Amazing Ghost Town Left With Trolley Busses | Abandoned Sandon | Destination Adventure 

As a native British Columbian, it never ceases to fascinate me about towns I never knew actually existed in our province. The more your channel explores ghost towns or abandoned towns like this or Ocean Falls, the more educational it is. It feels like I am in an old social studies class in school every time I watch a Destination Adventure video. Extraordinary history behind these towns.

Whatta wicked dude, Hal is soo full of knowledge, it was a pleasure listening to him tell the story

I'm from Abbotsford, but i currently live in London uk, and i miss BC constantly. Your videos remind me what it's like to explore in BC. can't wait to move back in a few years and go exploring again. Also I love that you're interviewing locals, that is a special element of your channel that other urban explorer video makers don't do.

I love to see the history of small towns like this. It is great to watch.

I have spent a lot of time exploring and documenting dozens of underground mines in the area. Hal has been a great source of information!

My parents lived in Sandon from 51 to 58, as did my aunt & uncle, who were also long time residents of New Denver. My parents were there through thd flood of 55 and I spent a lot of time there as a kid with my cousin. My parents house is still there near the power house, white with teal trim....my mother is still alive at 90 and she would be one of the last living residents of Sandon from the 50s. We have lots of original photos from the town from those days. It was also a Japanese internment facility during WW2 as was New Denver and areas in the Slocan valley. Do I love the busses? I'd say no ad I think they cheapen the look of the town they weren't indigenous to Sandon, they'd be better in a town in the Vancouver area. I understand the legacy if thd trollies, just not in Sandon, looks like a wrecking yard.....but then, I remember when it was a pristine relic from the 60s & 70s.

Damn I never thought a story about trolleys would make me cry. I really hope they get to put that plan into motion at some point in the future. Our future generations deserve to see what the past looked like, not just in a faded history book, but in real living color! Great video 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

This place is so cool and the people maintaining what's left are heroes. I've been obsessed with the Busses of Sandon ever since Wings Over Canada did an episode on it years ago, so thanks so much for the update!

This is awesome. So glad to see so many trolleys salvaged and kept until they can be preserved for the next generation. Thank you Hal Wright 🤗

I like how you put Hal's story into this video. It really brings out the history of the place. Nice work, good to see practice paying off for you.

I have been to Sandon a few times . I grew up in Vancouver and I personally had rode many of the old trolleys as a child. I remember how the wooden doors would rattle as the bus picked up speed and how the driver would have to put the trolleys back on the wires when they inevitably came off going through an intersection too quickly. They brought back many great memories of riding them with my mother in the mid 60s, whenever we went downtown to go shopping at Woodwards ,Eatons or Hudsons Bay Department Stores.

If anyone is interested in visiting Sandon, they do have camping available on site which is quite good. Stayed there a couple of years ago and we had a great time exploring the area.

Excellent production and editing here. Very engaging story. You did a great job with this one! I would love to see more videos in this style.

I learned about Sandon as a kid, watching "Gold Trails & Ghost Towns." It's one of my bucket-list destinations in BC, though I could spend the rest of my life exploring this province, and still have plenty of things to see.

I live in New Mexico and about 10 yrs ago did a 30 day road trip through parts of Canada. I am getting ready to do it again and have pinned all the places you have taken us to in your videos! Thank you! I am amazed you don't have at least a half a million subscribers.

This was another beautiful place! It's so sad how people are willing to basically walk away from our history. It's so sad. I know we can't keep everything...... But we should still try! Thank you for all your hard work and all the research you do in order to tell us the story of every place you visit!

I would just love to see those buses driving around Vancouver today

Hal has got a great story to tell. And a greta voice to tell it with. And his hands sure have seen some work. Thanks for sharing this.

Really raising the bar for production and story telling in this video. Good job.

Thank you, For not just getting us out of the house, but for showing us things we would never see if we could get out Central California Watching

Definitely one of your best episodes ever!

My favorite video yet, Dustin. So many people in the here and now, not caring about our past. San Francisco is still successfully running dozens of antique electric streetcars (on rails, not these "trackless" trolley buses). i hope they go to a good home soon.

Great video, brings me back to my childhood. I remember my school having a field trip to Sandon. Our teacher told myself and my friends that we should wander up the mountainside to explore a mine shaft visible from the town. We hiked up while the other kids were looking at various buildings and relics. To our surprise, shortly after we arrived at the mineshaft, we looked back at the town to see the school bus leaving. They forgot 4 kids and started driving away. My best friend and I sprinted down that mountain, crossed the creek somehow and just barely got the buses attention. I almost spent a lot longer than an afternoon in Sandon!

