Toronto TTC 1980s Streetcar and Trackless Trolley Video

This 8 minutes and 45 seconds is all I could pull out of two hours of video I took back in the 80s in Toronto. I had a hard time keeping the camera still and a s a result most of what I took I reject as too jumpy. What I present here is still not that great but represents a lot of what is now all gone.

[@DwainRichardson]

I miss those good ’ol streetcars and trolleys-especially the trolleys. To this day, I am disappointed that the TTC ditched them. Thanks for sharing a great video. (-:

[@CelesteKTheNewWaveRevue]

I miss my home and I miss how much more simple it was back then.

[@lemauntory2951]

Times changed yes but now it’s just filled with condos and a bank load of construction

[@vinyalonde]

I remember those early streetcars, how rough the ride was, how hot they were in the summer, and how cold in the winter. Thanks for uploading this video.

[@transrus1]

Now that was the Toronto !! Wish i can go back and see all my family happy!!!

[@transrus1]

The cars are awesome too !

[@air2324]

Great footage. Recognize most every location. The city seemed simpler then somehow. Thanks Kevin for bringing back great memories.

[@ronronomo9942]

Nice to see Toronto from today to the past.

[@ivanreis1538]

Beautiful TORONTO.

[@streetcarjay]

If We all could save time in a bottle.

[@simaess]

I noticed..absolutley NO advertsising on the streetcars. What the hell? You can't get on a streetcar anymore without a big KISS.FM ad staring you right in the face. Why was I born in the 90's?... :(

[@peteryeung111]

I still recognized most of the intersections. Those were the good old days.

[@roxorz007]

Wow, brings back memories. First few mins filmed on Roncesvale/Dundas West. Those trolly buses were terrible, I remember riding them and the pantograph always came off. The drivers weren't fond of them at all haha.

[@smwca123]

+roxorz007 I noticed that all the trolleybuses had their rollsigns set to white blanks, instead of the usual 3-color signs that I always liked. Neither the vehicles nor the overhead were well kept up by the 1980s. The suspicion was, TTC top brass didn't like them, and wanted to make them look bad, to justify getting rid of them. Besides, at the time, the Ontario government was pushing CNG buses as the next big thing; those turned out to be an unmitigated disaster. Almost 20 years later the story repeated itself in Edmonton, where some ex-TTC types had moved; but for CNG substitute hybrids.

[@WerewolfLord]

smwca123 This must have been during the construction of the Harbourfront streetcar tunnel under Bay Street. All buses had to terminate at Front St but there was no rollsign for the 6F (Dupont-Front) branch.

[@atelectro1]

In 1980 I was in grade seven. I wish I could die and go back to 1980.

[@ramboram03]

Its not from 1980 its from around 1988

[@v.applebaum8956]

Beautiful Toronto, before a certain population decided to treat our city like a toilet. I'd like to snap my fingers and bring this city back to life.

[@johnmcneil9164]

I find the city alot cleaner now than it was back then....so I don't know what you're talking about.

[@PopShoppekid]

V. Applebaum, I agree, I remember Toronto then, loved the streetcars, all the great neighborhoods. Moved away long ago but Toronto in those times were so good!

[@hardyboy1959]

Great video! This is the Toronto that I remember but to tell you the truth I didn't know what 'trackless trolleys' were. I just called them electric buses!

[@billgosling9049]

I love the shot of the Flyer in the CNE bit.

[@72defender]

Great video! Thank you very much for sharing!

[@FrankKnight8846]

I loved those old Street cars, they should of kept them running. Toronto right now has no character what so ever.

[@LightRailChic]

I just LOVE the footage you were able to salvage...LUV IT LUV IT LUV IT!....

[@ouryfly2]

Nice documentary stock shot. It's great to see some of the old hang outs pass by. I haven't lived there since about '82 so this was what it was like, wow, thanks! You got some great footage there, bro.

[@ottavva]

Toronto as I loved it

[@notv2007]

They discontinued the last trolley bus in 1990. It was during the recession at which time the TTC made major cutbacks. Their reasoning was electricity was expensive at the time making it costly to operate. You can tell they were thinking ahead....

[@spm116]

The trolley wirelines needed to be re-strung , and that would have been very expensive. Also, the cost of replacing the trolley buses would have been very high.

[@johnwoa]

That would be 1993.

[@streetcarjay]

TV sans fils Actually, Trolley bus service came to an end in 1993.

[@imgursdownvote4love771]

I think it was supposed to be 1990, but they couldn't afford replacement buses so they kept them going another couple years

[@vistarox]

Wow! Dundas West hasn't changed at all in the past 30 years.

[@Milnoc]

Back in the 80s, I remember seeing a trolleybus near Union Station lose one of its poles in a turn. The loose pole bounced against the power line, causing a huge shower of sparks and making a heck of a racket! The line finally gave way after about five or six hits, stranding the bus in the middle of the road.

