Going to Town - 1985 SkyTrain project documentary
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- Опубликовано: 15 дек 2010
- Going to Town is a 30 minute 1985 documentary by JEM Productions for B.C. Transit, capturing the genesis of the SkyTrain project and its construction. Featuring James "Quick" Parker of the B.C. Lions and a killer sax-filled soundtrack!
Originally posted on the Buzzer blog with more background info here: buzzer.translink.ca/index.php/... 
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It is so weird to see Terminal Ave without the SkyTrain running down it
Kris S Except the flea market hasn't changed one bit
Only 40 years ago no skytrain, but go back another 60 years and the area was still part of False Creek. Would have been boats floating around, and Main Street was a bridge. The area east of Main was filled in 1917, primarily for the railway.
Can I say how this music is amazing? Because it's really jazzy, and I like it.
And they're expanding even more in 2016. Great 80s footage. We used to ride the Skytrains frequently as a kid in the mid-late 90s before getting a car, whether going to Metrotown or catching a Grizzlies game at GM Place, etc. Then I went again in '05 once on a field trip in high school. As an adult, I've ridden the Skytrains fairly often again for the past 5 years since 2011. It's oddly nostalgic.
what high school did you go to
man RIP the grizzlies
God, I miss this City when it was back in the 80's! Now it's just extremely overcrowded and EVERYBODY is bitter like hell! :( Awesome video tho! :)
Yeah 10 years ago things REALLY got busy in Vancouver with the Olympics
Lol u call Vancouver or Canada in general bitter lol. Nicest people on earth
Yeah okay grandpa , go back to bed now 😂
wait aren’t you that guy who shits on Translink on Facebook everyday
It's amazing to see how clean the tracks used to be!
And Matthew Good now owns those tracks lol.
Sometimes I love it when I catch an old expo skytrain even though it's not quite as comfy as the new grey ones. Just because it's vintage.
Love the bold optimism on display here. You don't see this kind of ambition much any more in BC.
Or anywhere.
sad thing is this would never have been built if it was only started today nor anything like it we would probably end up with an underfunded dangerous street level rail that would get abandoned
There's only two other cities in the world using an elevated transit system, as I heard it. They're too damned expensive to build and even ours will not be elevated in the future. The elevated skytrain stations are surely the most expensive part. Metrotown's escalators still aren't working. Even if a ground level system had to build bridges over roadways, it could likely be built cheaper.
Metrotown is undergoing renovation.
I am fine with a ground level system unless its light rail.
Jim Ervin thing about SkyTrain is it has a high initial build cost but long term costs are pretty low no collisions like you see plaguing street level rail. Metrotown is undergoing renovations to handle higher passenger volume (there wasn't a giant mall when Metrotown station was built) which is why the escalators aren't running yet and renovation is pretty much going to schedule
It even SOUNDS the same still... Wow!
That skytrain sound is engrained into my brain. I can recognize it anywhere as well as the lady’s voice calling stations
@@benjaminfranklin4760 me.too
I wish I was alive during this time.
My late husband was the project manager, I didn't realize they had shot video when the last concrete track completed. He also built the Columbian Station and constructed the Sky Train Bridge to Surrey and other sections of the track and Station.
Yes, I can't believe they didn't do the Canada Line first, prior to the Millenium Line...but both are here now, with the Evergreen Line not far off. I love how rapid transit is taken seriously here - I just hope they get cracking on better expansion, for the sake of Surrey and Langley.
I saw some old BCTV news footage of Bill Bennett discussing the long term SkyTrain plan. Apparently what’s now the “Canada line” was actually planned for 1992 though it was going to be called something different (it’s development name was airport-Richmond line) use regular SkyTrain technology and go further. It was canceled by the 91 socred collapse or maybe even canceled by vanderzalm idk. Interestingly what’s now the millennium line was going to have a slightly different route and all the way up to where the evergreen line is now it was planned for after the airport line when the area was projected to have a higher population density. There was also talk of a second seabus and a long SkyTrain line through surrey to Langley in fact the end of the expo line in surrey if you look closely is designed so that it can be built onto further
this video makes me appreciate the skytrain a little more
Hey I'm from the year 2020
@Christopher Meisner Damn actually
@Christopher Meisner Jesus that took a turn
Excellent film. Great shots of places that have really changed.
