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Vintage Ottawa-Gatineau Transit Photos & Discussion


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The Ottawa history blog Urbsite recently posted an article about a day at Confederation Square in June 1957, using photos from the City of Toronto archives (of all places). Several of the photos had buses and streetcars in them, including Mack, Twin Coach, CCF-Brill and GM buses running for the OTC and Ford buses running for Hull Urban Transport. The article can be found at An Afternoon in June:

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The Ottawa history blog Urbsite recently posted an article about a day at Confederation Square in June 1957, using photos from the City of Toronto archives (of all places). Several of the photos had buses and streetcars in them, including Mack, Twin Coach, CCF-Brill and GM buses running for the OTC and Ford buses running for Hull Urban Transport. The article can be found at An Afternoon in June:

Lordy that's a lot of buses.

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  • 3 weeks later...

On a post that Seashore_518203 posted earlier and how people commented on the destination signs, well I noticed another unique destination sign in this photo:

http://www.cptdb.ca/...attach_id=40931

If you look at the bus on the left, it is displaying "DSOR PARK" which appears to be saying "WINDSOR PARK". I am aware of the 5 formerly terminating by circling around from Riverdale via Belmont, Bristol, and Sunnyside to Riverdale again. I am thinking that is what this destination would be referring to, since that is kinda terminating at Windsor Park's entrance off Belmont.

Lordy that's a lot of buses.

Not much has changed in 60 years in that aspect.

BTW unrelated to this, but I noticed lately the wiki is lacking in old photos quite majorly. Would anyone like to contribute from here?

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On a post that Seashore_518203 posted earlier and how people commented on the destination signs, well I noticed another unique destination sign in this photo:

http://www.cptdb.ca/...attach_id=40931

If you look at the bus on the left, it is displaying "DSOR PARK" which appears to be saying "WINDSOR PARK". I am aware of the 5 formerly terminating by circling around from Riverdale via Belmont, Bristol, and Sunnyside to Riverdale again. I am thinking that is what this destination would be referring to, since that is kinda terminating at Windsor Park's entrance off Belmont.

Interesting, though I checked my OTC/OC maps from 1962 to 1978--albeit with some multi-year gaps--and all of them show route 5 continuing along Riverdale and Bank all the way to Billing Bridge. It could have been an unmarked short-turn, though. :mellow:

BTW unrelated to this, but I noticed lately the wiki is lacking in old photos quite majorly. Would anyone like to contribute from here?

Feel free to use any of the photos I've posted in this thread! (Except for the ones from 1957. Sorry! ;))

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I found a postcard for sale on Ebay showing 5931 on display while Lincoln Fields Station is under construction in the background. I found it really interesting that there are two OC Transpo T6H-5305s in the background, both from the late 1960s:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CANADA-BUS-POSTCARD-OTTAWA-TRANSPORTATION-COMMISSION-BUS-5931-TDH-5105-/221129719050

OTC-5931-ebay.jpg

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OK here you go some more post cards photos's as well as some photo's taken at one OC TRANSPO's Bus Roadeo's and OC propane program.

OK here you go

Not sure why there not appearing?

OK I'll try again

test

I hope they all come out?

Note on the Roadeo ones check out thew "Rail Decal" which is no longer on OC buses?

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5.jpg

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OK here you go some more post cards photos's as well as some photo's taken at one OC TRANSPO's Bus Roadeo's and OC propane program.

Note on the Roadeo ones check out thew "Rail Decal" which is no longer on OC buses?

Was that the Roadeo from 1990? I was at that Roadeo! ^_^

I was at the '91 and '92 Roadeos as well, but I didn't bring a camera in '90 and I lost my camera in '92, so I only have the '91 photos. Oh well... :mellow:

I remember those railway stickers as well, but they didn't last very long, lasting only a few years before they were removed and the buses started running through level crossings again.

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@tom

I think it was can't,recall its been soooo many years ago? It was either 90?91 or 92? not exacxtly sure whuich. I have a vid of one or two of the roadeo's, just haven't hadf time to download it onto my computer from VHS. One day I'll get it transfered and then I'll upload it to my You Tube Channel.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I found these DD engine-sound videos on Youtube while I was searching for old OC photos. The New Look video has a 6V71N-V730 combo typical of post-1976 Fishbowls, but the photos are of scrapped 1960s-era buses parked behind the St. Laurent garage over twenty years ago. From what I could make out in the video, the oldest bus is 6006 (ex-TTC 2902) and the newest is 6984 (possibly 7290 is in one of the photos but the fleet number is cut off). These photos clearly show the tailpipe refits done in the 1970s to try and eliminate ground-level diesel fumes. As for the Old Look video, the first photo is of OTC 5108 before it front end was smashed in and the bus covered in graffiti.

