Is ferry fannery genetic?

[Neil]

Did your parents indulge you with a big ferry excursion when you were a kid, or, was there some place you always used to go, or was there some other connection that made you a ferry fan? I know this topic has come up elsewhere, so perhaps this can be an update from newer members, or a collection of the stories that made us the marine freaks that we are.

I can't count the number of times my family went to Bowen; the first ferry I remember was the Bainbridge- I might have been five or six.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation (two weeks of it, anyway)... Forty years ago, 1968.

Took the Queen of Burnaby over to Departure Bay, and stayed the night in Port Alberni, which, for some reason, I quite liked. Being twelve years old, perhaps the motel having a TV impressed me. Might have even been colour, but probably not. Next day, my mother and I drove to the west coast, her, a brand new driver in a brand new Toyota Corona, white knuckling, terrified, at no more than twenty miles an hour on the still unpaved road, with a lot of curves more hairpin than today's more leisurely route. Don't think I was too impressed with the west coast- probably because there were no ferries.

So, back we came after a couple of nights, to head up to Campbell River. Next day, over to Quathiaski Cove and back on the first Quadra Queen. Down the island and over to Denman and back on the Catherine Graham, with it's rickety looking loading ramps, which I believe docked Kwuna style. We stayed a night in Nanaimo at the Malaspina Hotel, which I described as having a “good bathroom, red carpet floors, green velvety bed covers, a desk of dark wood, and a TV”. It cost $9.50 a night. Took the Westwood over to Gabriola, which seemed so modern compared to Bowen, because the roads were paved. I was amassing a good collection of newspapers; weird for a twelve year old, but that's me. Staying in Victoria overnight, we took an evening round trip on the Coho to Port Angeles, over “the heaviest seas I've ever seen on a ferry”. Impressed me more than Victoria, which seemed “kind of dead”.

Then it was over to Fulford on the Saltspring Queen, and up to Vesuvius Bay to stay a week at a motel, and look around that beautiful island, with it's mountains, lakes, Ganges, and everything else that attracts so many people. But, of course, the highlight was a return trip to Crofton on the Vesuvius Queen. Then, over to Tsawwassen on the Queen of The Islands, which disappointed me, because our motel keeper had told us that BC Ferries was going to be replacing her with my fave, the Sechelt Queen, but we missed the changeover. That summer also included several trips to Bowen as usual.

Hmmph. Maybe I didn't have such a bad childhood after all.

[Esquimalt Queen]

I think it is genetic. Just look at Chris' and Scott's background, amongst others in the group.
With me, it's my mum's doing. she was always taking me on trips to visit my family in Vancouver. Some of my family live in Calgary, and instead of taking the aeroplane there, we took a greyhound. Because of this, we also had to travel on the ferry. I have great childhood memories of being on the ferry: My cousin's dress being blown-up-and-over her face on the outer deck, with her crying and swearing never to wear a dress again, and my uncle reciting the ferry announcements in unison with the recording. My best friend moved to Ladner for a while, and I spent every odd weekend visiting her, and on the other weekends she's visit me. On many occasions, we were on the ferry together and caused havoc wherever we went. We'd lecture employees for pulling on Henry Vacuum's nose, and make paper planes out of the tourist info pamphlets. I also had the pleasure of having my grad cruise on the Queen of Saanich, which created a bond between me and her. I remember spending a couple birthdays on the ferries, especially one on the Queen of Esquimalt. When I was finally old enough to buy a lottery ticket, I bought my first one on a ferry, and won $2, which I thought was neat. I guess you could say a couple of my "rites of passage" took place on ferries, although I wouldn't consider the lottery ticket a rite of passage, but turning 19 was a big deal. Anyhoo, enough of my blabbing.

[Ferryman]

Wow. I must say, that I'm jealous of you for being able to experience all of those Ferries back then. Such good variety you got to experience with that vacation.

Regarding the thread title: Yes, I feel it has potential to be genetic.

I don't have any huge vacation Ferry stories to tell, but I do recall how it all started with me.

