Thought I’d take a break from my summer break to write up this post about Sandon, a super interesting town in the Kootenays. We dropped by there last week on our way to Nelson because I’d heard it was a ghost town and a graveyard for Vancouver’s Brill Trolley buses. We arrived there via a 10 km dirt road that runs off Highway 31A between New Denver and Kaslo.
Ghost Town:
Sandon is much more than a ghost town and its history is staggering. A century and a couple of decades ago, the Slocan silver rush brought people from all over Canada, California, Colorado, Oregon and Idaho. By the late 1890s, Sandon had 29 pubs, banks, three churches, a major redlight district, a soft drink factory, three breweries, a cigar manufacturer, three sawmills, two newspapers, a bowling alley, a bookstore and an opera house. It also had the most advanced electric light system in North America.
Hal Wright:
We crossed the little bridge over the creek and bumped into Hal Wright who was walking up the road schlepping a ladder. Lucky for us because Hal owns most of the town. He is also an authority on the history of the place—his family settled there in the booming 1890s, and he has lived there since 1972 when he co-founded the Sandon Museum with the help of a government grant at age 16.
As well as owning a chunk of Sandon land, the 1900 City hall and a steam train, Hal also owns the power station. In 2001, he rescued 13 Brills from the scrapyard, and used his long-haul trucking company to bring them up to Sandon for restoration. The goal, he says, is to put them back into service, probably in Vancouver since that’s the only city in Canada left that still runs electric buses.
Japanese Internment:
Over the years, Sandon has been besieged by avalanches, floods and fires. In 1900, a fire destroyed most of the business section of the town. Silver prices tanked and mines folded after WW1. Then when things looked bleakest and population declined to around 100 in 1942, Sandon became an internment camp for close to 1,000 Japanese/Canadians. They fixed up abandoned buildings and revived the town. After they left in 1945 the population dropped to 30. Ten years later a flood finished off the lower part of Sandon. Today the population is five.
Sandon has a museum, a gift shop and a food truck also owned by Hal, which sees more than 60,000 visitors every year. We saw more tourists in Sandon then we did wandering around many other fully functioning small towns. And, a mine is once again operating in the area. Apparently galena (made up of 20% silver, 60% lead and 20% zinc) is making a come back, and so it seems is Sandon.
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48 comments on “The Brill Trolley Buses of Sandon, BC”
Great to hear that Sandon is making such a strong comeback! I well remember riding the old Hastings Express Brill to and from downtown back in the 60’s and 70’s – always seemed to miss my connection just as we pulled in to Kootenay Loop!
Strong comeback may be a bit of an exaggeration, but it definitely didn’t feel like a “ghost town”!
Nice to hear about remote little towns that I would otherwise not even know existed. Thanks
I enjoyed this post! It’s so interesting. One of the best ones yet; thanks! I also rode those busses from 1978 to 1982. From the Joyce loop to downtown, catching the bus by running across Kingsway to the loop just behind the 7/11 and gas station, after my Dad dropped me off at the top of the Joyce St hill. I think I paid 15 cents until my student pass ran out. I had a job all the way downtown at the corner of Granville and Hastings. I love those old busses!
Thanks Loretta, glad you enjoyed it!
Inspiring article! We need not travel overseas to explore historical and present day wonders.
So much to discover in BC!
I rode those buses from Joyce Rd loop downtown many Saturdays to Woodwards and then on to Hudson’s Bay for “Bayday”. That was a big deal!
Nice write up Very interesting , we visited the town many years ago . If ever in Sandon take some time to go to the Idaho Peak BC Forest Service Look-Out Fire tower The access road is close to the town and you can drive much of the way up . Once up top , you get the birds- eye view
Next time!
I have heard for years about Hal Wright and ahh, finally a photo of the man. Been to Sandon maybe 20 years ago or more. Very interesting place.
Had no idea who he was, and hadn’t done any research at all, not thinking I would write about it later. But turned out in the end!
