Vancouver 1940

VIDEOS


Above: YouTube^CA video – Downtown Vancouver Streetcar Ride, 1936 – Length: 2:05 mins.	Above: YouTube^CA video – Streetcars and Vancouver: Development History Part I 1886 - 1928 – Length: 12:30 mins.	Above: YouTube^CA video – BCER Interurban - Downtown Vancouver to Marpole – Length: 10:53 mins.

PHOTOS

Vancouver streetcar photo at Stanley Park

MAPS

VANCOUVER AND THE LOWER FRASER VALLEY

Vancouver & Lower Fraser Valley tram map 1940

VANCOUVER - MAIN MAP

Vancouver tram map 1940

INSET: CENTRAL VANCOUVER

Vancouver centre tram map 1940

INSET: NEW WESTMINSTER & VICINITY

Vancouver New Westminster tram map 1949

I created the above maps by overlaying OpenStreetMap (OSM) maps with my own data. Copyright on the OSM maps is © OpenStreetMap contributors, licensed under a CC-BY-SA (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 licence).

Please note that the OSM maps used as templates for these maps correspond to the situation at the time the maps were downloaded and may show features that did not exist at the time the GS Tram Site is supposed to show. In particular, they may show bridges and highways that were built later.

Operator: British Columbia Electric Railway Company (BCER)

URBAN STREETCAR ROUTES (VANCOUVER)

1	Granville St. - Broadway - Main St. - Hastings St. - Granville St. (circular route; both directions)
2	Denman St. - Robson St. (back: Davie St.) - Granville St. - Cordova St. - Powell St. Main St. - 33rd Ave. & Main
3	Denman St.- Robson St. (back: Davie St.) - Granville St. - Cordova St.- Powell St. - Main St. - Fraser River (North Arm)
4	18th & Commercial - Commercial Dr. - Venables St. - Clark Dr. - Hastings St. - Richards St. - Granville Bridge - 4th Ave. - 4th. & Alma
5	Denman St. - Davie St. (back: Robson St.) - Granville St. - Hastings St. - Main St. - Broadway - Broadway & Findlay (just past Commercial)
6	49th & Fraser - Fraser St. - Kingsway - Main St. - Powell St. - Cordova St. - Granville St. - 41st Ave. - Kerrisdale (West Boulevard)
7	Marine Drive & Fraser - Fraser St. - Kingsway - Main St. - Powell St. - Cordova St. - Granville St. - 41st Ave. - 41st & Dunbar
9	44th & Victoria - Victoria Dr. - Kingsway - Main St. - Powell St. - Cordova St. - Main Post Office (Hastings & Granville)
10	54th & Victoria - Victoria Dr. - Kingsway - Main St. - Powell St. - Cordova St. - Granville St. - Pender St. - Georgia St. - Stanley Park
11	Joyce Loop - Kingsway - Main St. - Powell St. - Cordova St. - Granville St. - Pender St. - Georgia St. - Stanley Park
12	Downtown (Hastings) - Granville St. (back: Robson St. - Richards St.) - Granville St. - BCER Bridge - Kitsilano Loop
13	(10th & Sasamat - 10th Ave. [this direction only]) / (41st & Dunbar - Dunbar St.) - Alma St. - Broadway - Granville St. - Pacific St. - Richards St. - Hastings St. - Renfrew St. - Dundas & Renfrew (Exhibition Park)
14	(4th & Drummond - 4th Ave. - Sasamat St. - 10th Ave. [this direction only]) / (41st & Dunbar - Dunbar St.) - Alma St. - Broadway - Granville St. - Pacific St. - Richards St. - Hastings St. - Boundary & Hastings
15	Boundary & Hastings - Hastings St. - Richards St. - Pacific St. - Granville - Broadway - Alma St. - 10th Ave. - 10th & Sasamat [this direction only]
16	Boundary & Hastings - Hastings St. - Richards St. - Pacific St. - Granville St. - Broadway - Alma St. - 10th Ave. - Sasamat St. - 4th Ave. - 4th & Drummond [this direction only]
17	Cambie & Hastings - Cambie St. - Broadway - Oak St. - Marine Drive & Oak
18	Nanaimo & Hastings - Nanaimo - Broadway - Broadway & Findlay
19	Downtown (Granville & Hastings) - Cordova St. (back: Hastings St.) - Cordova St. - Powell St. - Powell & Commercial
20	Downtown (Granville & Hastings) - Cordova St. (back: Hastings St.) - Cordova St. - Powell St. - Dundas St. - Nanaimo St. - Eton St. (back: McGill St.) - Kaslo St.
W	Frances & Victoria Dr. - Frances St. - Georgia St. - Main St. - Hastings St. - Cordova St. - Granville St. - Pender St. - Georgia St. - Stanley Park
X	Broadway & Oak - Oak - 16th Ave. - 16th & Main
Y	25th & Granville - 25th Ave. (King Edward Ave.) - 25th & Oak
Z	Hastings & Boundary - Hastings - Ellesmere (in Burnaby)

NB: The letter designations W, X, Y and Z are for convenience only and were not used by the operator.

