I won't wax nostalgic about my hometown, but these were the days of my adolescence when I felt Hamilton still had a "grit" you could feel proud of. The Ti-Cats weren't great, the Steelhawks were gone, the Skyhawks were about to start a short-lived run. Yet, there was still an optimism. But deep down, things weren't great. Stelco and Dofasco were already in a steep decline. Jackson Square had ripped the heart out of Gore Park and the downtown core (something that really hasn't come back until recently). Rebecca Street bus station was a hole. Barton Street lost its cultural roots that made it stand apart. People sped through the city on the one-way streets without even stopping to look (maybe that hasn't changed much). Through it all, the HSR took people to and from places they needed, wanted, loved, sometimes loathed. They still do. The buses are a bit fancier now, and more accessible, but in losing the overhead wires, plush seats and yellow livery, they have also lost some of the "grit" that made them so special. Well, maybe except the '91 natural gas "nature bus", that was also special. I no longer have family there, but hope to come back in the future, see the next iteration of my hometown, and be proud to see the HSR still moving people, both literally and physically.
I hate to say it, but coming back will just lead to disappointment. The state of the city now will just ruin the nostalgia for you. Better to hold on to the fond memories of the city than to come and see what it's become. I'm a lifelong Hamiltonian and it's sad to see what has become of our beloved steel city
Growing up in Hamilton without a car, Me and my family heavily relied on the HSR. And even now, though the high floor stairbuses are gone and the great department stores such as Zellers and K mart are gone. The memories still live on.
I miss those trolley's. That was the main reason why I wanted to become a bus driver. When this video was shot I would have only been 13 at the time though! lol
Those electric trolley's were always a PITA, they sucked. Hamilton has already had an LRT, it didn't work then, it will work even less now. Has anybody passed this vid onto Jason Farr?
You know what? Whenever someone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always answered, “I want to be a bus driver.” I must have been six or seven at the time, maybe younger. When I was a teenager, I always wanted to put my hands on the Ministry of Transportation’s Official Bus Driver’s Handbook. I never purchased it but local libraries seemed to have a copy that I could borrow for three weeks. That was life growing up in Toronto. Hehehe. I miss the trolley coaches, too. They really gave cities a je-ne-sais-quoi. I loved the overhead wires, the liveries, the double poles, the antique look, the silence when trolleys were in motion. I loved hearing the battery in motion, too. Ah, trolleys. Pity most Canadian cities ditched them. I hope they make a comeback soon. (-:
Check out [6:19] - the Crystal Palace, lol. The re-located Crystal Palace from it''s prior location about 3-4 blocks was further East (late 50's-early 60's)
Well this is a small blast from the past. 🚌 I still have HSR trolley memories from the 60's. 🚎🚎🚎🚎 Wow some parts of the city have changed, while others still look the same. 😉😄 Ps: Really miss that beautiful Birks clock in the downtown.🥰 Glad the city at least got it working even if its only visible at the farmers market.
8mm tape camcorder. The tape was transferred to a DVD which was then split and edited using Cyber Link video software. My cell phone is just a phone, I have shot video since 2009 on a series of Canon Powershot super-zooms, because they all had/have viewfinders. Much easier to track the action. Newest is a SX40HS.
Trolley! TROLLEY!! TrolleyBUSES!!! Yeah. Ha great vid. These buses had the most comfortable seats, even if they were a little tight if you were tall. They were sometimes filthy, but then I don't think I'd remember them as well. Good times. :)
Something I've always wondered about those trolley. Buses that run via the electrical cables. What would happen if the bus were to go off the track of those electric cables and the cables disconnected from the wires above? Would the bus still be able to drive?
James St one-way southbound and two right turn lanes at King. Hamilton used to be a drivers paradise. Now it seems artificially congested to try to discourage people from driving. A narrow and short-sighted view.
OMFG THANK YOU! I'm tired of transplants screwing up one way streets, putting in cycling lanes, and proclaiming what a hole Hamilton was 20yrs ago. I'm sorry the cancer that is Toronto has now spread along the lake as far as Hamilton...but turning Steel Town into a Toronto Lite makes me cry.
