60 Years Vancouver Trolley Buses - Part 1

[Bakuneon]

\I thought this was translink

[FlyerE901]

@Bakuneon True. TransLink / Coast Mountain Bus was the last operator when these Triesel buses were retired. At the moment TRAMS is restoring this bus back to the condition it was in when it ran between the years 1987 and 1999.

[burooo]

at 3:01 the guy putting the pole back on the wire should be along side the bus and facing the other way wnen doing that ,back to training brother.

good video.

[FlyerE901]

A bit tricky when the bus is on an angle and the poles weren't co-operating with the overhead. But glad you enjoyed the video.

[j45007]

Nice Video, thanks for posting it! -BOGAR!

[FlyerE901]

No worries! :-)

[jemdude22]

Is this the ice-cutting "trolleybus" that runs on diesel?

[FlyerE901]

Yes, this is the one.

[FlyerE901]

Another note. This was a trolley bus until the late 1980s when the electric motors were removed. Rebuilt engines from Flyer D700s were then installed into the bodies of these Flyer E800s

[jemdude22]

Thanks for the info. Why can't the ice-cutter remain as an electric trolleybus since its poles have to be in contact with the wires while it is on the job?

[FlyerE901]

I'll try to make this explanation as short as I can. :) When the E800s were new, they had rebuilt Brill propulsion equipment. When BC Transit purchased the E901A & E902 Flyer trolleys, one of the original plans was to install the Westinghouse equipment into the E800 bodies. There were some compatability issues and that plan fell through. Then we ended up ordering another batch of E902s. BC Transit had no use for the E800s after Expo 86 and decided to convert the extra trolleys to diesels.

[jemdude22]

I see. It is both interesting and weired to note a "trolleybus" with the sound of a diesel bus. = )

[kylewalken86]

Pretty simple... A trolley has to draw power from the wire, but can't if there is ice on the wires (that's why the new trolleys fail when the wires are frosty)... The diesel with the trolley poles doesn't draw power so it can go without any problem, even though its poles are up... This is also why the driver has to get out at every switch and reposition the poles, he can't actually draw power in order to activate the switch... The poles are literally just up there for not reason other than to be

[jemdude22]

I get it. Thanks for sharing. Then I guess the driver only needs to get behind the bus to reposition the poles only when the bus needs to deviate at wiring frogs since it can't activate the power switch. I suppose the ice-cutting poles can proceed without the need of repositioning if the bus is going straight at the wire switch if the switch is a straight-thru at its default position. Am I right?

[kylewalken86]

Yeah, you are right... The driver would actually only need to get out and reposition the poles in situations where he needs to move from one wire line to another... That doesn't mean 'every' switch... Because there is no power draw on the wire, the switch would think that the bus wants to go straight... And that would only be at the switches which have the little 'power ->' sign on them... The other ones at intersections are activated by the deviation in the poles created by a turning bus...