Montreal transit stages mega garage sale with vintage bus, subway items

MONTREAL — For many Montrealers, the sound of coins dropping into a fare box or the sight of an original Smurf-blue-and-white subway car brings back memories of past commutes and long hours on the road.

And on Sunday, hundreds of vintage lovers and history buffs lined up outside the soon-to-beclosed Bellechasse bus garage to bring home a piece of the city’s transit history, from station platform signs, to subway seats and bus-fare boxes at a sale put on by the city’s transit society.

Josh Arless, 29, showed up early enough to snag a metal sign from the Laurier subway stop and an old fare box. He said many Montrealers have an attachment to their public transit system, given its importance to the city’s history and to people’s everyday lives.

“When you think about the large historic moments in Montreal, it’s the opening of the (subway) for Expo 67 and then, 10 years later, the Olympics.” he said.

“The (subway) is in our blood as Montrealers ... people want to live that experience again, or at least own a piece of it.”

The transit agency items are being sold before the city moves its buses to a new garage. Bellechasse garage has housed the city’s fleet since 1941 and is set to be demolished next year.

Items ranged in price from $10 for a bus sign to $500 for a large panel displaying the transit agency’s logo, with proceeds going to local charities.