I spent the first 15 years of my life living on Vancouver Island, in Tahsis, and Ladysmith as you all should know by now. I can remember during my childhood years of driving to Nanaimo on the old Island highway, and my mother pointing out the Ferries in Georgia strait as we passed the ABC restaurant. She seemed to do this to me everytime we drove past this spot. My Grandparents would often come over from the Mainland for daytrips, to have lunch with us at White Spot in Nanaimo, and then they would head back home. I seem to remember the Queen of New Westminster arriving at Departure Bay numerous times, and was very intrigued by the precise maneuvering into Berth 3. Going on a Ferry back then, was quite the novelty for me, seeming we'd only make a trip to jump the pond once every few months. My mother always tried to get me revved up and excited everytime we took a Ferry, so it naturally became instinctive for me to be excited to ride a Ferry. I also learned to ask which terminal we were going to, Tsawwassen or Horseshoe Bay. I always preferred Tsawwassen, as it would always appear to be the happy sunny terminal, while Horseshoe Bay was the dark and wet terminal. Besides, Tsawwassen had the playground with the ball pit to play in. So that had to be the best! I also had a huge stash of Lego, and one day my mom decided to build a Ferry and a terminal for me, which I kept on display in my room for weeks. It was hard to use for driving my little cars on to though.. So I learned to keep the cardboard Ferries from the cafeteria, and cut holes at the bow and stern so I could drive my little cars on to it. Of course as I grew older, my knowledge of Ferry names would grow, and so would a collection of post cards.

Then one day in 2004, I found this forum. At that time I thought I had a strong knowledge of the ferries, until I met some of the people on here! That's when I knew I had to catch up, and read John H's website numerous times.

So that's it, I think you can thank my mom for my Ferrygeekiness. My dad has always been the negative one when it came to the Ferries, seeming he grew up in Victoria for 20 years. But he took a break for 10 years, and then moved back to the Island with my mom when I came along. My dad even worked on the Ferries out of Swartz Bay for a summer, but hated it and decided to be part of the electrical trade instead. But it was also because of him that I moved to the Mainland, because one day while we were sitting in a sailing wait for Route 30 at Tsawwassen, he decided he was sick of the Ferries and wanted to move.

If you want an example of Ferrygeek genetics, take a look at Scott .

[Nick]

With me, it all started because my dad works for the Ferries, out of Swartz Bay. I remember being in Grade 1, and at recess looking at and memorizing the "fleet profile" pamphlets he brought home for me. Like Chris, I built lego ferries, and went as far as building a crude ferry out of wood. We didn't go across to Vancouver very often, but when we did it was usually for a fun trip to Science World, or the aquarium, so the ferries became part of the fun experience of the trip.

My dad was never excited or very interested in the ferries, it was always just a job to him. I guess I eventually got so involved with the ferry knowledge, that he suggested that maybe I put that stuff away for a while and focus on other things. So, gradually the ferry interest faded from my life, until I became more interested in the politics and engineering behind them post privatization.

For some reason, I never really did much research on the internet about the ferries, so I never found this forum, or John's webpage, until last year. I was looking for a work experience job for my mechanical engineering schooling, and I saw a posting from the ferries. I thought I should do some research to update my knowledge before the interview, and that is when I found this forum, and promptly wasted any time I would have spent preparing for the interview that night. I remember thinking that night: "I'm not alone!!!"

Because my dad has worked for BCF for as long as I have been alive, I have always stayed relatively on top of my knowledge, at least about the "local routes". However, again like Chris, I realized soon after finding this place that I needed to catch up, and fast, particularly on the other major routes, like HSB-DPB.

So, in a nutshell, yes, I suppose ferry geekiness is genetic in my case.

[BreannaF]

I would have to say, at least in my case, that ferry fannery is not a genetic thing.

We lived in Seattle, and while we were not regular commuters, we did have quite a few things we did regularly that required a ferry ride on one route or another. I remember that my father would treat a ferry crossing with all of the same lack of emotion one would have about driving across the nearby 520 bridge. A ferry was a bridge across the Sound, a necessary evil. He made the same tasteless joke every time the ferry was arriving in front of us: "The ferry's coming in -- must be making the captain worry -- he's probably taking a swig out of the whiskey bottle" or something similar. He would not have been caught alive riding a city transit bus.

I, on the other hand, saw ferries as individuals with individual personalities. Each had it's own individual feel. When making the crossing on a ferry, a person could dream that they were off to a foreign land. (I had quite an imagination!)

As early as high school, and into my 20's, I would bus, bike, or drive to all of the Seattle-area terminals to ride the ferries. I also had jobs and appointments that required ferry travels, and relished every opportunity.

The only thing I liked as much was local bus travel. (If it was out of town, the train was much better.) At one time at about age 20, I had rode every mile of every route on Metro Transit, Pierce Transit, Community Transit, and Everett Transit.

