Farewell to Brill       page 2 of 4

1-9:  Looking down the hill between Arbutus and West Boulevard.  33rd Avenue is behind us;  Point Grey School and Kerrisdale are ahead.  Area residents strongly resisted a proposal to put a SkyTrain line through their swanky enclave.  Ultimately they got it nixed.  One homeowner was speaking of herself and her Kerrisdale neighbours when she stood at a public hearing and declared, immortally, "We are the Creme de la Creme in Vancouver . . . ."

1-10:  With the sun coming in from the left, and the driver's side of 2309 in shadow, I'd guess this was taken on 51st Avenue at West Boulevard where the wires take an eastward jog.  Our bus is about to bear right (south) to run alongside the Canadian Pacific tracks that were once electrified for BC Electric's interurban cars serving Lulu Island.

1-11:  Our map (see previous page) shows a scheduled photo stop at the intersection of West Boulevard and 64th Avenue.  This would be it.  The CP tracks are just to the right, out of frame.  After the interurban era, BC Hydro's railroad division operated the line until CP leased it to a shortline operator in 1988.  Although technically still open, it's not used anymore and is in a state of neglect.

1-12:  I scanned the print, not the negative, to bring out the mellow tone of the Eggshell White paint applied to Brills after the Hydro takeover.  This is a few yards south of the location for photo 1-11.  Trolleys on the Arbutus route (then 18, now 16) still follow the overhead around this corner onto 64th Avenue to approach their loop at Granville and 63rd.

1-13:  My map shows us going west on 41st after our jaunt down Arbutus and up Granville.  Since the overhead doesn't allow a left turn at Granville and 41st, we had to go east instead and make a U-turn at OTC past this lineup of new E-901 trolleys.  I just adore the expressions on my partners' faces.  A good 23 years have gone by in the meantime and I still have more hair than the fellow in the foreground (with whom I wasn't acquainted).

1-14:  The Cathay Cafe at 5640 Dunbar is still in the phone book!  So we can reason out the circumstances of this shot.  The cafe's even-numbered address would be on the east side of the street.  Numbered avenues are spaced 16 to the mile, and subtracting 1600 yields a location between 32nd and 33rd.  So we're half a mile north of 41st Avenue.

1-15:  As far as Coronet Colour Lab was concerned this was a spoiled shot and they didn't print it.  Thanks to the scanner, we can enjoy it for the first time!  The lettering spells NO SMOKING and the placard over Ernie's shoulder reminds patrons that abandoned teddy bears will be forwarded to the lost property office.

1-16:  I recognize this as Dunbar Street near 18th.  The driver has clamped the route map (see previous page) under the clips that hold transfer tickets.  Until magnetic tickets appeared, tearoff tickets were issued as proof of payment.  They were torn off to indicate the expiry time, and had a big letter ("A" "B" etc.) printed on them.  Letters were rotated daily to prevent unauthourized recycling.

1-17:  This is probably west of Alma where the 4th Avenue line passes the Jericho lands -- the only part of the overhead network with wood poles.  More about the tickets:  I once tried to recycle a daypass by keeping all my used ones in my pocket and checking the letter in use before paying.  But by the time a letter finally repeated, they'd printed new passes on a different colour paper . . . .

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