OMG! This reminds me of when I was little...and there was actually a Spadina bus on Spadina Avenue!
Remeber when you could only drive forward into the parking spaces which were all at an angle to the sidewalk...and to get out, you could only reverse?!
Remember when Kennedy was the very end of the line with no more trains to take? (Not today with the LRT.)
And remember when the whole city shut down on a holiday? It was super quiet on those mornings with no traffic at all in the streets.
When I was about 5 or 6 I spent a week with my cousin in Toronto, I remember one day my aunt taking us downtown to Honest Ed's we went on a trolley bus, a streetcar, the subway and then back to there place in a taxi. It was quite the day for a farm kid. Thanks for the great videos.
Wow! That brought back some memories..Thanx! LOL I loved those old Streetcars,Alot of times the lights would flicker and go out for a few seconds when on the road.And they were pretty cozy..And those Trolley buses! Wow how everything has changed ..I miss those days so much.. :)
it is easy to be critical with cival servant. as for trolley buses us say they do not consume power badcivalservant - what do u thing electricity is u dumb ass. the ttc was subsidized in the 70's and 80's , what do u think kept the fares low.
When I was a kid I remember taking a streetcar from the CNE to Yonge/Dundas (without having to transfer). Does anyone know if that was a regular TTC route, or was it run only while the Ex was on?
@ArtStone Car 1074 which was a former Newark, New Jersey car was sent back to a comapny in Pennsylvania to correct mechanical issues with the car. Also they bought about 12 cars from TTC(Toronto Transit Commission)in 1973 to suppliment the PCC cars they had. the old PCCs San Francisco had were also used for parts to keep the Toronto cars running.
@trainmaster500 In this video, the trolleys are on Bay Street. I remember trollies being on Ossington, Lansdowne, Dupont, Mount Pleasant, and an additional route out of Eglinton station.
@trainmaster500 Bay Street, Ossington, Annette. The last time I rode on a trolley bus in Toronto was 1990. I live in San Francisco and they are still running.
only reason they got rid of trolleycars is because someone at bombardier greased the palms of someone in the ttc and went the costly route of keeping streetcars instead of their trackless cousins. pathetic if u ask me
I think thats what makes Toronto stand out are them old streetcars. I remember those as a kid. In the late 90s when TransLink came into power in Vancouver, first order of business was to scrap the trolley buses. That is until the envirnomentalists stood up screaming. They replaced the aging 40 year old fleet about 3 years ago now to all brand new buses. Some now even 60 foot artics
It's more of a problem for streetcars, especially when the tracks have to be replaced. These things should be well planned, like have extra buses run on parallel streets. The trolleybuses are a little more flexible and can make slight detours.
I wish Toronto and HAMILTON got the landmark Status, then THEY would have probaly kept THEIR Trolley Coaches TOO! And HAMILTON would have probably kept THEIR streetcars TOO and kept their purpose of keeping the transit trademark name "Street Railway!" But NOOO! Now because of the STUPID automobile BIGSHOTS, they took them all away, and the name "Hamilton Street Railway" is now in vain!
That was a great video! Took me back to when I was a kid visiting Toronto! I remember those trolly buses..thought they were so neat! I didn't realize they were all gone! I was in Toronto this spring and noticed New Looks still going! Great buses! We got rid of our last two a couple of years ago....so sad! I loved driving them! Always real warm in the winter! Still have a bunch of Classics though! We have mostly New Flyers and Orion Sixes now.
the trolleys mostly went up and down Bay street and other streets around the core. They were quiet, but apparently broke down a lot. they got rid of them in the mid '90's I think.
@johncornish We (Kingston Transit) are down to three classic, one is being used for training, the other two still in regular service. Ten New Flyers are on order.
@johncornish Plenty of Classics left here, in Montreal. My division alone has like 30 or 40 of them, still... Being gradually replaced since 1996 by Novabus LFS, which I'm not too crazy of, especially the LFS Artic (a Slinky with engine & drivetrain in the trailer... Very tricky in slippery conditions)... And from what I've been hearing about them (quiet and quick), I would like to see some Orions, here...
