The British Columbia Railway Company ( reporting mark BCOL, BCIT ), commonly known as BC Rail , is a railway in the Canadian province of British Columbia .
133-823: Chartered as a private company in 1912 as the Pacific Great Eastern Railway ( PGE ), it was acquired by the provincial government in 1918. In 1972 it was renamed to the British Columbia Railway , and in 1984 it took on the BC Rail branding. From 1978 to 2000, BC Rail was highly profitable, posting profits in every year throughout that period. Until 2004 it operated as the third-largest railway in Canada, providing freight , passenger , and excursion rail services throughout BC on 2,320 km (1,440 mi) of mainline track . It also ran
266-489: A Royal Commission , the McKenzie Royal Commission, to investigate the railway. Its recommendations were released on August 25, 1978. It recommended that construction not continue on the 240 kilometres (149 mi) of roadbed between Dease Lake and the current end of track, and that trains be terminated at Driftwood (approx. lat 55°42, long 126°15′), 32 kilometres (20 mi) past Lovell . The rest of
399-448: A goods station (freight station in US). Smaller locomotives transferred the rail cars from the sidings and goods stations to a classification yard , where each car was coupled to one of several long-distance trains being assembled there, depending on that car's destination. When long enough, or based on a schedule, each long-distance train was then dispatched to another classification yard. At
532-518: A 2-8-0 built by MLW in 1912. During the 2001 season, when both steam locomotives were out of service, BC Rail leased No. 4069, a restored Canadian Pacific Railway FP7A diesel locomotive. Rail freight transport Rail freight transport is the use of railways and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers . A freight train , cargo train, or goods train is a group of freight cars (US) or goods wagons ( International Union of Railways ) hauled by one or more locomotives on
665-546: A BCRC subsidiary, BCR Properties Ltd. The rail operations became known as BC Rail. In 1973, the British Columbia government acquired and restored an ex- Canadian Pacific Railway 4-6-4 steam locomotive of the type known as " Royal Hudsons ", a name that King George VI permitted the class to be called after the Canadian Pacific Railway used one on the royal train in 1939. The locomotive that
798-488: A broad gauge connection. (A metre-gauge connection between the two broad gauge networks, the Transandine Railway was constructed but is not currently in service. See also Trans-Andean railways . ) Most other countries have few rail systems. The standard gauge in the east, connect with Paraguay and Uruguay. The railways of Africa were mostly started by colonial powers to bring inland resources to port. There
931-399: A change of 9.9% from its 2016 population of 52,898. With a land area of 11.83 km (4.57 sq mi), it had a population density of 4,912.9/km (12,724.4/sq mi) in 2021. As of the 2011 census, the median age was 41.2 years old, which is a bit higher than the national median age at 40.6 years old. There are 24,206 private dwellings with an occupancy rate of 94.1%. According to
1064-409: A condition of purchasing BC Rail. However, as of 2010 the line between Dawson Creek and Hythe is still disused. Reporting marks are a system intended to help keep track of rolling stock and financial transactions between railways. The Pacific Great Eastern Railway used the reporting mark PGE. It later adopted the reporting mark PGER in 1971 for freight cars in international service. When the railway
1197-447: A direct rail connection. Despite the closure of many minor lines carload shipping from one company to another by rail remains common. Railroads were early users of automatic data processing equipment, starting at the turn of the twentieth century with punched cards and unit record equipment . Many rail systems have turned to computerized scheduling and optimization for trains which has reduced costs and helped add more train traffic to
1330-452: A location, whose origin/destination was a rail terminal yard. This product sometimes arrived at/departed from that yard by means of a through freight. At a minimum, a way freight comprised a locomotive and caboose, to which cars called pickups and setouts were added or dropped off along the route. For convenience, smaller consignments might be carried in the caboose , which prompted some railroads to define their cabooses as way cars, although
1463-520: A new, but little-used, connection to the standard-gauge network is available at Zahedan . The four major Eurasian networks link to neighboring countries and to each other at several break of gauge points. Containerization has facilitated greater movement between networks, including a Eurasian Land Bridge . Canada , Mexico and the United States are connected by an extensive, unified standard gauge rail network. The one notable exception
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#17327874495651596-673: A port. Rail freight uses many types of goods wagon (UIC) or freight car (US). These include box cars (US) or covered wagons (UIC) for general merchandise, flat cars (US) or flat wagons (UIC) for heavy or bulky loads, well wagons or "low loader" wagons for transporting road vehicles; there are refrigerator vans for transporting food, simple types of open-topped wagons for transporting bulk material, such as minerals and coal , and tankers for transporting liquids and gases. Most coal and aggregates are moved in hopper wagons or gondolas (US) or open wagons (UIC) that can be filled and discharged rapidly, to enable efficient handling of
1729-420: A rail line through Central America to South America. Brazil has a large rail network, mostly metre gauge, with some broad gauge. It runs some of the heaviest iron ore trains in the world on its metre gauge network. Argentina have Indian gauge networks in the south, standard gauge in the east and metre gauge networks in the north. The metre gauge networks are connected at one point, but there has never been
1862-676: A railway, transporting cargo all or some of the way between the shipper and the intended destination as part of the logistics chain. Trains may haul bulk material , intermodal containers , general freight or specialized freight in purpose-designed cars. Rail freight practices and economics vary by country and region. When considered in terms of ton-miles or tonne-kilometers hauled, energy efficiency can be greater with rail transportation than with other means. Maximum economies are typically realized with bulk commodities (e.g., coal ), especially when hauled over long distances. Moving goods by rail often involves transshipment costs, particularly when
1995-466: A result, three major rail gauges are in use. A standard gauge Trans-Australian Railway spans the continent. In 2011, North American railroads operated 1,471,736 freight cars and 31,875 locomotives, with 215,985 employees, They originated 39.53 million carloads (averaging 63 tons each) and generated $ 81.7 billion in freight revenue. The largest (Class 1) U.S. railroads carried 10.17 million intermodal containers and 1.72 million trailers. Intermodal traffic
2128-506: A road vehicle. Several types of cargo are not suited for containerization or bulk; these are transported in special cars custom designed for the cargo. Less-than-carload freight is any load that does not fill a boxcar or box motor or less than a Boxcar load . Historically in North America, trains might be classified as either way freight or through freight. A way freight generally carried less-than-carload shipments to/from
