An undated map of New Westminster to Port Hammond showing the boundary of the Port Mann townsite, Canadian Northern Railway wharves and proposed car works (built further downriver than shown here). The map represents a time around 1909 since the BCER's Fraser Valley line is not shown although was under construction by midyear. The area on the south side of the New Westminster Bridge, near the Great Northern's recently completed coastal line, is marked proposed B.C.E. Rly. Wharves & Car Works, a sign of the railway's impending arrival on the south bank of the Fraser River.

On the New Westminster Southern -- marked Great Northern -- can be seen the spur that ran down to the log dump along Parsons Channel at old Port Kells. The Great Northern operated trains from Cloverdale to Port Kells until 1917, officially abandoning the line through Cloverdale to Hazelmere in 1919.

Construction of the Canadian Northern in British Columbia -- where the railway was known as the Canadian Northern Pacific -- began in 1910 and was not finished until 1915, the year of the last spike although ballasting and bridging were not complete between Basque and Port Mann until 1916, when regular scheduled service began and the right-of-way west of Port Kells was acquired from the Great Northern.

Opposite the Port Mann townsite is Fraser Mills, at one time the largest timber mill in the British Empire, an area serviced for many years by CN trains out of Port Mann using running rights negotiated in 1915 with the Great Northern (one of many agreements between the two railways at this time). (Select for a full-size view: 1568x 764; 106K)