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Post by Retrovision on Jun 13, 2007 17:15:01 GMT -8
Not even found on Translink's homepage at www.translink.bc.ca , SeaBus will turn 30 this month. A short recognition was published in "The Buzzer", found aboard most buses and SkyTrain cars of the system...  |
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Post by Scott on Jun 13, 2007 18:02:02 GMT -8
Hm, I saw a little blurb about this in the Metro or 24 Hours. It said something about a "party" but had zero details.
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Post by Retrovision on Jun 14, 2007 23:19:44 GMT -8
From Beautiful British Columbia Magazine, Fall 1978, a year and a half after SeaBus started operating on Burrard Inlet between floating terminals connected to the old CPR station in Downtown Vancouver and Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver, and eight years before Canada Place, Pier B-C until then, was built, seen in the background of the first photo shown here in the advertisement on the back of the magazine. The famous Marine Building from the 1920s is still a prominent part of Vancouver's downtown skyline visible from the water in 1978.
www.ferrypicsbygraham.fotopic.net/p42288235.html
www.ferrypicsbygraham.fotopic.net/p42288233.html
Lonsdale Quay. This outside deck has been off-limits to the public as long as most can remember, and for good reason considering the speeds the Burrard sisters do right upto the floating terminal
www.ferrypicsbygraham.fotopic.net/p42288234.html
Burrard Otter
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Post by Curtis on Jun 15, 2007 6:38:52 GMT -8
Wow, that must be the worst paint job ever. They sure must have stood out.
Thanks for sharing them, Graham.
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Post by NMcKay on Jun 15, 2007 10:53:21 GMT -8
they were painted like that for sight...they didn;t want them getting hit...so they painted them bright so that they could be seen....now that that myth has been busted....they are white with the stripes now...
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Post by queenofcowichan on Jun 26, 2007 10:38:50 GMT -8
They look much better now then they did then. Eek the 70's sure had the weirdest colour fads.
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FNS
Voyager 
The Empire Builder train of yesteryear in HO scale
Posts: 4,957
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Post by FNS on Jun 26, 2007 12:43:02 GMT -8
Wow, that must be the worst paint job ever. They sure must have stood out. Thanks for sharing them, Graham. Thank goodness that our ferries here aren't orange! The Key System ferries of San Francisco were orange. KALAKALA was orange when she was the PERALTA there back then. Take a good look at New York City's Staten Island ferries. They are orange, but with some white and blue paint mixed in the scheme. The pleasing ferry to look at there is the COURSEN, running between Lower Manhattan and Governors Island for those who want to see this historical Island site. She operated for the US Coast Guard until the Island was vacated by the USCG recently. A white ferry all her career since 1956. |
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Post by Balfour on Jun 26, 2007 20:15:06 GMT -8
I'd say the SeaBus ferries are the most reliable ferries we've ever seen.
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FNS
Voyager
The Empire Builder train of yesteryear in HO scale
Posts: 4,957
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Post by FNS on Jun 26, 2007 22:59:57 GMT -8
I'd say the SeaBus ferries are the most reliable ferries we've ever seen. I agree with this beautiful handsome fellow!  Haven't heard much of any breakdowns of these ferries. They named these BURRARD OTTER and BURRARD BEAVER after God's wonderful creatures. We really love these creatures! I've been aboard these floating buses and are great ways to see Vancouver's harbour. Congratulations on your achievement. Keep up the reliable crossings, SEABUS! ;D |
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Post by BrianWilliams on Jun 29, 2007 18:16:35 GMT -8
"Named after God's wonderful creatures ..." I'm not sure. The animals may have been the inspiration for the names, but it's also possible they were named for the early HBC steamers on this coast, Beaver and Otter. Whatever the source, they are good names, certainly better than some forgotten politician. After seeing Halifax's ferries recently, I continue to admire our SeaBusses. The Halifax boats are roundish and stubby, like overgrown boomboats - though they carry almost as many passengers (375 vs our 400).  That shape may be required by the harsher conditions in Nova Scotia. Though the harbour does not freeze, it is subject to floating ice and more high winds than Burrard Inlet. A surprise - the Halifax boats have an open upper deck:  Several months of the year, that top deck must be a miserable ride. Why, oh why, don't SeaBusses have a sun deck? Our views are stupendous all year 'round, and a little drizzle won't deter us from a topside ride. Last note for younger folks: The SeaBus service was conceived in the face of 1960-70's demands for a Third Crossing of Burrard Inlet. Bridges and tunnels were proposed, all involving a destructive downtown freeway that would have changed Vancouver into a strangled concrete highway slum - and would have ruined North Vancouver as well. Hurray for SeaBus, and Happy Birthday! |
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Post by doctorcad on Apr 28, 2008 14:27:35 GMT -8
A new seabus is on the way!
Rumour has it that it will be built at Victoria Shipyards, with construction commencing about 3 months from now.
It will be interoperable with the otter and beaver, but with an enhanced hull form. Stay tuned for more details...
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Post by Dane on Apr 28, 2008 14:58:42 GMT -8
I didn't think tender had gone out?
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Post by Balfour on Apr 28, 2008 15:06:14 GMT -8
It will be interesting to see how the new SeaBus takes shape and what she will look like. I imagine it will be a more streamlined look but still similar to the Otter and the Beaver.
I'll keep my eyes on the Translink website.
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Post by Mike C on Apr 28, 2008 15:33:41 GMT -8
Well here's what I gather...
After this third SeaBus is built, they'll still only run two-boat service as they'll be pulling the existing two out for MLU's. When the Burrard Beaver and Burrard Otter are refurbished, then three-boat service will go into effect.
