B.C. film studio repurposes retired SkyTrain car to create country’s first standing subway train set

A film studio in Langley has repurposed an original, retired SkyTrain car to create a standing subway set.

A SkyTrain car from TransLink’s retired Mark I fleet is set to reinvigorate filming in Hollywood North after being repurposed by a production studio in Langley.

Lumostage Virtual Production acquired one of the classic cars two months ago and has since transformed it into a New York-esque subway train and integrated it into a full-service, 180-degree LED stage decorated to look like a Canal Street train platform.

The unveiling on Tuesday marked the introduction of Canada’s first ever standing subway train set that can be used for movie and television filming, a new beginning for the historical car, and a vision realized for one very determined COO.

“When I found out TransLink was making these cars available, I already knew exactly what I wanted to do with the car,” says Angus Luk-Ramsay, founder and chief operating officer of Lumostage.

Luk-Ramsay’s dream to build a flexible, realistic train set for filming was first born around three years ago, when Lumostage carried out a project for the Director’s Guild of Canada that involved creating a subway station and the virtual environment around it.

For the past two years, he’s been searching for a train that would complete the set, perusing online auctions for disused rail cars and at one point almost purchasing a 1960s-built Amtrak car for $10,000 from a seller in the United States. He considered building the train from scratch, something film productions of “a certain budget level” are capable of, but the costs would have been extortionate.

“Commercials, episodic television and feature films have all been struggling with the issue of trains for a very, very long time, and I’ve been wanting to solve it for them for a very long time, I just didn’t have the pieces together until TransLink came through with this request for a proposal,” Luk-Ramsay says.

Two cranes relocated the car from TransLink’s storage in Burnaby to the studio in Langley, where it would remain outside for five weeks while crews worked to prepare it for the spotlight.

The bulk of the project involved removing all the steel – including the wheels and the electrical infrastructure – to make the car lighter. The weight of the train – 33,000 pounds – was a “major concern,” says Luk-Ramsay. The wheels were replaced with a frame connected to four air casters and the train, now essentially a hovercraft, can be moved around the studio with the “difficulty of pushing a shopping cart.”

With B.C.’s film industry being increasingly challenged by other jurisdictions with improved crews and alluring tax incentives, offering the only interactive subway train in the country gives the province “one more feather in its cap” when it comes to attracting business, he says.

“Giving producers across North America, or across the globe, an ability to tell stories that have decent chunks taking place on a subway – whether it’s a New York City subway or a Chicago ‘L’ train, or Toronto or Hong Kong – is going to make British Columbia very desirable,” he says.

With the move such a success, Luk-Ramsay predicts it won’t be long before a filmmaker comes along looking for two train cars for their production, rather than just the one. Given TransLink’s dozens of retired trains that are still looking for a home, it’s certainly an option. Is he tempted?

“Oh, 100 per cent,” he says.

“If there was a need for it, I would absolutely partner with TransLink again. They’ve been just amazing.”

As someone who can recall when the trains were first unveiled at the 1986 World Exposition – he was five but remembers viscerally the “excitement of pushing the button on the door” – Luk-Ramsay says being able to house such an iconic piece of Vancouver history feels like a full-circle moment.

During the rebuild, crews had to cut the nose off the train to remove some weight and ensure it could fit horizontally into the studio. The three-foot long section currently sits outside the building, but soon enough it will be installed above the main entrance of the office as a celebration of Lumostage’s milestone and an homage to the train’s original purpose and the fond memories Luk-Ramsay holds of it.

For those who feel inspired by the train’s creative journey, TransLink, after an initial request in November, is once again looking for innovative ideas to relocate and repurpose its retiring fleet. Of the original 150, 130 remain, and interested businesses, developers, community organizations, and municipalities can submit proposals through a new request for information issued by the transit organization.

“We’re looking at things that would enrich the community, and that would contribute to the local economy,” says TransLink spokesperson Thor Diakow.

“They could be used for art installations or for safety and training exercises, there’s a myriad of ideas of things that they could get turned into.”

Creative proposals for the next set of cars will be accepted until Nov. 28, 2025, with additional applications open at a later date as more vehicles are phased out of service.