A new motorized stagecoach service for the new Vancouver Island Highway.
"1936::Progress"
Clip: Advertisement for the Vancouver Island Coach Lines (1930)
In the mid-1800s, miners from around the world rushed to the new Crown Colony of British Columbia after news that gold was discovered along the banks of the Fraser River. Many walked hundreds of miles to get where they needed to be, while others hired stagecoaches made available by enterprising individuals. Half a century later, motorized horseless carriages arrived, ushering in a new era of transportation and slowly replacing the outdated stagecoaches still at work around the province. On Vancouver Island, sailing vessels were altered to transport these new motorized vehicles on and off the island, and roads were built, including the Malahat Highway, so that motorists could access areas where the rails didn't go.
"1928::A Quarter Century of Auto Evolution"
Photo Clip: Ottawa Citizen (1928)
Ottawa, Ontario
The first automobiles on the Pacific Coast were typically electric or steam-powered buggy-type models owned by affluent professionals who could afford their hefty price tags. However, the pace of technological advancement was so rapid that in just two short decades, these buggies were all but replaced by more affordable, luxurious, and powerful vehicles. This rapid evolution in the automobile industry revolutionized people's lives and, by the 1920s, had profoundly impacted the development of Vancouver Island. Automobile enthusiasts, now able to travel longer distances with sturdier cars and better roads along the Pacific Coast, began touring the Pacific Northwest and contributing significantly to the growth of Vancouver Island.
"1931::The New Vancouver Island Coach Lines"
Map Clip: Vancouver Sun (1931)
Vancouver, British Columbia
The first motorists of Vancouver Island were a small group of like-minded enthusiasts who formed an automobile club and advocated for better roads on the island and along the Pacific Coast. Before long, new and improved roads began to appear, attracting automobile tourists from afar whose money-spending road trip vacations helped to build their small coastal towns. Seeing the potential for real growth, Vancouver Islanders collaborated to connect their new roads, constructing an island highway with roadside resorts to accommodate their motoring guests. As technology advanced, gas-fueled buses arrived with sufficient power to regularly cart numerous passengers and their belongings over the summit of the Malahat Highway. These new buses were purchased and employed by private citizens who used them to service islanders along scattered island routes. In 1928, a new company called the Vancouver Island Coach Lines purchased all of these private buses to streamline the island's bus service and to make the island's roadside resorts accessible to vacationers who didn't own a car. Soon, the roadside resorts began to boom, small businesses started to emerge, and tourist towns began appearing on local maps.
"1926::Studebaker De-Luxe Stage Coach for Vancouver Island Run"
Photo Clip: Victoria Daily Times (1926) Victoria, British Columbia
The elegant De Luxe was Studebaker's newest stagecoach and the first bus imported into Western Canada for use on Vancouver Island. Its genuine leather bucket seats were trimmed with mohair and featured Westinghouse air cushions to provide ultimate comfort over the bumps of Vancouver Island's highway. The coach first arrived in the summer of 1926 and spent two days cruising around Victoria for all to see before departing for Nanaimo to commence up-island services on the Nanaimo-Courtenay route.
In 1928, when the Vancouver Island Coach Lines bought out the island's privately owned buses, they imported several more Studebaker buses so that passengers could continue to ride in maximum comfort.
"1931::Advertisement for the New Vancouver Island Coach Lines" Ad Clip: Victoria Daily Times (1931) Victoria, British Columbia
Vancouver Island Coach Lines Ltd. changed hands several times before being purchased by the Province of British Columbia in 1974. In 1978, the Province merged its two companies - the Vancouver Island Coach Lines and the Pacific Stage Lines - to form the Pacific Coach Lines.
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