It’s one of the most recognizable images in Trail’s visual archive — a snapshot from July 1966 capturing a moment that still resonates with locals today.
Shot by Cominco employee Albert Anderson, the photo revisits a time when the now-defunct Warfield car wash was both a practical necessity and a popular fixture.
Sarah Benson-Lord, manager of the Trail Museum and Archives, says the car wash — originally intended to help smelter employees rinse industrial residue from their vehicles — quickly became a treasured amenity for the wider community.
“Although an employee ‘perk,’ it was much cherished by the greater Trail community,” Benson-Lord notes.
The free wash station operated for decades, with the earliest known photo dating back to the summer of 1957.
Teck ultimately shuttered the facility in the fall of 2013.
Today, only employees can access a rinse station near Trail operations’ main gate.
Framing the scene in Anderson’s 1966 photo is another relic of local — and global — significance: the P9 tower, visible at the far right.
Erected by the U.S. military in 1943, the tower was part of a secret wartime project to produce deuterium oxide, or heavy water, for the atomic bomb program.
Production at the site continued until 1956, a full decade after the war ended.
The tower stood for over 60 years before it was demolished in 2005.
These industrial landmarks may be gone, but they remain vivid in local memory.
As Benson-Lord puts it, the photo “is an extremely familiar and not-so-distant memory for many in this area.”