[@savvyboys5351]

+François Caron that happens all the time in Toronto. The operator just gets out and puts the line back on the cable wire and contiunes driving. Traffic just halts until hes done

[@Milnoc]

Not in this case! When I said the line let go, I meant it SNAPPED!

[@nikola0566]

Yes Francis,in Dec 1990 a Bay 6 trolley just passed Wellington St on its way to Front.Before there was a switch,that split the line into two,one going for making the turn on front,and other going straight to Harbourfront. Well,I remember the driver did not navigate the power switch properly and it resulted in a dewirement that caused sparks like the 4th of July,and the bus was stranded. I this the incident you remember.

[@imgursdownvote4love771]

@@nikola0566 Hamilton's had diesel generators so they could just keep driving until they were out of the way. Vancouver's have batteries

[@Bammer2001]

2:07 - Dundas West Station on Roncesvalles Avenue. 😁

[@hoteldennis]

The loop at 5:53 was the old loop for the ex. It is all changed now.

[@streetcarjay]

Please anybody with a time machine. Can you turn the clock back between the last 20 - 30 years?

[@jemdude22]

Thank you for your effort and time! It's still an awesome piece of work!

[@Marfrew]

For handheld the camerawork is very good. And it´s great to see footage from those years. Now if I could just remember the street corners where you filmed! Would love to see you upload more footage. Thanks.

[@Tungzout]

@streetcarjay I like your idea! Metropass was only $48/month! You'd only get $4.75/hr working at Towers though.

[@adandemobilegamer]

great upload also notice the cne fair going on

[@MrTopsoil911]

dundas west station

[@mikedrown2721]

👍👌👏😊❤️🇺🇸

[@streetcarjay]

@hoteldennis Not only has the CNE Streetcar loop has changed. Fleet has changed as well. The tracks are now a dedicated right-of-way built on one side of the street. Then only thing that hasn't changed very much is the Fleet Loop. The Lighthouse is still there, but the tracks have been replaced, and they're now encased in rubber and concrete instead of gravel.

[@louisea9607]

Very nice:-)

[@bobhall9885]

really love it. Brings back memories. Can you tell the year in the 1980's it was taken?

[@hoteldennis]

I never got much footage of the subway unfortunately. There is a little (very little) on my other KZbin videos "Toronto TTC 1982" and Toronto TTC Early 1980s". I wish I had more.

[@EvanHyland]

at 5:53 where is this loop ? looks like the ex , but i dont remember this loop being there ...

[@vistarox]

Its funny how our CLRV still look as old as they do today.

[@valentinaamigo3621]

Hello Kevin, Amazing video and quality! We would like to use some small portions of this video for a student documentary at Humber College if you agree. I would like you to know that we will give you credits by the name you preference. And share with you the final result if you would like. Please let me know if it's okay with you. Have a great week!😃

[@AM-hh2jb]

I'm out 25 so I wasn't alive back then. Was wondering seeing what happened to the trolley buses? The ones in the video running on electricity

[@hoteldennis]

The TTC abandoned its trolleybus system in 1993.

[@danielthoman7324]

@@hoteldennis Hamilton also got rid of their trolleybuses in the 90s. I used to love those trolleybuses, hated like hell to see them go.

[@Killerspieler0815]

now the "new" ones became the old ones ... in some very poor countries the old old ones might still be in regular use

[@ChristianMessagesAndTopics]

Kevin, have you tried out youtube's videomanager in your account? It has features that can remove shakiness from film footage. I do it for my walking videos all the time and does an excellent job. Try that and see how it works for you.

[@ChristianMessagesAndTopics]

By the way, what year is this please?

[@vistarox]

DO you have any more shots of the subway?

[@GeorgeMichaelArt]

Bike thief at 1:11 :)

[@JREVY22DECEPTICON416]

Why were those buses like street cars

[@streetcarjay]

Dundas West Station

[@zackcraft7204]

dundas west and bloor

[@bb3ca201]

zackcraft The Crossways! I used to live there :)

[@djtoomuch230]

3:17 why is there a subway included?

[@smwca123]

+TotalGamerNerd 9433 Maybe to show the M class cars, identifiable by their oval-shaped door windows. Those were the TTC's first 75-foot cars, built by Montreal Locomotive Works in 1962.

[@smwca123]

@video master 78 The M cars could run together with any of the 6 classes of H cars. None of them could run together with the T1's.

[@trainmaster5000]

@thewizkid15 looks like an h4 actually

[@railfanningstuff8333]

Was this a super 8 Camera or a VHS ?

[@hoteldennis]

It was one of those big VHS cameras that took a full size VHS tape.

[@bobbyjames4300]

No hood back then..

[@trainrover]

Rotton-Ø.. .. .. . . .