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Two classic bus photos from 1969

Two classic bus photos from 1969

A southbound 8 Davie at Howe and Pender in 1969. Click for a much larger version. Photo by Angus McIntyre!

The lovely Angus McIntyre is scanning his archives of historical Vancouver transit photos, and sent along two classic bus photos that he thought we might enjoy. Above is one, and below is the other!

Granville southbound, nearside Dunsmuir. Note the split stop arrangement for the 7 and 10, and the Granville behind. Click for a much larger version. Photo by Angus McIntyre!

Angus added the following about this second photo:

Notice lack of right side mirror, no licence plate and the change dish is visible through the front window. A gentleman at the rear doors is holding the gate for alighting passengers.

Oh also — it turns out that Angus also took one of the photos of the 14 Hastings recently posted on the blog, and he sent along a little more info about it!

A Brill trolley with the BC Hydro colours, operating as the 14 Hastings in 1967.

The photo above is the one Angus took, and here’s the background info:

I thought you might like some information on the photo of the 14 HASTINGS on the Buzzer Blog. I took this image at age 19 during a PNE parade rerouting, and if you look closely you will see that Brill 2334 is turning from S/B Carrall to E/B Cordova, and if you look really closely there is no overhead switch or wires to do so! The detour 14 service ran downtown from Kootenay Loop via Hastings, Commercial (manual turn), Powell, Carrall to E/B Cordova (manual turn) and thence to Main, Powell, Commercial, Hastings (manual turn), and Kootenay Loop. This service ran until the PNE parade was over and regular routing resumed.

So, there was a so-called “Utility Operator” at the rear of 2334, either running behind or riding the rear bumper ready to pull the poles down and clear of the wires so the trolley driver could coast around the corner, and the pole puller could rewire the trolley poles. I did this type of extra work a number of times, and at Hastings and Commercial there were usually 4 pole pullers and a supervisor to handle the number of trolleys going through this intersection. One day a guy stood watching our antics for some time, and came over and said it was more fun than watching the parade!

Thanks so much Angus!

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