Awesome! I remember driving this several times back in 1966 when I lived in Victoria. It brings back great memories. Thank you so much for posting these important archives. Job well done!
On the Malahat Drive, the trees are still low and the view is still awesome throughout compared to now where it is all hidden by the growth - just the passage of time, and the things lost. I came along driving about ten years later in the seventies and rode in the back of the station wagon many times going up Island looking out at the view.
Wow great video. Most of the highway has changed a lot over the years with extra lanes and medians and lots of traffic lights. The stretch between the summit and bamberton has not changed much at all. Still 3 lanes and undivided
I remember when driving to and from Victoria you had to slow down to go around that hair-pin corner at the big rock...I see in this video they had bypassed it.
I used to drive from Victoria to Crofton for work in those days. In the summer, when we were on afternoon shift, we had to leave about an hour earlier than on day shift or graveyard. This was because the highway was single lane virtually all the way, and you had tourists driving 10 miles an hour while their passenger hung out the window taking pictures - sometimes coming to a complete stop. It was a killer road then, with - probably - 20% of the traffic there is now.
Strangely enough the Island Highway remained much like this into the mid 70s. It wouldn't be until the late 70s when they started widening it to four lanes between Mill Bay and Duncan (I remember it being only two lanes as late as 1974/75 when I was a teen); added two lanes (to make four) along "the chute" stretch above Goldstream Park (south of the Malahat Chalet) which the ministry has essentially returned to a three lane highway now (two lanes up, one lane down) - the southbound passing lane is so short now, only a couple vehicles can pass the laggards heading into Goldstream... [sigh].
The hat is and always has been an infrastructure nightmare. (We have ol' James McFarlane to thank for that bright idea.) But I just wanna give a thanks to all the rescue crew members who have participated in the accidents and disasters along the hat from it's very beginning- all the way back in the 1880's during its horseback trail days.
It's a fantastic view from a different time. I would love to see this same trip in the highways current condition. There have been lots of "improvements" Some which have been good, some we wonder if the engineers have actually been to the area. The barriers have reduced deaths, not accidents but death from accident, They have also increased speeds but providing false security. In 1966 the video shows speed of no more than 60 mph on the straight sections. Now the average speed is closer to 140 kph and 100 kph on the curves. As for the "improvements" at Whittaker Rd and Lower Shawnigan Lake Rd... They recently lower some barriers so that you could at least see the headlights of northbound traffic before pulling out. Shawnigan Lake road remains with a amber flashing light northbound. This means nothing to most drivers apparently as traffic is only getting faster at this intersection. The on ramp southbound from Shawnigan Lake rd is not long enough to enable all but the best sports cars to get up to the hwy speeds before they must merge. This coming summer will likely show some spectacular crashes in this area! This could have all been resolved by simply designing a service road from Whittaker Rd to Shawnigan Lake road. They cleared enough natural habitat to have provided this anyway. Also a set of lights at Shawnigan Lake Rd is long overdue. Slowing traffic in this area is not a bad thing, Drivers can't control there habits so design roads that do control their habits.
What are you talking about, "average speed is closer to 140 kph . . ." I've been commuting over the 'hat for 20+ years and the average is more like 100 kph. Occasionally drivers go faster, but most hang around 90 - 100, which is more like the 85th percentile.
tbirdvi The only time the average speed is near 100 kph is during rush hour commute. That never happened in the past because when the video was taken it was not a daily commute from Mill Bay or Duncan to Victoria, it was a weekend adventure.
What strikes me, other than that this driver really likes to pass people, is the trees! They're tiny, having probably been logged not that long before the video was taken.
Tim Ayres My grandfather had a portable sawmill that he operated at different locations on the Malahat in the 40's. They cut railroad ties. I heard stories of driving an old truck loaded with ties down the Malahat heading to Victoria. He told me of loosing the brakes once. So yes, I think that whole are had been logged in the decade or 2 before this clip was shot.
I'd like to see some trees felled where they are needlessly hiding beautiful views between the summit and the Bamberton Hill and also between the Chalet and the road to what used to be called Hall's Boathouse (now Rabun Boathouse). I believe these trees were dropped in the very early 50's when the Malahat Drive was a newly improved attraction in order to provide the view. 40 years ago I talked to the guys who started Hall's and they mentioned they were loggers there in the 30's and they logged the whole hillside above that area and regretted that a beautiful stream that used to run down to the boathouse area never did recover. Nevertheless if you go there with a water jug and with their permission fill from the water they supply fishermen for the fish cleaning table you will taste the best water I have tasted anywhere on the island.
The highway looked pretty dangerous back then without all the traffic! Look out for the debris in the middle of the highway past the summit! Look out for the truck coming out of Bamberton!! Lookout passing the big truck going up Cobble Hill!! More idiots on the road now, but it is much safer than 1966.