IOne of the biggest problems was that they frequently did lose electrical contact, and when they did, they died. They had to wait for someone, often a coming from behind trolley car, to bump them ahead, so they could manoeuver back into line... Many mourned the death of the trolley buses, but not the drivers. Myself, I prefer the streetcars, and losing the trolley buses seems reasonable, given their capriciousness.
Ah Toronto the way I remember it. Ashame they got rid of the TTs. But its also hard to believe that the CLRV's are now starting their 4th Decade of service. They still look great even with today's standards.
EXCELLENT film. Am I the only one that finds it odd that the TTC did away with trolley buses, brought in hybrid busses and are now looking to expand light rail. Hybrids and light rail are good, but seems a bit of "the long way round" if you know what I mean!
I think that the people who run the TTC have already proven themselves time and time again to be idiots (the SRT ending at Mccowan, the Purple Line only having 5 stops). So it doesn't surprise me at all that they would chose street cars/light rail transit over these. Even though these are clearly superior.
Ahah! I knew I saw buses that were connected to wires above them when I was a kid. I wasn't dreaming! I remember sitting on a streetcar in the early 90s or late 80s watching one of those go by.
I live in tram oasis in Central Evrope. USA and Western Europe deleted trams in 50s 60s. Russia is deleting trams now and my tram system in Prague still lives good. I wish return of tram system to cities all over the world!!! Trams are effecient. No expensive like subway and no small capacity like buses. PCC trams are nice and they are still working in Europe.
The only difference is that the Eaton Centre extension wasn't built yet and the multi level Parking lot still existed when that Eaton Centre was only a few years old also.
The trolley buses were fun, the Junction, Ossington, Annette, Bay etc. They did become dislodged more than street cars did though. When in San Francisco riding on a PCC car on the Embaracadero was a bit of a thrill, love those PCCs!
there were alot of stupid decisions made by stupid politicians in toronto. if toronto listened to the transit riders and not the rich yuppies maybe toronto would have right of way lines out east and west of the downtown core like out to the zoo maybe. the scarborough RT should have been light rail or streetcars (stupid politicians
Here in Montreal were still waiting for streetcars,a lot of blah, blah, but no action!Now that the tracks are gone,they will have to put them back again.Strange decisions taken by strange politicians.A real distinct society!
For nearly 100 years up until 1991, the TTC was run by businessmen, not politicians. And it was not subsidized. That was the law. The TTC went down the sewer when that changed. Howard Moscoe, you are a fat dumbass. You are an idiot and so are the fools who some how continue to re-elect you. Trolley buses last for decades and can be rebuilt an unlimited number of times. When they are sitting in traffic, they do not consume power. Hey, TTC, how are your natural gas buses working out? Idiots.
San Fran was going to dump everything years back, like all the cities, even the cable cars but they luckily got landmark status and now management has seen the light and the great volunteer work has made much of this happen.
Edmonton is currently testing out the same low floor trolleybuses that Vancover has. Providing it is successful, they could not only use them in Edmonton, but possibly bring them back to Toronto and Hamilton to use the new lowfloor Trolleybuses on THEIR city streets too!
T.T.C. would have not only kept the trolleybuses today, but expanded them throughout the city and had lowfloor trolley buses too if it wasn't for the stupid big oil companies who probably deleberately caused all these power outages while we still had them so they could get rid of them and make more money off the diesels and CNG buses. Hamilton fell under this problem too!
The trolley buses were interesting; they had them running in my neighbourhood as a kid. They sure were a pain in the ass in the winter though...the bus cables would become dislodged if there was too much ice surrounding the overhead wires.
Apparently a lot of the old PCC streetcars were exported out to Egypt for use on their transit system. There's an archive photo somewhere of them sitting in a train yard outside Cairo.
i was pretty sure there were only 2 pccs left. I drove one. for a split second. ps, i also believe in keeping nostalgia alive. i personally don't like the ideas for the new street cars. i hate new buses. i hate that clean, sterile, plastic feel.
there are 2 pccs left (4500 and 4549) and the last I heard the TTC was going to use them in regular service on some weekends this year in the summer on the 509 Harbourfront route
There are 3 PCC Streetcars, and 1 Peter Witt streetcar that are used by the TTC for tours and charters. The Halton County Rail Museum also operate retired TTC vehicles. The only exception are the trolley buses. They're somewhere out to pasture.
