By Ashley Wray

Special to The Progress –

Thanks to the bond between boys and their toys, the Chilliwack Museum and Archives is about to be presented a very timely gift.

Langley artist Brian Croft will be donating a print of his work, Chilliwack 1915, to the museum this Thursday. It coincides with the opening of the exhibit B.C. Electric Railway; more then just a tram, which opens next week and will focus on the local impacts of the rail in the early 1900s.

Croft’s decision to illustrate Chilliwack at a time when the electric rail had only been around for a few years came after he re-discovered his love for trains.

“Almost any man can look back to their youth and remember playing with toy trains,” said Croft. “There’s just a natural connection between men and railways.”

So, building on a love for trains and a love for painting the history of the Fraser Valley, Croft began to take interest in the interurban line that was built by the B.C. Electric Railway Company.

“It was such an easy thing to get involved in because it was so fascinating to realize that it was actually the B.C. Electric Railway that opened up the Valley,” said Croft.

He started off painting the train line as it passed through Langley Prairie, Milner, and Cloverdale. And that eventually brought him out to Chilliwack which is where the line turned around.

“I was absolutely stunned when I started researching Chilliwack,” said Croft. “Chilliwack was such a sophisticated community for its time. With such modern buildings and very clearly being the centre of everything to do with agriculture, it seemed to be quite a revelation.”

Croft spent a lot of time at the museum searching through archives and old photographs as he likes to paint “strictly according to research as much as humanly possible, until the research runs out.”

And although it takes time – this painting was started in January and was finished about a month ago – Croft specializes in the details in hopes of bringing the images to life.

“Our view-point of history is largely visual and it’s most often from black and white photos,” said Croft. “Introducing colour creates a warming effect that really brings the photo to life and helps evoke memories. It helps people see something the way they did when they were a kid.”

It’s that detail and historical context that make the painting a great addition to the upcoming exhibit, according to Ron Denman, the director of the Chilliwack Museum and Archives.

“It will bring back a lot of memories for people,” said Denman. “People will be able to remember the tram bringing people into town for baseball tournaments, the cherry carnival and the family visiting the army base.”

Despite focusing on the early 1900s, the exhibit is still very relevant today when considering the recent debate around bringing rapid transit to the Valley.

“It explores the connection between transportation and development,” said Denman. “By understanding how the electric rail transformed the community in the early 1900s, we can begin to appreciate how further transformation would occur if a rapid transit were introduced today.”

The presentation of the painting, Chilliwack 1915, will take place at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 8 at the Chilliwack Museum and Archives. The exhibit B.C. Electric Railway; more then just a tram, is going to open in the downstairs gallery on Saturday, Oct. 17.