All aboard
reporting on the unveiling of the Canada Line cars – covered here in more timely fashion.
Note that the new cars cost around $4m a pair.
I was very surprised this evening when my neighbour gave me this – an original Buzzer from1925 when new two car trains for Richmond cost $42,100. Yes they were cheaper (in today’s money about $0.5m) but then they needed a crew of two to operate them – the new ones are driverless. But the old ones did have more seats.
I am probably violating copyright by doing this, but until someone stops me here is a scan of that document.
Stephen Rees's blog 
I’m pretty sure the copyright expired at the end of 1975 (50 years plus the remainder of the calendar year it was published).
Sungsu
December 19, 2007 at 7:10 pm
Unless BCE or their successors renewed it
Stephen Rees
December 19, 2007 at 7:27 pm
It’s also sad that we had what was basically the same thing as the Canada Line back in 1925, only to take it out and subsequently realize that we need them more than ever today.
Hopefully in the future we will learn from our mistakes.
Corey
December 19, 2007 at 7:53 pm
Sorry about the number of comments (feel free to delete some) but it was also interesting to note how Richmond News picked up on Falcon’s claim that the cars hold 400 people, up from the officially stated 334. “A lie becomes the truth if told often enough.”
Corey
December 19, 2007 at 8:07 pm
Corey – I deleted two because i updated the original post
Falcon is a liar – but on this occasion I suspect he was just “rounding up”. Much more serious are his claims that the widening of Highway #1 will not change land use when he is defending the silly demand forecast used in the EA – but says completely the opposite when talking to real estate agents in the Valley. He also lied about the cost of a possible tunnel under Eagleridge Bluffs that would have saved critical habitat – but prevented some land development.
Stephen Rees
December 19, 2007 at 8:23 pm
Copyright subsists during the life of and for 50 years after the life the death of the author. For multiple authors, it runs until until 50 years after the last death of the authors. It has no relation to the date of publication. Copyright cannot be renewed in perpetuity – once it expires, it expires. As employees of BCE, the copyright would have been automatically held by the employer (BCE). That is, provided that the Copyright Act as we now know it was then in force.
On the SSP forum, we also noted the 334 vs 400 figure too. It is also on the official Canada Line Fact Sheet – so it shouldn’t be attributed to Kevin Falcon alone – i.e. he is being provided with the information.
Click to access News540.pdf
I was wondering whether it has to do with the large open areas near the middle of the trains for bikes, wheelchairs and luggage. Those areas would hold more people standing than they would if they had originally planned front/back facing seating in those locations.
Ron C.
December 19, 2007 at 10:00 pm
Wow, what a fascinating article. Now I know why the current newsletter is called The Buzzer. The old ones are way cooler, with those jokes at the end. I loved how back in the day somebody would go fishing out in the Valley rivers. I also liked the section detailing how parking was detrimental to business. Man how the times have changed…
It would be interesting to get the full archives of The Buzzer throughout the years.
Paul Hillsdon
December 19, 2007 at 10:56 pm
Ron, I was assuming the authors were unknown, in which case publication date does matter, but of course, in this case, *someone* knows (or knew) who the authors were.
Sungsu
December 20, 2007 at 11:25 am
I was assuming that the idientity of the staff writers would be known.
Ron C.
December 20, 2007 at 5:34 pm