2261-564: A steep gravelly slope; two of the three crew members were killed. In late March 2020, CN announced that it planned on abolishing through freight on the Lillooet Subdivision, between Williams Lake and Lillooet; as well as on the Squamish Sub, between Lillooet and Squamish. With some mills already curtailing operations and a further slowdown expected due to the emerging COVID-19 pandemic, on-line traffic did not warrant use of
2394-639: A town or area, by hopping a freight train is sometimes referred to as "catching-out", as in catching a train out of town. Bulk cargo constitutes the majority of tonnage carried by most freight railroads. Bulk cargo is commodity cargo that is transported unpackaged in large quantities. These cargo are usually dropped or poured, with a spout or shovel bucket, as a liquid or solid, into a railroad car . Liquids, such as petroleum and chemicals, and compressed gases are carried by rail in tank cars . Hopper cars are freight cars used to transport dry bulk commodities such as coal , ore , grain , track ballast , and
2527-438: A viable competitor where water transport is available. Freight trains are sometimes illegally boarded by individuals who do not have the money or the desire to travel legally, a practice referred to as " hopping ". Most hoppers sneak into train yards and stow away in boxcars. Bolder hoppers will catch a train "on the fly", that is, as it is moving, leading to occasional fatalities, some of which go unrecorded. The act of leaving
2660-657: Is a city municipality on the North Shore of the Burrard Inlet , in British Columbia , Canada. It consists of the smallest and most urbanized of the communities situated north of the city of Vancouver , and is part of the Metro Vancouver regional district , though it has significant industry of its own – including shipping , chemical production , and film production , centred on
2793-551: Is moved by containers stacked on transport ships; 26% of all container transshipment is carried out in China. As of 2005 , some 18 million total containers make over 200 million trips per year. Use of the same basic sizes of containers across the globe has lessened the problems caused by incompatible rail gauge sizes in different countries by making transshipment between different gauge trains easier. While typically containers travel for many hundreds or even thousands kilometers on
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#17327874495652926-406: Is not carried on the train, only the trailer. Piggyback trains are common in the United States, where they are also known as trailer on flat car or TOFC trains, but they have lost market share to containers (COFC), with longer, 53-foot containers frequently used for domestic shipments. There are also roadrailer vehicles, which have two sets of wheels, for use in a train, or as the trailer of
3059-575: Is owned by private companies that also operate freight trains on those tracks. Since the Staggers Rail Act of 1980, the freight rail industry in the U.S. has been largely deregulated. Freight cars are routinely interchanged between carriers, as needed, and are identified by company reporting marks and serial numbers. Most have computer readable automatic equipment identification transponders. With isolated exceptions , freight trains in North America are hauled by diesel locomotives , even on
3192-575: Is relatively densely populated with a number of residential high-rise buildings in the Central Lonsdale and Lower Lonsdale areas. The North Shore mountains have many drainages: Capilano River, MacKay, Mosquito, and Lynn Creeks, and Seymour River. North Vancouver has an oceanic climate ( Köppen Cfb ) with cool, rainy winters and dry, warm summers. The area around lower Lonsdale Avenue features several open community spaces, including Waterfront Park, Lonsdale Quay, Ship Builders Square and
3325-454: Is still one of the most important east-west thoroughfare carrying traffic across the North Shore. Development was slow at the outset. The population of the district in the 1901 census was only 365 people. Keith joined Edwin Mahon and together they controlled North Vancouver Land & Improvement Company. Soon the pace of development around the foot of Lonsdale began to pick up. The first school
3458-840: Is still the main use of freight railroads. Greater connectivity opens the rail network to other freight uses including non-export traffic. Rail network connectivity is limited by a number of factors, including geographical barriers, such as oceans and mountains, technical incompatibilities, particularly different track gauges and railway couplers , and political conflicts. The largest rail networks are located in North America and Eurasia. Long distance freight trains are generally longer than passenger trains, with greater length improving efficiency. Maximum length varies widely by system. ( See longest trains for train lengths in different countries.) Many countries are moving to increase speed and volume of rail freight in an attempt to win markets over or to relieve overburdened roads and/or speed up shipping in
3591-478: Is sufficient demand. The Seton Lake Indian Band manages ticket sales, marketing, and customer service for the Kaoham Shuttle service. The railway's best-known excursion service was its Royal Hudson excursion service, which was the only regularly scheduled steam excursion service on mainline trackage in North America. Excursion service started on June 20, 1974, running between North Vancouver and Squamish. By
3724-515: Is the busiest freight line in the world Such economies of scale drive down operating costs. Some freight trains can be over 7 km long. Containerization is a system of intermodal freight transport using standard shipping containers (also known as ' ISO containers' or 'isotainers') that can be loaded with cargo, sealed and placed onto container ships , railroad cars , and trucks . Containerization has revolutionized cargo shipping. As of 2009 approximately 90% of non- bulk cargo worldwide
3857-472: Is the isolated Alaska Railroad , which is connected to the main network by rail barge . Due primarily to external factors such as geography and the commodity mix favoring commodities such as coal, the modal share of freight rail in North America is one of the highest worldwide. Rail freight is well standardized in North America, with Janney couplers and compatible air brakes . The main variations are in loading gauge and maximum car weight. Most trackage
3990-655: Is used in India for selected freight-only lines. In some countries rolling highway , or rolling road, trains are used; trucks can drive straight onto the train and drive off again when the end destination is reached. A system like this is used on the Channel Tunnel between the United Kingdom and France, as well as on the Konkan Railway in India. In other countries, the tractor unit of each truck
4123-613: The Royal Hudson services, as well as the premier of British Columbia's private train. It was designated a Class II Railway until 2004. In 2004, the freight operations (including a vast amount of land, buildings, and all rolling stock) of BC Rail were leased to Canadian National Railway (CN) for an initial period of 60 years, with the exception of the Deltaport Spur, for the price of $ 550 million. BC Rail remains an operating Crown corporation today. It retains ownership of
BC Rail - Misplaced Pages Continue
4256-604: The Western Grain Transportation Act in 1985 that included the railway in the act, it became economical for the railway to transport grain, and it also carried grain from Northern Alberta bound for Prince Rupert, interchanging with CN at Dawson Creek and Prince George. From the 1920s to the 1960s, the railway also carried gold concentrate and bullion from the Bridge River goldfield towns of Bralorne and Pioneer Mine , which were trucked out of
