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Exhibit

100th Anniversary of the MV Motor Princess

Britannia Shipyards’ latest exhibition explores the history of the Canadian Pacific Railway’s steamships and the first North American car ferry.

Chalkboard with side view and cross-section chalk drawing of the MV Motor Princess next to a bulletin board of archival documents and displayed above plexi covered table displaying a dining set and museum artefacts

Did you know that the first ferry in North America designed to carry cars operated out of Steveston in 1929?

Britannia Shipyards’ new temporary exhibit 100th Anniversary of the MV Motor Princess celebrates the story of early Canadian Pacific Railway Company transportation by water, and how the first car ferry changed travel for many people in Steveston.

Motor Princess at Steveston ferry terminal, where it ran the Steveston-Sidney ferry service from 1929-1950. City of Richmond Archives RCF 249. Steveston built a ferry slip at the end of Seventh Avenue in 1929 for the Motor Princess, and the ferry’s turntable for loading automobiles was repurposed from a former Steveston railway turntable.

Learn about the Motor Princess’s history in Steveston, imagine what it would have been like to travel aboard the ferry, and explore the history of the Canadian Pacific Railway’s global network of steamships.

Sepia postcard of showing two antique beds on the side of an ornage desk with table and mirror.
Promotional postcard of C.P.S. Empress of Britain first class state room, courtesy of Gordon Kibble. Larger ocean liners such as the RMS Empress of Britain offered elegant accommodations, tennis courts, photographic dark rooms, ballrooms, Turkish baths, and Olympic-sized pools.

Visitors can view a selection of CPR artifacts and ephemera courtesy of Gordon Kibble, local maritime and CPR Steamships historian and collector. Highlights include early 20th century dining sets from the Empress and Princess liners, Canadian Pacific postcards and promotional materials, and a souvenir puzzle of the RMS Empress of Britain from the Canadian Pacific Railway Company.

100th Anniversary of the MV Motor Princess is on display until end of November 2023, in the Seine Net Loft building at Britannia Shipyards. Operating hours are 12pm-4pm Tuesday-Sunday.

100th Anniversary of the MV Motor Princess exhibit, on display at Britannia Shipyards
100th Anniversary of the MV Motor Princess exhibit, on display at Britannia Shipyards

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