I'm not entirely sure about where I got my fascination with ferries and other transit. But it certainly wasn't from my parents.

[D'Elete BC in NJ]

Oh, it is definitely a genetic deficiency in my family for at least three generations! ;D My grandfather and father were(gf)/are(f) Blackball, CP and general all around ferry enthusiasts, though my understanding from my grandfather's writings is my great grandfather felt more like BryanK's father...ships were a means to an end. Being that I'm a fourth generation islander, ferries have always been a huge fixture in my family.

Even after they moved to Vancouver for work, my grandparents always maintained a vacation property and visited regularly. Early trips were made on the CP liners...a souvenir for the Princess Patricia still hangs to this day on my father's wall...later trips by way of Blackball ferries into Gibsons and up the treacherous Sunshine Coast Highway, then a gravel road, and across the Jervis Inlet. The run from Westview to Texada was handled at that time by the little six car side-loader Atrevida. (I found a link to her new life as a floating bakery here, page 18. The story claims she was a five car ferry, but I know for a fact they regularly crammed six on her for the Texada run!) Apparently she was loaded by means of these little narrow planks...a daunting task I have only seen photos of. For a while now I have also been trying to get copies of my father's photos of either Quillayute, the Bainbridge or the Smokwa coming into Gibsons. I suspect it was the Bainbridge as I think the year was 1954.

My father sought to make his permanent return to Texada after graduating university, finally securing a teaching position after a diversion to the Charlottes, and, thus, ensuring my indoctrination into the world of ferries. Trips were now made by way of BC Highways ferries, and BCFC. Highway 101, the Sunshine Coast Highway, was now paved and only an unholy nightmare of carsickness inducing curves. The ferries and the holding lots were a welcome relief from the tedium of being cooped in the car!

Getting on a ferry...or in my father and grandfather's cases, a ship...always instills a sense of adventure in our minds...an escape from the humdrum of the rituals of everyday life; a chance to see the bigger world. My interest in ferries has expanded significantly in the last five years. Moving to the east coast means, while I rarely get to travel on the BC ferries, I have found scads of new ferries to explore.

[Mike C]

Well for me, it wasn't really, ever genetic. My ferrygeekiness has been the first of it's kind in my family, mine developed many, many years ago (my first ferry ride was well before I turned 1) and it's just grown stronger since then.

I will believe, however, that my ferrygeekiness has rubbed off on others in the family. My parents now understand the system more, and my cousins are also seemingly interested.

To go slightly off-topic, my transit fannery is very genetic. My mom was totally into that sort of thing, she paid attention to what kind of buses she rode and where. My transit geekiness has evolved from that, into a more modern sense (she doesn't have time to be a real "transit geek" anymore).

[Balfour]

I seem to break the mould on this one as I'm the only Ferry-Geek in my family. However all my life I've been riding ferries for vacations, for scout trips and to see family on the Island.

The first vivid memory of a ferry that I have involved me going over to Victoria to visit my aunt and uncle. It was on route 1 on a V class. I remember my grandpa taking me outside onto the decks. I particularily remember him showing me the horn. Then in it went off and I was pretty startled.

When I was about 9, my dad was doing a lot of work in Victoria and there were a few times where he had to go there on a Sunday so our family made a day trip out of it. We'd typically start out with the 8:30 sailing on route 2 on the Queen of Cowichan. I always got excited about going on the Queen of Cowichan because it looked so much nicer than the rest of the C class. I usually had Belgian Waffles for breakfast on those sailings.

Me, my brother and my dad did a "Circlepac Trip" in 2001 and this when the ferry geek in me started to come out. We started on route 2 on the Queen of Oak Bay back when she still had her ugly orange and green interior and that was uneventful. We camped at Rathtrevor Beach with some friends, then drove up to Miracle Beach and camped there for a few nights. After that we went over to Powell River on the Queen of Burnaby, which had just returned to the fleet. I remember the intense vibrations leaving Little River as the eggs on my Sunshine Breakfast were shaking pretty good. The next morning we caught the Queen of Tsawwassen down to Earls Cove. I had another Sunshine Breakfast and the vibrations were practically non-existent at the stern.

I remember after getting home from that trip looking at the ship profiles on the BC Ferries website. It was at that point I knew I was a ferry geek... but I didn't discover this forum until September 2004.