We used to hop the trollies when i was a kid to get around town ,we would wait for them to stop then jump on the back bumper and hang on were the cables were housed ,when you wanted off you just pulled the cable and the over head connector would come off the buds would stop and off you go :)
@@danielthoman7324 not as stupid as your ignorant comment keep your fucking opinion to yourself you fucking tool you wouldn't last 10 min in the hammer with that attitude scumbag
It looks like Hamilton took the wrong turn in an alternate reality in one of the Back to the Future movies!!! Nothing but bums Crack and meth addicts downtown now, where's Doc and Marty McFly when ya need em ?
They may be an odd thing to say but Hamilton looked a lot cleaner back then.
The Readers Corner It was cleaner back then I remember
Cleaner, quieter, safer, better
@Mr. Bum Tickler I lived in a bunch of places in Hamilton. Mostly east Hamilton. I'm down town now
I was just thinking the same thing while watching this!!
Incredible how much uncontrolled migration and liberal policies changed the city.
I won't wax nostalgic about my hometown, but these were the days of my adolescence when I felt Hamilton still had a "grit" you could feel proud of. The Ti-Cats weren't great, the Steelhawks were gone, the Skyhawks were about to start a short-lived run. Yet, there was still an optimism.
But deep down, things weren't great. Stelco and Dofasco were already in a steep decline. Jackson Square had ripped the heart out of Gore Park and the downtown core (something that really hasn't come back until recently). Rebecca Street bus station was a hole. Barton Street lost its cultural roots that made it stand apart. People sped through the city on the one-way streets without even stopping to look (maybe that hasn't changed much).
Through it all, the HSR took people to and from places they needed, wanted, loved, sometimes loathed. They still do. The buses are a bit fancier now, and more accessible, but in losing the overhead wires, plush seats and yellow livery, they have also lost some of the "grit" that made them so special. Well, maybe except the '91 natural gas "nature bus", that was also special.
I no longer have family there, but hope to come back in the future, see the next iteration of my hometown, and be proud to see the HSR still moving people, both literally and physically.
I hate to say it, but coming back will just lead to disappointment. The state of the city now will just ruin the nostalgia for you. Better to hold on to the fond memories of the city than to come and see what it's become. I'm a lifelong Hamiltonian and it's sad to see what has become of our beloved steel city
Unfortunately you are write.
Growing up in Hamilton without a car, Me and my family heavily relied on the HSR.
And even now, though the high floor stairbuses are gone and the great department stores such as Zellers and K mart are gone. The memories still live on.
Great video! Brought me back
I miss those trolley's. That was the main reason why I wanted to become a bus driver. When this video was shot I would have only been 13 at the time though! lol
Those electric trolley's were always a PITA, they sucked.
Hamilton has already had an LRT, it didn't work then, it will work even less now.
Has anybody passed this vid onto Jason Farr?
You know what? Whenever someone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always answered, “I want to be a bus driver.” I must have been six or seven at the time, maybe younger. When I was a teenager, I always wanted to put my hands on the Ministry of Transportation’s Official Bus Driver’s Handbook. I never purchased it but local libraries seemed to have a copy that I could borrow for three weeks. That was life growing up in Toronto. Hehehe.
I miss the trolley coaches, too. They really gave cities a je-ne-sais-quoi. I loved the overhead wires, the liveries, the double poles, the antique look, the silence when trolleys were in motion. I loved hearing the battery in motion, too. Ah, trolleys. Pity most Canadian cities ditched them. I hope they make a comeback soon. (-:
8602 GM Classic sounds so nice on the slow take off
Check out [6:19] - the Crystal Palace, lol. The re-located Crystal Palace from it''s prior location about 3-4 blocks was further East (late 50's-early 60's)
Thanks for sharing! Makes me miss home so much!
Kresge's was still around then ... now we've got Chinese junk sold through the Wal-Marts and Dollaramas.
Yup.
Well this is a small blast from the past. 🚌
I still have HSR trolley memories from the 60's. 🚎🚎🚎🚎
Wow some parts of the city have changed, while others still look the same. 😉😄
Ps: Really miss that beautiful Birks clock in the downtown.🥰
Glad the city at least got it working even if its only visible at the farmers market.
I came to Hamilton. On the Go in that old bus Depot.
