BC Forest Discovery Centre, Forest industry museum in Duncan, British Columbia, Canada.
The BC Forest Discovery Centre is a museum spread across 100 acres with narrow gauge railways that wind through forests and wetlands. It features indoor exhibits, walking trails, a lookout tower, and a marsh area for watching wildlife.
The BC Forest Discovery Centre opened in 1965 as the Cowichan Valley Forest Museum, founded by collector G.E. (Gerry) Wellburn. It was later known for a time as the BC Forest Museum before taking its present name. It chronicles the logging history of British Columbia on a 100-acre site with 2.5 km of operational 3 ft narrow gauge railway.
The center shows how forests and logging have shaped life in this region for generations. The vintage trains and equipment reflect the people who worked these lands and their importance to the area's development.
The 2.5 km narrow gauge railway and the reconstructed fire lookout tower are the two ways to see the site and Somenos Marsh; the tower gives a wide view over the marsh. Trails run through forest and past a Ducks Unlimited pond, so allow time on foot. The centre borders the Somenos Marsh Wildlife Refuge, where waterfowl gather.
Among the centre's seven steam locomotives is Hillcrest Lumber Company No. 9, a Climax class B engine and the only operational Climax locomotive in Canada. The other Climax in the collection, Shawnigan Lake Lumber No. 2, is not operational.
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