+Jordan Rotz Awesome music courtesy i.stock. Title is BGM energize. Here's a link for more info: www.istockphoto.com/audio/bgm-energize-full-track-14740385
The gauge on the left is an altimeter with sea level at the top and calibrated in 100 foot intervals so the top is 0' and 1000'. At the summit it logically shows around 1150'. The gauge on the right is a speedometer reading from 0 to 90mph, with 45mph at the top. The driver is going typically 50-55mph.
I found some photos on Flikr with some shots of the Malahat dating back to 1912, Also some good shots of the Chalet and the Dutch Latch: www.flickr.com/photos/45379817@N08/sets/72157629926197347/
bunsomatic Thanks for posting the link. I remember the Dutch Latch and it's just as i recall it from 40 years ago. Only on special occasions did we stop and get an ice cream cone. And once in a blue moon, we were allowed a double header. I remember the "Dutch doors: where we bought the ice cream from. Good memories. Thanks.
It was a different age, that's for sure. We moved to the Island two years later so this corresponds with what I remember from my some of my earliest memories in childhood. There was less traffic but many places where you could pass traffic by moving into the oncoming lane, which was often a little scary.
Don Moffatt 1966 was the year we moved to the Island, traffic was not very heavy on the Malahat back then, a big difference from today. It was always scary back then, but now there are so many more drivers travelling the Malahat whose behavior you have to worry about.
As an eight year old, my grandmother (in a rented Chevy Chevette) crashed us into a mountain stretch. I nearly died, and it has impacted my entire life since 1976. After two months in hospital with a broken femur and no real assessment of the brain trauma, I have been piecing the few memories left. I'm surprised that a road with the history of death and mutilation that the Malahat has, it is not dramatically fixed yet even!
+om G The Malahat has recently undergone significant safety improvements. Here are some links to more information about it: www.flickr.com/photos/tranbc/albums/72157630658564682 news.gov.bc.ca/stories/15-million-to-improve-safety-on-the-malahat
Awesome! I remember driving this several times back in 1966 when I lived in Victoria. It brings back great memories. Thank you so much for posting these important archives. Job well done!
Fantastic - it's thought provoking and also a reminder of a different age on the Island. The island seemed so much more rural back then.
On the Malahat Drive, the trees are still low and the view is still awesome throughout compared to now where it is all hidden by the growth - just the passage of time, and the things lost. I came along driving about ten years later in the seventies and rode in the back of the station wagon many times going up Island looking out at the view.
Wouldn't it be fantastic to see the video reproduced in current time, then run side by side. Great job with this one.
A comparison
Not really all that different - most of the rocks are still in the same places.
Fantastic! Thanks for putting this up. More Please!!
Drove right past my house being built in that year
Wow great video. Most of the highway has changed a lot over the years with extra lanes and medians and lots of traffic lights. The stretch between the summit and bamberton has not changed much at all. Still 3 lanes and undivided
I remember when driving to and from Victoria you had to slow down to go around that hair-pin corner at the big rock...I see in this video they had bypassed it.
I used to drive from Victoria to Crofton for work in those days. In the summer, when we were on afternoon shift, we had to leave about an hour earlier than on day shift or graveyard. This was because the highway was single lane virtually all the way, and you had tourists driving 10 miles an hour while their passenger hung out the window taking pictures - sometimes coming to a complete stop.
It was a killer road then, with - probably - 20% of the traffic there is now.
Strangely enough the Island Highway remained much like this into the mid 70s. It wouldn't be until the late 70s when they started widening it to four lanes between Mill Bay and Duncan (I remember it being only two lanes as late as 1974/75 when I was a teen); added two lanes (to make four) along "the chute" stretch above Goldstream Park (south of the Malahat Chalet) which the ministry has essentially returned to a three lane highway now (two lanes up, one lane down) - the southbound passing lane is so short now, only a couple vehicles can pass the laggards heading into Goldstream... [sigh].
The hat is and always has been an infrastructure nightmare. (We have ol' James McFarlane to thank for that bright idea.) But I just wanna give a thanks to all the rescue crew members who have participated in the accidents and disasters along the hat from it's very beginning- all the way back in the 1880's during its horseback trail days.
This is really neat!
It's a fantastic view from a different time. I would love to see this same trip in the highways current condition. There have been lots of "improvements" Some which have been good, some we wonder if the engineers have actually been to the area. The barriers have reduced deaths, not accidents but death from accident, They have also increased speeds but providing false security. In 1966 the video shows speed of no more than 60 mph on the straight sections. Now the average speed is closer to 140 kph and 100 kph on the curves. As for the "improvements" at Whittaker Rd and Lower Shawnigan Lake Rd... They recently lower some barriers so that you could at least see the headlights of northbound traffic before pulling out. Shawnigan Lake road remains with a amber flashing light northbound. This means nothing to most drivers apparently as traffic is only getting faster at this intersection. The on ramp southbound from Shawnigan Lake rd is not long enough to enable all but the best sports cars to get up to the hwy speeds before they must merge. This coming summer will likely show some spectacular crashes in this area! This could have all been resolved by simply designing a service road from Whittaker Rd to Shawnigan Lake road. They cleared enough natural habitat to have provided this anyway. Also a set of lights at Shawnigan Lake Rd is long overdue. Slowing traffic in this area is not a bad thing, Drivers can't control there habits so design roads that do control their habits.
