Born in Toronto so there have always been streetcars. My father drove everywhere but when he took me somewhere special like the CNE or our once a year trip downtown before Christmas to see all the new toys we took the streetcar. Thank you, might be wrong city but many happy memories.
What a travel in time. Amazing to see how the town has evolved in a century and the work of restoration is more than beautiful. Every day you walk and see a wall, an arch, and thanks to those videos you can imagine the people and the life behind, and then get more involved in the development of your city. NW, I used to see this place just thinking it was a piece of art by the architect. Excellent job Mike!!
For the amount of research and effort that goes into each of these videos and for the art of keeping it interesting through and through , salute you Mike ! Full Speed ahead 🔥
3, 6, 9, the goose drank wine, the monkey chewed tobacco on the streetcar line, the line broke, the monkey got choked and they all flew to heaven in a little row boat, clap hands. I wonder how many variations of that exist. Every time I see a streetcar, this skipping or clapping rhyme pops into my head. Thanks for another great video, Michael! That was fun!
I’ve watched most of your videos but I think this one is the best! Keep Up the great work Mike I’m sure other Vancouverites, especially those born and raised here, will enjoy these videos as much as I did.
Mike - Thank you for that great tour. I remember going to downtown Vancouver from 18th & Main on the streetcar with my Mum. Brings back so many memories. I was born & raised in Vancouveri in 1943. 🤗
Mike, I'm 67 years old. I live in Indiana, but when I was 10, I used to ride a train to Detroit to visit my grandmother. The DSR (Detroit Street Railways) had those same 1964 buses that I rode all the time in Detroit, whether to Tiger Stadium to watch a baseball game or whatever shopping needed to be done. Good memories.
Two minutes in and I'm already enthralled by the information. Half way through, and I'm feeling thankfully elated. So, thank you! I really enjoy this type of history info.
Mike, I'm watching from Melbourne, Australia, and I keep coming back to your channel because I love your passion for what you do and your clear love for your city! Thanks for sharing, keep it up. You make me want to visit Vancouver again!
Really loving these glimpses into local history from your videos. Have you done a video about the Marine building or the Hotel Vancouver? Would love to know more about those iconic buildings if they'll grant you access.
I love finding little nuggets of history like these. I've been using your videos to make a list of places to see and things to do once the border reopens. I'm definitely adding these to the list and I can't wait to find more places next week to add.
Man Mike what an AWESOME vid. I love these vids cant wait for next week feels like im there with u on each vid. Thanx again and we will be with u on each and every vid u make 😁😁😁
I love those old, boxy streetcars with all the shiny woodwork inside. With the different "rooms" they're like a small flat on wheels. The 1950s bus was super modern for its day with that bright, very 50s turquoise blue and in a hip two-tone design. A lot of 50s cars were two-toned and would have looked so cool compared to dull, single-color pre-war cars.
Another great video! It’s fascinating to see the remnants of history that haven’t been completely removed/paved over. And it’s a great insight into Vancouver’s history. It’s interesting that some cities kept their trams (ex. Toronto and my original hometown, Melbourne) whereas others rushed to “modernize” and switch to buses, such as Montreal (my present hometown). However Montreal is now building, at considerable expense, a light rail system...so it will be back to having some trams!
When I was a child (about 3 or 4 years old) I remembering wanting to get on a street car in Vancouver. We lived out in Deep Cove and there were no street cars out there. After much persuasion I got my ride, not far but I got my ride. Thank you for your post for jarring my old brain pan.
Glad to see the Inter Urban at BVM is indoors. It was outside deteriorating for the longest time between the restaurant and the Seaforth School house, which I had something to do with in the restoration process. Painting woodgrains on damaged oak when working with Ed Wheatley, Bill Friday, our supervisor, and Eric whose last name I have forgotten.
This has been one of my fav vids you've shared. Good to see you featured Angus. I got to pass a few hours with him and some other heritage buffs sharing stories at the Billy Bishop Legion in Kits.
Fantastic, I love finding the hidden remnants of old public transport infrastructure! When the main road by my house was dug up for repairs a few years ago, it turned out the *old* tram [streetcar] rails were still in place down there, as well as all the cobblestones, under the layers of asphalt!