URBAN STREETCAR ROUTES (NORTH VANCOUVER)

1	North Vancouver Ferry Terminal - Lonsdale Av. - Windsor Rd. & Lonsdale
2	North Vancouver Ferry Terminal - 1st Str. E.- St. Davids Av. - 4th St. - Queensbury Av. - Grand Blvd. - Lynn Valley Rd. - Dempsey Rd.
3	North Vancouver Ferry Terminal - 1st Str. W - Mahon Av. - Keith Rd. - Marine Dr. - Fell Av. - 20th Str. - High Trestle Bridge - 22nd Str. - Capilano River (Bowser Av.)

The last day of operation of street cars in North Vancouver was: 23 April 1947

INTERURBAN ROUTES

A1	Hastings & Carrall - Central Park (Burnaby) - New Westminster
A2	Hastings & Carrall - 1st Av. - Burnaby Lake - New Westminster
A3	Vancouver (Pacific & Richards) - BCER Bridge - 6th Av. - Arbutus St. - Marpole
A4	Vancouver (Pacific & Richards) - BCER Bridge - 6th Av. - Arbutus St. - Marpole - Richmond - Steveston
A5	Vancouver (Pacific & Richards) - BCER Bridge - 6th Av. - Arbutus St. - Marpole - New Westminster
A6	New Westminster - New Westminster Rail Bridge - Surrey - Langley - Abbotsford - Huntingdon (US Border) - Chilliwack

NB: The route numbers given above are those used in a later source. It is possible that in 1940 the interurban routes had only names, not numbers.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SYSTEM

NETWORK LENGTH

Vancouver streetcar lines: ? km.
North Vancouver streetcar lines: 16.4 km.
Interurban lines: 175 km.

HISTORY

Vancouver streetcars: (electric) 28 June 1890 - 21 Apr. 1955.
North Vancouver streetcars: (electric) 1 Sept. 1906 - 23 Apr. 1947.
New Westminster streetcars: (electric): 8 Oct. 1891 - 4 Dec. 1938.
Interurban trams: (electric) 3 June 1891 - 28 Feb. 1958.
SkyTrain (automated LRT): 11 Dec. 1985 - today.
Canada Line (Metro): 17 Aug. 2009 - today.

GAUGE

All streetcars and interurbans: 1435 mm.
SkyTrain / Canada Line: 1435 mm.

SOURCES

PRINT

Cockle, D. "Tram-train community rail for Fraser Valley", Tramways & Urban Transit, Dec. 2010 (73:876), p.465-466.
Conn, H. & Ewert, H. Vancouver's glory years: Public transit 1890-1915. North Vancouver: Whitecap Books, 2003.
"End of city trams in Vancouver" (news item), The Modern Tramway, July 1955 (18:211), p.142.
Ewert, H. "British Columbia Electric Railway Company Limited", Canadian Rail, Jan.-Feb. 2010 (No.534), p.3-9.
Ewert, H. The perfect little street car system. North Vancouver: North Vancouver Museum and Archives Commission, 2000.
Ewert, H. The story of the B.C. Electric Railway Company. North Vancouver: Whitecap Books, 1986.
Guide to Vancouver. Vancouver: British Columbia Electric Railway Company (BCER), 1930.
Hyde, R. The Sockeye Special: The story of the Steveston tram and early Lulu Island. Richmond (B.C.): Author, 2011.
Kelly, B. & Francis, D. Transit in British Columbia: The first hundred years. Madeira Park (B.C.): Harbour Publishing, 1990.
Simons, V. "Vancouver prepares for the Winter Olympics", Tramways & Urban Transit, Jan. 2010 (73:865), p.11-13.
Till, H. Diary of significant events in the history of B.C. Electric's transportation system, 1889-1946. Vancouver: B.C. Electric Co., 1947 [?].
Transit System Map of Vancouver, B.C. [Vancouver]: Challengers Cartographers, 1949, 1952 and 1954.
Twenty nine years of public service. Vancouver: British Columbia Electric Railway Company Limited, 1926 (?).

WIKIS

WEB SITES

Disclaimer: Everything on this site was written and/or prepared at the author's discretion. The author has tried to be accurate where facts are presented, but this does not mean that these facts are necessarily accurate. People needing more reliable information should refer to appropriate sources presented, on the Internet or elsewhere, by authoritative professional or academic bodies.

To get in touch with the webmaster, send an e-mail to g_sandi at hotmail.com.

Flags on this site are from the FOTW Flags Of The World website.

VANCOUVER

BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA

ABOUT 1940