Downtown Seattle - Pioneer Square - Bus Tunnel - Streetcars

[paulmattt]

Whe was this video made?

[an80sGuy]

@paulmattt "Whe was this video made?"

September, 1997

[paulmattt]

@an80sGuy Seattle did change in these 14 years...

[scottgallegos]

hey there i want to thank you for a trip back to my home town! my dad use to work at the trolly barn and i spent many an hour there and rode and was verry close friends with all of the motormen and condoctors as well. yes as a fact the trolly DID NOT HAVE A HORN ! they had a bell and the motormen used that bell as hard as they could at times to avoid the drivers that would pull out in fromt of them . i was witness to more then one car vs. trolly accident as well.!thanks for the memories!!!

[Andophonic]

5:30 No, you will lose. get out of my way rofl

[FASSY524]

Seattle took out the coolest kind of tramsportation. That just sucks.

[TrainGuy18]

Does the city of seattle still own these streetcars? or have they replaced them with newer ones?

[an80sGuy]

@TrainGuy18 Last I heard, they were shrink wrapped and in storage. Which is sad.

[TrainGuy18]

How many do they have?

[Andophonic]

@TrainGuy18 5 of the old Melbournes are currently residing in Seattle. When they were operating, they could run 3 at a time on the line.

[TrainGuy18]

actually i was just in seattle a few nights ago and got to see the trolleys in a wharehouse!

[Andophonic]

@TrainGuy18 How'd you manage that?

[TrainGuy18]

My freinds dad works for the company that maintains the trolley wires and he showed us where they wer storeing the trolleys for now

[CountBleck221]

I used to live in Seattle. It was such a great city. I want to go back and re-visit it.

[TheWindowdog]

How do u get Dow their and how fast does it go

[MrRuigni]

Seattle looks great.

[TheEvilOyo]

damn, p square hasn't been that alive in almost a decade

[Apollo580]

I miss those streetcars. :(

[BNSF9250]

do the water front trolleys still operate in seatlle?

[an80sGuy]

"do the water front trolleys still operate in seatlle?"

Nope, they shut it down.

[BNSF9250]

why did they shut them down?

[an80sGuy]

You should click on View All Comments for this video. A number of people have posted comments explaining the reason. I really don't know much, because I'm not in Seattle. All I know is there doesn't seem to be a timetable or any plans for reopening the line. Though Google Street view shows that most of the line is still in-tacked. So I guess it would be possible they could reopen it someday.

[pwaless]

The service barn for the trams was located on land originally owned by the city and then given to the Seattle Art Museum for it's Outdoor Sculpture park. SAM didn't want the barn on "it's" land so it was torn down. Without the barn the trams were placed into deep storage. The Trams run on a contentious piece of land where the aging Viaduct and seawall are. With the haggling of what to do to fix them both, it hasn't made sense to run the trams because they might have to be taken out - stay tuned.

[CrazyHermit]

@BNSF9250 because of a freakin art park that did not want the barn inside of the park. stupid artists >:(

[BNSF9250]

@CrazyHermit i hope they try bringing it vback are they?

[CrazyHermit]

@BNSF9250 not for a long time, they have a 5 trams stored inside a warehouse but are not going to bring it out until a barn location could be found but they cant for now

:'(

[ngc1976]

@BNSF9250

The maintenance building was removed to make way for the Olympic Sculpture Park. It was promised to be temporary, but looks like it was just a quiet way to kill off the streetcar. The whole waterfront is about to be totally redeveloped, so it looks like they are waiting to see what happens with that. Hopefully they keep the poles+cable and bring back the trolley!

[rmx77]

well as of 2009 they actually still run a streetcar and they run a few buses that are painted specially as a streetcar

[tramvinicyus]

Hi this is Vinicio from Rome. I MUST come to visit you (look at my nick) to take 98769876987 pics to trams (my only passion, before sex) in Melbourne I've only seen W class of 1956, i didn't know there were still older! wait for me!!!!

[PizzzyP]

Pioneer Square is a dump infested with homeless drug addicts. Don't be fooled by this video.

[lyallsf]

05:46 the tram had a horn. That isn't right. Melbourne trams never have horns just bells that are rung in an aggressive fashion.

[an80sGuy]

"Melbourne trams never have horns"

They probably don't need them. I'd guess that in Melbourne, they wouldn't run into to many idiot drives like that one. Who would have run head on into the front of the streetcar, if that horn wasn't blasting away. Notice that he tried to use the bell first, but it didn't seem to have much effect.