[Barnacle]

Mom worked in downtown Seattle from 1961 to 1968, and as luck would have it, despite being a clerk she had a window overlooking Colman Dock. She figures the company did lose out on a few bucks of her time over those years as she daydreamed out the window as such likeable old tubs as the Enetai, Willapa, Tillikum, Illahee, and of course her beloved Kalakala.

I never really thought about it until she said to me one day, "you know, I wish I'd known one of my kids would be interested. Or that I'd even thought to bring a camera. Everyone was so excited about the 'new' [Super] ferries, that nobody really gave much thought to the old boats, even the Kalakala. It was really a case of 'and then it was gone.'"

Glad I got photos of all the Steel-Electrics on the run over the years, because we've reached their 'and then they were gone' point.

But I digress. Mom's been a boat watcher for years. ;D

[Low Light Mike]

Neil, thanks for posting your story and starting this great thread.

I can attribute much of my ferry-fanness to things my parents. It's likely more nurture than nature, so not just genetic. But I attribute my detail-orientation, especially re ferries, to my Dad.

Dad is a detail nerd too, but just not into ferries. He's been into short-wave, ham, used book stores, science magazines, theology books, maps, national geographic, history books, etc etc.

When he bought his first computer in the 1990's, he did the following:
- researched what he wanted
- bought exactly what he wanted
- read the manuals
- made notes on the manuals
- then finally set up the hardware and slowly turned on the switch....

(perhaps some of this behaviour is attributed to his time in the Hitler Youth as a kid....... - how many of our forum members can say that about their parent?? ;D).

We'd do 2 family trips per year: Nanaimo to Penticton to see mom's parents. Over the years (early 70's to early 80's) we'd take BC Ferries (B's, Q-Surrey, C-Class) and sometimes the Princess of Vancouver.

My dad always pointed out ship details to me, as much as he knew. And he always had his Pentax camera with him.

His attention-to-detail and his explaining these things to me really nurtured my own detailedness, and eventually spawned my inner ferry nerd.

[Scott (Former Account)]

Genetics..? In my case, definitely...

---

My parents met while working on Route 2 aboard the Queen of Surrey back in 1984.

For as long as I can remember ferries have been a source of fascination for me.

I constantly drew and made lego ferries and terminals as a youngster. Even my journal entries in grade one always seemed to incorporate a ferry into them.

Being in a "ferry family", I was fortunate to ride the ferries often as a child. I have great memories of exploring new islands with my grandparents, shopping in Vancouver and doing our almost monthly shopping trips to Bellingham.

Because of those and the trips organized on this forum, I have now been on every ship in the fleet except for one - the Tenaka. Though I hope to get on her sometime over the summer.

[WettCoast]

There really is some ferry nice family ferry history here. I will add something later. In the meantime, I have advice for you, Scott. The Tenaka just might be the very best ship in the entire fleet. Yes, even better than those shiny new Coast Boats. Take a ride on her as soon as you can.

[Northern Exploration]

Well I guess for my family it is more of a transportation geekiness.

I am told when I was 3 or so in Edmonton I would ask for two things when we got in the car. Chips - but more pronounced Schips, and the Dog Barn - the Greyhound terminal.

We moved to Vancouver when I was 4 and that is where things got serious. We would regularly go to the observation decks at YVR and watch the planes come and go.

We would also drive through the docks to see what ships were in and from what countries. I remember going down and seeing the Oceanliner the Canberra at the old cruise ship terminal. And I have described a number of times going with my dad to his office on Saturdays to "work" in the Guiness Building right above the CP ferry docks. About where the convention centre is being built. I was in the Managing Partners office with my face glued to the window watching the ferries load and come and go (train and car), the ships, and float planes - it was all so much fun.

My family wasn't a sit at home family. We ate out a lot and were always going on drives to various places. A big favourite was going to lighthouse park for a picnic and watch the ferries go by. And of course the same for Marine Drive to Horseshoe Bay.

Trips on the ferries were numerous as my Uncle and Aunt and six cousins lived in Cowichan Bay and eventually my grandparents retired nearby. Every summer we rented a cottage on Long Beach about where the Combers parking lot is now in the National Park, usually for about three weeks.

We always have taken harbour tours by boat where ever we were visiting, gone to maritime museums and moored navy ships now open to the public, visited working boats with open houses and taken ferries where ever possible.

My only sibling, my brother has his pilots license so aviation has stayed a biggie for the family and especially airshows.

[Mill Bay]

Wow, what a great topic... i take my hat off to the member who came up with this idea.

