One of three railways to operate on the Saanich Peninsula, the Victoria and Sidney Railway Company was formed in 1892 as part of the City of Victoria's plan for a rail line serve the Saanich Peninsula. A survey for a rail route from Victoria to Sidney had been started in 1888 and a rail-steam-rail link was proposed by BC Premier Amor de Cosmos in 1981, but then voted down by Victoria City Council. After granting the V&S certain tax concessions and various loans construction began on a rail line from downtown Victoria to downtown Sidney. Surveying and grading soon began and passed through nearly every important community between Victoria and Sidney. Operations began from Topaz Avenue, close to the Mayfair Mall today, to downtown Sideny at the intersection of Beacon Ave. and 1st, in 1894. At the time the Saanich Peninsula was mostly forested with only limited areas under cultivation. Timber and cordwood production was key industry in the area and provided a major source of freight revenue for the railroad. Since all the early V&S locomotives were wood burners, local residents quickly dubbed the train the "Cordwood Limited". A slightly less complimentary name for it was the "tri-weekly" because although it ran every day, it tried weakly.
Background
In the early days of operations, the V&S proved a popular route for excursion passengers to the agricultural fairs at Saanichton and for picnickers travelling to Bazan Bay, just south of Sidney, and other areas of the Saanich Peninsula. This was before the days of automobiles, and, since the roads existing at the time were in very poor condition, the train was the most popular means of travel. It was always hoped that the Victoria and Sidney Railway would connect to the mainland by steamer, with new rail lines built to the major Fraser Valley centres. By 1900 the idea was officially advanced and the Victoria Terminal Railway and Ferry Company was formed to provide a rail-steamship-rail connection Sidney to Port Guichon and then via a new rail line from Ladner to New Westminster. Construction began on this line, the Liverpool and Canoe Pass line.. Plans were also made to extend the line to connect with the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway depot in downtown Victoria, and so an extension was built, ending close to City Hall, at Pandora and Broad St. However plans to extend the V&S to the E&N depot never materialized. The rail line connection on the mainland now makes up part of the BCR Port Sub. The Victoria Terminal Railway and Ferry co. dock was located near the present day BC Ferry terminal at Tsawwassen. The V&S line operated 3 locomotives. In 1893, Locomotive #1 was delivered and helped lay the line. It was a 40-ton 2-6-0 Mogul class locomotive built in Kingston, Ontario by the Canadian Locomotive Company. It was well suited to the local service and was the mainstay of the railroad. Indeed, it handled the 7% grade at Royal Oak much better than the other two locomotives. The No.2 was a much older 4-4-0, having been built in 1875. The engine's large drivers made it slippery on the grades, meaning it could only be assigned to the lightest trains. The No.3 was heavier 4-4-0 and like the No.1 was better suited to the harsh grades on the V&S.
Great Northern Purchase
Great Northern Railway, headquartered in the US, saw potential in the Victoria and Sidney Railway. The GN dreamed of creating a large, rival empire to that of Canadian Pacific Railway and coastal steamship service. Great Northern already operated the New Westminster Southern Railway, from Cloverdale in the Fraser Valley to New Westminster, and with some modification, they connected to Port Guichon. Great Northern then ran a steamer service between Port Guichon from Sydney, including the Victorian and the Sternwheeler SS Strathcona. The V&S was renamed the Victoria Terminal Railway and Ferry Company and its sister line the Vancouver, Victoria and Eastern Railway. However, after GN purchased the V&S traffic continued to decline and service on the V&S deteriorated. A further blow to the V&S came in 1913 when the BC Electric Railway company built an interurban railroad to Deep Bay in North Saanich, supplementing its well established streetcar lines in the city of Victoria. The BCER offered a more frequent and continuous passenger service than the V&S could provide with its old run down equipment. Business on the V&S briefly picked up and the competition between the two railways was intense and the Great Northern replaced the old wooden coaches on the V&S with a modern gas motor car built by the McKeen Motorcar company. With the construction of the Canadian Northern's line from Victoria to Patricia Bay, the competition was too much for the Victoria and Sidney Railway. Starting in 1917 the Great Northern Railway pulled out of operating the V&S. Service continued for another year until finally in 1919 the V&S shut down and the line was abandoned. A small stretch of the V&S was purchased by the Canadian National Railway to continue to service customers in the Sidney area. CNR abandoned its Patricia Bay Sub north of McKenzie Ave in 1935 and the remaining portion of the V&S was abandoned. Today part of the Western side of walking trail that circles Elk/Beaver Lake is on the original V&S railway bed. In 1926 the road following the straight line of the V&S from Keating Cross Road north to where it joins E. Saanich road, ending at the Prairie Inn, was named "Veyaness Road".
