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Vintage film shows train journey through Shuswap to Revelstoke

1932 footage purchased from estate sale by Vernon collector
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Historical footage hosted on YouTube shows what a railway journey through the Shuswap was like almost 90 years ago.

The 16mm film shot in 1932 shows snippets on a trip on a CP Rail passenger train between Vancouver and Revelstoke. The reel is part of a large collection of vintage films owned by Vernon resident Francois Arsenault.

Arsenault has been collecting vintage films for decades and new technology has allowed him to show off more than 400 examples of his collection on YouTube using his channel CanadaMotorSports/Reel life.

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Arsenault said he acquired the film from an estate sale in Los Angeles about five years ago, but the photographer’s name and any other information about the film has been lost to time.

The film begins by showing a foggy day in Vancouver. The footage then shows Kamloops and Shuswap lakes before giving viewers a look at the bustling platform at the Sicamous CP Rail Hotel.

As the train journey continues, the person with the camera trained their lens on the last spike monument in Craigellachie and then waterfalls and forested mountain slopes. Other landmarks along the way from the Shuswap to Revelstoke such as Griffin and Three Valley Lakes are also shown. The film concludes with footage of the Revelstoke train station.



jim.elliot@saobserver.net

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Jim Elliot

About the Author: Jim Elliot

I’m a B.C. transplant here in Whitehorse at The News telling stories about the Yukon's people, environment, and culture.
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