I think I definitely agree with this assertion, although in my experience it seems like with certain members of the forum it is more a case of Spider-man DNA swapping, or radioactive blood that resulted in the ferry allure.

I'll post my own case file a little later, when I'm sober and not so tired... ;D

[Scott]

I'm not sure if it's in my DNA... no one else in my family is really very interested in ferries although my dad loves to travel on them. He had spent some years on the Island when he was in his 20's.

When I was a kid I remember getting a cabin on Thetis Island once, a couple trips to Saltspring Island, several years camping at Porpoise Bay Provincial Park near Sechelt, and several camping trips to Tribune Bay on Hornby Island. So I was exposed to the ferries at a young age... and then when it was known that I loved to travel on ferries.. then it probably partly influenced my parents taking us on more trips like camping on Quadra Island, overnight in Victoria, and day trips to Galiano or Mayne Island. I guess I shouldn't forget the Inside Passage trip we took when I was 7 or 8 years old on the Queen of the North.

I remember my dad telling an elderly friend that I loved ferries and she said.. "Oh, he'll grow out of it"... hehe ... I guess I never grew up?

Once I was allowed out on my own, I'd take my "little" brother with me on ferry day trips... Sechelt, Bowen Island, Galiano Island, Saltspring Island, Gulf Island day-trips on the Mayne Queen. Then I married an Island girl... and my in-laws love me because we visit so often;)

As a kid, my brother and I would build ferries out of cardboard. Actually before that we'd just make them out of books and blocks. Those new aerial photos in the photo section reminded me of the little ferries we'd make and load up with toy cars and push them around the house to different "terminals". Then when I got older the ferries got bigger and bigger and to complicated to play with anymore:)

[Dane]

Jun 11, 2008 18:24:08 GMT -8 Low Light Mike said:

(perhaps some of this behaviour is attributed to his time in the Hitler Youth as a kid....... - how many of our forum members can say that about their parent?? ;D).

My grandmother was a member - in Canada! Then she joined the Royal Canadian Air Force during the war... (and never flew when she was alive, terrified of planes!)

That actually is a good segway into me being on topic,

Being a ferry fan for me is certainly NOT genetic. My mom hates ferries, she thinks they're slow (they are), too expensive (they are), too busy (they ussually are) and she hates the food (I don't). My dad doesn't really care either way, not sure about my grandparents.

I began my love of ferries because to get to my plane phobic grandmother we had to take the ferry to her home in the Island, with my first sailing when I was 6 days old aboard the Queen of Burnaby from Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay. Then four or five times a year until I was twelve we would take Route 2, as well as random ferry trips throughout the year for whatever reason. As my trips to my grandmothers were fun, I attributed the ferries with something positive, and I already was a train fanatic by age 5 so rolling in another transportation hobby into the mix. When I got into Lego, whenever that was, I started building lego ferries like many on the board. I have been searching for my photos of them, but some were BIG. When I was 9 or 10 and there was still a BC Pavillion at the PNE I won an award for youth talents with a roughly 6 foot by 2 foot by 3 foot Spirit class ferry built of the more affordable lego blocks - by 12 when I started getting out of the Lego thing I had constructed in my room nearly the entire major vessel fleet - in fact this would take up so much space that I took a break from ferries all together for a few years. It probably wasn't until I found this forum, whenever that was, that my interest was rekindled. I think I was looking fr information on the Queen of Coquiltma's MLU, and then I saw someone make a comment that the C Class could not go through Active Pass, which I knew wasn't true, so I joined.

Digressing a bit, I also head several wooden ferries when I was younger, one from Port Townsend, WA in WSF colours, and then two sister ships built by a family friend also in WSF colours but with two cars decks a la the C Class. I would find another similarly sized and scaled vessel in Bowen Island that even came with two docks, it was great! Each ship could carry about 15-30 hot wheels cars, and since like every boy I had like 500 hot wheels there were frequent sailing waits on the Living Room - Dining Room route.

[Alberni]

For me it wasn't genetic either. I think it started with the early exposure to ferries when I was 2-3 years old. My family used to travel to Vancouver a lot and it was mostly from DB to HB on Coquitlam and Cowichan when they both had been in service for a couple of years.
As I got older I started to get more familiar with the other ferries in the fleet and their characteristics. I remember when my brother and I would order the kids meal, we would save the paper ferries it came in so I could use them with the ferry terminal I made out of lego and cardboard. My brother and I would use Hot Wheels cars and loaded them up on a ferry and pretend to be sailing off to another terminal.
Over time I was able to travel on most of ferries and spend my time walking the decks getting familiar with each one so that I could determine my favourite vessels.
I think I'm the only one in my family that has this much of an interest in ferries, with my younger brother have just a little bit, so I don't think ferry fannery is genetic.