Ahh I loved this! I remember those buses!! Holy mackerel what a blast from the past. And a friend literally lived in that intersection on Frances St so I have driven over those cobbles. Not a smooth ride, no, lol. "Welcome to my antique road," she used to say :D
I absolutely adore this. As a transit geek and a huge bus advocate, I love to see this kind of stuff. With so much constant bickering in the modern era for rail over buses or buses over rail, it is always a good idea to read through and look at the history of each, and then consider all the differences between them, and how incredibly different they are from each other. Rail can be logical and good in certain circumstances, however Buses ultimately won out not only because of the big motorvehicle corporations and oil companies with their monopolies, but also because buses simply wound up making more sense in the end in most locations in North America. I'd argue now more than ever for city and suburban transit, aka local lines, buses are THE best option of all forms of transit, and also definitely are the future of local city mass transit in North America. We just need to implement and update the bus systems to be right, to full BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) systems, with dedicated lanes, priority at all intersections alongside pedestrians, and of course large fines and possible impounding of vehicles/suspension of licenses if a driver violates the law by driving in a bus lane. People would be surprised and some even shocked in pure disbelief at how effective, rapid, consistent and easy it is to have full BRT systems running across and through all our Metro areas in NA. There is a negative stigma toward mass transit and those who use it, and a fair portion, especially in the US is rightfully deserved, and I say this as a transit reliant rider in Oregon. But it is how the systems are planned, implemented and run that truly is how and why those stigmas have came to be. If instead they had created the bus systems and entire transit systems here with diligence and care, the negative stigmas likely would have never been as universal and severe as they are today, as BRT would be the norm, and thus frequent, consistent runs without traffic issues would have been the norm, with likely endlessly higher consistent ridership across each system than ever has been in our timeline and reality here, as many people who've became motorists due to the country's reliance on them to get around would have instead naturally opted to use the transit system instead as it would be far quicker, cheaper and more efficient to get around. So it is this kind of curiosity and content that gives extra context and perspectives to people who may not have otherwise learned and realized how the continent's norms surrounding commuting and transit came to be, as well as what it was before we collectively car-centric and freeways and highways popped up all of the place. We need more it out there for sure. Can't wait until next weeks continuation of this focus!
Mike, thanks for a great tour of the trolly, interunban, and bus stuff in the Vancouver region. It shows that a region like that, took care of its history. Here in Ontario, we have a few great items, like the Halton Street car museum, that has many of the Toronto Transit Commission retired equipment, but also other equipment, like the interurban London & Port Stanley car. They have a large collection, with tracks to operate on. With Toronto just retiring some great equipment, before the pandemic, they shipped up 3 pieces to the museum. Here in Windsor-Essex County, where I'm from, you can see some spots of the original transit company, the SW&A (Sandwich, Windsor, & Amherstburg) still ran and the old barns. The city of Windsor just restored a street car, to put into a display somewhere in Windsor. It was originally going into a structure on the waterfront here, facing Detroit, but some people complained it would stick up to high and block the view of the river, so the city has put that idea on hold. But Streetcar #351, has been cool, as even a local brewery, got involved with its restoration funding and made a limited edition 10% alchohol, Dark Stout, with the labels talking about it. If your driving around Windsor, like your Vancouver video, you can see in some parts rails in the road or where they were. The city of Windsor, when redoing roads around the Westend, still to this day, are finding rails buried under the asphalt. They memorialized the street car rails at the corner of Mill and Sandwich/Riverside Dr, with the crosswalk markings in cement and brick and 8 pieces of 2 feet of rails, set at the original running of the tracks. When road construction was done, along University ave (formerly London St), the city has lifted rails from the road, and just in the past 10 years, 2 major construction projects found junctions of multiple lines. At the corner of Wyandotte Street and Ouellette Ave, the pulled out about 1 km worth of rails that were buried by asphalt. They also pulled out old Cobblestone. But the weirdest project, was the 3 way corner of Riverside Dr/Sandwich St, University Ave, and Rosedale, they were making a Roundabout. They removed the first layer of road, and found bunch of old rails, but when they dug a few more feet, they found ancient Native Artifacts buried in the same stop, from Ojibway Nation people. Some Artifacts from Chief Tecumseh era, and even beyond, along the banks of the Detroit River, close to the Ambassador Bridge... just a bit of history from my area mike, I thought I would share. I really should go out and video this stuff like you do... keep up the good work.