Big part of ttc history. Why does the ttc not have a transit museum like the new york city transit authority has. 10 of each bus model should be restored. 3 of each train should be restored and preserved.
You know, you're right! The TTC should have it's own museum. The TTC is world class. It would be nice to have the classics running again. I wish the commission would take some of those new T-1 subway cars and paint them as the classic red Glousester cars from 1954. I believe in keeping nostalgia alive.
The halton county rail museum should buy the few trolley buses that are remaining along 10 of the ttc gmc fishbowl buses the ttc has and restore them. 10 of the fishbowl buses edmonton transit has should also be bought and restored. They are being retired in large numbers there. Also 10 from calgary transit should be bought and restored.
The ttc should do similar with new york city transit did running vintage buses on 3 routes in revenue service during 3 weeks in december on extra non scheduled trips. People could have a chance to ride them.
Well done!
Massooze 2 months ago
OMG! This reminds me of when I was little...and there was actually a Spadina bus on Spadina Avenue!
Remeber when you could only drive forward into the parking spaces which were all at an angle to the sidewalk...and to get out, you could only reverse?!
Remember when Kennedy was the very end of the line with no more trains to take? (Not today with the LRT.)
And remember when the whole city shut down on a holiday? It was super quiet on those mornings with no traffic at all in the streets.
dustymiller65 7 months ago
Remember the trolley buses. Could hear them coming blocks away by listening to the overhead wires vibrate.Miss them sometimes.
RichardClark13 7 months ago
@ 3:10 dickheads throwing stuff probably wasn't common back then.
hate how they added those windows behind the driver in the fishbowls years back but hey they needed it.
rko619wrestlingfan 9 months ago
Get me a Delorian... I'm going back.
scott59235 10 months ago
When I was about 5 or 6 I spent a week with my cousin in Toronto, I remember one day my aunt taking us downtown to Honest Ed's we went on a trolley bus, a streetcar, the subway and then back to there place in a taxi. It was quite the day for a farm kid. Thanks for the great videos.
HCGLondon 11 months ago
Dayton, Ohio still has them too
boilerbob7 11 months ago
Wow! That brought back some memories..Thanx! LOL I loved those old Streetcars,Alot of times the lights would flicker and go out for a few seconds when on the road.And they were pretty cozy..And those Trolley buses! Wow how everything has changed ..I miss those days so much.. :)
metalvixen8261 1 year ago
What song is this?
GECP4256 1 year ago
I never knew that Toronto had trolley buses. Cool
anaki101 1 year ago
@anaki101 San Francisco, California still has theres. check it out when you go there.
frankd1965 1 year ago
it is easy to be critical with cival servant. as for trolley buses us say they do not consume power badcivalservant - what do u thing electricity is u dumb ass. the ttc was subsidized in the 70's and 80's , what do u think kept the fares low.
jim447 1 year ago
@jim447
TTC is still subsidized...
johncornish 10 months ago
man this takes me back. good system then. what a city.
bababooey7576 1 year ago
When I was a kid I remember taking a streetcar from the CNE to Yonge/Dundas (without having to transfer). Does anyone know if that was a regular TTC route, or was it run only while the Ex was on?
theraptorfan100 1 year ago
that was fun
borden17 1 year ago
5 of the ex-TTC PCC streetcars are running in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Another group are in San Francisco on the Market Street line or in storage
ArtStone 1 year ago
@ArtStone There are also many Toronto PCCs at the Halton County Streetcar Museum
gailgrove 1 year ago
@ArtStone Car 1074 which was a former Newark, New Jersey car was sent back to a comapny in Pennsylvania to correct mechanical issues with the car. Also they bought about 12 cars from TTC(Toronto Transit Commission)in 1973 to suppliment the PCC cars they had. the old PCCs San Francisco had were also used for parts to keep the Toronto cars running.
frankd1965 1 year ago
This music reminds me of a lot of instructional videos I was made to watch whilst growing up. "The Metric System and You!" etc. etc.
Greggo2 1 year ago
Go Toronto, a city that cares about it's people!, not like Winnipeg
TrainmasterCurt 1 year ago
which routes operated the trolley buses?
trainmaster500 1 year ago
@trainmaster500 In this video, the trolleys are on Bay Street. I remember trollies being on Ossington, Lansdowne, Dupont, Mount Pleasant, and an additional route out of Eglinton station.