[pwaless]

The Melbourne trams (that Seattle purchased) do indeed have bells, you heard a steam whistle from another source that is out of camera range.

[raymondrynehart]

the old trams come from melbourne australia

[BrandonSeattle]

this is an old ass video. They stop running the waterfront street car. They have that Westlake street ca now. and we got those dark green busses now. Sound transit needs to hurry up and build that lightrail I'm tired of getting stuck in traffic.

[greenjack101]

i miss seattle. i live in tampa now. good place, but nothing compared to seattle

[Hippiechick238]

I bet metro sexuals really like this vid.

[Seabrook78in]

Yep.  Thats Seattle!

[xaarie]

i hope they open those tunnels back it was easy catching buses than going to 3rd ave fucking crowded area...i used work the building next to tunnel..

[TheGreatWashuu]

Wait, what was with the woman in the white dress? Was she posing for some photo shoot or something...?

[an80sGuy]

"Was she posing for some photo shoot or something...?"

I think so. They were spending a lot of time to get that shot. What they could possibly use it for, I have no idea.

[ninjamaster210]

I remember the bus tunnel I used to go there almost every week. Wow this brings back memories. 5-5 thanks for the trip.

[CrazyHermit]

dude its open again, just without Breda buses in there but with Hybrids. watch your head because their lights can hit ya

[EdM021]

Hybrids, eh? Trackless trolleys weren't good enough??? More insane planning that is just TYPICAL of our American mindset! X-(

[smartestinUSA]

that is a bus in a tunnel

[FURY1958]

It is not a bus. It is a trolleybus.

[EdM021]

They used to be called trackless trolleys. In Boston, they still are.

[Ashleyisfuckingjesus]

i live a hour away from seattle but i love it there alot.

[everettpf3]

oh yeah. Breda Buses. i miss the tunel like a mofo, you're making me all nostalgic

[CrazyHermit]

i love thoses buses too

[ruracherepashka]

is there an actual subway in seattle? (like in NY?)

[an80sGuy]

Yes but they call it the Bus Tunnel, and it has busses instead of trains. I believe it closed now anyways. So they can build a lightrail line in the tunnel.

[CrazyHermit]

well they still have buses in there but theyre hybrid

[kelleyd67]

sort of. It currently has only busses in it, but by 2009 it will also run light rain trains as well as buses.

[CrazyHermit]

well now that its opened, it operates now hybrid buses and if you visit seattle my good friend in 2009, there will be light rail in the tunnel

[EdM021]

They can run light rail AND trackless trolleys inside the tunnel. Essen (Germany) did it.

[Bspacewiz2]

wow that brought back a lot of memories!!...do you have any old videos from that time period of the space needle? more specifically the old base they had at that time?

[an80sGuy]

"do you have any old videos from that time period of the space needle? "

Sure go to my channel. Click on see all 71 videos. They will be mostly on the third page.

[3DegreeSydney]

These trams are vintage models from Melbourne! : )

A nice little transport curiosity I'd like to see one day.

Also spooky is that they sport the same livery as the old Melbourne "Met" colour scheme that existed up until the Kennett government privatisation of the 1990s.

[avitech77]

I was in Seattle two summers ago but I don't remember the trolleys. The monorail had been shut down for repairs at the time.

[an80sGuy]

I know the Monorail is back. But I think the Waterfront Streetcars are history now. It's too bad. Personally I think they rated right up there with the Monorail. They were such a great way to see the Waterfront.

[sherwelthlangley]

There have been issues with the Viaduct that have postponed any re-opening of the Waterfront line. I do believe that it will be reopened eventually. A new modern streetcar line is being constructed north of Downtown at the moment.

[an80sGuy]

I hope you are right. Modern streetcars may be a nice form of transportation. But I really don't think they can offer the same historical feel or experience of old streetcars, like the Waterfront Line did.

[megabit15]

When was this video taken? Thanks.

[an80sGuy]

"When was this video taken?"

September 1997. I had this box of 8mm video tapes sitting around for about eight years. Then YouTube came along, and I was bored. So I decided to upload the them now. Yea they are a little dated. I guess they are nostalgia for some people.

[megabit15]

LOL...no no, I didn't think it looked dated. I was wondering what month because it looks to be a clear day. I appreciate the footage. Good job!

[an80sGuy]

Oh the weather. Well I'll just say that more the a few people in Seattle, told me how lucky I was to be visiting while it was like that:)