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Street
Cars and Street Smarts: Vancouver's Railway
Renaissance
by
Jerry W. Bird
 It's
about time! Like many Canadian cities, Vancouver is
a child of the CPR, which was British Columbia's
one way ticket to Confederation in 1867. That
famous railway brought my great grandfather Henry
Morgan here to set up the fledgling city's first
blacksmith shop, where the massive Pacific Centre
now stands, between Howe and Granville Streets. My
Grandfather Bird also came west by train, setting
up roots in Central Alberta, and later moving to
Seattle, where my dad was born. Small wonder as a
child, I had a great fascination for rail travel,
including the bright red streetcars, whose lines
crisscrossed the city like a spider's web. I loved
everything about them, from the wicker seats and
clanging bell, to the conductor's uniform and the
way he would call out the street names before each
stop. The Interurban Trams on the other hand were
an awesome sight, as I recall in my book Fact vs.
Fiction:
Just then, we
heard the four o' clock interurban tram
approaching. Brick red, bound for glory and the
fertile fields of Chilliwack, it rounded Venables
Street, lurching onto Commercial Drive like a
drunken sailor. Noisy, menacing and top heavy, the
interurban trams were the ugly ducklings of BC
Electric's vast fleet. They were also its
workhorses, linking a network of towns and villages
with Vancouver's central core. The squeal of metal
on metal drowned out the doctor's reply , but in
those few seconds, he reached a conclusion."
Above Fotomation: Scenes of present day Vancouver
courtesy of Tourism Vancouve.
BC Transit Museum Society: Dedicated to the
restoration, preservation and operation of vehicles
significant to the history of public transit in
British Columbia.
BC Transit,
Oakridge Transit Centre, 949 41 Ave., Vancouver, BC
V5Z 2N5, Tel. 604 665 3903, Charters 604 325
9990
www.trams.bc.ca
or www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/streetcar
Tourism
benefits of Suburban
Rail
Hearing that the existing Historic Streetcar Line
that now operates for the short summer tourist
season, may be extended to Granville Island and
downtown attractions warms my heart. Someone is
finally looking ahead. Imagine the windfall if
Vancouver 's Historic Streetcars were to carry
passengers from Canada Place and Vancouver Trade
and Convention Centre, via Chinatown and False
Creek to Granville Island and beyond. By simply
opening the existing Arbutus corridor, you could
ride all the way to Richmond - even the Vancouver
International Airport.
Should the city spend a proposed $500,0000 to
complete the line's eastern section beyond it's
current terminus at Quebec Street to Science World
and the Main Street Sky Train station? Many feel it
will be well invested, yielding bountiful returns
in tourist dollars. Look what the cable cars have
done for San Francisco. To me, Vancouver's
streetcars painted a unique picture, as my story
continues:
"Number 4
streetcar rumbled along Commercial Drive, past
Woolworth's 5, 10 and 15 cent store. It's clanging
bell added further sound effects to the scene, a
cacophony of childish delight; apple-cheeked tots
crowded the swings, teeter totters, twirlabouts and
slides. They rolled in their Sunday best on the
doggie-do spotted lawns, dipping and diving in the
shallow concrete pool. Parents shared in the
excitement, some getting almost as dirt- encrusted
and waterlogged as their offspring."
So much for fond memories. Is this possible
extension to Marpole, Richmond, Sea Island- even
historic Steveston too far fetched? We don't think
so, knowing that an interurban line ran through
Kerrisdale, along the Arbutus corridor until the
1950s, providing many stops along the way. There
will be much more on this topic in the coming
months. Watch for it. Send your input, photos or
items regarding the street cars and rail travel in
general to : Make
Tracks-
airhwy@dowco.com
For a pleasant
tour of Greater Vancouver, get elevated.
Read
our item on
SkyTrain.
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