The Pacific Great Eastern Railway, despite its name, was a Western company. Incorporated in Vancouver in 1912, it was founded to create a railroad between Prince George and the docks of North Vancouver via Squamish and the Howe Sound. Decades passed before this goal was fully achieved due to a section of challenging, mountainous terrain and ongoing financial challenges. It became known as the Province’s Great Expense to Prince George Eventually. However, the story of the PGE Railway is one of ambition and perseverance that created an important, historic route along the waters of the Burrard Inlet and Howe Sound, remnants of which still exist today.
Blackadder Goes Forth. Not ‘Edmund’, but Henry!
Mention the name ‘Blackadder’ and people think of Rowan Atkinson’s character in the BBC comedy series. The final episode of the last series, Blackadder Goes Forth, is known for its final scene, called “Goodbyeee,” which sees ‘Captain Blackadder’ and his side-kick, ‘Baldrick’ going “over the top” into the smoke filled no man’s land of the First World War trenches, presumably to their deaths. Crazy as that sounds, there was a real Captain Blackadder from Dundee, Scotland, who was awarded the Military Cross and whose older brother Henry had a very special connection to North Vancouver.