Mojo1962 1 year ago
@trainmaster500 Bay Street, Ossington, Annette. The last time I rode on a trolley bus in Toronto was 1990. I live in San Francisco and they are still running.
frankd1965 1 year ago
When are they gonna invent airborne vehicles like in Star Wars?
leafyutube 1 year ago
only reason they got rid of trolleycars is because someone at bombardier greased the palms of someone in the ttc and went the costly route of keeping streetcars instead of their trackless cousins. pathetic if u ask me
sp4i6 1 year ago
is that the roncesvalles yard?
Love4SK 1 year ago
I think thats what makes Toronto stand out are them old streetcars. I remember those as a kid. In the late 90s when TransLink came into power in Vancouver, first order of business was to scrap the trolley buses. That is until the envirnomentalists stood up screaming. They replaced the aging 40 year old fleet about 3 years ago now to all brand new buses. Some now even 60 foot artics
svoteary 2 years ago
Comne on, Oh well at least it doesn't think it's French. Althought it thinks it's New York. Who the fuck cares about the New York.
gentlestormtoo 2 years ago
It's more of a problem for streetcars, especially when the tracks have to be replaced. These things should be well planned, like have extra buses run on parallel streets. The trolleybuses are a little more flexible and can make slight detours.
priestpilot 2 years ago
I wish Toronto and HAMILTON got the landmark Status, then THEY would have probaly kept THEIR Trolley Coaches TOO! And HAMILTON would have probably kept THEIR streetcars TOO and kept their purpose of keeping the transit trademark name "Street Railway!" But NOOO! Now because of the STUPID automobile BIGSHOTS, they took them all away, and the name "Hamilton Street Railway" is now in vain!
Moose2482 2 years ago
They have retired ALL the Orion VIs 88 and 89 New Flyers and Classics now!
Moose2482 2 years ago
@Moose2482 Favorite bus are the GMC New Looks.
frankd1965 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
i wish the Toronto TTC Trolleybuses & old Streetcars was here
lexbus2001 2 years ago
Comment removed
lexbus2001 2 years ago
toronto really had a different vibe back then, I mean back then houses in toronto were still affordable!
alexcheetah79 2 years ago
Yeah, now I GOTTA rent some shitty basement!
Bugstomper2 2 years ago
That was a great video! Took me back to when I was a kid visiting Toronto! I remember those trolly buses..thought they were so neat! I didn't realize they were all gone! I was in Toronto this spring and noticed New Looks still going! Great buses! We got rid of our last two a couple of years ago....so sad! I loved driving them! Always real warm in the winter! Still have a bunch of Classics though! We have mostly New Flyers and Orion Sixes now.
Railrodder 2 years ago
Toronto has Trolley Buses ?????????
BrianEaZy 2 years ago
past tense, had...
alexcheetah79 2 years ago
the trolleys mostly went up and down Bay street and other streets around the core. They were quiet, but apparently broke down a lot. they got rid of them in the mid '90's I think.
thinbutfun 2 years ago
It was 93 or 94 if my research and memory are correct.
priestpilot 2 years ago
@Railrodder
Most of the classics are gone now... The most common TTC bus is the Orion VII.
johncornish 10 months ago
@johncornish We (Kingston Transit) are down to three classic, one is being used for training, the other two still in regular service. Ten New Flyers are on order.
Railrodder 10 months ago
@johncornish Plenty of Classics left here, in Montreal. My division alone has like 30 or 40 of them, still... Being gradually replaced since 1996 by Novabus LFS, which I'm not too crazy of, especially the LFS Artic (a Slinky with engine & drivetrain in the trailer... Very tricky in slippery conditions)... And from what I've been hearing about them (quiet and quick), I would like to see some Orions, here...
MrKabDrivr 10 months ago
Dam pcc cars are the best they used to have them in brooklyn to 1956 when they were abandoned
jaquanarezoo 2 years ago
They may be back in Brooklyn again. the Red Hook project is being looked at again by NYCDOT
xColaKittyx 2 years ago
IOne of the biggest problems was that they frequently did lose electrical contact, and when they did, they died. They had to wait for someone, often a coming from behind trolley car, to bump them ahead, so they could manoeuver back into line... Many mourned the death of the trolley buses, but not the drivers. Myself, I prefer the streetcars, and losing the trolley buses seems reasonable, given their capriciousness.
limefrog777 2 years ago
this should have been the early 1980's, because the CLRVs still had couplers.