8mm tape camcorder. The tape was transferred to a DVD which was then split and edited using Cyber Link video software.
My cell phone is just a phone, I have shot video since 2009 on a series of Canon Powershot super-zooms, because they all had/have viewfinders. Much easier to track the action. Newest is a SX40HS.
I didn't know they had trolley buses in Hamilton back in the early 90's.
Memories!
Trolley! TROLLEY!! TrolleyBUSES!!! Yeah. Ha great vid. These buses had the most comfortable seats, even if they were a little tight if you were tall. They were sometimes filthy, but then I don't think I'd remember them as well. Good times. :)
I was eight, these were the days.
Something I've always wondered about those trolley. Buses that run via the electrical cables. What would happen if the bus were to go off the track of those electric cables and the cables disconnected from the wires above? Would the bus still be able to drive?
No they come to a complete stop until they connection is made.
Good old days when Hamilton was prosperous City...
You have to be joking.
win on catching the Ex COTA Bus at 11:21
I grew up on Fairfield Ave. Just down the street from Strathern. Two blocks. Fairfield school is gone gone gone.
Just need to put the Tracks back in the road & we will have the LRT Street Cars
@MBouncing There are a total of 4 Hamilton 1991 videos on my channel plus some Toronto trolleybus ones done at the same time.
BEST VIDEO EVER DO U HAVE MORE - THATS MY CITY I WAS 2 BACK THEN
James St one-way southbound and two right turn lanes at King. Hamilton used to be a drivers paradise. Now it seems artificially congested to try to discourage people from driving. A narrow and short-sighted view.
People always hated the ones away s in Hamilton. I always thought it made it better. Now there making more two ways. I don't like It.
Memories
Has anybody passed this on to Jason Farr?
Y'know, he wasn't around then, being just another transplant socially engineering how everybody should live.
i was afraid of that fountain when i was little
LOL I have family living on Melvin! :)
Can't even get an apartment down there now without bedbugs and roaches.
6:18 was that part of the Hamilton Police Service
Fire service supervisor. Captains and up had Suburbans.
This is back when people actually paid taxes in Hamilton.
At 3:00 to 3:06 Take a Look at the Gasoline Price back then.
54.8 cents for regular gasoline
OMFG THANK YOU!
I'm tired of transplants screwing up one way streets, putting in cycling lanes, and proclaiming what a hole Hamilton was 20yrs ago.
I'm sorry the cancer that is Toronto has now spread along the lake as far as Hamilton...but turning Steel Town into a Toronto Lite makes me cry.
I just realized this was the time before cellphone cameras. What were you taping this with?
Ah, AND just before the city logged the "mini recession" of 1991. What a joke!
Hey That's Looks like My Car!!! (12:32-12:42)
Nice "skip" and edit in the camera; someone working over-time in film edit room! ha!
If this was about Trolley Coaches, why so many DIEsels? Were you drunk?
We used to hop the trollies when i was a kid to get around town ,we would wait for them to stop then jump on the back bumper and hang on were the cables were housed ,when you wanted off you just pulled the cable and the over head connector would come off the buds would stop and off you go :)
That was a stupid thing to do
@@danielthoman7324 not as stupid as your ignorant comment keep your fucking opinion to yourself you fucking tool you wouldn't last 10 min in the hammer with that attitude scumbag
Hey Are We Going to Piccadilly Tavern?
(The Hamilton's Best Adult Entertainment Club)
Around 2:34, can anyone make out the name of the shopping centre? It’s hard for me to read the title. (-:
Strathbarton Mall. Still there with different stores, used to have a LCBO
@@binbrook21c123 Thank you! (-:
@Whirlwind of Weapons Sorry no idea, this was taken 30 years ago.
It looks like Hamilton took the wrong turn in an alternate reality in one of the Back to the Future movies!!! Nothing but bums Crack and meth addicts downtown now, where's Doc and Marty McFly when ya need em ?
@MBouncing There are a total of 4 Hamilton 1991 videos on my channel plus some Toronto trolleybus ones done at the same time.
Thanks for the memories. I remember the trolley buses quite well!
@MBouncing There are a total of 4 Hamilton 1991 videos on my channel plus some Toronto trolleybus ones done at the same time.