Another excellent story Eve
Thanks Robert, glad you enjoyed it!
This detour story is one for the ages. Never heard of it. This provence history seems the most interesting what with the boom and bust frontier towns history. Now the pic from 1890s. is any of that area still there? that you could tell anyway.
The story of silver just as compelling as for gold although it does not shine as bright. in this case though to brightest.
Looking forward to more stories like this one.
Thanks James!
No, a fire in 1900 wiped out the buildings seen in the 1890s photo.
Great story, Eve! I always admire your enthusiasm for the fascinating history we have right here in our province. There are so many towns that boomed then went bust, and many interesting but failed communities to learn about. I was in Sandon some years ago and loved seeing all the old trolley buses that I remember riding downtown when I was young. I enjoyed learning more about the town and the man with the energy and foresight to save the town and the buses.
Yep need to do more touring around the province!
Very good reporting, Eve. Kudos to Hal Wright as well for all of his efforts on behalf of Sandon and the Brill buses.
Eve, the caption for the powerhouse about the last functional power plant in the world, could it be missing a word? The last of its kind perhaps.
I hope you do more of this kind of story. So original.
Thanks Skip! So glad you liked the story!
The Brills were built under licence by Canadian Car and Foundry in Fort William, now Thunder Bay, Ontario. Some of these Brill trolley buses came from other cities. The photo of the two Brills in green, 446 and 459, came from Calgary – note faded CTS logo. Brill 2289 originally ran in Winnipeg until 1970, and became one of two to run as part of the Vancouver system. Other Sandon Brill trolleys include those from Saskatoon, which also ran in Vancouver, and Regina. Visitors to Vancouver in the early 1980s were surprised to see large numbers of these Brills running, many over 30 years old.
Thanks so much Angus for the clarification!
Has he restored the buses and where are they ? There are probably many towns like this….like every face every town has a story!
Great story and photos. Thanks Eve! Got to put Sandon on the list of upcoming destinations. Do you know where the name came from?
One thing missing is the role the Western Federation of Miners played in Sandon’s history. They operated a hospital and a cemetery among other things. The Museum mentioned has a lot of that history including a deck of playing cards that has pictures of Mother Jones and other labour activists. Sandon is really a cool place to visit and the bus collection is a bonus.
Yes, I was really impressed with the museum. Thanks for adding to the story!
Another great bit of history by a favorite “travelling” historian! We went to Sandon years ago and I really enjoyed the power plant being an electrician. There is, for sure, one important thing to remember about HISTORY. Eventually we will all become a part of it ourselves. As well, back then there was so much care to record it for future generations to enjoy. Thanks, again, Eve.
Pleasure. Glad you liked the story!
Another very interesting story! You have such talent in bringing history alive!
I loved those Brill busses…. I was a passenger on them from the early 60’s when I was a little kid, until they stopped using them. I loved pushing the gate to get off at the back of the bus. It was fun watching the bus drivers re-attach the poles when they came off…which seemed to happen frequently on the 4th Avenue bus when it took the entry onto the Granville bridge.
Thanks so much!
There are two restored Brill Trolley buses on display at the Lakehead Transportation Museum Society in Thunder Bay, Ontario (former cities of Fort William and Port Arthur, amalgamated in 1970.)
Thanks for adding to the story!
Great story. I could picture the lifestyle when it was a busy town. Your story telling always takes me to a visual place. Oh..is Hal single? Lol
Thanks so much Anne, glad you liked the story. As to Hal’s marital status – I never thought to ask!
Hello: Your story about Sandon came to me from a friend who visited recently. Sandon and I are connected, distantly, but my mother taught school in Sandon for two or three years in the early 1920s. In fact the old school I believe appears in your top photograph. Throughout my youth in the 40s and 50s she often reminisced about Sandon, her first job, out on her own. It was still frontier territory. In the early 80s my wife and I visited Sandon and found it fascinating. We like old things and Sandon had an enchanting oldness that still existed, to say nothing of having had my mother live and teach there! (Her name was Frances Knott)
Thanks for adding to the story Arthur!
