Name/Title
The Hatch Car ShedDescription
The Gordon and Maude Hatch streetcar barn was built by the Hatch family in 2010 to house the highly detailed scale model streetcars constructed by the late Gordon W Hatch. These fully working models were built from scratch over several decades and are replicas of some of the streetcars that ran in Greater Victoria and on the Saanich Peninsula. Also on display are some rail-related artifacts and salvaged parts from the original full size streetcars.
The streetcar system was a key factor in of Victoria. The British Columbia Electric Railway Company (BCER) operated streetcars on Vancouver Island from 1890 to 1948. The system in Greated Victoria began with a limited downtown network, but by 1923 has grown with lines to Esquimalt, Oak Bay, Cadboro Bay, Foul Bay Mount Tolmie, Tilicum, Burnside and Upper Hillside.
From 1913 to 1923 the BCER operated a separate high speed interurban line from downtown Victoria through Saanich Peninsular over land that is now the Victoria Airport, and on to Deep Bay(now called Deep Cove).
Displayed in this collection are two models of the cars used on the downtown Victoria routes: the serial 404 CLOVERDALE the Western Car Company built Birney Car and the serial 240 OAK BAY BCER built car. The largest car on display is a model one serial 1318 CHILLIWACK St. Louis Car Company built car that was used exclusively on the Saanich Interurban Line until being sent to the Lower Mainland for service on the Interurban line out through the Fraser Valley to Chilliwack. The green electric yard engine model is an example of the various utility engines used to service the street car network.
Included in the display is a 1/4 scale replica of the Saanichton station on the Interurban Line and a reconstruction of Gordon Hatch's workshop featuring tools used in the construction of these models.