The iconic sound of the Mk. I SkyTrain. Feels good to live in the Greater Vancouver area.
"The measure of a city must be the freedom of people to move and interact within it. The extent to which the city makes them happy and safe while doing so is the measure of its greatness."
That was the thinking back then.
Thinking nowadays: “The measure of a city is how much real estate we can sell to people who don’t even live here. Screw the people in the city and we’re going to be jacking up your cost of movement too whether it’s transit or car”
The first place I boarded the Skytrain was on opening day in the New Westminster Station. The first place I boarded the Millennium Line was at Brentwood. The first place I boarded the Canada Line was at Olympic Village on opening day.
For myself the first time on SkyTrain was when a buddy and myself went to a B.C. Lions game in October 1986. It was cool as it was also new to me to be in B.C. Place at the time as well.
They were so creative for turning abandon property into rapid transit!
I like how the same skytrains and seabus are still in service. Wish I was an 80's kid
man i take skytrain everyday to get to school...never knew this is how it came to be..love vancouver.
It still screeches less than the Canada Line.
When it was new it seemed as though we were riding through the sky on clouds. Or maybe it was just the excitement of finally such a thing in our city. For the first time I really felt like Vancouver was becoming a great big happening city. Or maybe I was just young and idealistic. Maybe a little of both. I still have unbridled idealism for our great city. And a ride on the Expo line still feels like being on a cloud, rattles and all :)
What a beautiful image of Vancouver you express.! We need more people like you to help make Vancouver "the best city on earth." ! You have great vision for the future !
The feeling of being in the sky brings me joy on my daily commute
I helped build the Vancouver, Toronto, and Detroit trains back in the early 80 in Kingston and then worked in Vancouver in the late 80 on the trains I loved Vancouver it is a beautiful city .been back in Kingston since1990 , work for City of Kingston public works dept. now
Thank you for building our trains ;) ..... (Vancouver resident )
Wonderful to hear from a builder of this incredible SKYTRAIN system. Thank you Mate ! Did you ever walk on the Suspension bridge? I think more scary than Sidney Harbor Bridge in Sidney Australia.
I'm watching this before taking the sky train to work in the morning cool documentary.
Man, the 80’s in Van brings back memories. I know after Expo there was a huge Asian immigration to Vancouver that hasn’t stopped. I know we’re diverse but I remember my classroom became less whiter and more Asian as time passed. Without the migration we wouldn’t have had the wonderful Sushi restaurants, Dim Sim, S East Asian cuisine.
This would have made a great 80s sitcom…. Even has a great groovy theme song.
Happy 30th birthday Skytrain!!!
Awesome film! I wasn't alive when the Expo Line was built so this was especially interesting to see. It's weird seeing a Vancouver before the Skytrain was around too!
I really liked watching the skytrain being built :) I liked how they showed the band at the end xD
I'm from the year 2020 and we're in quarantine due to the coronavirus
The last 5 minutes are pretty damn Epic.. we need more saxophone performances at burrard place
Cool nostalgia. I ride the expo line to and from work. Too bad they did not have an underground walkway between expo line and Canada line at the waterfront.
I love the Sky Train! Lovin the jazz music at the end of the video too :)
That soundtrack is killer. Wish I could track it down for some sampling.
I love Vancouver, been there a few times now,got family there, one interesting fact about Vancouver, it's younger than all cities and towns in New Zealand.
20:14 is hard to believe. This whole video serves as incredible time travel to me. What a great documentary!
Vancouver seemed so much more efficient and promising back then.
EricKZhang the SoCred era... Really wish those guys were still around they made BC great we didn't even have a proper highway system until they showed up in the 50s and we'd have just been a poor logging and fishing province had they not defied Ottawa and created industry here (Ottawa used to not like any industrialization in the western provinces it's why Alberta has a problem with relying solely on oil and farming)
Oh fuck off. SoCred were complete garbage, the Liberals are doing a great job carrying that torch.
Technocratic Fuck off. Trudeau sucks, and Andrew Scheer is much better.