We’ve been a few times. My wife, daughter, and I helped Hal and Vida paint the ice cream shed, clean and prep the locomotive for paint, and work on the water lines feeding the power plant last summer. It’s a fantastic place, and they are wonderful people. We’re not able to travel this year, but probably head back next year.

I do love these stories of old towns. But I do love to see you out walking them and having a mooch round more than the background stories. Watching from the UK 🇬🇧

Never seen this channel before but a great example of a good director/editor getting the right person for the interview nice interesting video 👍

What a lovely person you found to Interview.. Amazing Stories, GOOOD WORK!! Best I have seen in a long long time! #feelgoodmovie #Thumbs up

We went on a Kootenay exploration this past summer. Sandon was one of our favourite stops. Because of COVID tourism was way down and we were lucky enough to get a 1 on 1 tour with Hal. What an awesome passionate guy. Later in the afternoon Vida came for a visit while we were in our campsite. She invited my family down for a campfire and we spent the evening with them learning about the town. It was unbelievable!

As a kid I remember my father driving trolley 446, thank you for saving these great transports.

WOW, that was sure interesting! Glad Hal could save some of those trollies. Sounds like a great place to explore. Thanks for an other great video and thanks for taking us along

My wife and I were there last September just driving around and exploring, it’s a cool place.

The plural of bus is buses. Awesome!

I am so very grateful for folks stepping up to salvage what I interpret, as extremely valuable pieces of history. I sincerely wish more folks would realize how important this history it's to not only B.C., but the world around. As always-thank you Dustin for your phenomenal film work and documentaries, as you bring these sites to life especially to the younger generation. You area God-sent to saving history and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for bringing gorgeous B.C. to my home in The Poconos, Pennsylvania. Thank you

Bro? Your cinematography is on point! WOW. Teach me 'Ol Wise One. Lol. Dustin, I love your style my ninja! #treasurefam

This was truly fascinating and very compelling. I kept wondering, though, why are these kinds of vignettes not taught in our schools? I recently retired from teaching Social Studies in Alberta and I know my students would have been so keen to learn about such places in B.C., Alberta, and the rest of Canada. Thanks Dustin for taking us to Sandon!

These young peoples just don't get "HISTORIES" is a learning tool about life how tough and how quick a town was born, and how fast it died? Great Stories!

The first year I Visited Sandon was 1975 . Been back many times . One of My Favs . Learned about from a Book I took out of the School Library in 1968 . Awesome !

Thoroughly enjoyed this! As ever, beautiful artistic videography and great music choices. But having been to Sanden myself, just LOVED hearing the history of it, as well as the story and interview regarding the trolley buses. Thank you SO much for doing!

Awesome video! I grew up in Insmont Colorado near Bailey Co. Insmont use to be where the train would stop for coal and water. It later got an ice house, a post office and a hotel. Over a period of time a few houses were built and a number of families moved in. My grandparents built a hose there during the depression. They were both artists. The original buildings were abandoned but the families stayed. My family still has photographs of what the town looked like back in the day. My families home still stands today. Just imagine if we didn’t have people like the person you interviewed that took pride of our past? Keep exploring my friend! Looking forward to seeing all your videos and thank you!

We’ve watched and enjoyed many of your videos. We watched this one the night before we visited Sandon and the background you provided really added to our experience there. thanks!!!

Fantastic video - professionally done videography and interviews, appropriate music to complement it. Not just a show of a ghost town but excellent historical research and presentation.

This was so educational and interesting to see those buses preserved. What a great place.

How cool is this? I worked at the Silmonac mine above Sandon during the summer of 1972 and stayed in a tent on the lake at New Denver. It was beautiful driving through Sandon to and from work every day.

I love when places with such rich histories like Sandon have people who are still as passionate about them as this man. You can tell how much he appreciates every little historic fact and story about this town. I ended up in Hedley one day when I had time to kill and started speaking with this woman who worked at the Museum there. She was ssooo incredibly knowledgable about the mining history despite having only moved there a few years prior. It's people like them that can really make a trip memorable. Sandon is definitely being added to my already ridiculously long BC travel bucket list.

Excellent vid bro, that gentlemen sure knows how to tell a story.

We stumbled into Sandon a decade ago and it was sooo cool! Spent lots of time in its museum. Wondered about those buses. Thanks for this video, and thanks to Hal for saving that place.

This video was a breath of fresh air. Loved the way you allowed the guy to tell his story.

How fun Dustin! Thank you for doing these....I get to see lots of places I don't get to go thanks to you! I like how your little nieces helped you out at the beginning. SO cute!

