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The Duo that started it all
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The two Ferries "Sidney" and "Tsawwassen", which were later named "Queen of Sidney" and "Queen of Tsawwassen" were the two Ferries that were the beginning of BC Ferries. Both were built in 1960, and their inaugural voyage for BC Ferries was on June 15th, 1960. Passengers on the Inaugural Voyage travelled for free, and the new BC Flag, which is the current BC Flag you see today, was unveiled for the first time to the general public, on the mast of the Queen of Sidney. These two Ferries are unique in the Ferries, easily distinguished from the rest of the fleet in later years, with their longer bows.
The Queen of Sidney, now retired, sits rotting away on the Fraser River, in Mission BC, with a Former Washington State Ferry "SS San Mateo" half sunk and leaning against the Sidney. The Sidney was retired in November 2000, and was operating on the Comox - Powell River Route for the final 15 or so years of her service life. Ever since she was tied up at this location on the Fraser, BC Ferries ended up coming back to the current owners, to strip some of her parts, to use on the very much still in service, Queen of Tsawwassen. Blackballs very similar in design "MV Coho" even has some of her parts now as well.
The Queen of Tsawwassen is supposed to be retired once a New Ferry is built to replace her, late next year. She currently operates on the Saltery Bay - Earls Cove route on the Sunshine Coast during the summer, and can sometimes be seen on the Tsawwassen -Southern Gulf Islands and Comox - Powell River routes, while the primary vessels on those routes go for annual maintenance.
Posted at 7:56PM, 6 June 2007 PDT
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Ferryman.... what a post!
do you work for the Ferries?
Either way, you are appointed the official historian for this little ferry fan club! An impressive array of photos, and your photostream is force to be reckoned with!
Nice work.
Posted 60 months ago.
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Heh, thanks.
Unfortunately no, I don't work for the Ferries.....yet. I've applied for a job at Horseshoe Bay, but haven't heard back. So I'm working on Application #2.....
The BC Ferries fleet has always been one of those things I can never take my mind off of. As a former resident of Vancouver Island, I was regularily travelling on the Ferries to vist family, who lives on the Mainland. I ended up only looking forward to the Ferry trips, instead of seeing the Family members. As I got older, I picked up a few books about BC Ferries, which taught me alot of history with these boats. You'd be suprised with how much history there is with these ships. Especially the older ones you see in service today.
In my mind, the Queen of Sidney is an extremely special Ferry, with her history. Yet she is completely helpless as she sits tied up along the Fraser River. Her owners are stripping the valueable parts off of her, and selling them. Very few people know about the historical significance with the Sidney, so she sits and is being completely neglected. Of course, nobody is willing to cough up some money to fix her up, and make some sort of use of her. In a dream, she would be tied up at the Tsawwassen Ferry terminal, and be used as a historical museum for the entire fleet. Or better yet, be donated to the Maritime Museum that's planned to be built at the original Burrard Shipyard in North Vancouver, so she can be retored, much like the police vessel at the current maritime museum. She is beyond repair in the engine room, so no use trying to sail it again. So far the plan with her, is to sell valuable items, as was said above, and to finnish it off, she will be scrapped within the next year or so.
Posted 60 months ago.
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Ferryman, I, like the Beats, am impressed with your passion for both the ferries and their history. (I also think that a BC Ferries museum is a fantastic idea - and perhaps even a potentially profitable enough idea for the new corp. to actually consider it. You should set up a website and pitch a guest column to the Sun or Province - I'm sure a lot of people would support the idea!) However, I'm most impressed that you have such fondness for the big boats given that you're an Islander. Most people I know who dream Ferry dreams are from the Mainland, who associate them with vacations and not commutes. A friend of mine who grew up on Saltspring hates the ferries - she told me once that, to her, riding the ferries is like riding the bus.
Originally posted 60 months ago.
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johnnybolton edited this topic 60 months ago.
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I would certainly add my support to the museum proposition. Seeing the poor old Sidney in that state is very sad. It's just the latest in a long list of heritage neglect in this part of the world.
Like yourself, I've been a huge fan of the ferries since childhood commutes (actually first trip I was two-weeks old!). Being raised in Victoria and then the LM, the ferries always signified a fun trip to the big city or later, a return 'home'.
As a tike, before long, I was drawing up my own fleet and using shoes as ferries on the carpets (with various living room furniture items as the 'islands' and 'terminals').
Thanks for your historical notes on the 'Sidney Class' vessels and I enjoy your beautiful photos-- keep 'em coming! I too enjoy a collection of some ferry literature, and their forgotten histories are great reading. If you wish to collaborate on anything, let me know.
Best to ya,
Keith
Originally posted 60 months ago.
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VanKeefer edited this topic 60 months ago.
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Thanks for starting this flickr discussion, Chris, and for your always welcome insight into our historic fleet.
Recently I took a trip upto Jervis Inlet (between Powell River and Sechelt) to say farewell to the Sidney sister left in service, the Queen of Tsawwassen, from her in recent years regular summer stomping grounds as we can assume that she won't return, barring some problem with the new 'I' Class vessel being built for service next summer, and I've added 5 of the images I captured to this group.
As this is my first posting to this group, I'd like to thank all those who are involved and especially those who took the initiative to get it started; keep up the great work. :)
Originally posted 56 months ago.
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indyinsane edited this topic 56 months ago.
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