4389-508: The Gas Car, once a vital lifeline for the communities of the upper Bridge River basin before the completion of a road from there to Lillooet. The railway received its first diesel locomotive in June 1948, a General Electric 65-ton locomotive. Over the next two years the railway acquired six GE 70-ton locomotives. In the 1950s, the railway bought RS-3 , RS-10 , and RS-18 locomotives from
4522-612: The Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW). The railway had fully dieselized by 1956, and by the end of the decade had nearly 40 diesel locomotives. The railway would purchase new locomotives exclusively from MLW until 1980. During the 1970s, the railway also purchased several used locomotives, mostly American Locomotive Company (Alco) models from American railways. In the 1980s, the railway acquired new SD40-2 locomotives made by General Motors Diesel , and used SD40–2s made by General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD). In
4655-598: The Pacific Great Eastern Railway provided an industrial base, although, the late arrival of the Second Narrows railway bridge in 1925 controlled development. The Depression again bankrupted the city, while the Second World War turned North Vancouver into the Clydeside of Canada with a large shipbuilding program. Housing the shipyard workers provided a new building boom, which continued on through
4788-511: The Whistler Northwind , a luxury excursion train that ran between May and October, northbound from North Vancouver to Prince George or southbound from Prince George to Whistler. The train used several dome cars built by Colorado Railcar . Both services were discontinued at the end of the 2002 season along with BC Rail's passenger service. Historically, and discontinued in the 1960s, the railway operated open-top observation cars all
4921-674: The Wilton Scenic Railroad in New Hampshire and the West Coast Railway Association in Squamish . Service between Seton Portage and Lillooet was replaced by a railbus . As well, around this time BC Rail ended its intermodal service. On May 13, 2003, BC Premier Gordon Campbell announced that the government would sell the operations of the railway (including all assets other than
5054-411: The 1990s and early 2000s, a number of locomotives were purchased from General Electric. Purchased new from GE were 26 (4601-4626) C40-8Ms , 4 C44-9WLs and 10 C44-9Ws . Older, secondhand GE locomotives in the form of B36-7s , C36-7MEs , and B39-8Es were also purchased. In 1970, the railway started using remote controlled mid-train locomotives, allowing longer and heavier trains to be operated through
5187-539: The 2010s, most North American Class I railroads have adopted some form of precision railroading . The Guatemala railroad is currently inactive, preventing rail shipment south of Mexico. Panama has freight rail service, recently converted to standard gauge, that parallels the Panama Canal . A few other rail systems in Central America are still in operation, but most have closed. There has never been
5320-477: The 2011 National Household Survey, the median value of a dwelling in North Vancouver is $ 599,985 which is significantly higher than the national average at $ 280,552. The median household income (after-taxes) in North Vancouver is $ 52,794, a bit lower than the national average at $ 54,089. North Vancouver has one of the highest Middle Eastern population ratios for any Canadian city at 11.3% as of 2021, with
5453-831: The 436 km (271 mi) section of railway, which runs through treacherous and maintenance-intensive territory. On April 7, the last regularly scheduled freight train arrived at the yard in Squamish. The remaining traffic in Williams Lake and points north now moves to the Greater Vancouver area via Prince George and the CN mainline. On the Squamish Subdivision, CN reportedly provided service to Continental Log homes in Mount Currie, and continues to use
BC Rail - Misplaced Pages Continue
5586-540: The BC Rail line not included in the sale was the Port Subdivision from Roberts Bank connecting to the main CN, CPR and BNSF lines. Originally the operation of this line was to be sold separately. However, irregularities came up during the sale process including a government employee, David Basi, being accused of accepting a bribe from a lobbyist, Erik Bornmann , working on behalf of OmniTRAX, who turned Crown witness in exchange for conditional amnesty, which enabled
5719-496: The Bridge River townsite (where there was a first-class hotel serving mining and hydro executives and their guests), Shalalth, Retaskit and at Craig Lodge near Lillooet. The last-named was a swank tennis resort, its attraction being the arid, sunny climate and the waters of Seton Lake. While BC Rail no longer operates excursion services, it did lease out its line to Rocky Mountaineer Vacations to use, operating two services over
5852-479: The British Columbia government acquired the locomotive from Joe. W. Hussey, who had purchased it three years earlier. It was restored by Robert Swanson and then leased to the British Columbia Railway, who used it in excursion service between 1973 and 2000. It was out of service during the 2001 tourist season, needing extensive repairs. The backup for No. 2860 was Canadian Pacific Railway No. 3716,
5985-543: The British Columbia government agreed to provide subsidies for passenger operations. The previous level of service was restored on May 4, 1981. Passenger service ended on October 31, 2002. BC Rail replaced the service between Lillooet and nearby Seton Portage and D'Arcy with a pair of railbuses , called "track units" by the railway. The railbus on the Kaoham Shuttle makes at least one round trip between Seton Portage and Lillooet daily, and also serves D'Arcy if there
6118-481: The Budd-RDC operated Cariboo Prospector and Whistler Northwind (Pacific starlight dinner train) trains, ended October 31, 2002. The service was unprofitable, allegedly owing to BC Rail's heavy dependence on their fleet of aging Budd Rail Diesel Cars (RDC), which were becoming increasingly expensive to keep in service. The RDCs have since been sold to various museums and operators around North America , such as
6251-776: The Burrard Dry Dock Pier. Other sites of interest in the city include: The City of North Vancouver is connected to Vancouver by two highway bridges (the Lions Gate Bridge and the Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing ) and by a passenger ferry, the SeaBus . That system and the bus system in North Vancouver is operated by Coast Mountain Bus Company , an operating company of TransLink . The hub of
6384-518: The Capilano River and east to Lynn Valley. The owners of businesses who operated on Lonsdale, as part of an initiative led by Keith and Mahon, brought a petition to the district council in 1905, calling for a new, compact city to be carved out of the unwieldy district. During the ensuing two years there was much and sometimes heated debate. Some thought the new city should have a new name such as Northport, Hillmont or Parkhill. Burrard became
6517-638: The Cheakamus River , killing most of its fish. Moran is a railway point on the BC Rail line north of Pavilion, British Columbia . The location, which is high on the side of the stretch of the Fraser Canyon known as Moran Canyon, is notable as the site of the proposed Moran Dam . At Moran, on June 29, 2006, a diesel locomotive hauling one flatcar of lumber down the steep Pavilion grade 29 km (18 mi) north of Lillooet had its air brakes fail. The train gathered speed until it derailed over
6650-641: The European Union participate in an auto-gauge network. The United Kingdom is linked to this network via the Channel Tunnel . The Marmaray project connects Europe with eastern Turkey, Iran, and the Middle East via a rail tunnel under the Bosphorus . The 57-km Gotthard Base Tunnel improved north–south rail connections when it opened in 2016. Spain and Portugal are mostly broad gauge, though Spain has built some standard gauge lines that connect with
