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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.

The item is a typescript copy of a thesis by Stewart C.V. Dickson titled "The Pacific Great Eastern Railway and its effect on British Columbia". vii, 160 p: figs., maps, tables. Thesis (M. Commerce), University of Toronto, 1952. Bibliography: p 155-160.

Series consists of 6 photographs depicting the first departure of the Pacific Great Eastern passenger train from Vancouver to Prince George, August 1956.

CALL NUMBER: T2611:0001 PERIOD COVERED: 1920-1973 RECORDED: Lillooet (B.C.), 1976-06-17 SUMMARY: Stan Malm, PGE locomotive foreman (1923-1973), Lillooet, BC, and Leo Cahill, PGE locomotive engineer (1920-1961) describe their experiences working for the Pacific Great Eastern Railway.;

CALL NUMBER: T2611:0002 - 0003 PERIOD COVERED: 1920-1973 RECORDED: Lillooet (B.C.), 1977 SUMMARY: Stan Malm, PGE locomotive foreman (1923-1973), Lillooet, BC, and Leo Cahill, PGE locomotive engineer (1920-1961) describe their experiences working for the Pacific Great Eastern Railway.;

RECORDED: Squamish (B.C.), 1976-06-19 SUMMARY: Bert Mills describes his experiences as an engineer on the Pacific Great Eastern Railway, 1954-1969;

RECORDED: Vancouver (B.C.), 1979-08 SUMMARY: Thomas Kilpatrick discusses the career of his father, Thomas Kilpatrick (1857-1939) with the CPR as superintendent of the Mountain Division (headquarted in Revelstoke); as a bridge inspector for the p;rovincial government; and as a manager for the PGE. Mr. Kilpatrick (senior) was an authority of wooden bridges. He retired in 1934.

Item consists of a published map and profile on a single sheet, mounted on linen and in a folio cover, showing the route of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway from Fort George to Vancouverr. The map and profile are revised to 1922. The verso bears the stamp of F.C. [Frederick Coate] Wade, who was appointed Agent General for British Columbia in London in 1918.

The series consists of correspondence, 1913-1916, that was originally a part of the Provincial Secretary's Central Registry. The records include grant applications from charitable organizations (e.g. Salvation Army Rescue and Maternity Home, Vancouver); petitions from various citizens groups and trades organizations (e.g. re: Pacific Great Eastern railway, prohibition, and Weekly Half Holiday Act); plus files on diverse topics such as the Belgian Relief Fund (which was administered by the Provincial Secretary), the Progress Club of Vancouver, the provincial coat-of-arms, prohibition, half-day closing, the Provincial Archives and W.W. Walkem's "Stories of Early British Columbia".

This series consists of records of the Commission on the Pacific Great Eastern Railway, 1924. The records consist of letter patent appointing the commissioner, Provincial Secretary's correspondence file Pi 9/24 (which contains the petition requesting the inquiry), transcripts of evidence presented at proceedings and the commissioner's original signed report. Also included are several Provincial Secretary files, 1914, relating to the following railways: Canadian Northern, Canadian Northern Pacific, Kettle Valley, Pacific Great Eastern, and Dolly Varden.

This series consists of incoming and outgoing general correspondence files, 1912-1953, concerning railways operating in British Columbia. Includes extensive correspondence files on the Westminster Bridge (the Fraser River railway bridge at New Westminster); the British Columbia Electric Railway; correspondence relating to common carriers and industrial railroads; legislation affecting the Railway Department, etc. Box 14, Files 1 to 28 are Minister of Railways: general [correspondence] and Box 14, Files 29 to 38 are miscellany.

This series consists of incoming and outgoing correspondence files, 1912-1915, between the Premier's Office and Railway Department relating to the Pacific Great Eastern Railway ("PGE exhibits, Sir Richard McBride's correspondence").

This series consists of incomplete general Railway Department correspondence files, incoming and outgoing of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway, 1919-1951. Files include topics on Vancouver-Squamish bridges, Car barge and transfer ferry, Directors records, personal freight accounts, Orders-in-council, Location surveys for the Quesnel-Cottonwood revision, Right of ways, Proposed changes of route, Completion of line at Cottonwood-Prince George, tariffs, water licenses and Squamish dock & harbor improvement.

This series consists of records of the Railway Department, 1904-1952. Records include agreements regarding running rights over Fraser River bridge at New Westminster; certificate regarding the amalgamation of the Howe Sound and Northern Railway and the Pacific Great Eastern Railway; contract for PGER locomotives; and leases for land and equipment.

This series contains official reports and correspondence accumulated during the administrations of Premiers Tolmie, Pattullo, Hart, and Johnson. It includes Departmental, General, and Federal files, plus separate series of documents on Pacific Great Eastern Railway (1917-1945). It also includes applications for employment, petitions, press releases, speeches, and vouchers.

