BC Express (sternwheeler)
BC Express at Grand Canyon 1914
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| History | |
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 Canada
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| Name: | BC Express |
| Laid down: | 1912 in Soda Creek |
| Launched: | June 24, 1912 at Soda Creek |
| In service: | 1912-1920 |
| Fate: | Retired |
| Notes: | Captain Joseph Bucey |
| General characteristics | |
| Length: | 121.3 feet (37 m) |
| Beam: | 27.9 feet (8.5 m) |
| Notes: | No.130883 |
The BC Express was a stern wheel paddle steamer (sternwheeler) that operated on the Fraser River in British Columbia, Canada, from 1912 to 1919. The BC Express was built for the BC Express Company by Alexander Watson, Jr to work on the upper Fraser River between Tête Jaune Cache and Fort George during the busy years of Grand Trunk Pacific Railway construction. The BC Express Company hired Captain Joseph Bucey, an experienced Skeena River pilot, to be her master.
The upper Fraser River was navigable by sternwheeler between Soda Creek (start of navigation) and Tête Jaune Cache (head of navigation). From Soda Creek to Fort George there were two formidable obstacles, the Cottonwood Canyon and the Fort George Canyon. Between Fort George and Tête Jaune Cache, there were the Giscome Rapids, the Goat River Rapids and the fearsome Grand Canyon of the Fraser, which contained a powerful whirlpool. The Grand Trunk Pacific was being built from Winnipeg west and from Prince Rupert east. The two lines would meet on April 7, 1914 at Fort Fraser. Each end of construction was a portable town, which consisted of worker's accommodations, stores and even restaurants. These towns were referred to as the "end of steel". In 1912, the eastern end of construction would cross the Alberta BC border and by the spring of 1913 it would arrive at Tête Jaune Cache.
The BC Express was the second sternwheeler built by the BC Express Company, the first one being the BX. Like the BX, the BC Express was also built at Soda Creek. And also like the BX, the BC Express's captain was involved in every stage of her planning and construction.
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