[Kahloke]

Wow - these are some great stories. OK - here's mine:

It's definitely NOT a genetic thing with me. My mom tolerated the ferries, and my dad seemed pretty indifferent. We lived on Orcas Island (hence my username) and the ferry was often the forefront of conversation in the community, usually berated for one thing or another - the system everybody loves to hate, yet they all rely on it.

I, on the other hand, developed a fascination and love for our ferries at a very early age (just like most of you), and it was always a treat for me when we went off-island, which wasn't all that often. I have early memories of riding the Klickitat (before she was re-built), the Evergreen State, and my favourite boat, Kaleetan, mainly because she was the biggest and fastest ferry in the islands, and she had that upper car deck (the gallery wings). At home, I would play ferry for hours, usually with my Matchbox cars, and the two wooden ferries I happened to have, one of which is Kaleetan. Everyone, my parents included, knew of my fascination with ferries, so that's how I got some of the ferry toys, and in 1983, when I was 11, I was given one of the first copies of "Ferryboats: A Legend on Puget Sound" by M.S. Kline and G.A. Bayless, a book I still have today, although it's pretty beat up now.

Later on, as I grew up, and moved beyond playing with ferries, I still held a fascination with them. For the most part, I had only ridden ferries in the San Juans up until my high school years, with the exception of a summer day trip we went on in 1980 that took us from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay on a brand new Queen of Oak Bay. That was my first experience on a BC Ferry, and one that greatly impressed me (I was all of 8).

It wasn't until high school that I would ride another BC Ferry, when I attended boarding school on Vancouver Island - Shawnigan Lake to be exact. We didn't do many trips across the strait, but there were several school trips during my 3-year stint at the school. Some were via Route 1, some via Route 2. It was in the late 80's, so Route 30 did not exist yet. I know I rode on the Queen of Alberni, Queen of Oak Bay, and Queen of Cowichan on Route 2, and Route 1 was some of the V's.
During my senior year, my parents moved off Orcas Island and down to the Seattle area. When I would go home for school breaks that year, it was often on the Victoria Clipper, which was pretty new at that time (and they only had 2 boats), so that was my introduction to high-speed catamarans.

It wasn't until I was pretty much grown up that I started riding Washington State Ferries on other routes, usually just because I had never done so before. In more recent years, I've been interested in BC Ferries and taking trips up there. I did some trips on the Spirit Class vessels in the mid-late 90's, as well as more recently. Also, I attended the Pacificat Open House in Victoria when that ship was new, as well as the M/V Tacoma Open House in 1997, which was, appropriately enough, in Tacoma.

These days I ride the ferry every day between Bainbridge Island and Seattle. It's my 3rd place - I have my own group of ferry friends - fellow commuters like myself. It's a commute I never get tired of. There's always something interesting out on the water. I have now been on almost every vessel and route in the WSF fleet with the exception of the passenger-only ferries/routes. I'm starting to make a dent in the BC Ferry system, as well, although it will be a long time before I can do every route and ferry in that system.

I don't know where my ferry fascination comes from, although I will admit I like cars, planes, and to a much lesser extent, trains.

[Mill Bay]

Alrightie now.

I've been meaning to create a post for this thread for a while, because, as I said, this topic is really great idea. I'm also just fascinated by the different characterizations that have come out through this. This is also my contribution to the anniversary shindig, which Flugel's recent post reminded me of.

What have I become? My sweetest friend.

So, anyway, in my case it was never just the ferries in particular, but an wide-eyed curiosity about transportation things in general.

Remember the Richard Scarry books about planes, trains and automobiles...? I think that's where it started, although I really don't know for sure because it goes beyond my memory.

What really started it, though, was Expo 86, which I actually do remember, which I've noticed some of the younger members of the forum are rather envious of. Anyway, it was a complete transportation theme, so it really got the fascination theme going, especially the huge model train layout in the Japanese pavilion.

It was really close to that time that my dad also took me to someone's basement model railroad, which, of course, just turned the juice up more. (I am actually still more of a railroad fanatic than a ferry fanatic, but don't hold it against me. I'm also more partial to the term fanatic then 'geek', because geek is a real problem word sometimes.)

