Railway Museum social offers a preview of upcoming Arrowhead exhibit

By Laura Stovel
The Revelstoke Railway Museum offered a glimpse of its upcoming exhibit, an intricate, compressed diorama of Arrowhead, at its Christmas social on Wednesday. The model, complete with railway station, houses, trains and a sawmill, was created and donated by Vancouver resident Brian Pate.
Pate was moving into a retirement home so his extensive models were divided and sent to the communities that each model represents, said Greg Brule, a member of the Revelstoke Model Railway Club.
Arrowhead was a town south of Revelstoke on the east side of the Columbia River. In 1896 the Canadian Pacific Railway built a branch line from Revelstoke to Arrowhead to connect with the paddle wheelers that plied the Arrow Lakes and the Columbia River. Arrowhead was flooded out in 1965 after BC Hydro built the Keenleyside Dam near Castlegar, submerging many communities upstream after residents were forced to move. Many old-timers in Revelstoke have roots in Arrowhead and other communities that were forcibly abandoned at the time.
The diorama “isn’t a true representation of Arrowhead,” Brule noted. “Arrowhead was huge compared with what you can model so it’s been compressed and the scenes are selectively picked. There was never a curved track. It was straight up the valley. The wharf, the dock, the station, everything’s compressed. The sawmill was actually around the corner, a lot farther from town.”
“And the town site had a road in front of it, between the track and the town,” added Barry Ozero, whose dad worked for Shell Oil and used to deliver fuel oil to the many communities south of Revelstoke, including Arrowhead.
There had been a model of the Minto (an iconic sternwheeler boat) to go with the Arrowhead model but that went to Pate’s son, Brule said. “We have another gentleman on Vancouver Island who’s building us a model Minto for it.”
The model still needs some work but it will soon become an exhibit in the museum. BC Hydro has announced that it will help fund the exhibit.
Here are some photos from the event:

Museum director Jim Walford and Executive Director Jennifer Dunkerson show one of the engines on display at the Railway Museum. Walford retired as a locomotive engineer after 31 years working for the railway. He has been involved with Revelstoke heritage projects in many ways, in addition to supporting the Railway Museum. He is on the Revelstoke Heritage Commission and lives in a heritage house, built in 1904. Laura Stovel photo
Museum director Jim Walford and Executive Director Jennifer Dunkerson show one of the engines on display at the Railway Museum. Walford retired as a locomotive engineer after 31 years working for the railway. He has been involved with local heritage projects in many ways, in addition to supporting the Museum. He is also on the Heritage Commission and lives in a heritage house, built in 1904. Laura Stovel photo

Three-year-old Oliver Fitzmaurice and 14-month-old Holden Hill play in the motor car, ‘speeder’ or railcar, that rides the rails. Laura Stovel photo
Three-year-old Oliver Fitzmaurice and 14-month-old Holden Hill play in the motor car, ‘speeder’ or railcar, that rides the rails. Laura Stovel photo

Greg Brule, a member of the Revelstoke Model Railway Club, and museum director Barry Ozero explain the details of the fascinating new Arrowhead diorama which will soon be on exhibit at the Revelstoke Railway Museum. Laura Stovel photo
Greg Brule, a member of the Revelstoke Model Railway Club, and museum director Barry Ozero explain the details of the fascinating new Arrowhead diorama which will soon be on exhibit at the Revelstoke Railway Museum. Laura Stovel photo

These buildings form part of the Model railway Club's intricate, compressed diorama of Arrowhead, which was unveiled at its Christmas social on Wednesday. The model, complete with railway station, houses, trains and a sawmill, was created and donated by Vancouver resident Brian Pate. Laura Stovel photo
These buildings form part of the Model Railway Club’s intricate, compressed diorama of Arrowhead, which was unveiled at its Christmas social on Wednesday. The model, complete with railway station, houses, trains and a sawmill, was created and donated by Vancouver resident Brian Pate. Laura Stovel photo

Here's a view inside the sawmill model that gives you a pretty clear view of he diorama creator's superlative attention to detail. Laura Stovel photo
Here’s a view inside the sawmill model that gives you a pretty clear view of he diorama creator’s superlative attention to detail. Laura Stovel photo

This addition the Model Railway Club’s rapidly evolving diorama depicts the old, manual turntable which turns the train around, said museum director Barry Ozero. “You had to put the train on and push the train around by hand. There was no machinery to turn it. The train had to be perfectly balanced to get it to revolve properly.” Laura Stovel photo
This addition the Model Railway Club’s rapidly evolving diorama depicts the old, manual turntable which turns the train around, said museum director Barry Ozero. “You had to put the train on and push the train around by hand. There was no machinery to turn it. The train had to be perfectly balanced to get it to revolve properly.” Laura Stovel photo