which the first phase of the mall was built), and west of those, two industries. One of these I remember was called Kelly-Douglas; these two may or may not have had rail sidings. In the photo, the gravelly paths indicate the location of the track.
Continuing westbound along the right-of-way, this is the first evidence since before crossing Nelson St that there was a rail line here in the past. Metrotown Mall is to the right.
Looking westbound where the line crossed Willingdon Ave. The road here has since been resurfaced and shows no evidence that a railway once crossed it.
After Willingdon, the line continued west in this cut between Central Blvd and Beresford St. The concrete blocks are roughly where the line was located.
The track is still in place where it crossed Wilson Ave. West of Imperial, it is only at former level crossings where rail can still be found.
Further west, the line crosses Patterson Ave, just before entering Central Park.
Inside Central Park, several of these culverts remain in place along the former right of way.
Another small remnant of track inside Central Park, here crossing a footpath.
The westbound approach into the former Central Park 'yard' area. There were at least two tracks here, but possibly three (two sidings plus the mainline).
Looking back eastbound over the yard area. To the right side of the image a loading platform was located, standing at least as recently as the early 1990s.
Looking westbound from the west end of the Central Park yard, over the spot where the (single) mainline crossed Kingsway.
Just west of the Kingsway crossing, the line crossed this small overpass.
A side view of the overpass. Note that the original openings have been filled in, and a new, smaller one put in place in the larger one on the left.
A closeup of the original large opening under the overpass.
After crossing Kingsway, east of which the line ran in a cut, it went over the overpass and onto a fill, as the land here is naturally in a sharp slope. There is no track or other evidence of railway here; this area is now home to the tents of a few homeless people.
The eastern end of the fill, which was the eastern foot of the bridge crossing Boundary Road from Burnaby into Vancouver.
Looking west across Boundary Rd at the western foot of the former bridge.
The north side of the western foot of the bridge.
Looking eastwards from the western foot of the Boundary Road overpass.
West of Boundary Rd, the fill continues as the line heads further into Vancouver.
Looking westbounds towards where the line crossed Joyce Ave at Vanness Ave. No evidence of track anywhere in this area.
(To Be Continued...)
