The 9 O'Clock Gun

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npre

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There's plenty of historical information surrounding this gun, but I can't find anything regarding current ownership or operations:

Who owns this cannon? Stanley Park? Vancouver City?

Who is responsible for its maintenance and reloading? What maintenance does a cannon require and when / where is it performed?

What charge does it take and what is it packed with?

How much does it cost to keep operational?

What experience does the operator have and what training has he been through?

Where can I get one?
 
I think it was under the purview of the Vancouver Parks Board and it went defunct over fears of the deteriorating condition of the gun.

I used to live in the West End and it was part of life to hear it "Boom!"
 
I can remember it firing in the past - If I remember correctly by the end it was fired with a piezo igniter and propane injector on a timer? The discussion among some people involved is that officially it isn't in "safe condition to fire", but in reality the yuppies in the towers along the bay b**tched about the noise so the city found a reason not to fire it.

Could probably start a group to get it working again. It's a heavy cast gun firing an open propane charge... pvc can survive that. At worst a group could set up a brass or stainless insert to get it firing again. An interest group could probably jump on the heritage and community history and uniqueness band wagon and get it going again. Not like anyone lives in most of the apartments these days anyways :p
 
Hmmm....I can recall as a kid, going by the gun, and seeing what a mess the chain link in front of it was in, from the rocks that guys would chuck into the barrel after it had been loaded. Or just between firings, as the case may have been. Not sure it was actually fired by a person, at least, not always.

Apparently played right royal hobb with the floating Shell station's signs, too, if the tides were right.

Sure made a noise when it fired! :)

Cheers
Trev
 
Maybe it's still going? I haven't heard it in years...


Edit - as of 2012 it was still blackpowder, was loaded in advance and ran off a digital timer/igniter. They were having problems with the digital clock and I never heard what happened with it after that.... I could be totally wrong, all the stuff I've been saying is second hand via a parks board guy at stanley park, so I guess the only thing to do is contact them?
 
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H Wally said:
Maybe it's still going? I haven't heard it in years...


Edit - as of 2012 it was still blackpowder, was loaded in advance and ran off a digital timer/igniter. They were having problems with the digital clock and I never heard what happened with it after that.... I could be totally wrong, all the stuff I've been saying is second hand via a parks board guy at stanley park, so I guess the only thing to do is contact them?
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That sure makes more sense than propane, given the history that I was told of it.

Cheers
Trev
 
Seriously they would fire this thing every day at nine every day, day after day, I would be pissed on a sleep in day, No wonder people complained,
 
Seriously they would fire this thing every day at nine every day, day after day, I would be pissed on a sleep in day, No wonder people complained,
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Ahh a nimby...
Fired at 2100 hrs +/- a few seconds.
Was used to signal the end of fishing and as a method of informing the ships of the official time check and adjustments of clocks.
A 107 plus years of Vancouver Tradition.
Rob
 
I can remember years ago someone sneaked up and loaded it up with a Cannonball.It put a hole through the O in the Esso marine fuel station.They did something after that so nobody could prank again with the old gun.I lived 7 miles away and could hear it clearly at 9 o'clock.
 
Rod B said:
A really nice tradition that other cities & towns should emulate.
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Halifax has a 12 noon boom. Produces a nice round ring of smoke. I was impressed. Not sure they do it year round though?

M
 
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I remember when I first move to the area, staying in the marriott hotel downtown for a month. For the longest while I kept wondering what the hell it was, and why every night at 9. Come to think of it, when downtown off and on at night for the last many years I haven't heard it.
 
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