1960, "The Fraser Canyon" British Columbia

[@outintheboondocks1466]

I remember the first time I drove a semi through the Canyon, in the early 80's. My knees were knocking, palms sweating and scared at every new bend in the road. It was a challenge and a thrill I remember to this day. Then, years later, I drove it regularly, 5 or 6 times a week, for years. I knew every pothole, bump and corner and could make a 140,000lb Super B fly through there. Considering the terrain, the engineering that went into it is absolutely incredible. I moved here 29 years ago, just north west of Boston Bar, and I call it my extended driveway now, lol. Since the Coq was opened and the tolls removed, it's pretty dead economically now. All of the old roadhouses and restaurants that used to hum with life 24 hours a day are gone now, with the exception of a few that barely cling to life. Thanks for digging this old reel up!

[@danjohnston3422]

We drive out to Vancouver Island every couple of years in a VW van. The old highway is vastly superior to the Coquihalla for a slow, wheezy lunchbox of a vehicle. I really like that stretch.

[@Doug_BC]

We probably passed each other on the highway many times. During the 1980's I was working as a heavy duty mechanic for a company that ran literally dozens of trucks through that canyon every week under the name "AllTrans Express" and "KwikAsAir". Trucks with two drivers and sleeper cabs so the freight could get from Vancouver to Toronto in just three days. And on the weekend, I was driving my souped up GTO to or through the Fraser Canyon almost every weekend during the summer and the fall. Hiking, fishing, looking for gold or jade, or just trying to set a personal record on how fast I could get from Vancouver to Cache Creek. Like you, I got to know that highways just as well as I know the back of my hand. And I loved talking about all of the pot holes with the company drivers who drove our fleets of truck. They were mostly long term employees that often had hundreds of thousands of miles of highway, and MANY years of experience in their "rear view mirrors".

[@outintheboondocks1466]

@@Doug_BC Bro, that's crazy! I was driving team for TNT Roadfast in '91, when the union went on strike and AllTrans went under. It was my first, but not last, team driving experience, and it sucked when it all went down at AllTrans...

[@P7777-u7r]

Its a weird duality. Having the traffic levels of the Coq through the Fraser Canyon with no Coq in existence would have been a 24/7 congestion bottleneck and killed things worse when they would have had to put a freeway in the canyon. It's still the gateway to Northern BC from the coast and so has a future again in the far future.

[@chrisfoote9522]

As a young boy I can recall travelling as a family up the Fraser Canyon road when it was gravel and quite an awe inspiring ride.

[@ko8957]

Yes and several places only room for one car at a time, so we had to back up to a wider space to pass.

[@chupacabra1765]

What year was that?

[@chrisfoote9522]

@@chupacabra1765 Early 50’s

[@gregpenny4384]

I love the Fraser Canyon, have been going up and down since the year I was born 1950, you can't tell people today what it was like then they don't get it, on one trip we had 9 flats, the road bed was crushed rock and old early 50's bias tires with tubes, you let the motor cool down took out a spark plug and screwed in a compression pump pulled the tire off took the tube out patched it, put it back in the tire, back on the car, start the motor and use the piston as the air compressor, in places if you met someone one of you backed up the one without a trailer, big trucks could not get through the two tunnels, they were to low, and when you drove over Alexandra Bridge it hummed from the tires. and in places the road was wood and log over the edge of the river.

[@chucktheperson1063]

My dad drove a 5ton truck for VanKam in the 50's. Vancouver to Kamloops, delivering mostly beer. I remember the old Frazer Canyon road being paved but narrow, with cantilevered bridges clinging to the side of mountains. The Alexandra Bridge with it's open steel grating bridge surface. As was the Lions Gate bridge back then.

[@marjolainejane1506]

Born in 1950 as well & remember holding my breath in the tunnels. Car always overheated so we would take the burlap water bag out & fill the radiator. We would swim in a river pond maybe Bromley? & picnic while it cooled. No a/c! Always stopped in Boston Bar for pancakes as my mom from Quebec said their syrup was real maple.

[@dansbrown1313]

@@marjolainejane1506 I was born in July 1950 and our family went up from our home on Seymour Mountain "we called it Dog Mountain" and up to Kentucky Elaine lake, Pennask lake and up around the Cariboo area every weekend. Before the tunnels were in and gravel roads it was scary!

[@P7777-u7r]

the 1950s and 1960s highways ministry were some of the most miraculous roadbuilders in history and its a really untold poorly documented story sadly. Driving the highways was like the bushroads or "worse" before them.

[@lavapix]

Drove through there in 89 on my way to Alaska from PA. One of my favorite roads from that entire trip.

[@hikerx9366]

Been travelling the Fraser Canyon since i was brought into this world. An awe inspiring journey to this day. Thanks for the look back. 🚧🚏

[@jimmyjames2022]

Thanks for the memories!

[@ReelLifeCanada]

Thank you!

[@williambeckett8196]

These old reels are the new gold now😊❤

[@robintrethewey627]

Very well done and interesting on many levels.

[@CinestirFilms]

Great job retransferring and recovering these historic films. It's so great to see them free of the resolution limitations of the old standard definition video! Thank you

[@ajadrew]

Love these old vintage films!

