Even in the 50s' people dressed appropriately for every occasion. How refreshing to see so many so comfortable in their own skin.👍 this was a great upload my friend.....Thanks
What a wonderful video, thank you Francois. From 13:37 to 13:44, I recognize Cameron Falls in the Waterton townsite. In 1932 Waterton Lakes National Park (Alberta, Canada) was combined with the Glacier National Park (Montana, United States) to form the world's first International Peace Park. From 13:28 to 13:36, we see the MV International which is Canada’s oldest passenger ship still in operation. It does tours down the Upper Waterton Lake from the Waterton townsite to the south end of the lake in Glacier Park, and back, from May to October (although they won’t let you out in the US to hike any more).
I believe the canal at 1:43 is Sault Ste Marie, with the railway bridge and the emergency dam "bridge" right behind. It looks like a bridge, but is actually a dam that can quickly swing into place and drop a bunch of baffles into place to prevent a catastrophe.
My Dad made a very similar trip seeing many of the same sights, starting from Saskatchewan, at almost the same time in history. I think one of his reasons to go was to visit relatives in BC.
The family obviously took the train from Seattle to Glacier Park (now known as East Glacier, MT), on the same train line that goes on to Chicago. The train station is shown at 13:55 to 14:11, but has since been added on to. At 12:40 there’s a glimpse of a red 1936 “White” tour bus, part of a fleet that still operates in Glacier National Park. At 13:05 to 13:27 we see the Many Glacier Hotel, on Swiftcurrent Lake, that still operates today. I live just across the border in Alberta and the area is quite familiar. Thanks again for the fantastic video.
I think the first scene is at Port McNicholl, rather than Ft William. The Dominion would have had a lot more head end cars. This looks like one of trains 703/704 that ran between Toronto and Port McNicholl and only had coaches and parlour cars. In the 1955 timetable, the westbound ship arrived in Ft William at 7:45am, timed to meet train 17; which was the all-stops local train that went across the country. Again, it had a large amount of head end cars. Going eastward, the ship left Ft William at 12:30pm. The closest connecting train that arrived shipside was #6, which arrived at 4:55am, so this clearly isn't that train. The eastbound ship arrived in Port McNicholl at 8am, and this appears later in the day than that. However, westbound train 703 from Toronto arrived in Port McNicholl at 3pm, with the ship sailing at 3:15pm, so this is likely the westbound train and sailing. Sailings were twice a week, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Given this reel seems to go from east to west, that would make logical sense to be the westbound sailing.
Thank you both for the detailed corrections. I presumed (incorrectly) from maps and photos that this was Port Arthur, I should have been thorough. Lesson learned. Cheers, Francois
5:05 Looks like the Athabasca River near Jasper AB 5:22 The Columbia Ice Fields is a LOT smaller now! 13:38 Cameron Falls, Waterton AB. Shame there's no footage of the iconic Prince of Wales Hotel in Waterton which was built by the Great Northern Railway.
"Princess of Nanaimo" never went to Horseshoe Bay. It was a CPR coastal ship and only docked at the CPR docks in Vancouver. But good try... BC Ferries coming from Nanaimo dock in Horseshoe Bay
Thank you for the correction, the joys of online research for obscure vessels. That said, I do make mistakes and always appreciate the corrections. Cheers! Francois
It' the Grouse Mountain Chair lift seen a 1949 photo of a couple with young child riding on it. Both parents under the safety bar the child not and just being held by the father. Wouldn't get away with that in today's world.
My first guess would also be the old Grouse Mountain chairlift, which was accessed from the top of Skyline Drive in North Vancouver - the route of the chairlift is now the Skyline Trail.