So anyway, I'm still only four years old, probably, the first time I saw the Bannerman book which i got from the library dozens of times and looked at obsessively. I also started having people give me old train magazines when i was really young, too.

WHen I was a kid, we always had a sailboat, so that's what we usually did for summer vacations, which is why I'm a little short on vacation memories involving ferries. Although, I've seen them hundreds of times from the water, i'm just sorry there don't seem to be more pictures taken by my dad.

WHen i was young, they always used to tell me that when one ferry disappeared behind the other as they passed, that one of the ferries was eating the other, then spitting it back out... (weird family sense of humour i guess). Same with the pictures of the QPR rescuing the Taku when she beached. Apparently the Queen of Prince Rupert has an appetite for other ferries.

I did lots of drawings of the ferries, though, as a kid, but none seem to have survived. They were mostly all in Expo colours, and usually based on the Sidney or the original styling of the V's pre-stretching. (It just always seemed to work out that way, even when i did double-enders.) I also built numerous ferries from Lego, too, and had ferry routes all through the house. I'm looking to find some more Lego, too, so i can try all that again.

However, apart from seeing the ferries many times, and taking trips on them occasionally, my interest largely lay dormant, apart from reading and collecting books, until I found the forum, can't even remember when that was, but... as they say: the rest is history. Although I have since discovered that my detailed knowledge of the ferries is limited compared to most people here. (Chris actually had to teach me how to tell the V's apart.)

Most of my parents friends always thought I would ultimately become a railway engineer, but I seem to lack the mechanical skills and aptitude for it, although I am trying to build a model railroad at the moment. Where my talents really lie are in creative writing, which some of you know, and some of you may have guest by the style of posting i do occasionally.

So, I can't say for sure whether or not it is genetic in my case, because, while my dad has been a mechanic all his life and tried in his own way to get me interested in it. He was sort of gruff in his manner though, which frightened and hurt me more than it helped develop any interest, so i can't say if it was genetic in that way. He also never really seemed that fascinated in the ferries themselves, either, but he loves sailing, and can probably guess a lot about the mechanical aspects of the ferries and be dead on. He also can't understand why people would want to take ferry trips solely for the purpose of entertainment.

That's the story, anyhow, I don't know how qualified I am to make a diagnosis on whether it's genetic, or not. Maybe it's more like a virus since some people seem to catch it and develop symptoms so rapidly.

[Low Light Mike]

I'll use this thread to share an interesting meeting I had today with a rail fan. So the relevance to this topic here is that ferry-fannery and railroad-fannery might be related diseases. (but mainly, I just wanted a place to tell this story)

I was in Winnipeg for 2 days, on business. Today, my session ended early, and I walked around downtown area for a few hours. I walked past Winnipeg's fantastic retro-style baseball stadium, and through the "The Forks" grounds, and then on to Union Station.

Union Station, on Main St., is the city's railway station. It was built in the 1910's as a "union" between "Canadian Northern Railroad and Grand Trunk Pacific Railroad".

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Station_(Winnipeg)

Today, it is still used as the city's VIA station. Upstairs from the station is the Winnipeg Rail Museum. I spent a couple of hours there today, and had a blast. It's built in a drafty shed over 2 rows of rail track.

They have a wood-fired steam locomotive on display. The CPR loco #1 is "Countess of Dufferin". She (is a loco a she??) was the first loco ever used on the Canadian Prairies; used during the early 1880's during CPR construction.

They also had a couple of cabooses, a 1950's diesel loco, some pax cars, and some other rolling stock.

Also lots of old schedules, photos, etc.

At one end of the museum shed, there is a dutch-door that opens to the covered Union Station track (4 tracks used) that today's trains use. So it is a ground-level, very close view of the 4 working tracks that are inside the covered station area.

The VIA Canadian train was scheduled to arrive in a few minutes, so I stayed by the open dutch-door, waiting for her to show up.

There was a 60-something UK man there too, also waiting (with the foaming-mouth of fannery evident). His similar-aged wife was pacing nearby, looking impatient (the tell tale sign of a fan's spouse).

So we chatted. The couple are from Edinburgh, and are on a Canadian rail trip; for the sheer pleasure of riding trains. This trip, they took VIA from Toronto to Winnipeg, and were then going to take the VIA-Hudson Bay run to Churchill and back (2 night journey).

