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A LENS ON VANCOUVER'S PAST
Photography by Walter Frost
IMMIGRANT TRAINS
CPR “Colonist” Passenger Car #2735
May 17, 1952
CVA 447-1716
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Most Dutch immigrants would continue their journey west in a "Colonist" Railway Passenger Coach.
Designed to provide relatively inexpensive long-distance transportation for immigrants, they were noted for very spartan accommodation. Food, blankets, pillows, bedding, and even berth curtains were all available for an extra fee.
After trundling roughly 2,800 miles across the rugged Canadian Shield, vast prairies, and over the Rocky Mountains, the last of the tired but excited Dutch immigrants would be deposited at Vancouver’s Waterfront Station.
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