Pacific Great Eastern Railway To answer the early transportation problems of West Vancouver, a proposal was made in 1912 that the Pacific Great Eastern Railway be given the task of constructing a railway to connect the North Shore. The construction of the railway began in 1913 and opened for business a year later.The P.G.E.’s railway line was originally proposed to extend all the way to Prince George, yet the slow progress and financial limitations of the company confined the initial railway line extent between Horseshoe Bay and Deep Cove. Due to the shortfalls of the company’s goals, the P.G.E. initials became know as standing for Prince George Eventually. Unfortunately, it was not long after the P.G.E. began operating it ran into financial problems and had to be saved by a provincial government takeover. Later, the P.G.E. lost revenue when the new Marine Drive opened, a road that closely followed the railway’s own route, and the Bus service began operating. By 1928, the P.G.E. ran into insurmountable financial problems and had to close down, leaving the Bus system to meet the public transportation needs. The P.G.E. was resurrected again in 1956, a time by which the railway line had been extended far north past Horseshoe Bay. Yet, some groups were not happy to see the return of train service and helped pass a by-law preventing the sounding of the train’s whistle in the residential areas of Ambleside and Dudarave. The only train whistle that can be heard today in West Vancouver is that of the vintage steam train, the Royal Hudson. Nowadays, the P.G.E. name has been tranformed into the more familiar B.C. Rail name. |
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| Year | Description | Source | |
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N/A | Workers building the P.G.E. railway track in North Vancouver. | PA |
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Jan 1, 1914 | First P.G.E. train from North to West Vancouver. Photo taken at 25th St. | WVML |
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Jan 1, 1914 | Inaugural run of the P.G.E. | WVML |
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Jan 1, 1914 | Arrival of the first P.G.E. train from North to West Vancouver | WVML |
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Jan 2, 1914 | Second day - derailment of P.G.E. train. | WVML |
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Jan 2, 1914 | P.G.E. derailment | WVML |