Crazy how history takes its toll!

great video, I volunteer at Old Pueblo Trolley in Tucson, Arizona, preserving trolleys and buses, thanks for the history lesson.

My Father was a NYC bus driver from the early 50's to early 70's

what a beautiful place, shown with a beautifully produced video. great job

I only found your channel by accident and am now watching your adventures with green eyes, the scenery is the most beautiful I have ever seen, and I have been to many many countries in the northern and Southern Hemispheres, Slovakia 🇸🇰 comes close as does Austria, Italy not to shabby, Saudi Arabia was all desert in the region I was in, but beautiful in its own right, the Falkland Islands we’re definitely the worst, barren and featureless, but none compare in beauty and majesty like the vast swathes of Canada 🇨🇦 I envy you, and your freedom to enjoy it in person. Thanks for the wonderful views and stories of the places you go in search of adventure. 😀👍🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 P.S in the B&W photos of the city they looked almost like a detailed model for a model railway or film set.

Boy, here I am sitting enjoying this video, and bang....so, I'm going to add some personal history to this...I, among many , drove trolley busses in Vancouver under Mr. Stumpo...New history in reality......it was not a good period while he messed with drivers, the union and all that went with it, the new management, an American transported to our city, with his big plans, and..la de da ...before you add that we were overpaid etc...I will say that we are paid well to do the job, that is not in dispute, but....go and do the job, deal with the fare evaders, the abuse, the drunks, the angry passengers who shout at you, spit on you....go do it, maybe that would give you a walk in someone's shoes moment, So to hear his name come up in anything, brings back a hard period of my days on the bus, and that of my fellow drivers, I know I can speak for them.....Mr. Stumpo, was one of the early starters of complete unrest that resulted in us being locked out for 18 weeks in 2001....we accepted the deal that was offered at 6 weeks, nobody wanted to be on strike, we had a new union, they told us they had the experience we needed toget better conditions etc. ...well, that kinda fell on its face...the "company", Campbell, little angry George Puill etc locked us out for 12 more weeks, it was horrible, and Vancouverites paid dearly, while us drivers had real life issues to desl with....we weren't planning to , or pleased to inconvenience the public, not in that way, or far that long....The translink deal has/is a disaster. ...I'm retired now 5 years, away from the constant stresses of driving without breaks, limited toilet facilities, being complained about, and having to defend myself/ourselves from those who sit behind desks, to be told to let free rides happen, while everyone else paid...we are not lacking in compasion for the poor of the city, but it was hard to be pressed, or asked 30, even 40 times a shift...the conditions have never changed...but, I had great days, and some pretty hard ones I can tell you, sadly the day we stopped being BC Transit, there was a collective sigh of despair....I was sitting in the cafeteria in Oakridge....41st and Oak, it was now coast mountain, some damned thing....The results today are there, knee-jerk decisions, decision-making that hasn't resulted in better service, grossly overpaid managers, and service that although good, lacks in many ways ....So it was wonderful to see these very old trolleys, remind those of us who have, and do that job, of the need that exists, but honestly a tough memory to hear his name mentioned. Our mandate was/is....to drive from A to B safely, and pick up and drop off passengers as we go.....if it was only that simplistic. Driving a trolley bus is an art form.....laugh if you want, I drove a bus, yes....but you start on trolleys....... until you can keep those big beasts biggest going down the streets...you will never know the timing, the angles, how to cross over major areas of overhead wires, and not bring it all down on the bus and the streets during rush hour.....no pressure there when you are running late.......I proudly stand beside my brothers and sisters who do the job of bus driving around the world...to those who see us in negative form, I say again.....go do it. The versions of trolleys I drove found new homes in Mendoza, Argentina, amazing....... For me...the 3 Main, the 8 Fraser, the 20 Victoria, the 15/17 Cambie/Oak....the never ever dull 5/6....Downtown Robson and Davie......that bloody 10 ...Hastings....all of these routes, embedded in my mind, my service to Vancouver as a bus driver....great to see these old BC Electric vehicles. ....and, it wasn't all bad. .....met some fantastic people in, and while doing that work.....like this place ..Sandon, it has lots to say....

Imagine seeing those old things floating around downtown! ❤ wow the feels

What a great episode! Hal is quite the historian. What a great piece of history.

This is quite possibly the best video I've seen from you on this channel, amazing quality...I know late to the party but seriously, awesome work!

Very good quality and very informative video concerning Sandon. You guest really knew it’s story and was a good communicator.

