In 1918 there were three rail lines serving the Saanich Peninsula. The first to arrive (1894) was the Victoria and Sidney Railway that departed Victoria near present-day Topaz Avenue. It worked north, roughly parallel to Blanshard Ave. Near present-day Broadmead Ave it veered off to the west and skirted around the western edge of Elk Lake. From there it headed north, cross country to Saanichton, after which it veered slightly eastward and met the east side ocean at Bazan Bay just below Sidney. The line then followed the coastline up to Beacon Ave in Sidney. The V & S engines were wood-burners so the trains became known as the “Cordwood Express.”
In 1913 a second rail service emerged—the British Columbia Electric Railroad. It headed north out of Victoria, but worked its way up the eastern side of the Peninsula. At Bazan Bay it veered off westward to terminate near Tatlow Road in Deep Cove (then called Deep Bay).
The third rail line arrived in 1917 when the Canadian Northern Pacific Railroad ran a track from Victoria to Pat Bay, ending close to where present-day Mills Road meets Pat Bay.
By 1935 all three lines were defunct and the Peninsula’s rail history was done. Low ridership, declining freight revenues and the development of road systems for cars and trucks caused to this disappearance.
This song, “I Wish I Had a Big Old Train,” by Luann Burton, was written in response to a comment from her son-in-law, Jonathan Baillie who indicated that he was never able to fulfill his childhood dream of visiting his grandparents by train. This stuck with Luann and shortly “Big Old Train” was being sung.
About the only reminders that remain of these long-gone days are several hiking pathways such as the Lochside Trail that was part of the BCER and the west side of the Elk Lake circle hike that was part of the V & S. When you’re in places where the trains used to run, it’s fun to try and figure out where the rails might have been laid (maybe those strange pathways between roads in Deep Cove were once rail beds…). And certainly it’s easy to dream about sitting comfortably in a train, watching the Peninsula countryside and ocean pass by, grinning quietly at seeing gridlock on the Pat Bay highway, and knowing there would be no parking hassles once in Victoria. A fine thought indeed. (TR)