6783-550: The European high-speed passenger network. A variety of electrification and signaling systems is in use, though this is less of an issue for freight; however, clearances prevent double-stack service on most lines. Buffer-and-screw couplings are generally used between freight vehicles, although there are plans to develop an automatic coupler compatible with the Russian SA3. See Railway coupling conversion . The countries of
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#17327874495656916-606: The Mission Pass. Between 1928 and 1952, the PGE interchanges were difficult—at Squamish there was a barge connection to North Vancouver and the rest of the North American railroads; after 1952 the PGE could connect with CN at Prince George. Connections were made to other railways when the railway completed its Howe Sound link in 1956. The main connection to the North American rail network was in North Vancouver, where there
7049-651: The North Shore's largest urban centre, Lonsdale . The city is served by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police , British Columbia Ambulance Service , and the North Vancouver City Fire Department. In the 1880s, Arthur Heywood-Lonsdale and a relation James Pemberton Fell, made substantial investments through their company, Lonsdale Estates, and in 1882 he financed the Moodyville investments. Several locations in
7182-502: The North Vancouver area are named after Lonsdale and his family. Not long after the District of North Vancouver was formed, an early land developer and second reeve of the new council, James Cooper Keith, personally underwrote a loan to commence construction of a road which undulated from West Vancouver to Deep Cove amid the slashed sidehills, swamps, and burnt stumps. The road, sometimes under different names and not always contiguous,
7315-540: The PGE had reached north from Prince George to Fort St. John and to Dawson Creek where it met the Northern Alberta Railways . In 1958, Premier of British Columbia W.A.C. Bennett boasted that he would extend the railway to the Yukon and Alaska , and further extension of the railway was undertaken in the 1960s. A 37-kilometre (23 mi) spur was constructed to Mackenzie in 1966. A third line
7448-701: The PGE reached Prince George and North Vancouver, daily service was extended to these cities. Service between Lillooet and Prince George was cut back to three times weekly in the 1960s. In 1978, the McKenzie Royal Commission recommended that the BCR eliminate its passenger services, which were losing over $ 1 million per year, unless it received government funding for them, but the BCR did not do so. However, facing large losses and an ageing fleet of Budd Rail Diesel Cars , it reduced passenger operations to three trains weekly to Lillooet and once weekly to Prince George on February 16, 1981. This service reduction led to public outrage, and
7581-568: The Quintette mine closed, and the portion of the Tumbler Ridge Subdivision between Teck and Quintette, British Columbia , was abandoned. The last electric locomotives ran along the line on September 29, 2000, after which the line was worked by diesel locomotives . The Bullmoose mine closed on April 10, 2003, after which the remaining 112.0 kilometres (69.6 mi) of the Tumbler Ridge Subdivision between Teck and Wakely
7714-453: The RCMP to charge Basi. Another irregularity was that CPR withdrew their bid because CN had access to secret government information, including confidential information on their own corporate operations. The sale of the spur line was cancelled, and the remnants of BC Rail Company continues to operate and maintain this line. The lease contract did not include the sale of BC Rail's assets, including
7847-484: The Royal Hudson No. 2860 to service during 2006. Until the late 1940s, most motive power on the PGE was provided by steam locomotives . The majority of the railway's locomotives were of the 2-6-2 , 2-8-0 and 2-8-2 ( Whyte notation ) wheel configurations. In addition, the railway also used a handful of gasoline cars, notably on a flatcar automobile ferry between Shalalth and Lillooet known simply as
7980-478: The Royal Hudson Steam Train was the only regularly scheduled, mainline steam operation on a Class 1 railroad in North America. In the 1960s, a new line had been projected to run northwest from Fort St. James to Dease Lake , 663 kilometres (412 mi) away. On October 15, 1973, the first 201 kilometres (125 mi) of the extension to Lovell (lat 55°33′, long 126°2′) were opened. The cost of
8113-563: The Royal Hudson excursion train was Canadian Pacific Railway No. 2860, a class H1 4-6-4 Royal Hudson. Made by MLW for the Canadian Pacific Railway in June 1940, it was the first locomotive built as a Royal Hudson. A sister locomotive, No. 2850, pulled King George VI 's and Queen Elizabeth 's royal train in 1939. After the tour, the King gave the CPR permission to use the term "Royal Hudson" for
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#17327874495658246-488: The abandonment of the Fort Nelson line, and discontinuation of uneconomic operations such as passenger services, were not followed. In the early 1980s the railway built a new line and acquired another. The Tumbler Ridge Subdivision, a 132-kilometre (82 mi) electrified branch line, opened in 1983 to the Quintette and Bullmoose mines, two coal mines northeast of Prince George that produced coal for Japan . It has
8379-483: The age of online shopping . In Japan, trends towards adding rail freight shipping are more due to availability of workers rather than other concerns. Rail freight tonnage as a percent of total moved by country: Rail freight ton-milage as a percent of total moved by country: There are four major interconnecting rail networks on the Eurasian land mass, along with other smaller national networks. Most countries in
8512-493: The area, including Bodwell High School and Lions Gate Christian Academy. Post-secondary education is available at Capilano University in the district, as well as at Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia in neighbouring communities. In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, North Vancouver had a population of 58,120 living in 27,293 of its 29,021 total private dwellings,
8645-507: The bid was "rigged". In 2010, two BC Liberal Party ministerial aides pleaded guilty to charges of breach of trust and receiving a benefit for leaking information about the BC Rail leasing process, with both being sentenced to two years less a day of house arrest and 150 hours of community service. On August 5, 2005, a 144-car CN train heading inland from Brackendale , derailed spilling eight empty lumber flat cars and one tank car of sodium hydroxide . The tank car spilled sodium hydroxide into
8778-488: The boundary of the city which came into existence in 1907 just happened to match that of the lands owned by the North Vancouver Land & Improvement Company and Lonsdale Estate was no accident. Since the motivation for creating the city was to reserve local tax revenue for the work of putting in services for the property owned by the major developers, there was little reason to take on any of the burden beyond
8911-676: The bus system is Lonsdale Quay , the location of the SeaBus terminal. Currently, there is no rail transit service on the North Shore . The main street in the city is Lonsdale Avenue, which begins at Lonsdale Quay and goes north to 29th Street, where it continues in the District of North Vancouver, ending at Rockland Road. Highway 1 , the Trans-Canada Highway (often referred to as the "Upper Levels Highway") passes through
