Exploring Vancouver Island - Walking the E&N - Nanaimo to Parksville

Описание: Part I of E&N Journeys

The Vancouver Island Railway, first known as the Esquimalt and Nanaimo (E&N) Railway, was incorporated completed in 1886 to support the coal and lumber industry as well as the Royal Navy Base as Esquimalt. It has had a tumultuous history and passenger rail eventually was halted in 2011. Originally built to be 115 kms (Esquimalt to Nanaimo) it eventually connected Victoria to Courteney with a total distance of 225 kms.

The line was transfer to the Island Rail Corridor in 2006, which continues to manage the right-of-way.

Freight continues to travel sporadically on a short length of the rail between Nanaimo harbour and an industrial site.

Multi-purpose trails have been built in parallel to the E&N at various locations on the Island including Nanaimo and Victoria.

A related video on the E&N produced by the CVRD can be found here :    • Vancouver Island's Longest Opportunity - C...  


This video was captured in Oct - 2025 during a walk between Nanaimo and Parksville along (mostly) the E&N line. Total distance travel was 39 kms over 7.5 hrs. An intercity bus provided a return connection.

Video was taken using a GoPro 13 with GPS data measured on a Garmin Epix 2. Merging of GPS data and video was facilitated by Telemetry Overlay.

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