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Post by Balfour on Apr 28, 2008 15:43:12 GMT -8
Well here's what I gather... After this third SeaBus is built, they'll still only run two-boat service as they'll be pulling the existing two out for MLU's. When the Burrard Beaver and Burrard Otter are refurbished, then three-boat service will go into effect. I've heard this from a variety of different sources. Dane, can you confirm this at all? |
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Post by Dane on Apr 28, 2008 16:00:02 GMT -8
I know the two boat service is true, or it's the plan at least. I have a transit meeting on Thursday but I think I'm missing it - I'll email in the question and check the minutes RE: the contract.
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Post by Curtis on Apr 28, 2008 17:26:34 GMT -8
This is great. Probably about time. This will be great for the current Sea Bus boats to go for a much needed refit.
(I'm no expert on the Sea Bus, do they even have a refit?)
A Third Sea Bus has been in the rumor mill for years, Will this be the end of those rumors?
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Post by WettCoast on Apr 28, 2008 17:34:18 GMT -8
There ought to be much greater use of water based transit services in the Greater Vancouver area. They could start, perhaps, with services from Waterfront Stn to two additional places on the North Shore, one in West Van, and the other at or east of the Iron Workers' Bridge.
People should take a look at Sydney Australia if they want to see how a city on the coast complete with magnificent harbour can use that harbour to provide a superb marine based public transit system.
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Post by Balfour on Apr 28, 2008 18:01:09 GMT -8
There ought to be much greater use of water based transit services in the Greater Vancouver area. They could start, perhaps, with services from Waterfront Stn to two additional places on the North Shore, one in West Van, and the other at or east of the Iron Workers' Bridge. People should take a look at Sydney Australia if they want to see how a city on the coast complete with magnificent harbour can use that harbour to provide a superb marine based public transit system. It would be nice to have such a thing in the future, but at this point in time, there isn't much population density East of the Second Narrows. That area along the water is all Industry, and a Native Reserve and is very much out of the way. It isn't an ideal location for a SeaBus terminal. Something to West Van might be a better option, but the question is where would the terminal go? I highly doubt that the District of West Van is willing to turn the eastern edge of Ambleside Park at the mouth of the Capilano River into a bus loop and SeaBus terminal, even though the location is conveniently close to Park Royal and bus loop there is needed. |
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Post by Mike C on Apr 28, 2008 19:22:23 GMT -8
It would be nice to have such a thing in the future, but at this point in time, there isn't much population density East of the Second Narrows. That area along the water is all Industry, and a Native Reserve and is very much out of the way. It isn't an ideal location for a SeaBus terminal. Perhaps if they somehow connected it to Phibbs Exchange and Main Street it would be alright, although Phibbs is a little far in. |
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Neil
Voyager
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Post by Neil on Apr 28, 2008 19:40:32 GMT -8
Something to West Van might be a better option, but the question is where would the terminal go? I highly doubt that the District of West Van is willing to turn the eastern edge of Ambleside Park at the mouth of the Capilano River into a bus loop and SeaBus terminal, even though the location is conveniently close to Park Royal and bus loop there is needed. Well, since we've built a gazillion dollar Skytrain system partly on property where we ripped up another rapid transit system fifty years ago, here's another revolutionary idea... How about putting the terminal exactly where the West Vancouver ferry used to go? I believe the old ferry building is still there, it's still public land, and while some parkland would be lost, there is room. Back to the future, kind of. |
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Post by Retrovision on Apr 28, 2008 20:18:14 GMT -8
In fact in the last few years there was a fairly major study commissioned by Translink about their possible expansion of waterborne transit services. I'll try to find remants of the study online, but a few things about it stuck out in my mind: Burrard Inlet services would, of course, start at or near the current SeaBus terminal at Waterfront Station in downtown Vancouver and the study looked at a number of possible destinations from there. Jordan's got a point about lack of population density being the biggest hurdle in services to points east of Lonsdale (current northern SeaBus Terminal at North Vancouver) and this is exactly what the study concluded.
In the end the entire slate of possibilities of the study were rejected for atleast the near future, and I'm interested in finding the numbers and reasons given, but interesting to me were the western destinations studied. These possible destinations included the often suggested original West Vancouver ferry terminal location which was also shown to be the most viable of all possible routes and interestingly Bowen Island was also thrown into the mix. All of these routes included only faster boats than the SeaBus design for obvious reasons such as convenience to attract customers.
On a side note, does anyone remember a ferry proposal that went as far as building a terminal in West Vancouver way out towards Eagle Harbour? I've been told that this was the original intention of what is now a major DFO facility that took over the property, the red building(s) that can be seen along Marine Drive.
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Post by WettCoast on Apr 28, 2008 20:48:23 GMT -8
Marine transit routes from the Waterfront Stn area could also run up Burrard Inlet to the Port Moody area, and west & north ward to places further afield like Gibson's, Squamish, Bowen Island, etc.
My mother-in-law informs me that they really do need a 'moving sidewalk' (like in airports) to assist commuters in covering the lengthy distance between the Waterfront Station building and the floating Seabus terminal itself. It is quite a hike for the elderly and others such as folks on crutches...
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Post by DENelson83 on Apr 28, 2008 21:17:39 GMT -8
Third Seabus, eh? How does "Burrard Marmot" sound?
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Post by WettCoast on Apr 28, 2008 22:47:12 GMT -8
The Burrard Beaver and Burrard Otter were not named to honour some of BC's aquatic animals. They were, in fact, named to honour two of the mid 19th century vessels operated by the Hudson's Bay Company. (Remember the Beaver, the first steamship on the North American Pacific coast.)
It would be nice if that naming scheme were continued. However, I fear that the recent trend toward really bad names established by BCFS's will spill over into Burrard Inlet.
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