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Granville Island Model Trains Museum
- NEW video!
Click here
to experience Granville Island (Windows-56K)
- NEW video!
Click here
to experience Granville Island (Windows-128K)
Whether just to poke around, rekindle old memories, or to start
new ones, this model trains museum is sure to please.
The Model Trains Museum is home to an elaborate 80-foot-long
model train layout based on typical scenery of the BC Interior.
John Keith-King estimates there are 1,000 feet of track on the platform,
which is formed out of wood and cut styrofoam then laden with orthopaedic
bandages and painted. See
the Diorama here.
The trains strive for realism, and along the wall are hundreds
examples of toy trains which, though remarkably detailed, were created
for younger hands, made of tin and dating to the 1920's. This collection
is the largest public display of toy trains in the world.
The Granville Island Story
Granville Island is a forty-acre man made island created in 1917.
For fifty years it housed heavy industry.
During the depression, hundreds of families lived on Granville
Island, then known as "Mud Island". The shantytown settlement
was called "Bennettville" after the former Prime Minister
of Canada, Richard B. Bennett.
Families on the island operated small boats or sold salmon or buckets
of smelt door to door to survive. They were basically self-sufficient
and were left alone by city officials until 1949 when seven hundred
people were given eviction notices. Most families eventually moved
off the island by the late 1950's.
The Granville Island Museums run along Broker's Bay, once referred
to as "Rat Portage". This was one of two entrances to
the island during the 1930's. A second entry was a stairway leading
from the old Granville Street Bridge to the shantytown settlement
on the island. During World War II the stairway was closed for fear
of sabotage.
In the 1970's, the Federal Government developed a plan, creating
a partnership between government and private enterprise. The Granville
Island Concept -- a recycling of old buildings and an orchestrated
mix of tenants was designed to maintain an equally busy evening
environment as it was during the day by local residents and tourists
alike. Also, development was not to compete with other city zoning.
Special features were kept or enhanced such as the metal or stucco
siding, heavy timber structures, large doors, and mulit-paned industrial
glazed windows and skylights.
The Sidney Roofing & Paper Company building, home of the Granville
Island Museums, was built in 1936 by Townley & Matheson Architects,
and then renovated in the 1980's - Art Deco.
Today, so commercially popular, some of the original low profit
businesses are being squeezed out. There is however still a good
representation of live theatre, marine stores, a wonderful public
market, an art school and three unique museums that fulfil its original
mandate. Since the islands new beginning 21 years ago, it currently
sits in the middle of the newly developed False Creek area. This
area occupies some 30,00 new residents who routinely shop at Granville
Island along with the regional and international visitors, In total,
Granville Island now receives over 9 million visitors a year.
Granville Island , now well placed, answers the various needs of
the whole family. Dad can visit the sport fishing museum, mom can
go the the public market, while grandma takes the little ones to
the children's market, or to the train museum. They can all meet
for lunch or dinner at one of the restaurants such as the Sirloiner
of the Keg and then they can charter a harbour cruise. The options
are numerous.
Behind the Scenes - Granville Island is a hotbed of bureaucratic
and political intrigue. In spite of these hidden complications,
Granville Island is one of the few, very pleasant destinations that
offers more comprehensive activities for families than any other
location in the province, and one of the few successful partnership
between public and private enterprise.
For an economical investment of $19 million in the late 1970's,
the Federal government now reaps over $35 million a year in taxes.
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