Point Ellice Bridge disaster

The modern Bay Street Bridge that replaced the Point Ellice Bridge, Victoria, British Columbia

On May 26, 1896, in Victoria, British Columbia, a streetcar crowded with 143 holidaymakers on their way to attend celebrations of Queen Victoria's birthday crashed through Point Ellice Bridge (today usually referred to as the Bay Street Bridge) into the Upper Harbour.[1] 55 people were killed in the accident,[2] making it one of the worst transit disasters in British Columbia.[1] Only passengers on the left side of the streetcar escaped.[3]

The Consolidated Electric Railway Company was forced into receivership by the disaster and emerged reorganized as the British Columbia Electric Railway on April 15, 1897.[4]

  1. ^ a b Francis (ed), Daniel (2000) [1999]. Francis, Daniel (ed.). Encyclopedia of British Columbia. Harbour Publishing. p. 562. ISBN 1-55017-200-X. {{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  2. ^ Henry Ewert, The Story of the B. C. Electric Railway Company, North Vancouver, Whitecap Books, 1986
  3. ^ Looker, Janet (2000). "Point Ellice Bridge Collapse". Disaster Canada. Lynx Images. p. 241. ISBN 1-894073-13-4.
  4. ^ "Twenty Nine Years of Public Service: British Columbia Electric Railway Limited". 1925. p. 11. Retrieved 2010-01-30.