Vancouver's Engine 374 Celebrations

Engine 374 was the first train to ever arrive in the City of Vancouver. In May there is a community event at the Roundhouse Community Centre that celebrates the train’s arrival.

Today Engine 374 resides permanently at the community centre in Yaletown. It’s on display indoors year-round for people to see. For one day in May each year, though, on the Victoria Day Long Weekend, the locomotive is rolled outdoors as part of the celebrations.

The event happens on May 20th in 2024. In 2023 the train’s roll-out outdoors happened on May 21st.

The Engine 374 Train and its Anniversary Celebration

A significant event in Vancouver’s history took place on May 23rd, 1887. That’s when the CPR Engine 374 pulled the first train into the young city on the new transcontinental railroad. This marked the completion of the coast-to-coast railway, a landmark moment in Canadian history.

Today, and year-round, Engine 374 is on display at the Roundhouse Community Centre in downtown Vancouver. Every May there is a celebratory event with family-friendly activities and music. The engine itself gets steamed up with its whistle blowing.

2023 marked the engine’s 136th anniversary of its arrival in the city. The event was celebrated on Sunday, May 21st (so not quite exactly on the anniversary date, but close enough).

Festivities Outside the Roundhouse

The Engine 374 Pavilion

People can check out the restored locomotive at the Engine 374 Pavilion in the Roundhouse Community Centre all year. The display is operated by the West Coast Railway Association which also runs the Railway Museum of British Columbia up in Squamish.

The Engine 374 Pavilion is open from Wednesdays to Sundays from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm during the winter months (which started from November 3, 2022). It operates daily from between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm during the summer months, but closed on public holidays.

The hours can change as the pavilion is run entirely by volunteers. The train is free to visit. You can climb on board the locomotive and ring its bell. There are also short tours, hosted by the volunteers, of both the train’s exterior and interior.

Engine 374 Outside the Roundhouse

The Train’s Anniversary Celebration

Each year in late May there is an anniversary celebration to commemorate when Engine 374 arrived in Vancouver for the first time. On May 21st, 2023, the train rolled outside into the Roundhouse’s courtyard for a bigger display. The event usually runs from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm. 2024 will likely to be similar.

Each year the celebration features musical performances by the Little Mountain Brass Band, with complimentary cake, juice and coffee offered. There are also some activities inside the community centre for the little ones. The event is fairly small, but it’s free to attend. There are a few short speeches to mark the occasion and provide some history and backstory to the train.

On the day of the event the engine is properly steamed up to give it more of the feel that it had over a century ago. Attendees can climb aboard the train and check out its cabin during regular hours at Engine 374’s year-round indoor display room. People also have the chance to blow the train’s whistle during this once-a-year special event.