@@user-xg8yy7yl1d You know that the Socreds ARE the Provincial Liberals, right?
iiiiiifggffggffgfgfg
Yeah because the socreds would sell off BCrail which they painstakingly acquired almost sell off BC ferries etc
WAC Bennett is rolling in his grave with every terrible decision the liberals made
I would like to see old photos of places where the Skytrain station are now, but before they were built. I remember the Joyce and Edmonds busloops. I remember using them.
The Joyce and Edmonds bus loops still exist
this was epic, It was worth the 30 minutes I spent
In the 90's I was a kid and loved taling the skytrain. I do honestly miss it today, all the memories exploring the city with my siblings 💗 I live in Quebec now, and it's just not the same
Beautifully slick production! Hollywood North is alive and well!
I'd give up anything to live in this era
It was really special. I miss the old Vancouver.😕
Every time I watch this it fills me up with some good vibes. Too bad the Mark I trains are being retired.
I couldn't help notice "ITT SEL Canada" on the SelTrac SMC screens. This was the first phase of the system's install, the VCC Vehicle Control Computers (three for the lines) were all General Instrument 800 computers and OS/2 for the workstations, except for the SCADA workstation you see initially when the CO operator turns on propulsion power to the one vehicle with that pen.
It's gone from that first-gen system made in germany partly by ITT Standard Electric Lorenz, to a newer system when Alcatel bought the technology, still based on OS/2 but with color graphics (SelNet as they called it).
Now, nearly 30 years later, we're still using the same inductive loop moving block control system. But now it's Windows-based SMC software (NetTrac MT), IBM rack i286 PC servers for the VCC, and newer Thales onboard vehicles computers with newer Unix-based (VxWorks) operating systems as pose to the old ITT 1650 processors used on the original Mk1 VOBCs. The operators have the same command line as the original system, but the simplicity and convenience of point-and-click where needed. It's really quite amazing.
i286? Where do you find parts for those?
Glad to hear they have upgraded the computers and replaced some light bulbs. But on=going upgrades should always be a constant practice and goal. Lives are at stake. Yes, this is a very advanced train system and very expensive system that no other city can copy. Vancouver Rules ! .
Detroit made a license built copy of the SkyTrain and completed a single track before large amounts of that city went to shit so I wonder if they still have a copy of the 80s software since the mk1 SkyTrain car and control system is what they bought the license to copy
I'd love to learn more about the original control equipment - maybe the VCC's were Data General Nova 800's? Don't know about GI ever having made this type of equipment, but I could be wrong. The DG Nova 800 seems plausible as it's a 70's minicomputer, and SelTrac also originated in the 70's. As far as OS/2 is concerned... I think that this was maybe a later upgrade as development didn't begin until 1985, and the initial release was in 1987 from what I understand. Fascinating stuff.
@@jordanlabbe3896 Good point with the timeline, being honest there likely are some inaccuracies in my original post. But a few years ago, I came across an interesting IEEE journal from the mid-90s that was written by someone who appeared involved in moving the VCCs from assembler code over to C. (look up "Cash Cow in the Tar Pit - Reengineering a Legacy System" - DOI: 10.1109/52.493019 - might require an IEEE subscription to view, sadly) . There was mention of "General Automation GA900" minicomputers being used, but there is not much other information I can find beyond that. As for OS/2, my understanding is that it was only used on the System Management Center or SMC (non-vital) level, which is now Windows based (TransLink had this info on their SkyTrain fleet page at one point).
9:11 I've never seen a Skytrain with so much free room.
I love docs about our transit system. It's amazing how much the landscape has changed. I almost didn't recognize some areas without the trains running through. As much I wish I had been around during the construction, I have to say I have quiet enjoyed growing up with trains already running. I doubt I would have ever been to go to the PNE as a kid if the train hadn't been built.
Our city sure has grown!
The Vancouver SkyTrain, utilizing the Urban Transportation Development Corporation's Intermediate Capacity Transit System Advanced Light Rapid Transit technology. Designed and built at the Millhaven plant in Kingston, Ontario. Also used here in Toronto-Scarborough for the Scarborough RT, the Downtown People Mover in Detroit, the Air Train in NYC as well as in Kuala Lumpur, Malasya. Hamilton, Ontario was also supposed to get a SkyTrain, but it was rejected at a council vote in 1981, along with another commuter rail version of the ALRT train technology that would have tied together the entire Greater Toronto Area, known as GO ALRT, but sadly that plan was scrapped after Bill Davis resigned.