GM New Looks:

GM Old Looks:

On an historic note, I was surprised to see 6006 in the scrapyard with the other buses as it had been retired in the early 1980s—there’s a photo on barp.ca showing the bus pretty much retired in 1982. However, I came across 6004 parked at 805 Belfast when I was 14, so it looks as if at least two of these buses were kept on the property for several years after retirement. The retirement schedule of Ottawa’s fishbowls is summarised below (not including second-hand buses):

60xx-62xx – early 1980s (I barely remember riding these buses in when I was in kindergarten)

63xx-67xx – late 1980s (I took my last ride in a 67xx bus in grade 7, in the fall of 1988, and I remember seeing buses as old as 1963 throughout grade school)

68xx-71xx – around 1990 (these were gone when I started grade 9, and IIRC the late-'60s buses disappeared before the early '70s buses)

72xx/73xx – early 1990s, around 1992 (these were still in service when I was in grade 10)

57xx – around 2000

74xx-78xx – about one year retired each year between 2002 and 2006 (ie 74xx in 2002, 75xx in 2003, etc.)

79xx – all retired in 2006 except for 7926

7926 & 80xx-82xx – last fishbowls retired in April 2007

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  • 2 weeks later...

Nice compilation Tom. I think 7284 lasted until 1993 or 94 along with 3 or 4 73XXs (I seem to recall 7312 and/or 14, 7350 & 7354). The last of the 1970s Flyers were also retired, maybe 1995 for them. It was around this time the remaining 74xx to 82xx GM fleet started getting retrofitted with power steering/seats, which lasted until about 1996. I used to love watching the driver struggle with turning the non-power steering GMs around a sharp corner...talk about effort! I've tried to find non-power steering New Look video on You Tube, but little exists, especially of showing the effort involved with making a sharp turn. If anyone knows of some, please post the link. Also, 8238 was the last New Look, beating a few others by a couple of days. I was lucky enough to be sitting at Greenboro when it deadheaded past me on its final day of operation.

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I found this clip of a 1983 T6H-4523A at the Seashore Trolley Museum where the driver needs to stand to try and turn the wheel. I hope it qualifies ;)

Also, the Pylon destination sign computers were not installed on the 1970 to 1972 buses, and the 1960-1969 Fishbowls, along with the D700As, retained the hand-cranked two-digit red rollsigns throughout their entire service lives. The drivers on the older buses usually used the two number signs separately because it was quicker to the route number set up. Therefore, the headsigns would appear as follows:

6833: [9] [5] [ORLEANS]

7284: [9][5][_] [ORLEANS]

7402: [_][9][5] [ORLEANS]

EDIT: One more thing about the 60xx ex-TTC buses: the headsigns were [most likely] taken from retired 59xx TDH-5105 buses, so the route numbers scrolled sideways instead of vertically:

6003: http://public.fotki....nspo-6003f.html

6006: http://barp.ca/bus/o...ranspo/6006.jpg

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  • 8 months later...

BUMP!

I came across these two photos while looking for old photos of trains in Ottawa, showing OTC 6103 stopped at the CPR Sussex Subdivision crossing Montreal Road in Eastview on 14 June 1966, where the Vanier Parkway now crosses Montreal Road (photos face east):

http://www.flickr.co...57623321184362/

http://www.flickr.co...57623321184362/

This photo faces west and shows either a 4xx or 59xx bus GM bus in the distance:

http://www.flickr.co...57623321184362/

These photos have nothing to do with the OTC, but they do show the now-frightening prospect of having a level crossing on the Queensway, located between the Rideau River and what is now the Vanier Parkway:

http://www.flickr.co...57623321184362/

http://www.flickr.co...57623321184362/

http://www.flickr.co...57623321184362/

http://www.flickr.co...57623321184362/

http://www.flickr.co...57623321184362/

http://www.flickr.co...57623321184362/

http://www.flickr.co...57623321184362/

http://www.flickr.co...57623321184362/

This screenshot from geoOttawa (maps.ottawa.ca) shows an aerial photo of the area in 1965, with the crossing circled. In fact, a train seems to be crossing the Queensway in this photo too!

Queensway 1965.jpg

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Wow Tom those are some incredible photos of my hometown 13 years before I was born! The then-new train station was still under construction. I love seeing historic photos of the city. I now have a better understanding of the abandoned rail bridge beside the Queensway as you approach the Vanier Pkwy exit eastbound. Notice how the highway (at least this stretch) is called highway 17 and is clearly under construction to bring it up to 400 series standards (at least 1960s 400 series standards).

