On the west arm of Kootenay Lake (British Columbia) and close to Nelson, there’s remains of an ancient tugboat. This craft, the wood-hulled SS Hosmer, was launched well over a century ago and for decades employed by the Canadian Pacific Railway. It hauled barges for that firm, loaded with rail cars up and down the south end of lake.
It’s big body of water and the tug kept busy ferrying barge load after barge load between Kootenay Landing and Proctor. There’s some rough country between those two points and it would take a while for the railway to close the gap.
Post retirement, they CPR sold the tug and it languished not far from Nelson for some time. It later burned to the waterline, sank in the shallows and for the last eighty some years has been rotting away near shore. All that remains today is the rusty boiler partly above water, and some of the hull below, occasionally exposed when lake levels ebb. The prop, removed decades ago, was put on display in town.
The Tug SS Hosmer (1909): remains of a tugboat on the west arm of Kootenay Lake BC. Obscure history with Chris Doering & Connie Biggart (BIGDoer/Synd)
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The craft sits in the shallows of a small cove and between two points of land. Surrounded by houses and cabins, there’s limited foot access and to walk in requires permission. Private beaches and all. That’s how we did it, but the owners we spoke with mentioned it’s not their regular practice to allow. It must have been our gleaming smiles and infectious personalities…yeah, that’s it.
If you come by water, and that lake is great for boating, access is pretty easy. Bring your snorkel and we understand it’s pretty interesting under the surface. Sections of wood superstructure below water and usually hidden from view.
The Nelson Shipyards constructed the SS Hosmer (Steam Ship) in 1909. This facility built many vessels in the CPR’s Kootenay Lake fleet and was responsible for their maintenance. The hull and superstructure were of heavy wood beams and planking. The steam engine, boiler and drive cylinders, came by way of a firm in Ontario and were brought in by rail. It was the largest and last of the big steam tugs built for use on Kootenay Lake.
The CPR had many ships on the body of water, including sternwheelers, barges and tugs like the SS Hosmer. Each had a purpose and they all kept busy. They ferried rail-barges to various disconnected lines and rail-equipped loading docks on shore of Kootenay Lake. The largest of them, sternwheelers, also provided passenger and freight service to towns and settlements on the lake.
Kootenay Lake is a big one – more in a moment.
The SS Hosmer shuttled trains between two sections of CPR’s southern mainline that had yet to be linked. It would take decades to close. The tug worked hard from day one and as a result needed a rebuilt in the late 1910s. Later, in the mid-1920s, it suffered a fire and this required extensive repairs too.
With completion of that rail gap spoken of earlier (early 1930s – through extremely precipitous territory, so it took time) the SS Hosmer was out of work. They say it was worn out too. Old records mention the tug handled multiples of two to three barges at at time, with up to fifteen railcars each, several times per day, each way, six or seven days a week.
After languishing in the CPR shipyards for a few years, the railway sold to a local fellow with intentions to turn it into a house boat of sorts. The shipyard salvaged the drive machinery (but not the boiler), so what this person planned to do in that regard seems a mystery. How far along the project proceeded overall is unknown.
The SS Hosmer remained anchored in this little cove for years and not far from where it is today. In the early 1940s vandals burned it to the waterline and it sank in the process. It’s shallow here so it didn’t have far down to go. Abandoned at this point, it’s only a couple clicks away from the former shipyard (now gone) that built it.
What remained of the hull eventually collapsed under the weight of the boiler. Today, the latter is the only part visible most of the time and on our visit it almost looked like it was floating not far from shore. If water levels are low some wood bits are visible and other times the boiler is more submerged. Photos found from a few decades ago show the SS Hosmer looking much as it does today.
It’s said old rails are scattered about the wreck and presumably they’re ship’s ballast. The submerged rudder, now separated from the hull, is not far away, along with other odd bits of metal and wood. In the 1980s, the Nelson Museum removed the prop and brought it to town. We looked on streetview and it’s not in the location we photographed it at any more.
Charles Hosmer, a CPR official of the era, lent his name to the tug. He did the same for Hosmer British Columbia, a town out in southeastern quadrant of the province and not far from Fernie.
The railway had many tugs on Kootenay Lake, not just the SS Hosmer. These other craft dated from the 1890s to 1950s, with all but the most recent built at the firm’s Nelson shipyards. The last of these operated up until the 1970s, serving those disconnected lines touched on earlier (those still in use at this time).
The SS Hosmer was largest tug on Kootenay Lake (33m in length, 6m wide and 100-ish gross tonnes). The CPR also operated larger passenger ships and the last of these, the storied Moyie, is now on display in Kaslo north of Nelson.
The SS Hosmer is not the only ship wreck on the lake and there’s others, mostly connected to the CPR’s former operations. Some of remains are close to shore like this one, while others are in deep water.
Kootenay Lake, end to end, is over a hundred kilometres long and the west arm extends out for a few dozen more. In most places it a couple or few kilometres wide. The surface area is some four hundred square kilometres and we told you it was huge! It’s one of the biggest in the province and is very popular with recreational users.
