Showing 7 results

RECORDED: [location unknown], [197-?] SUMMARY: An oral history interview with Charlie Midnight, who worked for 52 years on the PGE as an engine driver. He talks about having Princess Margaret as a passenger in 1958 (including RCMP security), steam engines, snowslides, derailments, Prince George arrival, parties and whisky.

RECORDED: [location unknown], [196-] SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Harold Moffat, who was the mayor of Prince George from 1969 to 1979, describes the Moffat family, his childhood, the growth of Prince George, sawmills, pulp mills, the big boom when the PGE railroad came in, development of railroads, and Prince George being a cross-roads. TRACK 2: Mr. Moffat continues by discussing how the big boom affected social life, air and water pollution, population growth, housing developments, city limits, his career as mayor, and job training.

Special event coverage. Chronicles the August 28-30, 1956, inauguration of through-service on the Pacific Great Eastern Railway between North Vancouver and Prince George. Premier W.A.C. Bennett and other dignitaries ride the three inaugural trains, which are eagerly greeted by the residents of towns along the route. A rockslide at Mile 18 on Howe Sound delays the journey until a bulldozer clears the tracks. At Williams Lake station, a mock frontier lynching is staged for the entertainment of the premier and his party. Following footage of the arrival in Prince George, the film also shows progress on northward expansion of the PGE line (including bridge and grade construction), and ends with shots of oil rigs in the Peace River Region.

SUMMARY: The story of Prince George's growth from "a little town in the bush" to a modern city; the coming of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway and the pulp mills; and the "boom" in the 1950s and 1960s. Voices heard are: Garvin Dezell, Hans Roine, Peter Russell, and Mayor Harold Moffat.

RECORDED: Prince George (B.C.), 1986 SUMMARY: Dick Rowe: A junior draftsman during the construction boom of the early 1950s, Dick is currently (1986) real estate development representative in Prince George.;

The item is a release print of a promotional film from 1964. It depicts the history of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway, and a look at the area through which it passes. Shows inaugural run from North Vancouver to Fort St. John, Oct. 1958, (with Premier W.A.C. Bennett aboard) and driving of the Golden Spike at Fort St. John, Oct. 5 1958. Also includes footage of the Williams Lake Stampede, Peace River grain fields, oil/gas drilling and refining; also the operations of the PGE (North Vancouver rail yards, winter operations).

SUMMARY: Dick Batey reports on the progress of construction on the Pacific Great Eastern Railway's northern extension from Prince George. Includes an interview with P.G.E. construction engineer J.C. Anderson; John Dennison of Northern Freightways; Dawson Creek commissioner Gordon Kitson; Prince George mayor J.R. Morrison; Ed Cuthill; Mr. Spicer of Fort St. John; Frank Roneghan of Pacific Petroleum; and Margaret "Ma" Murray of the Alaska Highway News. This is the third program in a CJVI series on the P.G.E.