Katherine Bickford

The pictures in this series speak for themselves – no further comment is necessary when viewing where the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway once operated the Dayliner passenger  service between Courtenay and Victoria, under the umbrella of the CPR, VIA,  and the SVI.

After designing and building a number of light-weight, stainless steel, self propelled cars between 1932 and 1948, the modern Rail Diesel Car (RDC) was introduced to the railway industry by the Budd company on September 17, 1949 in Chicago, Illinois. The Canadian National Railway was the first railway to operate an RDC in Canada when it tested Budd demonstrator #2960 in February, 1951. Two years later, the CPR tested the same Budd #2960 for three weeks between Montreal and Mont Laurier, QC, and received enthusiastic acceptance. The CPR was the first Canadian railway to apply the RDC when it placed an order in September 1953, for three RDC-1’s and one RDC-3.

The CPR used the designation “Dayliner” for its RDC’s, and although the Victoria to Courtenay train  was officially named the “Malahat”, it was known as the “Dayliner” on Vancouver Island.

As of March 19, 2011, the train don’t run here anymore…