The Downtown Historic Railway has been an incredible success over the past ten years. Riders love riding in the historic interurban cars. And so do all the volunteers who run the DHR.
Each historic interurban car is manned by two volunteers: One motorman to drive the car and keep the other crew informed of its location on the line, in addition to one conductor who opens and closes the doors, sells souvenirs, and presents the history of each interurban car during the ride. All motormen and conductors must attend a classroom training course taught by Dale Laird, the operations superintendent of the DHR volunteers. They are then given practical training driving the interurbans with a qualified instructor. Once both Laird and the instructor have approved the candidate, they must then write an exam based on the railway rules and regulations of the BC Safety Authority to obtain their operating license.
In the past the DHR has had “junior conductors” dispensing the information during the ride – these are boys who live in the neighbourhood and are supervised by a qualified conductor. The DHR usually has volunteers at each station platform to sell tickets and answer any questions. The popularity of the DHR among volunteers means that the Society can often keep the car barn open for visitors. In addition to ride days, volunteers sometimes come on weekdays to do simple maintenance, clear brush, and pick up garbage along the tracks. The heavy maintenance work on the tracks and car is done by the City of Vancouver. Volunteers are also continuing the restoration of Car #4, a European PCC car from Brussels that is very similar to the PCC cars that used to run in Vancouver.
The DHR has been extremely successful in its 10 years of operation. Operating only on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays in the five months from mid-May to mid-October, the DHR has carried an amazing 125,000 passengers, an average of about 12,500 per year, or about 200 one-way passengers per day in a 60-day season. About 60% of visitors are from Greater Vancouver, with the remainder from other parts of the world. The numbers are all the more impressive given that the first year of operation began only in mid-July, and service was suspended in 2007 because the car barn was being relocated. As well, full service between Granville Island and Science World has only taken place between 2002 and 2006.
Although track upgrades will suspend the DHR for most of 2009, things begin to get very, very interesting in 2010!
Next time: The future of the Downtown Historic Railway
Many thanks to Dale Laird of TRAMS for his invaluable help with this series of articles. Check out the Transit Museum Society website for more information on the Society.
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John Calimente is the president of Rail Integrated Developments. He supports great mass transit, cycling, walking, transit integrated developments, and non-automobile urban life. Click here to follow TheTransitFan on Twitter.
