This colour travelogue, produced for the government-owned Pacific Great Eastern Railway near the end of the steam rail era, depicts stops and sights along the PGE route from Squamish to Quesnel.

The film begins with a sequence on the connecting trip from Vancouver to Squamish aboard the Union Steamship Company’s Lady Alexandra, and goes on to record the industries, attractions and resorts of the Lillooet and Cariboo regions. An enthusiastic narrator urges the viewer to “reach out . . . to the soul-enriching beauty of the magnificent country that lies ahead.” The featured locales include Bowen Island, Alta Lake, Lillooet, Clinton, and Williams Lake.

While intended to promote the PGE as a transportation service for passengers and freight, the film also displays boundless optimism for the future development of B.C.’s central interior. This duplicate film master, created in 1981 from a vintage print, was donated to the archives by BC Rail in 1986.

View full video here.