Heartening to learn that Sandon does draw tourists, though I wonder if many would venture there in the winter months.
It would be interesting to know if some Japanese internees and their descendants are among those who have visited over the years.
My friend Jess Quan’s family were interned at Sandon during the war. She has been up their many times.
[…] The Brill Trolley Buses of Sandon, BC […]
Thanks Eve for this lovely article. My son and I went there in June last year, on our way to Banff and Lake Louise. We had read about Sandon quite a bit, and wanted to visit the oldest hydro power plant in BC that was installed in 1897. Hal Wright gave us a tour of the plant. We heard the story that Nikola Tesla personally supervised the installation, that he spent three months in Sandon. Hal told us that he also heard that story, but could not confirm it. He thinks it makes sense that Tesla would do that since Westinghouse technology was based on Tesla’s inventions, and he wanted to make sure that everything worked as it should.
Glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for adding to the story!
I rode a Brille in Vancouver when I was there looking for a job in the “big city” as I came from the interior of BC. The bus I was on had to swerve to miss an errand car driver. I was surprised the bus seemed to have reserve power to move itself back near the overhead power lines and the driver used a large non conducting pole to reattach it. When he took off he floored it and I was amazed how much power the electric engine had, taking off much faster than any diesel bus I have seen. My friend drove one of the buses, saying most had been in numerous accidents over the years and the side panels on the buses had been changed many times!
i remembering riding the trolleys Sundays. you could get a all day pass, and we’d from end to end on as many routes as we could a great way to see the city . best memories ever
[…] The Brill Trolley Buses of Sandon, BC […]
– My Dad and my brother both drove those electric Brill buses in Vancouver – my Dad drove buses for over 30 years and my younger brother drove buses for over 40 years – both of them knew “Angus” as well – as a kid growing up on Fraser Street my Dad always liked to pick and drive the Fraser Street run – he would stop the bus right in front of our house and run in and pick up his lunch on a regular basis – the neighbours living on Fraser Street were even luckier as he would drop them off in right front of their house as a courtesy – bus stops be damned! – we often rode the bus to the Marine Drive turnaround/terminus at the South end of Fraser Street near where the Blue Boy Hotel was built – now gone – after all the passengers were off – don’t tell anyone but Dad would sometimes let us drive the “Brill” about 50 feet or so up to the next stall – being electric powered I remember they had a lot of zip when you hit that “gas/electric” pedal – sadly the majority of the old Brill buses ended eventually up being crushed and sold for scrap – at that time that happened I had a long term client named Ian Mott who started United Auto Wreckers in Surrey along with his brother Richard on Scott Road – they acquired about 250 of the “Brill” buses in 1986 and wanted to restore them and put them back in service else but “skulduggery” at the time by the Provincial Government, the PNE, City of Surrey, various banks and others both Ian and Richard were foreclosed of all their massive property holdings in Surrey they had reinvested all their profits in – over 90 acres of prime valuable Industrial – Commercial land that everyone wanted to take control of from the Mott family – in the end Maynard auctioneers took control of the “disposal” of the Brill” buses – attempts claimed to sell the buses off individually were somewhat false/stretched – Maynard’s disposed of them quickly to make as much profit/money on them as possible – it was the end of a very sad time for a pair of entrepreneurs named Mott who gave “auto/salvage wrecking” a good name with their clean – organized by vehicle make – salvage yards they built for the recycling of used auto parts – sadly another part of the history of the Lower Mainland now lost forever
Love this story! Thanks for stopping by Peter
Stumbled on the town of Sandon on YouTube. Wow, that Brill collection brought back a flood of great memories. I started as a driver for BC Hydro in 1977. The Brill was the first bus I drove. And I remember Angus, a fellow driver. Hope to visit the summer of 2025.
Cliff