What are you talking about, "average speed is closer to 140 kph . . ." I've been commuting over the 'hat for 20+ years and the average is more like 100 kph. Occasionally drivers go faster, but most hang around 90 - 100, which is more like the 85th percentile.
60 mph = 96 kmh.
tbirdvi The only time the average speed is near 100 kph is during rush hour commute. That never happened in the past because when the video was taken it was not a daily commute from Mill Bay or Duncan to Victoria, it was a weekend adventure.
Like these videos, watched several of them now. Be nice to slow this one down a bit to better appreciate the various land marks.
What strikes me, other than that this driver really likes to pass people, is the trees! They're tiny, having probably been logged not that long before the video was taken.
Tim Ayres My grandfather had a portable sawmill that he operated at different locations on the Malahat in the 40's. They cut railroad ties. I heard stories of driving an old truck loaded with ties down the Malahat heading to Victoria. He told me of loosing the brakes once. So yes, I think that whole are had been logged in the decade or 2 before this clip was shot.
My thought exactly. Not as many clear views of Saanich Inlet and Satellite Channel nowadays.
I'd like to see some trees felled where they are needlessly hiding beautiful views between the summit and the Bamberton Hill and also between the Chalet and the road to what used to be called Hall's Boathouse (now Rabun Boathouse). I believe these trees were dropped in the very early 50's when the Malahat Drive was a newly improved attraction in order to provide the view.
40 years ago I talked to the guys who started Hall's and they mentioned they were loggers there in the 30's and they logged the whole hillside above that area and regretted that a beautiful stream that used to run down to the boathouse area never did recover. Nevertheless if you go there with a water jug and with their permission fill from the water they supply fishermen for the fish cleaning table you will taste the best water I have tasted anywhere on the island.
The highway looked pretty dangerous back then without all the traffic! Look out for the debris in the middle of the highway past the summit! Look out for the truck coming out of Bamberton!! Lookout passing the big truck going up Cobble Hill!! More idiots on the road now, but it is much safer than 1966.
What is the name of the awesome music
+Jordan Rotz Awesome music courtesy i.stock. Title is BGM energize. Here's a link for more info: www.istockphoto.com/audio/bgm-energize-full-track-14740385
Does anyone know what the gauge on the far left is?
+Johny Grasa Tachometer
+Sheila Burkmar-Hanan Actually, the guage on the right is the tach. I just figured out the one on the far left is the altimeter.
+Johny Grasa sorry my left and my right get mixed up!! 8-) sorry you are quite right!
The gauge on the left is an altimeter with sea level at the top and calibrated in 100 foot intervals so the top is 0' and 1000'. At the summit it logically shows around 1150'. The gauge on the right is a speedometer reading from 0 to 90mph, with 45mph at the top. The driver is going typically 50-55mph.
I found some photos on Flikr with some shots of the Malahat dating back to 1912, Also some good shots of the Chalet and the Dutch Latch: www.flickr.com/photos/45379817@N08/sets/72157629926197347/
bunsomatic Thanks for posting the link. I remember the Dutch Latch and it's just as i recall it from 40 years ago. Only on special occasions did we stop and get an ice cream cone. And once in a blue moon, we were allowed a double header. I remember the "Dutch doors: where we bought the ice cream from. Good memories. Thanks.
Where is the traffic?
It was a different age, that's for sure. We moved to the Island two years later so this corresponds with what I remember from my some of my earliest memories in childhood. There was less traffic but many places where you could pass traffic by moving into the oncoming lane, which was often a little scary.
Don Moffatt 1966 was the year we moved to the Island, traffic was not very heavy on the Malahat back then, a big difference from today. It was always scary back then, but now there are so many more drivers travelling the Malahat whose behavior you have to worry about.
"Where is the traffic?" I hasn't arrived from the east yet.
Would have made a cool music video!
As an eight year old, my grandmother (in a rented Chevy Chevette) crashed us into a mountain stretch. I nearly died, and it has impacted my entire life since 1976. After two months in hospital with a broken femur and no real assessment of the brain trauma, I have been piecing the few memories left. I'm surprised that a road with the history of death and mutilation that the Malahat has, it is not dramatically fixed yet even!
+om G The Malahat has recently undergone significant safety improvements. Here are some links to more information about it: www.flickr.com/photos/tranbc/albums/72157630658564682
news.gov.bc.ca/stories/15-million-to-improve-safety-on-the-malahat
om G Malahat is a fine road to drive, even before the safety improvements. If you’re dumb don’t drive it