9044-631: The class of locomotives. Between 1940 and 1956 it hauled transcontinental passenger trains between Revelstoke and Vancouver. Damaged in a derailment in 1956, it was refurbished and transferred to Winnipeg in 1957 for service on the prairies . It was withdrawn from service in May 1959, replaced by diesel locomotives. It was sold to the Vancouver Railway Museum Association in 1964 and was stored in Vancouver until 1973, when
9177-717: The election, the Conservatives, who had won 40 of 42 seats in the legislature in the 1912 election , lost to the Liberals. The Liberals then took Foley, Welch and Stewart to court to recover $ 5 million of allegedly unaccounted funds. In early 1918, the railway's backers agreed to pay the government $ 1.1 million and turn the railway over to the government. When the government took over the railway, two separate sections of trackage had been completed: A small 32-kilometre (20 mi) section between North Vancouver and Horseshoe Bay , and one between Squamish and Clinton . By 1921,
9310-633: The electrified Northeast Corridor . Ongoing freight-oriented development includes upgrading more lines to carry heavier and taller loads, particularly for double-stack service, and building more efficient intermodal terminals and transload facilities for bulk cargo. Many railroads interchange in Chicago, and a number of improvements are underway or proposed to eliminate bottlenecks there. The U.S. Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 mandates eventual conversion to Positive Train Control signaling. In
9443-421: The elements (chiefly rain) such as grain, sugar, and fertilizer. Open cars are used for commodities such as coal, which can get wet and dry out with less harmful effect. Hopper cars have been used by railways worldwide whenever automated cargo handling has been desired. Rotary car dumpers simply invert the car to unload it, and have become the preferred unloading technology, especially in North America; they permit
9576-562: The end of the first season 47,295 passengers had been carried. The Royal Hudson became one of British Columbia's primary tourist attractions. It operated between May and October. It was cancelled at the end of the 2001 tourist season. Two other excursion services were introduced by BC Rail in 1997 and 2001. In 1997, BC Rail introduced the Pacific Starlight dinner train, which ran in evenings between May and October between North Vancouver and Porteau Cove . In 2001, BC Rail introduced
9709-493: The entire rail bed stretching from Prince George to North Vancouver , as well as ownership of all assets leased to CN. BC Rail retains significant real estate investments throughout BC, and a 40 km (25 mi) stretch of track from Roberts Bank Superport in Delta to Langley . The planned sale of this 40 km (25 mi) stretch was cancelled after the initial BC Rail scandal . The Pacific Great Eastern Railway (PGE)
9842-409: The extension. It had cost $ 168 million to that point, well over twice the initial estimate. The trackbed can be seen on Google Earth all the way to Dease Lake, via the small towns of Leo Creek (lat 55°3′, long 125°33′) and Takla Landing (lat 55°29′, long 125°58′). The management and operation of the railway had been called into question, and on February 7, 1977, the provincial government appointed
9975-421: The extent of their holdings. Residents in west part of the District of North Vancouver now had less reason to be connected with what remained and they petitioned to create the District of West Vancouver (the west part of the North Shore, not the west side of Vancouver) in 1912. The eastern boundary of that new municipality is for the most part the Capilano River and a community that is easily distinguished from
10108-401: The favourite of the new names but majority view was that North Vancouver remain in order to remain associated with the rising credibility of Vancouver in financial markets and as a place to attract immigrants. Some thought the boundary of the new city should reflect geography and extend from Lynn Creek or Seymour River west to the Capilano River and extend three miles up the mountainside. That
10241-409: The former Soviet Union , along with Finland and Mongolia , participate in a Russian gauge -compatible network, using SA3 couplers . Major lines are electrified. Russia's Trans-Siberian Railroad connects Europe with Asia, but does not have the clearances needed to carry double-stack containers. Numerous connections are available between Russian-gauge countries with their standard-gauge neighbors in
10374-538: The former BC Rail route. The Whistler Sea to Sky Climb operated (until spring 2016) between Vancouver and Whistler, which featured an observation car similar to the historical open-top car. The Rainforest to Gold Rush train operates north from Vancouver via Whistler and Quesnel to Jasper . Rocky Mountaineer services are exclusively tourist-oriented and do not make local stops nor accept local-area travellers. The fares are significantly higher than former BCR passenger service rates. The West Coast Railway Association returned
10507-473: The goldfield area over the 1,100-metre-high (3,500 ft) Mission Pass to the railway at Shalalth . The main freight company operating out of Shalalth was Evans Transportation Co., which grew to be one of the biggest transportation companies in the province. In addition to gold concentrate and ore, Evans and other companies based in Shalalth carried passengers, heavy equipment, and supplies of all kinds over
10640-428: The government acquired, numbered 2860, was built in 1940 and was the first one built as a Royal Hudson. The government then leased it, along with ex-Canadian Pacific 2-8-0 #3716 to the British Columbia Railway, which started excursion service with the locomotive between North Vancouver and Squamish on June 20, 1974. The train ran between June and September on Wednesdays through Sundays from 1974 to 2001. During this time,
10773-469: The idea of the first double-stack intermodal car in 1977. SP then designed the first car with ACF Industries that same year. At first it was slow to become an industry standard, then in 1984 American President Lines started working with the SP and that same year, the first all "double stack" train left Los Angeles, California for South Kearny, New Jersey , under the name of "Stacktrain" rail service. Along
10906-426: The land and rights-of-way. As well, passenger rights were not included. The contract requires CN to yield trackage to any private operator who requests it for the purposes of carrying passengers on commercially reasonable terms. As per the terms of the lease, CN holds the sole right to renew the contract for up to 999 years through a series of options. The lease also allows for BC Rail to give CN title to any and all of
11039-414: The latter ceased, and the public sector took over passenger transportation. Railroads are subject to the network effect : the more points they connect to, the greater the value of the system as a whole. Early railroads were built to bring resources, such as coal, ores and agricultural products from inland locations to ports for export. In many parts of the world, particularly the southern hemisphere, that
11172-462: The like. This type of car is distinguished from a gondola car (US) or open wagon (UIC) in that it has opening doors on the underside or on the sides to discharge its cargo. The development of the hopper car went along with the development of automated handling of such commodities, with automated loading and unloading facilities. There are two main types of hopper car: open and covered; Covered hopper cars are used for cargo that must be protected from