This was a very well made video, great audio/video quality, well places cuts, all perfectly in concert with superb story telling by Hal. You've earned a new subscriber sir. 👏👏👏

Love the old pictures of Sandon, amazing history

Your trips are always amazing with lots of stories, I love it !!! 🌄

Nice guy to interview , knowledgable and interesting mixed in with passion to preserve , Hal is the man 💪🏾

Amazing Video thanks mate, glad to see someone trying to keep the history alive.

That old KW is AWESOME 🤘😎

Neat old town and the story that goes with it. 👏👏👏

I'm amazed that the Trolleys, and train was just left behind. interest video . thank you for the presentation. Sad to think this city came and once it became a burden they simply left it to rot.

I was there in the early 70's on a trip through the ghost towns of the Kootenay's...it was the best camping trip I had ever been on with my kids and their dad..thanks for the memories..have pics of the town somewhere, will have to find them so I remember what it looked like yrs before this was shot....

Been many times… I love this place. Thank you

Legendary NHL goalie Cecil "Tiny" Thompson was born in Sandon, British Columbia in 1907.He played for the Boston Bruins from 1929 -1940, and spent the last two years of his career with the Detroit Red Wings.He won the Vezina trophy four times in the 1930's as the NHL's best goalie.He ended his career with 81 shutouts and was voted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1959.

History, what happen when we forget this....unique and so pleased to see this, great work... 😍😎

Looks like the old BC Hydro bus is that used to run in Vancouver love that old Kenworth truck to Great video great narrator also pleasure watching it that’s my next road trip

Love watching your travellogs. Peter ..Christchurch New Zealand

I’m so happy I found your channel. I’ve been all over BC with my work, but never have taken the time to explore the little known gifts this gorgeous province has to offer. Maybe one year...

This is great, it's like i'm getting a preview of the trip i'm doing next week. That whole area is incredible..can't wait to get back out there.

You've done an amazing job on this film. Papa Bear & I were up in Sandon today and wondered what the buses were doing there (on a beautiful sunny afternoon under almost a metre of snow!). Big thanks to Hal for half a century of love.

Wow one of your best vids yet amazing history, keep exploring!!!

Loving what you are doing with the channel. What a fascinating story!

Excellent! Throughly enjoyed that and Hal is so knowledgeable....

I visited Sandon a couple years ago, met Hal and got a tour of his power house. Really nice guy and just a wealth of knowledge on the history there. Really cool place!

Good for him trying to preserve the history and caring.

I REALLY ENJOYED THIS VIDEO.I LOVE SEEN HOW TOWNS WERE BACK WERE MANY YEARS BACK AND THEIR HISTORY AS WHY THEY BECAME GHOST TOWNS.THANK YOU.

You've come a long way Mr. Porter! Congratulations.

Beautiful, thank you

What a great narrative on this wonderful little town. I was there in the summer of 2018 and if you love driving, the scenery around this town is well worth it. Great video! I want to go back and do more exploring in the area.

Great quality video, great story. Thanks.

I would absolutely love to get to travel those places with you. I’d love to just explore life like this! I love watching your channel since I came across it. I truly feel it’s one my favorite. Just the way ya tell the stories an share it with the people

Awesome story. It had to be told. Thank you

I definitely would have a field day spending time in the town photographing the entire place. So many cool looking spots.

Thanks this a set of videos of BC seriously thank you for going where my wheels can't go.

im glad someone is looking after the old trollies. it would be great idea to refurbish them! instead of putting up a chandelier !

Brilliant. Loved this. So evocative. I'd love to go there.

Thank you for the tour and the history lesson 😊 through your eyes I get to really see Canada.. ty for all your hard work highly appreciated sweetie 👍👍😉

Well spoken video, very well filmed and put together..........thank you!!

I rode on some of those buses as a kid growing up in Kitsilano, Vancouver, B.C. in the sixties . . . especially the Broadway to Oak and Stanley Park.

Thank you for sharing this.

Awesome video brother 😊👍 There's always something new to discover out in God's country... Keep the adventure going & you'll always feel young... And as I always tell my fellow 4x4 trail runners.... Keep your tires aimed towards the ground and all eyes upon the Lord...

One of my uncles was chief maintenance of the trolley busses of Liège (Belgium) public transport in the 1960's. He was very regularly called to rescue busses whose trolley had come off the electrical line. It was a nightmare he said and after all this time, I still remember. He was proud of his busses: more flexible than the trams and less noisy than the diesel busses. His name was Oncle Victor. RIP.

Beautiful shots!

I remember Stumpo. He was the most hated CEO in my nearly 40 years with transit.

Been there when I lived in Nelson I traveled up that way several times, wonderful place full of history