The Dunrobin is a Victorian relic built in 1894 for a Duke and driven by Alphonso XIII of Spain and three of Britain's reigning monarchs, Edward VII, George V and George VI. Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip and Princess Anne also rode on the ornate coach and engine while visiting Fort Steele Heritage Town during the 1971 Centenary of British Columbia's entry into Confederation. Named after the ancestral seat of the fourth Duke of Sutherland, Dunrobin Castle in Northern Scotland, the locomotive was operated solely for the Duke and his aristocratic guests. It ran on the Highland Railway Company's tracks between Inverness and Golspie to a private station near the castle. During the First World War, the castle was used as an auxiliary naval hospital and the little Dunrobin transported its patients. In the Battle of Britain the locomotive was conscripted and did useful service as a shunting engine. After fifteen years of post-war retirement in Kent, Dunrobin and its parlour car were brought to Canada in 1965 by a Victoria businessman. Then, purchased by the British Columbia Government, they were restored and moved to Fort Steele in 1967.

The small parlour car still has its original luxurious finishings, including a deep pile carpet, wind-up gramaphone, and indoor brass plumbing, perhaps the first ever installed in a railway coach. When this antique car became too delicate for the increasing loads of eager Fort Steele visitors, it was retired in favour of a 1955 British Railways coach.

The workhorse of the East Kootenay Railway Company's line until recently has been the "Robert E. Swanson." This engine is a Pacific Coast Shay locomotive built by the Lima Locomotive Works in 1934. Although larger and newer than the type used in East Kootenay for logging operations, the design, intended for maneuverability and power rather than speed, typified the type of engine found working the local pine and spruce forests.

With a different boiler this locomotive began its career as Shay No. 5 for the Merrill, Ring and Wilson Timber Company at Rock Bay, B.C. Initially a coal burner, No. 5 was subsequently converted to oil, which it still burns today. It was used by various logging companies until 1962 when steam afficionado Robert E. Swanson obtained it and leased it to the wharves in North Vancouver for shunting work. When diesel units replaced steam on the wharves eight years later, Swanson gave the engine to the provincial government for use at Fort Steele.

In 1971 the 90-ton West Coast Shay arrived at Fort Steele, steaming up a 9 1/2 percent grade on a temporary track laid through the town. It was an immediate success. Since then the venerable engine has hauled tens of thousands of site visitors on a steam-era trip over the 2 1/2 mile-long track of the East Kootenay Railway Company. Unfortunately mechanical problems and a shortage of funds for repairs have kept the Shay in covered storage for the past several years.

A 2-6-2 built by the Montreal Locomotive Works in 1923 for the Cathels & Sorenson logging operation on Vancouver Island came to Fort Steele in 1992. Named 1077, this 125,000 pound locomotive has kept the spirit of steam alive at Fort Steele. Departing hourly, 1077 brings both tears of reminiscence and screams of excitement from young and old.

The railway collection also includes a Morrissey, Fernie & Michel Railway coach that awaits restoration. This coach was used early in this century to transport coal miners between Fernie and the mines at Coal Creek. It is a wonderful relic of the early industrialization of East Kootenay, and we hope to restore it to show condition soon.

Future development of this theme will include an operating sawmill and camp along the line. We are also looking at restoring an ancient White logging truck and a Caterpillar 30 to work with the sawmill. For more see the Fort Steele Steam Railway in our Guide to Exhibits. Ride the steam train and make time stand still!