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Excellent photos of Montreal Road, especially interesting as my house is built on the old railway yards just off the Vanier Parkway, it was built in the 50's.

The soil in he area is still toxic (due to the rail yards) and we still get a letter from the city each year with an update

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If I may digress for a moment here... :)

According to various sources I have found (Wikipedia, The Kings Highway, Asphalt Planet, Ontario Road Maps, Urbsite, etc.), Highway 17 was one of Ontario's first numbered highways, designated along with fourteen others in 1925, and originally ran along what is now Montreal Road, Rideau Street, Wellington Street, Bank Street, Glebe Avenue, Carling Avenue and March Road on its way from Orleans to Carp. There is a photo on Dave's Railpix showing a Highway 17 marker at Confederation Square in the 1950s (http://www.newdavesr...n/htm/ott01.htm).

The crosstown expressway that would first be called the Queen's Way (note the spelling) was proposed in 1950 as part of the Gréber Plan in order to divert interurban traffic away from downtown Ottawa. Construction on the soon-renamed Queensway along the former CN Renfrew and L'Orignal subdivisions began in October 1957 with the Queen herself detonating the first charge of dynamite at Hurdman's Bridge. The first stretch of the Queensway opened between Montreal Road and Nicholas Street in November 1960 and featured the level crossing depicted in the photos above along with a traffic light at Blair Road, which was replaced by an interchange in 1968. The second stretch opened between Richmond Road and Carling Avenue in October 1961, and by then the route of Highway 17 was Queensway, Nicholas Street, Laurier Avenue West, Bronson Avenue, Carling Avenue, Queensway. The western Queensway was gradually extended eastward along the old CN Renfrew Subdivision until the two sections were connected in October 1966. At that time, the entire route of the Queensway was designated Highway 17 (except for a short section between Richmond Road and Pinecrest Road designated as Highways 7 and 15, as Highway 17 used Pinecrest to return to Carling Avenue), and the old alignment along city streets was designated Highway 17B. One of the biggest obstacles to completing the Queensway was the railway yards at approximately the same location as the Nicholas interchange, along with the tracks from the Hurdman area to the old Union Station downtown. Those tracks needed to be removed before the two parts of the Queensway could be linked, and the CP Sussex Subdivision was abandoned in June 1966.

The Queensway kept the Highway 17 designation until the mid-1970s, when the new Highway 417 expressway between Ottawa and Montreal was connected to the Queensway at what is now called the Split. East of the split, the Queensway was still designated as Highway 17 until the Ontario government downloaded the highway to the RMOC in 1998, after which the highway became Regional Road 174.

The Queensway name gradually disappeared from signs over time, and now the only road sign left referring to the Queensway is on Bayshore Drive southbound at Richmond Road. Historically, the Queensway refers to Highway 417 between Highway 7 and the split, and the expressway portion of Highway 174 east of the split. Highway 417 south of the split has never been part of the Queensway, despite what is said on the traffic reports.

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Below is a photo of Rideau Street looking east across Sussex Drive before the Rideau Centre was built, showing one OTC bus just east of Sussex and another just past Frieman Street. The car in the right foreground appears to have a red-on-white Quebec license plate, which would date this photo to 1973:

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(Source: urbsite.blogspot.com)

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The Queensway name gradually disappeared from signs over time, and now the only road sign left referring to the Queensway is on Bayshore Drive southbound at Richmond Road. Historically, the Queensway refers to Highway 417 between Highway 7 and the split, and the expressway portion of Highway 174 east of the split. Highway 417 south of the split has never been part of the Queensway, despite what is said on the traffic reports.

Your historical account is fascinating! However, there is still at least on additional signed Queensway in existence. The other one I know of is located where King Edward becomes Lees Ave. with a forward arrow to 417 east. Hopefully the Bayshore sign(s) don't disappear once the Bayshore Shopping Centre construction is completed.

In Tom's 1972 photo above, notice the 4-light 8-8-8s that once existed at Rideau & Sussex? Also, look at how wide Rideau looked back then, pre-bus mall days.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Urbsite has a series of articles detailing the history of the Rideau Centre, and the latest article has some photos of the Rideau bus mall, along with some pre-bus mall photos:

MandMRidCnHeritageBldgs.jpg

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Note the Fishbowl in the photo above with the headsign "7 BANK/CARLETON UNIVERSITY"

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  • 2 weeks later...

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