Love this one, im a city bus driver and awesome history and preservation , Thumbs Up to keep history alive in Transit! Great Presentation !Thanks for Your Great Work! :-)
That was so cool Michael 😎 Thanks so much for a great start to the weekend 👍 I'll be sharing this with my Mom, she was born in Vancouver in 1947 and has talked fondly of riding the streetcars as a kid . She'll love this ❤
it's incredible how passionate you are when presenting to us various topics, no matter what they are, you don't lose authentic enthusiasm. another great video!
Mike, if you've noticed a sudden spike in your viewership...It's my six year old. He is obsessed with trains/streetcars and has been watching your videos incessantly. We got hooked on your channel after we saw your video of the Caledonian Train that you took from Glasgow to London. We will be going to Scotland next year and a LOVE anything to do with trains. Keep up the good work. We love your videos.
Mike, I've never been to Canada. I've always wanted to visit the country, and your videos have put Canada (particularly Vancouver) on my bucket list for future travel 😀
Always loved the railcars in the Old Spaghetti Factory(s) .Cincinnati founded in 1788 has remnants of cobblestone and some brick streets with the remnants of rails from transports of the past. We now have a new electric trolley on rails with overhead electric power in the wires. I was first aware of the electric buses in Seattle when I was a kid. This all fascinates me and as usual, I love to see and always learn when you take us with you. Mike, thanks. I appreciate you.
Your dad stopped by Crossbuck Park (16/Arbutus) and asked me to look at your video. I did. It’s great. Some notes of interest for you - the mileage signs you see on the ends of the instrument cases at level crossings are in fact the distance in miles from where trains crossed to this side of False Creek. There are (were) 17 of these cases along the Greenway. They contain the switch gear, voltage rectifier circuits and batteries to control bells and flashing lights at level crossings. They were left behind after the rails were pulled up in 2016. Badly vandalized and graffitied they are now all brightly painted. That was, and continues to be, my contribution to adding art to the Greenway, and it is done with permission of the City Project Management in charge of maintenance on the Greenway.
Oh my goodness I loveed those old buses when I was a kid in the 90s they were awesome to ride... a bit rattly and loud but other than that they were all right. And it was awesome how you had to push the door open manually in the back. They still have them in use in the cities where I lived in in the 90s and in the early 2000s... damn when Canada finally finishes with this virus of unknown Origins I'll definitely drop by Vancouver and checking out the sights.
Many of these old street car lines terminated in a loop to turn the car around at the end of the line. When they stopped running cars on the rails the new rubber tired trolleys still had to use the loops because that is where the wires were overhead and it gave them a stop to wait out of street traffic. Hence the various routes which are still to this day called "something Loop"
Great video, really enjoyed it. This content is exactly my cup of tea. I can spend weeks just visiting museums and depots like the ones shown. My wife would probably disapprove 😅 Been to Vancouver once but never saw any of that stuff. The busses and the streetcars alone are worth a visit. Cheers from Germany Sebastian
The Burnaby Lake right-of-way is not the only repurposed infrastructure. The Sky Train Expo Line also uses the ex-CP Dunsmuir Tunnel, which was deepened by one foot to allow stacking the platforms.
Thank you for all your videos on this Channel. You’re a great presenter, and the content is Interesting as Hell. I first found you while looking for Motorcycle videos of BC. You and your Sister were travelling together and they were great inspiration. I’ve stuck with the Channel ever since, and it came along in time for Covid, which helped to see my City in new and safe ways. Keep it up my Friend and hope to ( accidentally ), run into you out there.
Thanks so much, James. That means a lot. I put a lot of time into the videos and the channel, so I really appreciate the ongoing support, and I'm happy I can help show you the city in a new light.
