In doing a little research, I came across a number of maps of Victoria’s old tram / streetcar system, and thought I’d put them all in one place.
The removal of streetcars and regional rail systems across North America was a tragedy.
Note how a lot of today’s little local villages in Victoria and the region originally formed around streetcar stops. If you see a bunch of corner stores somewhere, it’s probably an old street car stop.
I will likely write more about this topic (e.g. this post), and in the meantime, I hope you enjoy these maps.
(And if you know of any others, please let me know!)
1890 Tram system sketch, from The Story of the BC Electric Railway Company, reproduced at http://bcer.trams.bc.ca/maps.html
1902 map from The Colonist, reproduced at https://owenlett.com/victoria-streetcar-map-from-1902/.
B.C. Electric streetcar and interurban system map from 1923. Credit to u/Cantstop-wontstop for posting this.
Greater Victoria Streetcar Lines, BCER system map and street network, circa 1920s, image via the Greater Victoria Public Library, reproduced at https://skyrisecities.com/news/2016/05/once-upon-tram-british-columbia-electric-railway-victoria-and-vancouver.21183
Map of Victoria’s streetcar system circa 1939. Image: Dr. Patrick Dunae, reproduced at https://www.capitaldaily.ca/news/victorias-long-lost-streetcars.
The bigger picture – BC Electric Railway Co system in 1923, and the Victoria Streetcar system included – kindly shared publicly by @busdriverlife.
There were actually three rail lines up the peninsula! Thanks to GoldGoldfish2258, a member of Old Victoria BC FB for this image!
Rail layer from VicMap > Transportation > Rail Lines. Thanks to City of Victoria, and to a couple of Redditors for bringing this to my attention.
And here is a great little vignette of streetcar life that someone shared online. Enjoy!
(😢)