The ICTS train is one of those few examples of a provincial government delving into designing and producing urban rail transportation technology, from those heady days of the early 1970s when it seemed the future had arrived, and then Metro Toronto was to be tied together by magnetically levitated and magnetically propelled ICTS ALRT trains. That plan fell through and was changed from magnetic levitation to having the trains running on conventional rail tracks while still being propelled by the linear induction motor. The signalling was computer controlled moving block with the systems utilizing the Seltrac automated train signalling system supplied by Alcatel. Very high tech stuff for it's time, it started off with much ambition.
The only problem though as has happened here in Toronto is that snow and ice can get on the reaction rail and prevent the trains from working properly. So now the Scarborough RT's day's are numbered, as it will be replaced by possibly a north eastern extension of the Danforth Subway line, although there is at least one mayoral candidate for this year's Toronto mayoral election who wants to restore the originally planned Light Rail Transit line that was originally proposed. Only time will tell what shall be handed to the people of Scarborough. Thanks for sharing the video. : )
+Jordan Kerim Currently there's another city with Bombardier's INNOVIA ART is in Yongin, South Korea. This system is called the EverLine (EverLine official site: www.ever-line.co.kr/everline/index.php; Bombardier reference: www.bombardier.com/en/transportation/projects/project.innovia-yongin-south-korea.html?f-region=asia-pacific).
There's also Kuala Lumper's KL Metro that's getting the new Mark III trains.
totontos problem was resistance to the full automation and insistence on manual operation
this system was designed with the consistencies in acceleration braking speed etc of computer control and the inconsistency of having permanent manual control has added way too much wear to a system not designed for it
I'm at this football game...I miss the old Vancouver.
Amazing documentary. Brings back so many good memories of days spent gliding on the SkyTrain tracks. Thanks for everything Translink. 💙
That's the classic bc transit symbol.
I miss those days!
Who were the musicians in the band?
I was there! My family moved to Vancouver in 83. I remember expo 86!
Brings a tear to me eye!
:3 seeing this again
No advertisements on the wall of skytrain stations back then, wow.
This is a snapshot of a pivotal time for the region. Amazing.
WOW ! What incredible "VISION" the Leaders of Vancouver had in the 1980's. ! The SKYTRAIN is as modern today as when it was built. Kudo's to the Engineers and Builders. The Suspension Bridge is unbelievable ! It really is the Little Train that Could Fly !
This is so nostalgic, Vancouver my city 🙌🏽
Nice Documentary
Good job worker and nice work
Man it looked like hell on earth back then
It so much better now that were a global city with traffic jams and drug addicts everywhere
We couldn't ride anywhere without The Skytrain!
Very impressive
Ya, It be great to expand the train to Langley in white rock!
I agree on the Langley extension but White Rock? I don't see that happening.
Chiara Watson that is being planned right now
This woodent have happened unless expo 86 was hosted in Vancouver plus the theme was trasnportation so thank you Bc Transit.
It's a perspective and vision of the future that is lost on the people of the present - city planners should look to this video for guidance, rather than whispers in their ears from developers. The SkyTrain goes where the money is now, not where the people are...
It's still running on the same computer system from the 80s
1985 I was only 13 years old. Now I’m in my early 50. I wonder how many people here feel the same?
That region between Waterfront and where the tracks split. When the Shaw Tower was built they covered the whole area over but there's two ramps cars can use to get down there still and discretely reach the underground access for the convention center.
I wish they expanded to Langley
Famous last words:
"They will move through curves without screeching"
worked in Vancouver at the time, and the driving commute was a pain, and in New Westminster long waits along stewartson way was the norm.
+traintyme Still like that today. New West is a traffic trap. The most annoying city to drive through during rush hours.
+ThunderForce Agreed, fuck I hate new west sometimes. Growing up in it, it was very lame.
+ThunderForce Only decent thing about growing up there were the hills for skating.
Connor Murphy
True, I grew up there as well. I like the history of the city and the older districts of town got character, but I got out ASAP hahah.
