In the remote mountains of south eastern British Columbia one of the world's largest silver-mining booms occurred. The date was 1892 and boom towns sprang into existance throughout the area. Sandon was the centre of all this activity and became the showpiece of the entire region.
In its heyday in the 1890s, Sandon was a city with all the modern conveniences: theatres, stores, 29 hotels, 28 saloons, factories and mills. A large red-light district thrived due to the predominance of men and several churches did their best to bring morality to this wild boom town. Electricity was "state of the art" and Sandon became the first city in BC to be entirely electrified. With an abundance of water and steep mountains Sandon was ideally suited to the generation of hydro-electric power. In all, eight dfferent generating systems were operated in Sandon over the years, all driven by Pelton Wheel turbines. The earliest plants provided D.C. power. The last and finest power system to be built in Sandon is still operating, providing modern A.C. power for one of BC's smallest regulated utilities.
In the years after the boom, mining diminished. Sandon became a ghost town and all the other hydro-electric systems became victim of the scrap dealers. The Silversmith plant, the lone remaining hydro-electric plant, is now a unique, operating relic in the fascinating historic City of Sandon.
The old plant, which is still operating today, was built for Silversmith Mines Ltd. and dates back to 1897. It was designed to provide all the electric power for the Silversmith mine and concentrator mill, as well as compressed air to run the underground machinery in the mine. The turbine and electrical generating equipment were purachased secondhand from the City of Vernon, BC (this was apparently Vernon's original power plant). The turbine was built by Pelton-Doble and is the vertically-mounted single nozzle design. The govenor (oil pressure type), which activates a deflector at the nozzle, was also built by the Pelton Water Wheel Company and is driven by three separate belts from the main shaft. The bearings on the main shaft are babbit-type and are mounted on large cast iron pedestals. The main Alternator / generator, of 200 KW capacity, was built by Canadian Westinghouse as was the exciter unit which is driven by a large, flat, leather belt from pulleys. The main electrical panels and switch gear were also made by Canadian Westinghouse. On the main shaft there is a large pulley which drove the compressor unit by way of a wide, flat leather belt. It can be engaged by an electro-magnetic clutch. The compressor is a massive, horizontal two cylinder Ingersoll Rand unit capable of compressing 600 cubic feet of air per minute. A large, riveted, steel receiver tank for storing compressed air is located outside the powerhouse building and is fitted with a large air/steam whistle.
The pipeline supplying water to the powerhouse is made from steel for only the last 300 feet (high pressure section). Preceding this, wood-stave pipe of 18-inches diameter covers a distance of over two miles (3.2 Km) to the intakes. Water is collected from two intakes: one on Carpenter Creek and one on Cody Creek. Both intakes consist of low dam structures, short sections of flume and settling tanks with screens. The water drops a total of 610 vertical feet from the intakes to the powerhouse and at full capacity the plant will generate about 500 HP. The opreating speed of the turbine is 360 rpm. Water discharged from the plant is returned to Carpenter Creek a short distance from the powerhouse.
In about 1917 a large three-cylinder Fairbanks- Morse diesel engine and compressor were installed in a new wing at the south end of the powerhouse in order to supplement the turbine during low water periods.
In 1952 a 4-cylinder Blackstone diesel engine and 150 KW generating unit were installed in the north end of the building to give additional power output. This unit is fully syncronous with the original Westinghouse plant. About the same time, the Fairbanks-Morse engine, which had siezed up, was scrapped. A 600-CFM Holman compressor driven by a 6-cylinder GM diesel was installed in its place. These have now been relocated near the Blackstone unit. The current Fairbanks-Morse engine was salvaged (from Taylor, BC or possibly Jasper, AB) and re-installed in 1994. Other than this change the plant remains completely original. The hydro plant has run continuously since its installation in Sandon. Before coming to Sandon, the main generator operated for the City of Vernon from approximately 1905 to 1912, making a total of over 800,000 operating hours. This plant is the oldest continuously operating plant in Canada and is one of the oldest of its type in the world. It is a beautifully-preserved operating example of the earliest A.C. generating plants, complete with the early design of vertical turbine and single nozzle.
During the life of the Silversmith powerhouse it has belonged to several different mining companies. Compressed air was last produced for the mines from the powerhouse in 1963 but the air compressors remain in good mechanical condition. The Blackstone diesel generator is operated every two months to ensure it is ready on standby. The hydro electric plant is currently operating at about a quarter of its original capacity. The reason for this is that the wood-stave pipeline has deteriorated to the point where it can no longer be operated under maximum pressure. Currently a million dollar rehabilitation project to replace the penstock is underway. As of March 06, 2002 the Silversmith plant has been producing energy into the national grid for the first time in its long operating life. BC hydro and various heritage agencies have recently shown interest in seeing the old power system restored and revitalized as a living, operating museum. The current owners, Silversmith Power & light Corporation are dedicated to keeping this priceless historic site intact and operating.
Silversmith Power & Light Corporation
Box 369, New Denver, B.C. V0G 1S0
TEL # (250) 358-2247
FAX # (250) 358-2245