[@Bukwas]

I miss driving through the canyon with my dad to go hunting up north. He'd tell me stories of driving transport trucks in the 50's before the highway upgrades and how terrifying the old road was in places. The 'modern' Alexandra bridge in the video was superseded by a new bridge a long time ago but is still there and you can walk across it. Look for the parking lot just north of the new bridge on the left hand side of the highway.

[@fraukatze3856]

Drove in 1959 with my parents and I was terrified.

[@RWM0000]

I've driven down that Highway and often wondered about the people who built it. Very interesting to see the original done with horses. Such ingenuity.

[@frederickclause2694]

It would never be built in today's world. I love the drive through the canyon. No matter the time of day or how tired I am at the start I am wide awake at the end.

[@Doug_BC]

I have LOVED the Fraser Canyon ever since my family and I drove though it WAY back in the 1950's. Back then it was so winding and narrow that most transport trucks couldn't use it because they were to big to go through the VERY undersized tunnels, which were basically just holes drilled through small portions of a mountain. It's a GREAT HIGHWAY today, when compared to what it was then. Mostly 4 lanes, with LOTS of pullouts and parking spots for people who want to actually explore the canyon itself, and discover the historical sites that have long been abandoned. Prospecting, hiking, rock hounding, fishing or just exploring, I have spend significant portions of my recreational time in the Fraser Canyon. But to experience it, you have to GET OUT of your cars and put a few miles on your own SHOES. You can find jade in the Emery creek area. You will discover very fine gold almost everywhere. You'll find remnants of transportation routes that look more like animal trails than what people used to call "roads". If you camp there, the trains will keep you alert and wide awake all night, and the light show in the dark skies will entertain you until the sun comes up in the morning. All that and MUCH more, and only a couple of hours away from downtown Vancouver.

[@davemeise2192]

Very well presented. Nicely done.

[@jimmyjames2022]

Fun to see this old film. I remember during 1958-62 and the new construction, travelling on the Fraser Canyon highway with my Dad. Before the current high Alexandria Bridge was constructed while the old one was still in use as the main highway, to get down to it we still drove modern cars on the old rickety cribbed road that hung off the cliff. A lot of the old crude unlined tunnels were still in use as well. It was exciting for young me watching the new tunnels as they were built and the roads and bridges improved. I ended up working in construction as a result of that fascination. Later on I loved driving the canyon, especially in a convertible. Who needs the Coq, boring.

[@chrisbealey6478]

I took the kids and grandkids panning this past weekend. I take them as often as i can . I remember taking the cable tram across from Boston Bar to North Bend and way up the Nahatalatch valley,best steelhead fishing this side of the Thompson. Unfortunately the new bridge has taken the mystic out of that once peaceful and majestic area . But the canyon is still one of my favorite areas of BC . So much rich history.

[@semtech30]

3rd clip in the vid. Yale Rd when it was the Hwy. 50 MPH. Chwk Mt in the background, Zink farm on the left and the Nelson Farm on the right. Cool

[@Wicknews8100]

Im lucky enough to say the first breath i ever took was in Smithers BC nearby, what a place

[@rays2877]

I remember sitting in a hot car waiting for the blast rubble to be cleared up. This was in the "50s. In the summer, it was always hot in the Canyon.

[@bobcrozier4047]

It was very interesting! I chuckled when when I saw P. A. ("Flying Phil") Gaglardi's name in the credits.

[@osmia]

Amazing when you think of it!

[@raymayoh]

Nice in the summer, different in the winter around 2AM in the morning. i worked for Bobell Express for 13 years.

[@matthewstarr9887]

Thanks for sharing this great film!

[@judil3294]

I spent much of my childhood trying to be alert to see the signs of Spuzzum, BC as we would drive down to the coast to visit family. Finally! I caught sight of the 'Welcome to' and 'Thank you for visiting' signs that along with a gas station was all you'd see from the highway back then.

[@KyleStansfeld-zi6gc]

It’s still an amazing highway, still scary in some parts, but over all, an awesome experience, with beautiful scenery. I remember as a kid in the early eighties, it was the way in to Kamloops. There was no Coquihalla Highway! Not until 1986! In some spots today, it’s still remote

[@ergbudster3333]

Sir Jimmy Douglas..Ol' Square Toes. A great man.

[@clinthenry9162]

I never drove when it was gravel but pulled it a lot later in the late 60s and early 70s still would sooner drive it opposed to the coke

[@jerzmacow]

This scan looks way better!

[@Cujo-yr4bk]

when i was a youngster in the early 70s my 1st job was carrying sacks of salmon from the river to a truck on the hiway as the adults were catching them with dip nets. Very hard work for a little guy

[@DavidBale-vn4op]

I've heard stories of the wreck was never found from the 1950s BC roads. Old German friend from Kitimat.

[@SupernaturalBeingsofEarth]

22:57 Amazing footage. You that have the Eyes can make some outstanding facial features on the forest Beings. I'm on these Beings for over 8yrs now. Ian Armstrong. Supernatural Beings of Earth Tracking channel.

