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The fonds comprises 27 film or videotape titles produced by or for BC Rail Ltd. and its predecessors, the British Columbia Railway Company and the Pacific Great Eastern Railway (PGE). The larger part of the material is 16 mm film, including original footage, printing elements, sound tracks and workprints and/or release prints for 19 productions. There are also 10 video titles, some of which duplicate the films. Other than two films made for the PGE in 1945-47 and 1964, most of the productons date from 1974-1987 and document the activities of BC Rail and the British Columbia Railway.. There are a number of training films produced for internal use, as well as films meant to promote the company. Many of the films were produced in the 1970s by Art Grinke, who was BC Rail's Supervisor of Audio-Visual Instruction.

The item is a workprint of a promotional film. It depicts the many uses of the computer within the operating sphere of the railway, plus a brief introduction to the LIC system (Locate, Identify and Control) under development by the BC Railway Company and Glenayre Electronics.

The item is a workprint of a training film. It contains detailed instructions on the operation and servicing of the Nordberg track liner; principles of track lining.

The item consists of four elements of a training film. It contains a detailed profile of BC Railway's computer-assisted and radio-controlled system of traffic control, known as LIC. Shows components of the system in the locomotive, along the track and in BC Rail's operations centre, as well as the routine operation of the system.

The item is a workprint of a promotional film. It shows how the BC Railway met the challenge of moving a gigantic turbine runner for the Mica dam project from Squamish to Pavilion, using a specially modified rail car and completing the job in just over a day.

The item is a work print of a training film. It contains a look at the serious damage inflicted on rail cars by careless shippers, and the safety and handling problems created thereby. Live-action and animated sequences demonstrate correct ways of opening and closing car doors, moving cars in the yard without an engine, etc.

The item is a reel of documentary film. It shows the story of the BC Railway Company's Fort Nelson extension -- its original completion in 1971, problems caused by poor construction and drainage, and its subsequent upgrading following the 1977 Royal Commission on the BC Railway. Begins with a capsule history of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway/BC Railway, using archival photos and film.

The item is a training film from 1978. Surely one of the strangest safety-promotion films ever made. In his office in Hell, the Devil, lamenting the low quality of current sinners, does a television broadcast urging people to ignore safety rules. Accidents, he claims, are good for the economy (because they are labour-intensive), and will also get you to Hell that much faster. Apparently meant as a framework for a discussion or presentation on safety.

The item is a training film from 1980. Uses live-action and animated sequences to demonstrate hand signals used to direct crane boom, line, combination and travel operations. Location footage shows railway cranes at work in a rail yard and hoisting a derailed locomotive.

The item is a promotional film from ca. 1946 showing the route of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway from its southern terminus at Squamish to the Central Interior, and aspects of the area served by the railway. Includes footage of a voyage from Vancouver to Squamish on Union Steamship's "Lady Alexandra", with a stop at Bowen Island; sports and recreation at Alta Lake; cattle drive; wheat fields; placer mining; logging; PGE crews at work.

Includes footage of: Anderson Lake, Barkerville, Bowen Island, Bridge River, Clinton, D'Arcy, Lillooet, Quesnel, Seton Lake, Squamish, Wells, Williams Lake, Alta Lake, Birkenhead River, Lac La Hache, Rainbow, Vancouver, Cariboo Region, Cheakamus River

The item is a training film from 1979. It shows In-depth instruction for railway personnel in the uniform code of operating rules (no. 40 series) dealing with the protection of impassable or "slow" track. Live-action, dramatized and animated sequences illustrate the correct procedures to be followed by train dispatchers, road foremen and flagmen in flagging and documenting such sections, as well as the correct attire for flagmen and the contents of the flagging kit.

The item is a promotional film from 1974. It depicts a steam train excursion from North Vancouver to Squamish with the Royal Hudson, operated by the BC Railway Company for the provincial government.

The item is a promotional film from 1977. "This short feature covers the railway from its birth in 1912 to the final spike. . . . Many old scenes of early railroading mixed with good footage of the modern railway." The historical material largely comprises old stills, along with some b&w archival footage of steam train operations.

The item consists of two reels of unedited footage from around 1977. It shows the official opening of the BC Railway Company's maintenance of way shop complex in Prince George, people touring plant, ceremony, etc.

The item is a VHS promotional video from ca. 1985. It is a slide/tape presentation on the construction of BC Rail's Tumbler Ridge subdivision for the Northeast Coal Project.

The item is a VHS promotional video from ca. 1985. It is a slide/tape presentation describing BC Rail and its role in the British Columbia economy.

The item is a promotional film from 1964. It shows the history of the PGE, 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).

The item is a VHS promotional video from 1987. It shows BC Rail's passenger service, serving North Vancouver, Squamish, Whistler, Pemberton, Tyax, 100 Mile House, Quesnel, and Prince George. Emphasis on winter sports, particularly cross-country skiing.

The item is a VHS video documentary. At 1:15 A.M., November 4, 1985, a northbound 94-car train struck a small rockslide on the BC Rail mainline. Three locomotives were derailed at Mile 63.5. This videotape depicts the raising of the locomotives.

The item consists of the original workprint of the BC Rail documentary about the Seton recovery. "On February 29, 1980 two BC Rail locomotives and one gondola car derailed into Seton Lake [due to a rockslide]. This [film] depicts the raising of locomotive 808 and the attempt to raise locomotive 711." Film includes a re-enactment of the accident and footage of the repaired engine 808 (re-numbered 800).

The item is a training film from 1979. It shows "basic operating hand signals for new train service employees." Hand signals are demonstrated in live-action and animated sequences.

The item is a promotional film from 1976. It gives an introductory look at the LIC system of computerized railway traffic control, which is being developed by the BC Railway Company in conjunction with Glenayre Electronics. Shows the basics of the system and the departure and routing of a typical train.

The item is a promotional film from around 1976. It gives an overview of BC Railway operations, including sequences about the variety of freight hauled (including a huge turbine runner for the Mica Dam project); self-propelled passenger cars; the Royal Hudson steam train; track maintenance; freight trucking and truck piggyback service; rail car barges; locomotive rebuild centre in Squamish; microwave communication system; computer centre; BC Railway Industrial Park in Prince George and future prospects.

The item is a VHS copy of a promotional video from 1986 which details the range of services offered by BC Rail.

The item is a VHS video copy of a lighthearted musical theatre production celebrating the 75th anniversary of BC Rail. Introduced to live audience by M.C. and Mac Norris.

The item is a training film about how to load a bulkhead flatcar to comply with A.A.R. rules. This film became obsolete in February 1980 because of rule changes. Filmed in Prince George at The Pas Lumber Company and Rustad Sawmills, BC Railway Industrial Park.

Documentary. The building of a BC Rail 129 kilometre (80 mile) branch line to the coal mines of Tumbler Ridge for the Northeast Coal Project. Shows surveying; tunnel and bridge construction; laying of rails; manufacture of porcelain insulators; installation of electrical lines to power trains; design and construction of electric locomotives; loaded trains en route; Ridley Island Coal Terminal at Prince Rupert.

Promotional video. A railroad trip by BC Rail dayliner from North Vancouver to Prince George.