expo 67 lounge

Mid-century fashion, vintage pop culture and retro cool... from Expo 67 and beyond.

6 November 2010

Inside the Expo-Express

Each Expo Express train could shuttle up to 1000 Expo 67 visitors at a time.

Check out these ultra-rare shots of the Expo Express at Expo 67, North America's first fully automated rapid transit system.

To avoid visitor uneasiness, operators from Montreal's transit union were placed at the front of the train to give the illusion that they were conducting the self-sufficient Expo Express. Operators performed mundane tasks, such as opening and closing the doors of the train, to reduce boredom.

According to Wikipedia, there was a minor incident involving an Expo Express operator during Expo 67... at the La Ronde station:

"The conductor had pressed the button to close the doors and proceed, but his train had already sensed an oncoming express from Île-Notre-Dame and automatically delayed the go command to let it roll in. In the meantime, the driver realized he had forgotten his lunch. However, he could not exit though the passenger doors because his train was in a "wait" state and would not allow the doors to open. Instead, he crawled through the small cab window. By the time he had fetched his lunch, however, the oncoming train had pulled in and his train had taken off on its own. It crossed the bridge over the Le Moyne Channel, proceeded along the seaway, and came to a smooth stop at Île-Notre-Dame station where an Expo official was waiting. This person crawled back through the cab window and pressed the button to open the doors and let the passengers disembark."


The interior of Expo Express, looking towards the front.

A front view of the train at Place d'Accueil terminal.

The system's control console seemed straight out of Star Trek... Beam me up!



images: wikipedia.org

Labels: , ,

7 Comments:

Anonymous William Raillant-Clark said...

Well, cross your fingers, because it might be coming back in another form! http://argent.canoe.ca/lca/affaires/quebec/archives/2010/10/20101015-071622.html

5:19 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Jason

the Express looks a lot like the Toronto subway cars?

is it still in use?

6:53 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great, Jason! Thanks very much! Snowball

7:56 am  
Blogger Barbara Collishaw said...

I wonder what commentary there was originally. That little man in the lower left appeared to be saying something!
It was a nice, quick tour of the expo grounds, too.

10:50 am  
Anonymous Kris In Ottawa said...

I remember the Expo Express very well. It was so fast and efficient and as a kid of only 11, I found it futuristic and exciting. It was also very good at what it was designed for: transporting large numbers of people to their destinations quickly and effiently. The first time my family used it, we went from Ile Notre Dame to La Ronde and it seemed to take just minutes. Thanks for the article and thank you for keeping the wonderful memory of Expo 67 alive.

7:16 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I well remember the Expo Express. That is how I got to the fair while on a class trip. I have never forgotten how cool it all seemed. A few years earlier I visited the New York World's Fair and got there via subway from Grand Central, but the Expo Express was so different. It was sleek, quiet and clean and it only had one destination--the magical Expo Islands. Your blog is wonderful. I appreciate the work you do.

9:37 pm  
Blogger Railrodder said...

I remember EXPO 67 well! It was the first time I tried pizza! I was 8 years old!
I wish someone would hurry up and invent a time machine!

2:46 pm  

Post a Comment

Home

← Older Posts

Newer Posts →