11305-547: The line for railcar storage. The Rocky Mountaineer luxury railtour sightseeing train still operates during the summer, as the only remaining through train on the line. The railway transported a wide variety of products, from resource traffic to intermodal freight. Forest products were one of the main products transported by the railway. Before the lease of operations to CN, the railway transported over 120,000 carloads of lumber , pulp, woodchips, and other forest products per year. The railway served several lumber and pulp mills in
11438-614: The line had been constructed in 1969, it had been leased to the CPR, Burlington Northern Railroad , and Canadian National Railway in succession. In the early 1990s, the provincial government reduced subsidies to BC Rail. As a result, BC Rail, burdened with several money-losing services that it was required to operate, saw its debtload grow more than sixfold between 1991 and 2001. In the 1990s, BC Rail branched out into shipping operations, acquiring terminal operator Vancouver Wharves in 1993 and Canadian Stevedoring and its subsidiary, Casco Terminals , in 1998. In 1999 these operations became
11571-537: The line was opened from Squamish 283 kilometres (176 mi) north to Chasm . The railway was starting to run out of money, however. In 1915 it failed to make an interest payment on its bonds, obliging the provincial government to make good on its bond guarantee. In the 1916 provincial election campaign, the Liberal Party alleged that some of the money advanced to the railway for bond guarantee payments had instead gone into Conservative Party campaign funds. In
11704-449: The line was significantly greater than what was estimated, however. Contractors working on the remainder of the line alleged that the railway had misled them regarding the amount of work required so that it could obtain low bids, and took the railway to court. The Dease Lake line was starting to appear increasingly uneconomical. There was a world decline in the demand for asbestos and copper , two main commodities that would be hauled over
11837-533: The line. As well, the Cassiar Highway that already served Dease Lake had recently been upgraded. Combined with the increasing construction costs, the Dease Lake line could no longer be justified. Construction stopped on April 5, 1977. Track had been laid to Jackson Creek (lat 56°50, long 128°12′), 423 kilometres (263 mi) past Fort St. James, and clearing and grading were in progress on the rest of
11970-662: The lowest crossing of the Rocky Mountains by a railway, at 1,163 metres (3,815 ft). There are two large tunnels under the mountains: The Table Tunnel, 9.0 kilometres (5.6 mi) long, and the Wolverine Tunnel, 6.0 kilometres (3.7 mi) long. Electrified owing to the long tunnels and close proximity to the W. A. C. Bennett Dam and transmission lines, it was one of the few electrified freight lines in North America . Although initially profitable,
12103-517: The materials. Rail transport is very energy-efficient, and much more environmentally friendly than road transport. Compared to road transport whісh employs the uѕе of trucks (lorries) , rail transportation ensures that goods that соuld оtherwіѕе be transported on а number of trucks are transported in а single shipment. Thіѕ saves а lot аѕ fаr аѕ cost connected to the transportation are concerned. Rail freight transport also has very low external costs . Therefore, many governments have been stimulating
12236-817: The next classification yard, cars are resorted . Those that are destined for stations served by that yard are assigned to local trains for delivery. Others are reassembled into trains heading to classification yards closer to their final destination. A single car might be reclassified or switched in several yards before reaching its final destination, a process that made rail freight slow and increased costs. Because, of this, freight rail operators have continually tried to reduce these costs by reducing or eliminating switching in classification yards through techniques such as unit trains and containerization , and in some countries these have completely replaced mixed freight trains. In many countries, railroads have been built to haul one commodity, such as coal or ore, from an inland point to
12369-767: The northern portion of the city. It is a freeway for its entire length within the City of North Vancouver. There are six interchanges on Highway 1 within the City of North Vancouver: Public schools are managed by the North Vancouver School District , which operates 8 high schools and 30 elementary schools shared by the city and the District of North Vancouver. The Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britannique operates one Francophone school in that city: école André-Piolat , which has both primary and secondary levels. There are also several independent private elementary and high schools in
12502-517: The opening of the line was overshadowed by the inaugural train derailing south of Williams Lake , south of Prince George. The railway underwent two changes of name during this time period. In 1972, the railway's name was changed to the British Columbia Railway (BCR). In 1984, the BCR was restructured. Under the new organization, BC Rail Ltd. was formed, owned jointly by the British Columbia Railway Company (BCRC) and by
12635-406: The post-war years. By that time, North Vancouver became a popular housing area. The City of North Vancouver is separated from Vancouver by the Burrard Inlet , and it is surrounded on three sides by the District of North Vancouver. The city has much in common with the district and with West Vancouver ; together, the three are commonly referred to as the North Shore . The City of North Vancouver
12768-564: The province. Between 1983 and 2003, the railway hauled coal in unit trains from the Teck and Quintette mines near Tumbler Ridge to Prince George, from where CN would haul the trains to Prince Rupert for shipment to Japan. The Quintette mine, the larger-producing of the two, closed in 2000 and the Teck mine closed in 2003. Starting in the 1960s, the PGE operated an intermodal service that transported truck trailers between North Vancouver and Prince George, and to places further north. Unlike most of
12901-433: The provincial government had extended the railway to a point 24 kilometres (15 mi) north of Quesnel , still 130 kilometres (80 mi) south of a connection to Prince George, but it was not extended further. The track north of Quesnel was later removed. Construction of the line between Horseshoe Bay and Squamish was given a low priority because there was already a barge in operation between Squamish and Vancouver , and
13034-487: The rail right-of-way). During the previous election, he had promised not to sell the railway, and said that he was keeping this promise by retaining ownership of the right-of-way and only leasing the land to the operator. On November 25, Canadian National 's (CN) bid of $ 1 billion was accepted over those of several other companies, including the Canadian Pacific Railway, the BNSF Railway , and OmniTRAX . The transaction
13167-462: The rails. Freight railroads' relationship with other modes of transportation varies widely. There is almost no interaction with airfreight , close cooperation with ocean-going freight and a mostly competitive relationship with long distance trucking and barge transport. Many businesses ship their products by rail if they are shipped long distance because it can be cheaper to ship in large quantities by rail than by truck; however barge shipping remains
13300-534: The railway for the nominal price of $ 1. The lease was the subject of the biggest political scandal in BC history resulting in the BC Legislature Raids . The BC Liberal government was accused of lying about the state of BC Rail's debts and viability in order to justify the deal with CN, claiming the railway was in disarray. Canadian Pacific, a rival bidder, privately stated in since-released communications that