[@brianlapointe2764]

It was exciting then...still exciting. You never know what you will meet when. Animals and construction projects...and accidents. We need Drive BC to keep up with all the action for preliminary plans..expect changes along the way.

[@Joemama69420.]

I need the soundtrack of this film so bad

[@whaleoilbeefhooked3892]

Excellent history here! (Feel free to "DUMP" the intro spinning wet marble in a vacuum chasing a firefall into infinity)

[@canyonoverland5003]

20:38 Ainslie Creek bridge. Keen eyed people will notice there is a walkway on the arch below the deck which is still walkable in 2024.

[@Joemama69420.]

Reel life is you have any information about the music used for this film?

[@ReelLifeCanada]

None, I'm afraid.

[@georgekusz4221]

Runed Vancouver-Prince George sometimes 3 times a week in mid seventies

I'm no fan of the socreds but you have to give credit where credit is due.......W.A.C. BENNETT got things done!!! , British Columbians are still reaping the rewards 70 years later (except for the ones dismantled and sold off by Gordon Campbell and his disciples, it seems appropriate he used to own a demolition company)

[@chupacabra1765]

That guy was a corrupt crook.

[@mylanmiller9656]

@@chupacabra1765 At least people were not broke flatter than pizz on a plate like We are today. Every body has a job and everybody had money. Then some idiots decided to vote NDP and BC went for a real big Shiz.

[@P7777-u7r]

Socreds seem better than what came before and after at least until vanderzalm gets in whos really more aligned with campbell. This is a strange land idk I think it will all work out in the end. Out of all the political parties on the continent in the 50s and 60s the socreds seem some of the most tolerable they didnt seem like they really discriminated if you were someone who got things done especially compared to the states, Alberta and back east we really had nothing to complain about. In the 60s lots of discriminated against people from Canada and the US ended up in BC and Bennett if he was a real hardass bigot like a lot of premiers and governors of the era could have wiped them out easily with the power he had but he didnt he was a bit weird but so was J Douglas and he got things done no bs until he got a bit old and mental. The biggest problem with the Socreds is they and BC at the time flew too close to the sun for certain people's liking. They would really have been better off born in that alternate timeline where BC was a full independent country.

[@P7777-u7r]

Without BCHydro we'd be fucked. Most British Columbians take it for granted that we can just turn on lights at will, play with computers and pay a reasonable ish amount but in most of the world electricity is becoming like gasoline. Look at how expensive Albertan electricity is and thats just getting started. In the interior another taken for granted Socred energy thing is firewood. Mostly everywhere else immediately neighboring us it's illegal to just grab firewood for free but to the party that created the Garbage Gobbler homes gathering their own firewood in the interior was free fire prevention.

[@alleyoop1234]

Bonus points if you can name every tune that played in this video!

[@Ice_Karma]

A fascinating time capsule. Too bad the audio and video get progressively more and more out of sync until the video is lagging by about four seconds at the end.

[@KelCap17]

cool

[@revenniaga6249]

Frasier Canyon? Where is the rwo railways?

[@blizzy6392]

They’re there. Railway noises are part of the Fraser Canyon experience since 1885 (CPR) and 1915 (CNR). In the film (22:07) you can see the now-vanished telegraph poles that follow the railways along the side of the highway.

[@PatriciaBaughman-k4n]

Clark James Garcia Thomas Jones John

[@retrovideoquest]

Of course, being a product from the 1960s, this reel makes zero mention of the intensive use of underpaid, underfed and heavily discriminated Chinese labourers who died like flies of disease and malnutrition while working building roads and railroads along the Fraser Valley. There is also zero mention of the frequent clashes between the white "pioneers" and the first nation peoples who were living in the area for centuries. No, according to this documentary it was all nothing but White Men's hard work, inventiveness and courage what won the day...

[@mikelewandowski4500]

This movie clip is about connecting communities in b.c. not about all the side effects that is a whole other conversation . Make your own video about all these and keep your racist comments about white people out of it

[@ReelLifeCanada]

@retrovideoquest You're right and you won't get an argument out of me. That said, by viewing these documentaries in their time-frame, you and I can make these valid points. We are far more aware today than we were 60 years ago, education and awareness is the key. This is one of the reasons why I digitize and produce these episodes. Positive change is vital.

[@joepipito7431]

@@mikelewandowski4500YEA WAT HE SAID 👍💪🙏

[@joseph-mariopelerin7028]

Pretty common for English white peoples... very little has changed...

[@blizzy6392]

I love the Fraser Canyon and greatly appreciate the achievements of the not-really-that-long-ago past. My (non-Brit) father came to Canada in 1955 seeking such work and did well in his part in the building of the modern infrastructure of British Columbia.

[@Bcwildgreen]

Some of the most notorious disgusting families resided in this area. God bless the indigenous.

[@KevinMaxwell-o3t]

What on Earth are you talking about? And the native people were NOT choirboys; they warred constantly among themselves and ran a lucrative slave trade centered in Lillooet. It is fashionable these days to mythologize the 'noble savage' but it's all mythology.

[@garywillier4303]

Yup those days there was alot of sockey Salomon.now there's hardly any truth