Two old Brill buses restored in Thunder Bay

[dj.surf.lfs]

The massive Thunder Bay Transit garage doors opened and two very old, rusted and broken Brill buses were deposited into the care of a group of dedicated transit retirees, volunteers, and staff. Retired transit bodymen Mike Scott and Ed Neill stood looking at the pair of Brills as they were unloaded, unaware that they would lead a team of volunteers over the next four years in the massive restoration project.

In 2002, members of the Amalgamated Transit Union approached Thunder Bay Transit to help finance the acquisition and transportation of two Brill trolley buses that were being stored in Vancouver. The funds fell into place and two of the best conditioned buses were transported to Thunder Bay via flatbed truck trailer. The Brills had returned home to the Lakehead and faced a grand scale restoration that only time and patience would procure.

“They looked like terror,” said Scott. “They were really bad. In fact, we didn’t think we could do anything with them.”

The wooden doors were completely deteriorated, bumpers were crushed, wig wag fittings were removed from the roofs and numerous parts were damaged or missing. If the list of broken, deteriorated or missing parts wasn’t long enough, the group faced a larger question with the original paint on the buses. Did the paint contain lead?

After numerous tests and several months of waiting, the results came back showing minimal lead content. The buses entered the first phase of restoration. They were taken to Pelletier’s Auto Body, stripped and repainted in the historical livery colours. The end result would be a project of passion and dedication that closes a circle on a lifetime of the magnificent Brill bus.

The timing of the Brill restoration is interesting. With cutbacks in the forestry industry and the continuous scramble to acquire Bombardier contracts, the current local uncertainty is like history repeating itself.

It was shortly after the Second World War when the Fort William plant of the Canadian Car and Foundry was slated to be closed. More than 5,000 employees, who made a living building Helldiver aircraft were facing layoffs. A last minute partnership with American Car and Foundry (ACF), gave hope for jobs during the years following the war.

For upwards of two decades, Canadian transit authorities had made no new fleet acquisitions due to economic depression and war. The ACF-Brill Motors of Philadelphia, who had been in the public transportation business since 1869 by manufacturing horse-drawn streetcars, was now a new partner with the Fort William plant of the Canadian Car Foundry. It was March of 1945 and the design and construction of the Brill Trolley Bus began. Of the 5,000 employees who stood in line for their war bonds and pay outs, 1,500 returned to jobs that were salvaged. The Canadian Car Foundry was now in the bus business.

Business was booming as transit representatives from cities through North America lined up to purchased the modern Brills paving the way for the futuristic electric bus. The Brill trolleys were built until 1954.

“They were beautiful,” says retired transit driver Len Edwardson. “They were a very nice bus to drive.”

Although the electric bus was the way of the future, the technology had its drawbacks.

If a driver accidentally overshot a corner, the bus would jump the tracks, the trolley system would disengage and the bus would lose power. A truck had to be dispatched from the transit headquarters to push the bus back onto the tracks.

Thunder Bay Transit controller Jim Baker smiled, revealing that drivers would sometimes deliberately over shoot the corners so they can get an extra break during the shift.

The poles that drew current from the overhead lines were sometimes referred to as wig wags. New fittings that held these poles on to the bus roofs were missing and had to be replaced as part of the restoration process.

The buses ran through a limited service area on 500 volts of DC power that was provided through two overhead lines. The power was generated from the Walsh Street hydro yard. It would take nearly all of the power in a section of line to enable a bus to climb a hill while other buses waited below for their turn.

During wet or icy conditions, the first bus out would be fitted with carbon shoes on the trolley connectors. This bus would travel the entire line system and clear water and ice from the lines. The rest of the buses would then follow on their normal routes.

The majority of the buses seated about 45 passengers. The city added a couple of large Brills that were used as extras during busy times.

“We used to pack those buses like sardines during rush hours,” laughed Edwardson. “We could stand more than 100 people in the large ones.”

Edwardson remembers one intoxicated woman who rode with him on his Fort William bus.

“She boarded my bus, sat on the floor and asked me if that was all right to do. I told her sure, as long as people could get past and don’t trip on her.”

The woman eventually exited the bus through the rear doors then proceeded to the front doors and reboarded the bus. Disillusioned, the woman told Edwardson that she had just got off the Fort William bus and was happy to be boarding this northbound, Port Arthur bus.

“You just got off this one,” he laughed.

Edwardson saw thousands of riders pass through the Brill’s wooden doors over the years. During the restoration, the wood on the door were beyond repair. They were removed from the two buses and sent to transit employee Lloyd Madore who cut and replaced all of the original wood. The doors wound up inside Mike Scott’s home garage where he and Neill repainted them.

The Brill trolley buses operated during an era when Thunder Bay was still known as Port Arthur and Fort William. The two cities were run as different entities by two mayors. Buses belonged to either side and sported the appropriate colours. Fort William buses were cream and orange, while burgundy and cream decorated the Port Arthur vehicles. The south bus would travel through Fort William and make its way to the central loop located near the Canadian Lakehead Exhibition grounds. The turnaround point was technically on Port Arthur territory since it was on the north side of the bridge. Passengers who continued to travel north would simply transfer to the Port Arthur bus at that point.

Edwardson remembered a time when the Port Arthur Transit system went on strike.

“The Fort William bus had to be physically pushed down Alexandra Street, up Southern Avenue and back onto Simpson Street where it was reinstalled on the tracks and cables to head back to Fort William,” he said. It was forbidden to venture into Port Arthur territory during the strike, even if it meant leaving the tracks and losing power to turn around.

Baker remembers a couple of 60-foot, Texas Brills that the city acquired.