TheKevinV08 2 years ago
Ah Toronto the way I remember it. Ashame they got rid of the TTs. But its also hard to believe that the CLRV's are now starting their 4th Decade of service. They still look great even with today's standards.
Coastercarl 2 years ago
EXCELLENT film. Am I the only one that finds it odd that the TTC did away with trolley buses, brought in hybrid busses and are now looking to expand light rail. Hybrids and light rail are good, but seems a bit of "the long way round" if you know what I mean!
BulletNoseBetty 2 years ago
I think that the people who run the TTC have already proven themselves time and time again to be idiots (the SRT ending at Mccowan, the Purple Line only having 5 stops). So it doesn't surprise me at all that they would chose street cars/light rail transit over these. Even though these are clearly superior.
kamster99 2 years ago
Awsome video!!Thanks for the upload.Great job with it. ;) 5 stars from me.
AdituCFR 2 years ago
Ahah! I knew I saw buses that were connected to wires above them when I was a kid. I wasn't dreaming! I remember sitting on a streetcar in the early 90s or late 80s watching one of those go by.
toiletholder 2 years ago
How did they keep the busses from losing thier conection to the wire? Just skilled drivers?
TrainTrackTrav 2 years ago
0:47 looks like there racing..
I Live By Greenwood
RunescapePwnerhunter 3 years ago
I live in tram oasis in Central Evrope. USA and Western Europe deleted trams in 50s 60s. Russia is deleting trams now and my tram system in Prague still lives good. I wish return of tram system to cities all over the world!!! Trams are effecient. No expensive like subway and no small capacity like buses. PCC trams are nice and they are still working in Europe.
krizvasa 3 years ago 2
I live near Dundas and Bay Street. I looks exacatly the same. Neat.
37warnock 3 years ago
The only difference is that the Eaton Centre extension wasn't built yet and the multi level Parking lot still existed when that Eaton Centre was only a few years old also.
TKWizard 2 years ago
thanks for posting this i really like to see the way the old buses and streetcars looked when they were new!
jkeating12345 3 years ago
Great video featuring the old Western Flyers and PCC streetcars. It brings back lots of good memories!
greekguy1326 3 years ago
what a big ttc history
Ronny2212 3 years ago
The trolley buses were fun, the Junction, Ossington, Annette, Bay etc. They did become dislodged more than street cars did though. When in San Francisco riding on a PCC car on the Embaracadero was a bit of a thrill, love those PCCs!
secordman 3 years ago
there were alot of stupid decisions made by stupid politicians in toronto. if toronto listened to the transit riders and not the rich yuppies maybe toronto would have right of way lines out east and west of the downtown core like out to the zoo maybe. the scarborough RT should have been light rail or streetcars (stupid politicians
budinc 3 years ago 20
Here in Montreal were still waiting for streetcars,a lot of blah, blah, but no action!Now that the tracks are gone,they will have to put them back again.Strange decisions taken by strange politicians.A real distinct society!
6060steamfreak 3 years ago 2
Detroit use to have this Some the old street Cars are parked at self ridge air base in Michigan and they still have the old street names on them
Biggie1231 3 years ago
For nearly 100 years up until 1991, the TTC was run by businessmen, not politicians. And it was not subsidized. That was the law. The TTC went down the sewer when that changed. Howard Moscoe, you are a fat dumbass. You are an idiot and so are the fools who some how continue to re-elect you. Trolley buses last for decades and can be rebuilt an unlimited number of times. When they are sitting in traffic, they do not consume power. Hey, TTC, how are your natural gas buses working out? Idiots.
BadCivilServant 3 years ago 3
I agree, I was amazed at how fast, efficient, powerful, quiet the trolley buses were in San Fran.. a city miles and miles ahead of here.
I even rode in a PCC car that was bought from Toronto! It was in nice shape and felt strong. So jealous of that city.
at1212b 3 years ago 2
San Fran was going to dump everything years back, like all the cities, even the cable cars but they luckily got landmark status and now management has seen the light and the great volunteer work has made much of this happen.
