February 25, 2011, 4:30 pm
Transit Museum Society volunteer Norm, photographed inside the restored B.C. Electric interurban car #1207.
I’m happy to welcome back Michael Taylor-Noonan, the newsletter editor for the Transit Museum Society (TRAMS), for another guest post! (He previously wrote a guest post about bus numbering in Vancouver.) This time, Michael has kindly contributed an interview with Norm, a fellow TRAMS member who rode Vancouver transit in the early part of the twentieth century. Read on for a look at how the system worked back then!
My Travels with Norm, by Michael Taylor-Noonan
Norm and I are travelling along Highway 1. We’re on our way to the Transit Museum maintenance shop near the Burnaby – Vancouver border. Norm no longer drives, so every second Sunday I take him to the shop. I’ve been doing this for quite a while, and each time I drive Norm, I first ask how he’s been in the intervening two weeks.
Pretty good for an old guy he says. He’s 86: a retired machinist who’s worked on many things throughout his working career from screws to ships. Now Norm is a volunteer with Trams. His skill machining small parts comes in very handy. He also has amassed a great collection of tools over the years, some of which he brings to the shop in four very heavy toolboxes. And every time he lets me carry his tools out to the car, he reminds me that he was born in 1924, one year after Vancouver’s first bus ran.
And so the conversation shifts to his favourite topic: life in that Vancouver of years past when buses, streetcars and interurbans all displayed one name: B.C. Electric Railway Co. However, I decide today will be different, I will just not listen to Norm’s stories, I will begin to record them, transcribe them, and post them here. Like any good storyteller at a party, he at first doesn’t want to tell me anything, but is eventually ‘persuaded’ to begin…. “Well, seeing as you asked….”.
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December 17, 2010, 6:30 pm
Our old and new trolleybuses at an event in 2007 --- you can clearly see their differing bus numbers!
For this Friday fun post, Michael Taylor-Noonan, the editor of the Transit Museum Society‘s newsletter has kindly contributed a piece on the history of bus numbering! Read on for a deep dive into the numbers we see today.
For this first guest blog, I’ve decided to write about bus numbers – not the ones on the front that tell you where your bus is headed, but the ones on the side, back and front that distinguish one bus from hundreds of identical vehicles. For years this was known as a ‘unit’ number, but now it can be called an asset number, fleet number, or bus number, depending on who you are talking to.
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October 13, 2010, 8:00 am
The ferry Tim rode from Besiktas on the European side of the city to Kadikoy on the Asian side.
Reader Tim Choi is in Istanbul for a few months and has sent back a few observations about the transit system! Here’s his second dispatch about Istanbul’s ferries — you can also read his first dispatch about buses and minibuses.
A ferry terminal building in Istanbul. Photo by Tim Choi.
Hello Jhen! Here is a post on Istanbul’s ferries, with video.
The first three videos are as we took a ferry from Besiktas on the European side of the city to Kadikoy on the Asian side. The ferry in question is shown above – very classy and beautiful, also quite old, with real wooden decking. It is capable of carrying 1500 passengers. For our particular trip, it took 20 minutes. All ferry trips cost 1.50 Turkish Liras, around $1.10 CAD. It’s a very cheap way to enjoy and watch the city. Servers are on board all vessels, selling tea and coffee.
The terminal buildings are also quite interesting – the picture at right was taken inside one, looking towards the doors and water. Embarking procedures are a little less chaotic than for buses, but just barely – the ship pulls up to the dock, the ramps are connected, passengers disembark (either through or beside the ramps!), terminal doors open, and passengers race across the apron towards the ramps. You can see visually the dock layout in the videos.
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September 29, 2010, 11:42 am
The Taksim bus loop in Istanbul! Photo by Tim Choi.
Reader Tim Choi sent in this dispatch about transit in Istanbul, and I thought it made a good blog post! Herein are his thoughts.
Hi Jhen!
I’m currently in Istanbul for the next four months on a student exchange and thought I’d share some transit info with you!
Attached are two pictures of the bus loop at Taksim, the entertainment district of Istanbul.
Taksim bus loop at night. Photo by Tim Choi.
In the first picture, you see three buses side-by-side, each having just pulled in with only enough room between them for two people to walk past. Later on in the evening, there were eventually SIX buses side-by-side, the 6th stopping in the middle of the road! To the bottom left, you’ll see a ubiquitous water bottle stand – because tap water is not safe to drink, bottled water is in very high demand in Turkey (therefore also very cheap).
The second picture is taken to the right of where I was standing – note the people waiting for the buses in clumps and on the middle of the road – lining up does not happen here.
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May 5, 2010, 2:00 pm
Here’s a follow-up guest post by Jason Vanderhill, an avid artist and photographer, plus designer of several transit buttons that you might have in your collection.
Almost 2 years ago now, I put together a little Vancouver Transit and Art post for the Buzzer blog and included one of the images from the Capilano Calendar of 2010 (Ferry to Horseshoe Bay by Katrina Espetveidt).
I had a lot of fun putting that post together, so I thought I ought to revisit the theme and shine a special spotlight on the Capilano Calendar series.
The Capilano IDEA Program’s Reflections Vancouver 2011 Calendar was officially launched Tuesday evening in West Vancouver, and this year, I attended the opening.
I got to meet a number of the artists this year, including Mika Joronen, the student responsible for building this year’s CapCalendars website. He told me he has a soft spot for transportation and has also painted a number of train stations from his travels. He chose to paint the Canada Line as his subject matter for this year’s series. (Train 118 by Mika Joronen) This painting isn’t officially included in the 2011 calendar, but the original painting is for sale for $950, as are all of the other original paintings in this series. Act fast; these items are apt to sell out!
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August 19, 2009, 2:00 pm
Ink illustration by Peter R. Bach.
Here’s a lovely change of pace from all the Canada Line stuff. This is a guest post by Jason Vanderhill, who is an avid artist and photographer, as well as designer of several transit buttons that you might have in your collection.
Over the past year or so, I’ve taken up a new hobby. Call it SkyTrainSpotting in Fine Art, I am essentially looking for cameos or references to Vancouver transit in fine art.
Of course, I’m not limiting myself to SkyTrains, but I am trying to limit the scope as much as possible to public transit, just to remain focused. Thus far, my search has brought together scenes featuring the SkyTrain and surroundings, TransLink buses, a Seabus, and even a Coastal Renaissance BC Ferry. To be clear, I’m not always purchasing these artworks, as much as I would like to. I am, instead, making note of the work, keeping an eye on the artist’s work for future consideration.
One of the first pieces I did acquire was a print of an ink illustration of Vancouver’s skyline prominently featuring a Seabus, illustrated by graphic designer Peter R Bach of Burnaby.
The illustration (shown above) was part of a series of 6 prints showcasing Vancouver cityscapes and architectural landmarks. Peter passed away in 2006, but I’ve learned from the artist’s family that he came to Canada in 1979 and did these illustrations between 1982 and 1984, showcasing Vancouver Pre-Expo! Some pretty dramatic changes have occurred to the skyline since then!
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