The records which comprise this unit were stored for many years in a maintenance shop adjacent to the Parliament Buildings. Storage conditions were less than ideal and in 1982 arrangements were made with the Premier's Office' to transfer the records to the Provincial Archives. It was a signal event, for the records provide documentation on virtually all facets of provincial life over a thirty-five year period. Additionally, the documents which make up GR-1222 provide a valuable record of the administrations of Premiers Tolmie (1928-1933), Pattullo (1933-1941), Hart (1941-1947) and Johnson (1947-1952). The records fall into three main categories or series, namely Departmental files, Federal files, and General files.

This series contains correspondence and briefs submitted to the Executive Council. It includes applications and appeals pertaining to the Pacific Great Eastern Railway, Seaboard Distributors Ltd., Blunden Harbour Land Company Ltd., and sundry miscellaneous organizations.

This series contains records relating to map production, map distribution, personnel and staff salaries. It includes miscellaneous memoranda on resources along the route of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway (1936-1942) and a memorandum by F.C. Green on the Post-War Rehabilitation Council, 1943. This unit also includes three notebooks of G.G. Aitken, Chief Geographer, on map production, survey instructions, accounts, and acreages of streams and rivers in British Columbia.

This series contains official correspondence, reports, briefs to cabinet, articles and messages, etc. accumulated during W.A.C. Bennett's tenure as premier. It includes files on Dominion-provincial relations, civil defence, centennial celebrations, railways and major business corporations. Also includes copies of congratulatory letters sent to senior citizens by Bennett's successor, Premier David Barrett. Photographs transferred to Visual Records Division; maps, plans, and printed material transferred to Library and Maps Section. GR-1414 consists of a large number of records created and accumulated during the tenure of Premier William Andrew Cecil (W.A.C.) Bennett [1952-1972]. The records originally comprised the Central Registry of the Premier's Office. Included are letters from private individuals and business corporations, inter-departmental memoranda, copies of the premier's articles and messages, briefs to cabinet and other reports submitted for the premier's consideration. This unit also includes documents pertaining to Dominion-Provincial relations, as well as correspondence from federal politicians and foreign diplomats. The records, which comprise this unit, were transferred to the Provincial Archives from the Premier's Office in November 1982. Ten years earlier-following the defeat of Mr. Bennett's Social Credit government-the records had been consigned to a vault in the basement of the Parliament Buildings. Sometime later they were placed in cardboard boxes and removed to a builders' shed in the Parliament Buildings precinct. There they remained, apparently untended, until 1982 when they came to the attention of the Archives. When the records were transferred to the Archives a number of file folders were found to be empty. In most cases, the empty folders concerned cabinet ministers and the work of various government departments. Similarly, contemporary file lists [see Box 131, File 11] indicate that a number of folders were missing from the original series of files. No files marked "Anonymous," for example, were among the boxes received by the Archives, despite the fact that files containing anonymous letters inward were maintained over the years by the Premier's Office. Nor were any "Confidential" files included with the transfer, although they were part of the Premier's filing system. These files may have been removed when W.A.C. Bennett left office in 1972, or they may have been removed sometime after 1976 when W.R. Bennett became premier. [In her interview (taped in 1978) Mrs. Mylrea noted that Premier Bennett asked her to "go through" the correspondence files on 31 August 1972, the day after his party's electoral defeat. Mrs. Mylrea spent the next two weeks reviewing "every piece of paper in those files." "I did not find one thing that nobody else could have looked at" she related, "there was nothing that anybody need be afraid that anybody could see, opposition or otherwise." Nevertheless, some of the files were removed and were taken by Mr. Bennett to his Kelowna home. [SMID 3236:1-2, pp.16-17] Researchers should also note the absence of W.A.C. Bennett's constituency files in this collection. According to the premier's secretary, records dealing with the South Okanagan riding were maintained separately in the premier's Kelowna office. After his death in February, 1979, the Bennett family donated the records to the Simon Fraser University archives. [SMID 3236:1-1, p.17] Despite the absence of certain files, GR-1414 is a remarkably rich collection of executive records. The evolution of the Social Credit Party can be detected in many of the memos and reports in the collection; public attitudes towards government policies can be seen in much of the correspondence inward, while the province's economic growth can be discerned in files devoted to industrial development or to particular companies. Federal-provincial relations are also well documented, as are the activities of local chambers of commerce and sundry community groups throughout the province. Indeed, as a source of documentation for British Columbia in the 1950s and 1960s, GR-1414 is unrivalled.

The series consists of three financial ledgers created by the British Columbia Railway Company and its predecessor, the Pacific Great Eastern Railway Company, between 1918 and 1984. The ledgers contain financial records relating to road and bridge construction. The series also includes a 1919 publication created by the B.C. Department of Railways called general locomotive rules.