A progressive city.
xColaKittyx 2 years ago
the natural gas buses were not working out so they're dead
James7084 3 years ago 3
This comment has received too many negative votes show
sucks
corbypc12 3 years ago
Edmonton is currently testing out the same low floor trolleybuses that Vancover has. Providing it is successful, they could not only use them in Edmonton, but possibly bring them back to Toronto and Hamilton to use the new lowfloor Trolleybuses on THEIR city streets too!
Moose2482 3 years ago
T.T.C. would have not only kept the trolleybuses today, but expanded them throughout the city and had lowfloor trolley buses too if it wasn't for the stupid big oil companies who probably deleberately caused all these power outages while we still had them so they could get rid of them and make more money off the diesels and CNG buses. Hamilton fell under this problem too!
Moose2482 3 years ago
The trolley buses were interesting; they had them running in my neighbourhood as a kid. They sure were a pain in the ass in the winter though...the bus cables would become dislodged if there was too much ice surrounding the overhead wires.
Apparently a lot of the old PCC streetcars were exported out to Egypt for use on their transit system. There's an archive photo somewhere of them sitting in a train yard outside Cairo.
golddustwoman83 3 years ago 6
Early '90s
TKWizard 4 years ago
1993 to be exact
streetcarjay 4 years ago
i was pretty sure there were only 2 pccs left. I drove one. for a split second. ps, i also believe in keeping nostalgia alive. i personally don't like the ideas for the new street cars. i hate new buses. i hate that clean, sterile, plastic feel.
oxfordpictionary 4 years ago
there are 2 pccs left (4500 and 4549) and the last I heard the TTC was going to use them in regular service on some weekends this year in the summer on the 509 Harbourfront route
joelsterling 4 years ago
isn't there some in the streetcar museum in halton?
torontosubway 3 years ago
yes, the halton county radial railway museum.
oxfordpictionary 3 years ago
Damn i never got the chance to go on the Trolleybuses before they stopped. I even remember white ones too, which i now know are from Edmonton.
toronto7400 4 years ago
The best part is the 80's soundtrack.
Reminds me of a Don't-Do-Drugs special from high school gym class :-)
Catelynne 4 years ago
Very nice! Thanks for sharing!!
bradleyo82 4 years ago
They are not all gone, the TTC still rents them out for special events...
The Yoga Queen (Yoga Rani)
Advocate for the Queen Street Streetcar
TheYogaQueen 4 years ago
You can rent the old PCC Streetcar, but not the Trolley Buses. There area few that are still lying around outside Toronto rusting away.
streetcarjay 4 years ago 2
Where are they at. Why is there not a transit museum buying them and restoring them.
newflyer500 4 years ago
There are 3 PCC Streetcars, and 1 Peter Witt streetcar that are used by the TTC for tours and charters. The Halton County Rail Museum also operate retired TTC vehicles. The only exception are the trolley buses. They're somewhere out to pasture.
streetcarjay 4 years ago
Big part of ttc history. Why does the ttc not have a transit museum like the new york city transit authority has. 10 of each bus model should be restored. 3 of each train should be restored and preserved.
newflyer500 4 years ago
You know, you're right! The TTC should have it's own museum. The TTC is world class. It would be nice to have the classics running again. I wish the commission would take some of those new T-1 subway cars and paint them as the classic red Glousester cars from 1954. I believe in keeping nostalgia alive.
streetcarjay 4 years ago
The halton county rail museum should buy the few trolley buses that are remaining along 10 of the ttc gmc fishbowl buses the ttc has and restore them. 10 of the fishbowl buses edmonton transit has should also be bought and restored. They are being retired in large numbers there. Also 10 from calgary transit should be bought and restored.
newflyer500 4 years ago
The ttc should do similar with new york city transit did running vintage buses on 3 routes in revenue service during 3 weeks in december on extra non scheduled trips. People could have a chance to ride them.
newflyer500 4 years ago
Sad to say the old Trolley Coaches are gone. They ran from 1947 to 1993.
streetcarjay 4 years ago
Very cool collection of films ... thanks for sharing.
gerrywide 4 years ago