Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
September 22, 1986 The Alex Fraser Bridge was officially opened in Canada. This cable-stayed bridge carries British Columbia Highway 91 over the Fraser River and connects the cities of Richmond and New Westminster with the community of North Delta in the metropolitan region of Vancouver, British Columbia. The northern end of the bridge is on Annacis... Continue Reading →
May 11, 1927 An eight-wheeled motorbus that would earn both distinction and derision began its service as a transit vehicle in Montreal, Canada. The vehicle had been built by the New York-based Versare Car Company, a bus-and-trolley manufacturer established in 1925 to produce experimental heavy-duty motorbuses that were intended for city service. The founder of... Continue Reading →
August 6, 1889 Railroad promoter and builder George Laidlaw died at the age of 61 near the community of Coboconk in the south-central region of Ontario, Canada. Laidlaw, who was born in the Highlands of Scotland in 1828, had an irrepressibly adventurous approach to life. This was in large part the driving force for him to... Continue Reading →
June 24, 1918 Canada joined a small but ever-growing number of nations in a new method of postal delivery when that nation’s first official airmail service took place. At 10:12 a.m., Captain Brian Peck of the Royal Flying Corps departed for Toronto from the Bois Franc Polo Grounds near Montreal in a JN-Curtiss two-seater biplane... Continue Reading →
Canadian aviation pioneer Lorna de Blicquy was born in 1931 near the town of Goderich in the province of Ontario. De Blicquy, who developed a strong interest in aviation after a cousin took her for a flight over the Canadian capital of Ottawa, started to take flying lessons when she was only 14. At the... Continue Reading →
August 15, 1892 In Canada, the first electric streetcar to operate in Toronto officially went into service. This streetcar, which was part of the Toronto Railway Company (TRC), ran on Church Street in the city. (Along with being the capital of the province of Ontario, Toronto at that time was second only to Montreal as... Continue Reading →
July 24, 1864 Railroad executive Thomas James Tait, whose career spanned both North America and Australia, was born in the township municipality of Melbourne in Quebec, Canada. He started working for the Grand Trunk Railway (GT) in 1880; that extensive system ran through Ontario and Quebec as well as Michigan and much of New England. Tait... Continue Reading →
July 20, 1956 On Canada’s Pacific coast, the ferry MV Mill Bay was first placed into service transporting passengers and vehicles across Saanich Inlet and between the communities of Brentwood Bay and Mill Bay on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. W. Glenn “Red” Ryder served as the vessel’s first captain. The ferry was constructed by the... Continue Reading →
The Angus L. Macdonald Bridge was opened in the Canadian maritime province of Nova Scotia. The suspension bridge, measuring nearly one mile (1.6 kilometers) in length, crosses Halifax Harbour and serves as a link between the Halifax Peninsula and the city of Dartmouth. At the time of its debut, the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge played... Continue Reading →
Construction began on the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway (ITH) – formally classified as Highway 10 – in Canada’s Northwest Territories. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper broke ground on the new project, which was undertaken to provide a long-awaited all-season road connecting the town of Inuvik on the East Channel of the Mackenzie River delta with the community... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 