Public gets its first chance in 10 years to see quarter-scale models built by dedicated streetcar enthusiast

A family of four quarter-scale streetcars has found a home.

A special barn has been constructed at Central Saanich’s Heritage Acres to house the downsized models, built over a period of years by Colwood senior Gordon Hatch, who passed away two years ago.

With financing from his widow, Maude, the 450 square-foot shelter is nearing completion at the Saanich Historical Artifacts Society heritage museum.

“They will finally be in a place where we know they will be safe,” said Aaron Lypkie, Hatch’s grandson. “Right now they’re just idling.”

Lypkie, who lives in Saanich, remembers as a boy watching his grandfather work on the mini-streetcars, which range from seven and-a-half feet to 14’ in length.

“It was a giant thrill,” Lypkie said about following the models’ construction progress.

“Because they are all hand built, they are almost like living beings.”

Hatch built the models out of a love for the streetcars he had grown up with.

The trams used to run from downtown Victoria out to the Saanich Peninsula, along the Gorge waterway and out to Oak Bay. Running on electricity, they were quieter than today’s buses. But as automobiles became more affordable in the late 1940s, the streetcar lines were done away with.

“He cried when they burned them,” Lypkie said about his grandfather’s reaction when, unable to find use for redundant cars, many cities – including Victoria – burned their supply.

In an effort to eulogize their beauty and usefulness, Hatch started building quarter-scale models in the early 1960s based on his memories, research and original streetcar construction plans.

For more than 30 years until 2000, Hatch and his wife Maude hosted “trolley teas” each summer where visitors could come to watch the cars travel around a track he’d set up in their backyard while enjoying a cup of tea.

Since the last tea almost 10 years ago, the trolleys have gathered dust in the cramped family room of the Hatch home in Colwood.

This fall the models will be unveiled at Heritage Acres. Saanich Historical Artifacts Society president Brian Bevan said the streetcar barn and models will be an intriguing addition to the society’s collection, which includes rural machinery such as steam engines and tractors.

“We do have a lot of people that come out here that remember streetcars, and some of our members used to ride streetcars,” Bevan said.

In advance of the arrival of the streetcars, the society hosts its annual threshing bee on Sept. 19 and 20.

Antique, yet still-functioning farm machinery, including threshing machines and other vintage equipment, can be observed in operation from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days.

Heritage Acres is located at 7321 Lochside Dr. (access from Island View Road, off the Pat Bay Highway).

Admission prices are $7 for adults and free for children. All proceeds go toward keeping the society running.

vmoreau@saanichnews.com