End of an Era: In 2003, Vancouvers transit authority committed to renewing the trolley bus system and replacing the Flyer E901A/E902 trolleys that had been running since the early 1980s. The pilot bus for the replacement fleet arrived in July 2005 from New Flyer and was in fact the first ever bus to carry the design that would later become known as the LFR series. (That pilot bus was termed an E40LF, the R was added to the designation of the production fleet and all other buses with that design.) The production fleet of E40LFRs began to arrive in the summer of 2006 and deliveries continued throughout 2007, at which time a smaller fleet of articulated E60LFRs was also delivered. But it wasnt until the following year that the last of the Flyer trolleys were retired. Friday, April 18th, 2008 was in theory the last day of service for those buses, but in reality, one bus would do one final run on Sunday the 20th, a ceremonial Last Run. Operator Angus McIntyre, a man with a storied career consisting of many thousands of miles over 39 years with Vancouvers transit system, drove bus 2805 on the route 3 Main, a route that had already been using new articulated trolleys for some time. As the 3 is quite a busy route, during the day it was business as usual for the folks riding the bus on Main Street; nobody reacted any differently to the old bus than they would to any other bus as passengers had not yet gotten used to not seeing the old Flyer workhorses plying the streets on a daily basis - theyd only been extinct for two days after all! That evening, a number of local enthusiasts came out to join Angus on the Last Run, taking photos at the termini and other enroute stops. The night photos here show a Last Run notice in the windshield, while in the daytime photo you can see a sign that says Free Hugs - courtesy Kevin Nash. Eventually, the time came to head back to the base, and no matter how long we tried to postpone the inevitable (by making photo stops) the bus would pull into the Vancouver base and go through its nightly end-of-shift rituals as on any other day, but for the last time. Angus knew better than anyone what was about to happen. Well folks, he said as he applied the parking brake, its all over.
Posted on: Tue, 01 Jul 2014 16:10:50 +0000
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