Last steam train in Langley, 1962.

Collections

salishan Place by the River currently maintains a collection of over 9000 photographs, 2000 archival documents, 9000 objects, 500 works of art, and 300 oral history recordings. This collection, spanning hundreds of years, is a wonderful window on the past and present life of our community.

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Object Description

Object Name

Print, Photographic

Object ID

1966.004.002

Artist

Hickman, Reginald (photographer)

Title

Last steam train in Langley, 1962.

Date

1962.

Description

1 Photograph : b&w ; 20.5 x 25 cm. Photograph of the last steam engine train coming to Langley. The train has a metal plaque on the front of it that reads, "4012 / P C I Co." To the right of the train is a small crowd of people standing outside of a storefront looking towards the train. A sign above the storefront reads, "Jeffery / & Swain / FINANCIAL AGENCIES LTD. / -REAL ESTATE-." A sign just to the right of the train has a map on it and reads, "LANGLEY" above it.
The reverse of the picture frame has text handwritten in blue ink that reads, "LAST STEAM / LOCO IN LANGLEY / SPIECAL[sic] 1962".

People/Subject

British Columbia Electric Railway Company Ltd. (BCER)

The British Columbia Electric Railway's interurban passenger service for the Fraser Valley, B.C., area came through Langley in 1910. The company was building rail lines into Langley as early as 1906, when they signed an agreement with Langley government. The company itself began as a merger of the National Electric Tramway and Lighting Company (Victoria), Vancouver Electric Railway and Light Company Ltd., and Vancouver & Westminster Tramway Company, and was responsible for hydroelectric power generation, power transmission, and electric rail lines on Vancouver Island and in Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. All three companies had gone into receivership in 1895, and the BCER was met with receivership in 1896, following the Point Ellice Bridge Disaster in Victoria. The company was only able to survive through assistance from London financers, and began operations in 1897 as an English-owned company. A station built at 240 St. in the general area formerly known as Harmsworth in Langley was named after Rochfort Henry Sperling, general manager of the B.C. Electric Company, and the area subsequently came to be known as Sperling community. In 1910, a substation was built at Coghlan, and still stands (2021). The substation stepped the voltage from the power transmission lines down for use by the trains passing through. It did not provide power to the surrounding community. Interurban passenger services on the B.C.E.R's Fraser Valley Line ceased in 1950. The company ended all service in 1958, and broke up into the branches it is modernly: BC Hydro, Translink, and BC Transit.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Columbia_Electric_Railway

Langley City

The City of Langley, B.C., covering the Langley Prairie region, was incorporated in 1955.

Langley Prairie

Langley Prairie became Langley City in 1955.

railroads

Railway Track

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