In previous years, they (him willingly and her obligatorily) took the VIA-Canadian a few other times, the VIA-Skeena, the BC-Rail from PG to Squamish, the Royal Hudson from Squamish to North Van, and the Queen of the North from Rupert to Hardy.

Yeah, they've done lots that most Canadians haven't done here.

He mentioned that the longest trip they did together was on the Trans-Siberian Railway from western USSR (this was in 1980's when Gorbachev was just starting out) to the far east (not quite to Vladivostok, but they did go past Lake Baikal).

Re the Trans-Siberian trip, he mentioned that at one point, the train had to stop to change gages. So the passengers got off, and watched as the cars were jacked up, wheels rolled out, and new narrower-Gage wheels rolled in.......(only in the USSR ;D).

I jokingly asked him if the Russian train trip was similar to the one in the movie "Dr. Zhivago", re the white-flagged trains and red-flagged ones, and the desolate villages. He said that in some of the remote villages, the trains would stop and the locals would climb aboard to buy basic food. (this reminded me of the BCFS Route40 Queen of Chilliwack Sunday-dinners at Klemtu).


(so, what about the fannery connection, you may ask yourself)

I asked him what he likes about the trains, ie. why he goes to such great distances and expense to ride them. He said that the main reason is the experience of riding them; he likes to ride trains, and all different trains and routes. That reminded me of our ferry buddy Karl, who also exhibits the simple-joy of riding (expect that's ferries and planes).

His wife laughed when I told her about various trips that I've been on, and how my wife gets dragged on some excursions that I've taken. I think that "fan-widows" need to organize a Union.

So whether fannery is genetic, I don't know. But I discovered a Scotts rail strain of the disease today.....

[Northern Exploration]

I have a bent towards transportation as a whole. I enjoy riding trains, I liked them as a kid and remember significant rail events (like the Centennial Train in '67), and enjoy them in museums. When I have time I love to take the train to Montreal - the new Renaissance sets are great. The LRC sets are also pretty good.

But for some reason I am not as rabid about it as with Ferries and Aircraft.

The Canada Museum and Science and Technology in Ottawa has some great rail examples, and even more out back not on display for the public. A relocation and capital campaign to relocate is not far off, so that hopefully more of the collection will get under cover and be protected. A client of mine, one of the highlights has been a tour of some of the collection not on display, and being restored. Hopefully they will relocate next to the Aviation Museum in Rockcliffe and make it a Transpo lovers buffet.

[D'Elete BC in NJ]

I've been to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania which has a similar setup to what Flug described...a large shed over existing rail. Unlike the Winnipeg Rail Museum, it is not on an active rail line, so you miss out on that aspect, but, overall, it is a well laid out and well stocked museum. If you are into model railroads, there are a few displays set up, as well as a model rail museum right down the road, and a hobby store with a decent layout as well.

[Mill Bay]

Oct 21, 2008 20:40:05 GMT -8 Low Light Mike said:

So the relevance to this topic here is that ferry-fannery and railroad-fannery might be related diseases. (but mainly, I just wanted a place to tell this story)

They have a wood-fired steam locomotive on display. The CPR loco #1 is "Countess of Dufferin". She (is a loco a she??) was the first loco ever used on the Canadian Prairies; used during the early 1880's during CPR construction.

Flugel, see my story to see how the railroading disease springs from a common infection. Also, a locomotive is most definitely a she, especially steam engines.

[Curtis]

Genetics...Probably not.
Living in a Ferry Dependant Community...Absolutly Yes.

My love for the Ferries came into full swing somewhere around 1998-2000 when I was in Grade 2 or 3. I have no idea how my love for the ferries started, but probably something about the Ferries probably just seemed so great to me when I was young. Around the time it went into full swing, I started memorizing info from the BCF Fleet page and sometimes stated what Ferry was on which route.

About 2004 it climbed up when I found John's Site and the forum. A month after joining the Forum, Casual Ferry Trips and Photos came into play. The next few years on this forum and the BCF Trips I took got me to the way I am today.

[Mike C]

Well, I forgot to mention something else in my post, now that I read it...

At our summer place outside of Comox, just around the bend from Little River Terminal is our cabin. We go there every summer, for several weeks, and have gone there ever since I can remember. Every day, 8 times a day I see the ferry pass... sometimes when I'm at the beach, sometimes on the kayak, sometimes just from inside the unit... but I've never missed witnessing a sailing.