Vancouver Railway {Historic Street Cars}

Post Last Modified – January 06, 2023 ¦ gr8traveltips.com

A Look At The Old Vancouver Historic Railway

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Thanks to the City of Vancouver and the many volunteers, 🍁 Vancouver – British Columbia’s Historic Street Cars, have been beautifully restored.

The countless hours volunteers devoted to restoring and bringing back to life one of 🍂 Vancouver, British Columbia’s important pieces of history, is a dream come true!

The 🚍 Transit Museum Society successfully restored two of the city’s 🚃 Historic Streetcars.

What an amazing accomplishment and these streetcars were able to operate successfully once again!

Have a look at this home 📹 video, step back in time and take a ride on one of these beautiful streetcars!

Vancouver Downtown Historic Railway – YouTube Video

The Transit Museum Society of 🍂 Vancouver, British Columbia was established back in 1986.

Their goal was to; restore, preserve and operate historical vehicles, that were significant to the history of public transit in British Columbia.

As a former 🚍 Vancouver City Transit Bus Operator, I was so thrilled to hear of this wonderful achievement. My hats off to the many volunteers who made this possible.

If I was still living in Vancouver, I most certainly would have volunteered to assist in this great endeavor!

Historic Vancouver Railway Cars Restored

Once restored, these exciting cars began operating on existing 🛤 railway tracks during the weekends and holidays. The tracks ran between – Olympic Village Station in the City to the Granville Island Station.

Granville Island is a very popular tourist attraction and local marketplace. The area is known as – South False Creek, located in the heart of the City of Vancouver.

It’s a very picturesque part of this beautiful city, running along the inlet of False Creek which is fed by the Pacific Ocean.

The railway began running an exclusive express service with no stops in between, making for an exciting ride for tourists, locals and especially children!

When service began once again, it instantly became a huge hit!

As the 🚃 train ran down the track, the conductor would blow the old whistle. Children would see and here this and run to their parents, in hoping to take a ride on this foreign looking train running down the 🛤 tracks!

Taking A Step Back In Time

The two beautifully restored 🚃 rail cars are from days gone by. The oldest was built in 1905 and ran along what was known as the – 🛤 Steveston lines many years ago, in the South part of Vancouver.

The second street car was constructed in 1912 and it used to run in the eastern part of Vancouver, to the Municipality of New Westminster, BC.

It was exciting to see the 🚃 rail cars running once again and was great for the city to bring back some of its history.

I have always been impressed with 🌉 San Francisco – California and their historic street cars that are still operating today. Of course, along with the many other historic attractions they have for tourists and locals alike to enjoy.

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A post shared by Rob Tellier (@gr8traveltips) on Jul 21, 2017 at 4:12pm PDT

* Update *

Unfortunately, the rail service has been suspended by the city due to budget restraints. It is presently in search of corporate sponsorship in hope of running once again.

I am hoping the 🚏 Transit Museum Society, will make this happen one day soon and the service will be proudly serve one day soon.

I’ve included a few website links below, where you can check out some old transit 📸 photos taken in Vancouver years ago.

As well, be sure to visit and explore the very popular Granville Island Marketplace while in the City!