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First trip of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway
Premier voyage du Chemin de fer Pacific Great Eastern (PGE)

This photograph shows the enthusiastic launch of the inaugural journey of the Pacific Great Eastern (PGE) Railway “Peace River Special”. The PGE was British Columbia’s largest railway and Canada’s third largest, incorporated in 1912. A class II regional railway, it eventually operated 1,441 miles (2,319 km) of mainline track. BC Archives I-68596 shows Premier W.A.C. Bennett holding the last spike, while in I-68586, he is seen speaking to “Miss PGE”.

In the early days of the 20th century, the only link to BC’s vast interior was the Cariboo Wagon Road, which had seen better days and only went as far as Barkerville. The PGE’s founders hoped to open up the interior of the province by building and operating a railway to provide inexpensive north/south transportation for freight, passengers and mail. The line grew in painfully slow stages, its development hampered by difficult terrain, the Great Depression and two world wars, as well as ongoing financial problems. The delays resulted in nicknames such as “Province’s Great Expense”, “Prince George Eventually" and “Past God’s Endurance”. 

As the line inched northward, it created the town of Williams Lake, which became the prime cattle shipping centre for the province. And in 1952, the Prince George line finally opened. Six years later, the line had stretched to Fort St. John and Dawson Creek, in BC’s northern Peace River district. 

Starting in 1918, PGE was owned by the provincial government. It became British Columbia Railway in 1972 and BC Rail in 1984.

Cette photo montre le lancement enthousiaste du voyage inaugural du Pacific Great Eastern Railway Peace River Special. Le PGE, incorporé en 1912, était le plus gros chemin de fer de la Colombie-Britannique et le troisième au Canada. Un chemin de fer régional de classe II, il fonctionnait sur 1 441 milles (2319 km) de voie ferrée. Le I-68596 des Archives de la Colombie-Britannique montre le premier ministre W.C. Bennett tenant le dernier crampon, tandis que dans le I-68586, on le voit parler à « Miss PGE ».

Au début du vingtième siècle, le seul lien vers le vaste intérieur de la Colombie-Britannique était la Route Cariboo, qui avait vu de plus beaux jours et qui se rendait seulement à Barkerville. Les fondateurs du PGE espéraient ouvrir l’intérieur de la province en construisant et en exploitant un chemin de fer pour fournir un moyen de transport nord-sud abordable pour les marchandises, les passagers et le courrier. La ligne a péniblement pris de l’expansion, son essor étant contrecarré par le relief difficile, la grande dépression et les deux guerres mondiales ainsi que par des problèmes financiers constants. Les retards lui ont valu les surnoms « Province’s Great Expense » (Grande dépense de la province), « Prince George éventuellement » et « Past God’s Endurance » (Passé l’endurance de Dieu).  

À mesure que la ligne avançait lentement vers le nord, elle a créé la ville de Williams Lake, qui est devenu le principal centre d’expédition du bétail de la province. En 1952, la ligne de Prince George a finalement été ouverte. Six ans plus tard, la ligne s’est étendue jusqu’à Fort Saint John et Dawson Creek, dans le district nordique de Peace River en Colombie-Britannique.

À ses débuts en 1918, le PGE était la propriété du gouvernement provincial. Il est devenu le British Columbia Railway en 1972 et BC Rail en 1984.

Details

Selected by: Royal British Columbia Museum and Archives
Date 1958
Record I-68582

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