ThunderForce I left New West in 2004 when I transferred out of NWSS.
"3 sophisticated computers" (operated on floppy disks)
This was 1985, not 2017.
"Should anything fall on the tracks, an electronic intrusion detector will instantly detect it"
Like... Snow? In a region that can often get snow? Huh. Who would have thought.
Sky trains gangster until it snows.
Wish we can bring back the old Interurban tram system. We had the foundation for a LRT long ago and it was ripped out and burned (Literally done to the Trams under the burrard street bridge) in the late 50s paving the way for the unreliable transit system we have today. You can see traces of it still left there is old track which runs across where the some of the skytrain runs along the old Morpole and Burnaby lines. The Canada line runs along part of the old Steveston line and most of the train track in Surrey running along Hwy 10 runs along some of the old Chilliwack Route (Which has been replaced by the 66 fraser valley express bus). Replica tram Stations have been built in Surrey the cloverdale and Sullivan stations in there close to there historic spots. And have 4 Functional trams (Metro Vancouver has 6 of the 7 Surviving trams One in Richmond, one in Burnaby, 4 in Surrey) running 5 times a day on weekends during the spring and summer between the two stations.
Epic music is epic
Does anyone know the name of the narrator? It's a familiar Vancouver radio voice and very reassuring!
Louis Cyphre the narrator is Jim Conrad
Partly. Some of the old terminals (including the giant multi-screen one) are still used but most of the equipment has been modernized.
i swear they do screech a little on the tigher curves or at least the non-refurbished ones tend to
wait and the skytrain yard used to be a gravel pit?
Yeah, they do screech a little, it's still better than traditional methods though. The maintenance and operation center is still at the old gravel pit, you can't see much though since it's got a big fence around it.
Is the soundtrack available for download? It's pretty sick and has a very Vancouvery feel.
Right?! We love this retro tune, but unfortunately I don't think it's available for download. ^sk
The Bombardier trains on the Expo Line have steerable axles so they follow the turns in the track the same way a car's wheels turn into a curve. The Canada Line trains are conventional fixed axle sets so on sharper curves you get the inevitable flange screeching. Too bad really because except for the noise I enjoy the ride to YVR a lot, especially when I get a seat at the front!
Wow soooo Old!
I have a really strong inkling that this is a the old Railway tunnel underneath downtown that's now used for the Waterfront Area of the line (that first curve).
However, I don't recognize any of the buildings at all.
You won't be able to find this area today because it's built over by "The Province" Building.
Actually the Skytrain connected gangs and drug dealers too. I remember when the gangs around Surrey Place Mall were isolated from ones on Granville Street. I know some gathered in a public washroom in the public park at 29th Avenue, on morning weekdays.
There were actually train tracks from New West to Vancouver that paralaled the expo line, still active for freight when the line opened. You can see them in the video, but are gone now. Wonder why none of that right of way was used.
You can clearly see what these people were most proud of and what they praised themselves most for 😝
I rode skytrain during Expo ‘86.
Keep in mind Matthew Good was born in this city.
The entrance to the Dunsmuir Tunnel is now almost directly under Portal Park
When The Langley Extension is opened, Call it Frazer Extension (Expo Line)
ICTS!
Was a better city back then
Three computers! No way!
With larger memory systems on computers since the 1980's this system could run on one laptop. 1980's = Old Technology. Cheers !
So IMPRESSIVE
Nevermind! I'll get it!
I been on the Millennium line mark I train to VCC Clark built in December 1985 in Vancouver when I was nine
Thank BC Electric Rwy Co and BC Hydro (after the double-cross!) for maintaining ownership of the interurban rights of way which were just waiting for Skytrain, long before it was envisioned..
@Emma Zhang VCC-Clark station wasn’t built until 2006.
@@ragellejean I've went on Millennium Line to VCC Clark born in December 1985 when I was nine years old.
The up is always so much
more fun than the down.
they still use those cars from 1985 LOL
Why does it feel like there was more people here
With the tracks being welded together, how do they compensate for expansion and contraction?
@Atanith99 And don't forget the Evergreen Line and the Expo and Melinium Line expansions.
Interesting to see they had station attendents and ticket checkers. None of which we have today.