This is yet another post lost to the great system crash of a couple months ago, but brought back. Rather than restore from backups verbatim, we’ve matured as writers (still a long way to go, however) and gave it make over instead. Original images were used, but all else is mostly new. We lost many articles to that little…ahem…”event” and any still worth something, will get reposted with a similar treatment. The rest will be stricken from the record and forgotten.
“Chris and Connie have a unique way of documenting the places they visit, not copying the style or technique of others, but making it their own.” Alex Craig, Filmmaker.
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Date of adventure: July, 2016. Location: The west arm of Kootenay Lake, BC. Article references and thanks: Royal BC Museum Victoria, Touchstones Nelson: Museum of Art and History, and Nelson Kootenay Lake Tourism. Access by land is limited (private property all around), but by water presents no problem.
Speaking of films shot in & around the Crowsnest Pass - Journey of Natty Gann 1985 & the Dwyer Farm in 2016.
Exploring film history with Chris & Connie from Off the Beaten Path.
- A Disney production (not a bad movie either), many scenes were shot in the area. - It's the story of Natty, on cross-country trek to find her father & it's set in the bleak days of the depression of the 1930s. - Many locals were extras in the film - if you were one, chime in down in the comments. We'd love to hear from you. - The lighter areas of the house show where boards were removed by barnwood salvagers. _______
Rockyford Alberta more than 100 years apart (1910s, probably later in that decade & 2024).
Exploring history with Chris & Connie from Off the Beaten Path.
- Rockyford was founded in the early 1910s & sprung to life with the coming of the railway. - Many of the buildings seen in the old photo burned down over the years. - The former bank & the one marked "pool" beside it, in the original photo (both right), are two buildings seen in both images. - The present day Rockyford Hotel (right, our image) was built after the Then photo was taken. - Rockyford's train station would have been just behind our shooting position in the old days. The tracks are gone now. - Then photo credit: University of Calgary - it's dated 1911 there but research suggest it's from a bit later. _______
Consort Alberta on a cool & crisp morning in late 1997 or early 1998. Shot by Chris while returning from oilfield hotshot run & after a couple hour nap next to the buildings. A quick photo & he was back on the road.
Exploring history with Chris & Connie from Off the Beaten Path.
- These elevators, dating back to the 1950s & before, were gone a few years later. - The railway line was on its last legs at this point & service was very spotty. Sometimes months would pass without seeing one. - Both the grain elevator firms & the railway (Central Western - ex CPR) knew the writing was on the wall.
There's not much going on in Hilda Alberta (2016). We're at Hilda Motors on Main Street & looking down at the town's last grain elevator. Check the comments for a closer photo of it.
Exploring history with Chris & Connie from Off the Beaten Path.
- This incarnation of Hilda dates to the mid-1920s. - Like many prairie towns it sprung to life with the coming of the railway & the grain elevator in back is from this time too. - The railway pulled out decades ago & the tracks are gone. - Hilda Motors operated from the early 1950s to about 1990, functioning, variously, as a farm equipment dealership, car sales outlet & service station. Today, it’s used by a private individual for storage & that's the fate of many old buildings in these small towns.
It's -20C & we're dreaming of Freakin' (or Peakin') at the Beacon. We've seen ads where both are used. The Beacon in the inset photo is seen in the early-1960s, but we know it from the early 1980s. It was a notorious place then, but the beer was cheap & for underage seekers of cold libations like us, they never carded. It was common knowledge among teenagers - The Beacon & the Westgate. As long as you bought a round (even if paid nervously with loose change & with no tip), they didn't care.
- The Beacon dates to the late 1950s & was home to the famous Calypso Lounge. - In the late 1970s, a more youth oriented bar came on the scene (Franky & Johnny's). - This meant a change of attitude to something more brash & edgy. - During these times they hosted loud bands & even strippers. - Trouble soon followed & many nights, it was the wild west. Cops knew it well. - Fights, stabbings & general mayhem was often on the menu. - In the mid-1980s it became the North Centre Inn & was demolished a decade later. - Since 1996 the property has been home to to Central Landmark Mall. - Our image was captured during a cold, cold, cold-day walk in the neighbourhood (2016) - sometimes I think we're crazy.
Photo credit: unattributed - appears to be an old postcard. _______
Wild Horse Hank with Exorcist star Linda Blair (1979) - shot in & around the Crowsnest Pass of Alberta. A TV production, it follows her adventures as she works to save a herd of feral horses.
They're due to be made into dog food, unless she can get them to a federal reserve where they’ll be protected. It's a perilous multi-day journey crossing mountains & deserts, all the while being pursued by poachers. The very last step is to get them across the section of road seen here, along a now closed section of Crowsnest Highway.
It's a minor scene, but we still love searching out these locations & doing comparisons. Important or not, it's a thrill.
We know a lot of locals worked as extras on the picture & we'd love to hear from you. _______
- shot in & around the Crowsnest Pass of Alberta. A TV production, it follows her adventures as she works to save a herd of feral horses. 
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