This past Sunday (April 28th), Jason Sharpe replaced the ‘stop’ lights on Low-Floor 9753. The replacement units contain more LEDs and so are very much brighter than the originals. Kyle Little took the close-up photo of what Jason found after removing the fittings. When BC Transit repainted the bus, the lights were not removed, so TransLink blue is clearly visible. But when the BC Transit stripe decals were then applied, the lights were removed!
And speaking of painting… Bob Webster, who has donated a large collection of transit photos from the 1940s and 50’s, also gave us a fantastic album of vintage postcards. The connection with painting? Well most from the early 1900s were originally black and white. They were then meticulously ‘hand-tinted’ to approximate colour scenes. The printing process was just as involved: each colour required a different printing plate. This gave the postcards their visual appeal – a limited number of vivid, almost unnatural, colours.
The hobby of collecting postcards is called deltiology. And Bob was known as a deltiologist. He stored his postcards in a beautiful album which we have added to our archives. As part of the process, librarian John Parento scanned each card – those with a transit theme have been added to our online gallery for you to view and enjoy. Search our Photo Albums – Transit Museum Society Enter ‘postcard’ in the search box.
(Looking down Londale towards ferry dock in 1919)
Hastings Street.. with no Marine Building and what appears to be the CIBC building at Granville
Also there is a view of the Lions Gate bridge, complete with a Pacific Stage Lines IC-41 Brill
The collection includes other views that do not feature streetcars – John will post those online on social media for others to enjoy.