Woodcock

Woodcock was one of the railway stations set along the Canadian Pacific Railway in the Skeena valley. The area around Woodcock has a history of suffering from bad weather, spring run-offs and flooding. After an initial escape from a heavy landslide in May 1894, the rail line around Woodcock was intermittently compromised. Just a few miles down the tracks, a reported eleven First Nations people lost their lives in a subsequent slide just a day later at the North Pacific Cannery. Interestingly, the original name for Woodcock’s Landing was “Willaclough”, meaning “the place of the slides” (Walbran 1909).

In the period between November 30 and December 3, 1913, debris slides and washouts interrupted the rail line between Terrace and Smithers. Train passengers had to be transferred to a special train. Woodcock itself was completely washed out, with precipitation ranging from 157mm to 282mm over a 3-4 day period. The order of precipitation was rain-on-snow.

Between November 9th and 13th, 1933, heavy rain and strong southerly winds caused many slides as well as downed telegraph lines on the rail line between Woodcock and Kwinitsa. This was also the cause of at least two train derailments along the line. Rail service did not resume until November 17, and many bridges had to be repaired due to structural damage. The resumption of service was to be short-lived.

During the period of November 17-24, 1933, the rail line 1.6 km east of Woodcock again went out due to slides and heavy rainfall. Both telegraph lines were also down. 1948, 1949, 1956, and 1978 also saw disruptions due to the same problems of substantial rainfall triggering slides and washouts.

Works Cited

British Columbia. Ministry of Forests Research Program. “Rainstorm and Flood Damage: Northwest British Columbia 1891-1991”. <http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/pubs/docs/lmh/Lmh31.pdf.>

British Columbia. Ministry of Agriculture and Lands. “BCGNIS Query Results”. <http://srmwww.gov.bc.ca/bcgn-bin/bcg10?name=53975.>