This is awesome, Mike. Just found your channel and love your topics and style of Vancouver videos. They avoid the typical shallow content of rehashed places/things to do and give me a new perspective on a city that I've lived in for a while now.
Totally love all the videos, always fun and Mike’s great to watch, a great ambassador to Canada. Keep up the excellent work Mike, look forward to your next videos! ❤️
There's a similar line that used to run from Lonsdale Quay (which was a ferry terminal back then) and Lynn Valley. And there's quite a bit of evidence that still shows the line today, I remember walking along the whole old route and seeing several light-pole placements that are built where the streetcar overhead line posts used to be and also of course the entirety of Grand Blvd used to be where the streetcars ran. Most of the streetcar history along Lynn Valley Road was removed however but the very tail end of the line and it's last station was turned into the End Of The Line General Store near Lynn Canyon and in that store the whole history of the line is shown in various photos and a few plaques as well. And for a long time they actually kept a fully restored streetcar underneath the Fen Burdett Stadium within Mahon Park and I remember all the times I went to Mahon Park as a kid and every time the doors were open I could see the old streetcar underneath it until eventually when I was either 9 or 10 my mother actually talked with one of the people there at the park that day and soon enough I was able to go into the underside of Fen Burdett Stadium and tour the storage room and see the original 1920's era streetcar In Person! I wasn't able to go inside of it but my mother let me ride on her shoulders so I could try to have a better look. I think now that streetcar is gonna be moved into the New North Van Museum and Archives which honestly seems like a nicer location to be at rather than Mahon Park
You should look up and visit the Fraser Valley Heritage Railway Society in Cloverdale. They have a few of these that they're restoring, including one that's operational that you can take a ride on.
I remember taking the Columbia Stage Lines bus from Coquitlam to New Westminster. My neighbor two doors over was a bus driver and the days he worked he would stop just outside my house and his wife would walk over and bring him his lunch! I can still picture that! Such good memories! Interesting video Mike, thanks for sharing!
All this beautiful old transport makes my vintage fashion heart smile. These streetcars and busses are so much prettier and respected than the sticky, germ filled busses and trains we have now.
Lovely video. Don't forget, I believe the BCER used to reach Chilliwack not just New West. Cloverdale has a museum, out Yarrow way you can see an old substation and so on. Wonderful stuff history. Very interesting. Thanks.
Another great video of information on things that I didn’t know...will say I did enjoy dinner on the street car in The Old Spaghetti Factory while living there...keep up the great videos 👍
Some day someone may use videos you make of places to show what it used to look like, just like you are using old videos in this video. I think that is very cool. I like the channel anyway, but seeing the old videos you included in this video made me realized your documentary videos could become historical artifacts one day!
@@DownieLive I’d love to see a video on the Vancouver Fire Department. They have a big history. Would be a chance to tour around the city to (briefly) show us each station. They might even give you a ride along, or let you don some gear at their training facility. Could be a great video!
Great video. About 10 years ago they were repaving a section of Kingsway at 12th in Burnaby. When they ground off the old asphalt, the old tracks and cobblestones were exposed. Pretty amazing to see they're still there.
This was great! I used to live at Renfrew and Charles and wished for a transit option down 1st Ave. There isn’t anything along there now but if you’re going to the drive it was a pain to walk to Hastings or Broadway from there, might as well walk right to the drive at that point.
Great production. Good topic! Will you do one on Hogan's Alley? It would be a good addition and many people don't know about it, and good timing with the viaduct.
Another great video, and Vancouver has a traction museum! It just keeps getting better! I learned today that Vancouver routinely tops the list of North American cities on the Mercer Index of Livability (the US doesn’t enter until the low thirties, in 2019, with SF). Another reason to come up and see why, and how. You keep providing more and more interesting stuff to see!
I love learning about Lower Mainland history, and you always do a great job presenting it, Mike. You should open up your own local guided tour company once we see the ass-end of the pandemic.
What lead to the death of trolly and inter-urban systems was GM. A shell company owned by GM would buy the trolley system and then drive them into receivership. The then replaced the troller with diesel powered buses. Great video again. Interesting information.