13433-558: The railway to reach Prince George, but the resources to do so were not available, especially during the Great Depression and World War II . The unfortunate state of the railway caused it to be given nicknames such as "Province's Great Expense", "Prince George Eventually", "Past God's Endurance", "Please Go Easy", and "Puff, Grunt and Expire". Starting in 1949, the Pacific Great Eastern began to expand. Track
13566-488: The railway wanted to discontinue operations on the North Vancouver-Horseshoe Bay line. However, the railway had an agreement with the municipality of West Vancouver to provide passenger service that it was unable to get out of until 1928, when they paid the city $ 140,000 in support of its road-building programme. The last trains on the line ran on November 29, 1928, and the line fell into disuse, but
13699-509: The railway's other traffic, most of the intermodal traffic was northbound. In April 1982, the railway combined its piggyback and less-than-carload (LCL) services to form a new Intermodal Services Department. BC Rail halted its intermodal services in 2002. Starting in 1958, the railway started to haul grain from the Peace River District, serving grain elevators at Dawson Creek, Buick, Fort St. John, and Taylor. With an amendment to
13832-413: The railway, Swiss experience shows that with properly coordinated logistics, it is possible to operate a viable intermodal (truck + rail) cargo transportation system even within a country as small as Switzerland . Most flatcars (flat wagons) cannot carry more than one standard 40-foot (12.2 m) container on top of another because of limited vertical clearance , even though they usually can carry
13965-491: The railway. Many factories did not have direct rail access. This meant that freight had to be shipped through a goods station , sent by train and unloaded at another goods station for onward delivery to another factory. When lorries (trucks) replaced horses it was often economical and faster to make one movement by road. In the United States, particularly in the West and Midwest , towns developed with railway and factories often had
14098-501: The shipper or receiver lack direct rail access. These costs may exceed that of operating the train itself, a factor that practices such as containerization , trailer-on-flatcar or rolling highway aim to minimize. Traditionally, large shippers built factories and warehouses near rail lines and had a section of track on their property called a siding where goods were loaded onto or unloaded from rail cars. Other shippers had their goods hauled ( drayed ) by wagon or truck to or from
14231-536: The standard-gauge network of North Korea in the east, with the Russian-gauge network of Russia, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan in the north, and with the meter-gauge network of Vietnam in the south. India and Pakistan operate entirely on broad gauge networks. Indo-Pakistani wars and conflicts currently restrict rail traffic between the two countries to two passenger lines. There are also links from India to Bangladesh and Nepal, and from Pakistan to Iran, where
14364-537: The steep grades of the Coast Mountains. It initially used separate remote control cars to control the mid-train locomotives, but in 1975 it received eight M-420B locomotives from MLW. These locomotives were specially designed for mid-train operation. They contained remote control stations, and were cableless. The railway also leased seven GF6C electric locomotives made by GMD for use on the electrified Tumbler Ridge Subdivision from 1983 until electrification
14497-424: The switch of freight from trucks onto trains, because of the environmental benefits that it would bring. Railway transport and inland navigation (also known as 'inland waterway transport' (IWT) or 'inland shipping') are similarly environmentally friendly modes of transportation, and both form major parts of the 2019 European Green Deal . In Europe (particularly Britain), many manufacturing towns developed before
14630-466: The term equally applied to boxcars used for that purpose. Way stops might be industrial sidings, stations/flag stops, settlements, or even individual residences. With the difficulty of maintaining an exact schedule, way freights yielded to scheduled passenger and through trains. They were often mixed trains that served isolated communities. Like passenger service generally, way freights and their smaller consignments became uneconomical. In North America,
14763-408: The three operating divisions of a new entity, BCR Marine. BCR Group became the parent company of both BCR Marine and BC Rail. In early 2003, attempting to reduce the railway's large debt, BCR Group sold its BCR Marine assets except for Vancouver Wharves (which was also not included in the subsequent sale of BC Rail to Canadian National, and remains a provincial Crown corporation ). On August 19, 2000,
14896-419: The track would be left in place but not used. In 1983, after logging operations ceased at Driftwood and traffic declined sharply, the Dease Lake line was closed. However, it was reopened in 1991 and, as of 2005, extends to a point called Minaret Creek, British Columbia (lat 56°20′, long 127°17′), still over 282 kilometres (175 mi) south of Dease Lake. Many of the commission's other recommendations, including
15029-583: The traffic on the line was never as high as initially predicted, and by the 1990s was under one train per day. The railway had incurred much debt building the branch line, and the expensive, unprofitable operations on the branch line could not help to repay that debt. In 1984, BC Rail acquired the British Columbia Harbours Board Railway, a 37-kilometre (23 mi) line that connects three class I railways with Roberts Bank , an ocean terminal that handles coal shipments. Since
15162-487: The two North Vancouvers has since developed. The City of North Vancouver continued to grow around the foot of Lonsdale Avenue. Serviced by the North Vancouver Ferries, it proved a popular area. Commuters used the ferries to work in Vancouver. Street cars and early land speculation, spurred interest in the area. Streets, city blocks and houses were slowly built around lower Lonsdale. Wallace Shipyards, and
15295-454: The use of simpler, tougher, and more compact (because sloping ends are not required) gondola cars instead of hoppers. The heaviest trains in the world carry bulk traffic such as iron ore and coal . Loads can be 130 tonnes per wagon and tens of thousands of tonnes per train. Daqin Railway transports more than 1 million tonnes of coal to the east sea shore of China every day and in 2009
15428-483: The way from North Vancouver to Lillooet and sometimes beyond. A series of lodges of varying quality grew up along the railway, drawing on weekend tourist excursions from Vancouver via the MV ; Britannia steamer service to Squamish. The most famous of these was Rainbow Lodge at Whistler , then called Alta Lake , but others were at Birken Lake, Whispering Falls, D'Arcy, Ponderosa, McGillivray Falls, Seton Portage,
15561-618: The way the train transferred from the SP to Conrail . It saved shippers money and now accounts for almost 70 percent of intermodal freight transport shipments in the United States, in part due to the generous vertical clearances used by U.S. railroads. These lines are diesel-operated with no overhead wiring . Double stacking is also used in Australia between Adelaide , Parkes , Perth and Darwin . These are diesel-only lines with no overhead wiring. Saudi Arabian Railways use double-stack in its Riyadh - Dammam corridor. Double stacking
15694-425: The weight of two. Carrying half the possible weight is inefficient. However, if the rail line has been built with sufficient vertical clearance, a double-stack car can accept a container and still leave enough clearance for another container on top. Both China and India run electrified double-stack trains with overhead wiring. In the United States, Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) with Malcom McLean came up with
