The West Coast Railway Heritage Park is expanding its archives thanks to a generous donation.
The West Coast Railway Association (WCRA) has acquired the Peter Cox Archive, a photo collection consisting of 6,745 photographs taken between 1920 and 1970.
"They are going to come in three stages," said Don Evans the executive director of the WCRA. Approximately 2,000 photos will come in the first third, which are expected to arrive by the end of January. The entire collection should be housed at the railway park by then end of 2006.
The black and white photos, taken by donor Peter Cox and others, are of Canadian railways and operations between 1920 and 1970. The negatives will also be included in the donation. The photos were taken on a large format camera, and come with information identifying the date, time and location of the image.
The archive is coming in three stages so it can be put together by donor Peter Cox.
He's assembling and organizing them," Evans said.
According to a press release from Evans, the WCRA executive director, the collection is believed to be "the most complete assemble of historical photographic records of the subject matter in existence."
The agreement between the WCRA and Cox means the entire collection was donated with the stipulation that the photographic collection will be housed and cared for at the West Coast Railway Heritage Park library and archives, and there will be accessibility for historians and others who need to use the materials for historical articles and books.
"We may display a selected few of them," Evans said. "The principal thing is to preserve the archive for future generations."
The appraised collection value is $28,000.
Cox was a member of the WCRA in the past.
"We've known Peter Cox for many years," Evans said.
The WCRA is also becoming the preeminent historical railway association in Canada, Evans said.
The Peter Cox Archive joins other significant collections at the West Coast Railway Heritage Park, including the Robert E. Swanson collection, the David Wilkie Collection, the BC Rail Collection, and the Rocky Mountaineer archives as well as WCRA's own collections.
said. A full-time curator/ archivist is planned to be added in 2005 to aid in setting up the collections.