“When you sat in the drivers seat and looked back through the bus, it was like looking down a baseball field,” said Baker. “You had to stand up to turn the steering wheel.”

The two giant buses were retired back to the United States when it was determined that they couldn’t handle the Northwestern Ontario winters.

With the amalgamation of the city in 1970, diesel and gas-powered buses where on the horizon. By 1972, the last Brill-trolley bus in Thunder Bay was retired.

“I drove the very last Brill bus No. 214 into the south side barn where all the buses were stored,” said Edwardson. It was around 1:30 or 2:30 p.m., he recalled recently as he drove through his Westfort neighbourhood. He paused outside his home where his wife snapped a photograph of him behind the wheel. Edwardson remembered that it was a red Port Arthur bus.

While holding the uniform cap decorated with a selection of his 28 Transportation Safety Award pins, Edwardson remembered a busier economic time in Thunder Bay.

“Times were busy back then,” he said remembering the early days of the Brill.

Drivers would spend mornings using extra buses to transport students, elevator, mill and plant workers to their schools and jobs. They would then pick up their regular shift through the afternoon and evening.

During this time, the last of the work force ‘Rosies’ were finishing their shifts around the midnight hour. Edwardson, who operated the old Can Car bus, would meet these ladies every evening. Because the bus was on its last run of the day, he would venture off the scheduled route and drive each lady safely to their door step.

“I had those girls riding on my bus,” he said. “They were the riveters and painters and all on the verge of retirement. They actually built the bus I was driving them home in.”

Only seven cities in North America continue to operate trolley fleets today. When the city of Vancouver retired their Brill trolley fleet in 1984, it ended the working life of the Brills. As a result of being the last city to use the Brills in service, many of the buses came from other cities to Vancouver to provide spare parts.

In 2001, a decision was made to scrap the fleet of retired and stored buses in Vancouver. At that time 220 of these buses met their demise. A handful arrived in Sandon, B.C. in an effort to preserve the operation of the vintage fleet but budget shortages resulted in a cancellation of their historical trolley route.

The search for spare bus parts for the Thunder Bay restoration took Neill and Scott on an adventure in scavenging. From Kakabeka to Shuniah and places between, the pair found Brill pieces from mirrors to light fixtures. They found entire Brill buses rusted in time that served their current owners as a storage facilities.

“We put on more than 500 kilometres searching for bus parts in the community,” said Scott.

The buses, that once again sport original steering wheels, treadle gates, bell cords, windows, seats, hand rails, lights, and gauges are in the final stages of the restoration project.

A permanent display area is currently being sought for the two buses.

What do you think?

[Kevin L]

What do you think?

that's awesome! always nice to see old buses restored

[dj.surf.lfs]

Too bad it doesn't run though.

[captaintrolley]

Awesome. Bit of an error though where the article mentions carbon shoes were used for removing ice on the wires. Steel shoes (or sometimes called sleet shoes) were used for this purpose. Glad to see that a couple of 'oldtimers' have a renewed lease on life.

[Shaun]

Pictures???

[dj.surf.lfs]

Pictures???

http://www.ygtransit.fotopic.net/p32773041.html

http://www.ygtransit.fotopic.net/p32773042.html

[Orion VIII]

http://www.ygtransit.fotopic.net/p32773041.html

http://www.ygtransit.fotopic.net/p32773042.html

Thanks! They look to be in pretty good condition. Hope they will be running soon.

[dj.surf.lfs]

Thanks! They look to be in pretty good condition. Hope they will be running soon.

Those photos were from last summer. The interior looked pretty rough at that time, though, but I'll take a look this Friday to see how they look now.

[dj.surf.lfs]

Took a look at the two Brills. They were in very good condition, but it will not run and it will be on display somewhere for tourist attraction.

[pccstreetcar4549]

i hope they will put them indoors at least, it would makes no sense to restore them fully just for them to sit outside exposed to the elements

[dj.surf.lfs]

i hope they will put them indoors at least, it would makes no sense to restore them fully just for them to sit outside exposed to the elements

Unfortunately, there aren't many indoor places in Thunder Bay that can accommodate these buses. It is likely that they will be displayed outside.

Here's a new pic

http://ygtransit.fotopic.net/p38690859.html

[Mark Walton]

Both those buses look more like ex-Vancouver Brills than original Port Arthur or Fort William buses (Did any of those even survive?). Clues: Stanley Park destination sign on 45; the sign itself was a single full-width curtain on both PA and FW originals; and no Michigan marker lights - the 3 amber lights centered above the destination sign and 3 reds over the back window - on either of them (almost all Ontario Brills had those lights, but few if any outside Ontario had them - Vancouver's Brills didn't).

Tom's North American Trolley Bus Pictures has lots of pictures of both PA and FW schemes. The orange on 45 looks a lot like the streamliner scheme the Winnipeg Electric Co. used.

[dj.surf.lfs]

Both those buses look more like ex-Vancouver Brills than original Port Arthur or Fort William buses (Did any of those even survive?). Clues: Stanley Park destination sign on 45; the sign itself was a single full-width curtain on both PA and FW originals; and no Michigan marker lights - the 3 amber lights centered above the destination sign and 3 reds over the back window - on either of them (almost all Ontario Brills had those lights, but few if any outside Ontario had them - Vancouver's Brills didn't).

Tom's North American Trolley Bus Pictures has lots of pictures of both PA and FW schemes. The orange on 45 looks a lot like the streamliner scheme the Winnipeg Electric Co. used.

You're correct. That's one of the reason this project took so long, because we had to find original parts of the original FW and PA Brills from around the city.