15827-720: The west (throughout Europe) and south (to China, North Korea, and Iran via Turkmenistan). While the USSR had important railway connections to Turkey (from Armenia) and to Iran (from Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan enclave), these have been out of service since the early 1990s, since a number of frozen conflicts in the Caucasus region have forced the closing of the rail connections between Russia and Georgia via Abkhazia, between Armenia and Azerbaijan , and between Armenia and Turkey . China has an extensive standard-gauge network. Its freight trains use Janney couplers . China's railways connect with
15960-701: Was 6.2% of tonnage originated and 12.6% of revenue. The largest commodities were coal, chemicals, farm products, nonmetallic minerals and intermodal. Coal alone was 43.3% of tonnage and 24.7% of revenue. The average haul was 917 miles. Within the U.S. railroads carry 39.9% of freight by ton-mile, followed by trucks (33.4%), oil pipelines (14.3%), barges (12%) and air (0.3%). Railways carried 17.1% of EU freight in terms of tonne-km, compared to road transport (76.4%) and inland waterways (6.5%). Unlike passenger trains, freight trains are rarely named. Some, however, have gained names either officially or unofficially. North Vancouver (city) The City of North Vancouver
16093-650: Was a connection to CN. There was also a rail connection to deep-sea terminal operator Vancouver Wharves, and some interchange occurred with the Union Pacific Railroad through the Seaspan railbarge link between North Vancouver and Seattle , Washington. The railway also interchanged with CN at Prince George, and with Northern Alberta Railways (acquired by CN in 1981) at Dawson Creek. CN's line between Dawson Creek, British Columbia , and Hythe, Alberta , fell into disuse in 1998, but CN agreed to reopen it as
16226-659: Was abandoned, although the track is still in place. The electric locomotives were shipped south to Tacoma , Washington , where they are being dismantled by CEECO Rail Services . One of the locomotives (6001) was purchased by the Paul D. Roy family and they donated it to the Prince George Railway and Forestry Museum in Prince George where it is being preserved. Several other services were also discontinued around this time. The Royal Hudson steam train excursion
16359-477: Was among the leading railway contractors in North America . Upon incorporation, the PGE took over the Howe Sound and Northern Railway, which at that point had built 14 kilometres (9 mi) of track north of Squamish . The British Columbia government gave the railway a guarantee of principal and 4% interest (later increased to 4.5% to make the bonds saleable) on the construction bonds of the railway. By 1915,
16492-515: Was closed on July 15, 2004. The lease of the rail right-of-way is for 60 years with a 30-year option to renew. At the renewal date, the BC government will have the option of buying back all the assets from CN. Conversely, as of July 15, 2009, the fifth anniversary of the contract, CN has the right to decommission any part of the line, but upon doing so the land reverts to the Crown, though the Crown can sell it back to CN for one dollar. The one portion of
16625-476: Was discontinued at the end of the 2001 excursion season. The 2860 was out of service in 2000, needing extensive repairs. The backup steam locomotive, a 2-8-0 locomotive built for the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1912, broke down in May 2001, and for the rest of the season BC Rail used a former Canadian Pacific Railway FP7A diesel locomotive #4069 that it had leased from the West Coast Railway Association in Squamish . Passenger train service, which consisted of
16758-482: Was extended west from the mainline (somewhat north of Prince George) to Fort St. James . It was completed on August 1, 1968. The largest construction undertaken in the 1960s was to extend the mainline from Fort St. John 400 kilometres (250 mi) north to Fort Nelson , less than 160 kilometres (100 mi) away from the Yukon. The Fort Nelson Subdivision was opened by Premier Bennett on September 10, 1971. Unfortunately,
16891-714: Was incorporated on February 27, 1912, to build a line from Vancouver north to a connection with the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (GTP) at Prince George . Although independent from the GTP, the PGE had agreed that the GTP, whose western terminus was at the remote northern port of Prince Rupert , could use their line to gain access to Vancouver. The railway was given its name due to a loose association with England 's Great Eastern Railway . Its financial backers were Timothy Foley , Patrick Welch , and John Stewart , whose construction firm of Foley, Welch and Stewart
17024-547: Was laid north of Quesnel to a junction with the Canadian National Railway at Prince George. That line opened on November 1, 1952. Between 1953 and 1956 the PGE constructed a line between Squamish and North Vancouver. The PGE used their former right-of-way between North Vancouver and Horseshoe Bay, to the dismay of some residents of West Vancouver who, mistakenly believing the line was abandoned, had encroached on it. The line opened on August 27, 1956. By 1958
17157-528: Was little regard for eventual interconnection. As a result, there are a variety of gauge and coupler standards in use. A 3 ft 6 in ( 1,067 mm ) gauge network with Janney couplers serves southern Africa. East Africa uses metre gauge . North Africa uses standard gauge , but potential connection to the European standard gauge network is blocked by the Arab–Israeli conflict . Rail developed independently in different parts of Australia and, as
17290-488: Was never formally abandoned. For the next 20 years the railway would run from "nowhere to nowhere". It did not connect with any other railway, and there were no large urban centres on its route. It existed mainly to connect logging and mining operations in the British Columbia Interior with the coastal town of Squamish, where resources could then be transported by sea. The government still intended for
17423-494: Was opened in 1902. The district was able to build a municipal hall in 1903 and actually have meetings in North Vancouver (instead of in Vancouver where most of the landowners lived). The first bank and first newspaper arrived in 1905. In 1906 the BC Electric Railway Company opened up a street car line that extended from the ferry wharf up Lonsdale to 12th Street. By 1911 the streetcar system extended west to
17556-546: Was removed in 2000. In 2004, the Paul D. Roy family purchased engine 6001 and they donated it to the British Columbia Railway & Forest Industry Museum in Prince George; the remaining six were scrapped. For passenger service, the PGE purchased seven Budd Rail Diesel Cars in 1956. Starting in the 1970s, the BCR started to purchase some used RDCs. The RDCs were retired in 2002, when BC Rail ended its passenger services. The BCR also used some historic locomotives for its Royal Hudson excursion service. The primary steam locomotive for
17689-618: Was renamed to the British Columbia Railway, it adopted the reporting mark BCOL. Initially, there was a distinction made between cars intended for local usage only (BCOL = BC On Line) and cars intended to be interchanged with other railways (BCIT = BC Interchange Traffic). Some cars, intended for use on the Northeast Coal connection were given BCNE. Since the line opened, the PGE had provided passenger service between Squamish and Quesnel (as well as between North Vancouver and Horseshoe Bay until operations were discontinued there in 1928). When
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