Seven summers ago, I was returning home from a business trip to Saskatchewan. On my way back from the Canadian province’s largest city, Saskatoon, I had a several-hour layover in Vancouver. Seizing the opportunity, I roamed around downtown Vancouver and accidentally stumbled upon Gastown—the original 1870s townsite from which the city grew.
As I leisurely strolled along the cobblestone streets of Vancouver's oldest urban district, observing a vibrant mix of trendy restaurants, bars, Victorian-era brick buildings, art galleries, and fashion boutiques, I reached the intersection where Water Street meets Cambie Street. There, I was captivated by an iconic, whistling steam clock standing on the corner—something I had never seen before.
The Gastown Steam Clock is one of only seven such functioning clocks in the world. Standing 16 feet tall, it is crafted from gleaming bronze and copper. Its large central whistle sounds the hours with a noise reminiscent of an old locomotive, while four smaller whistles—one at each corner—play the Westminster Quarters every 15 minutes.
Stopping to admire this rare beauty, I listened to it whistle at regular intervals as the mini-chimneys shot out white steam vapor. While the clock partially relies on steam to power its mechanisms, it also utilizes an electric motor.
Its steam whistles have drawn countless tourists to Gastown for nearly five decades. On the last day of July in 2019, I joined a small crowd gathered at 305 Water Street to watch the whistles go off.
Built by legendary Canadian clockmaker Raymond Saunders in 1977, the clock covers a pre-existing steam vent. Gastown merchants originally commissioned the monument for approximately $58,000.
True steam clocks—defined as timepieces fully or partially powered by a steam engine and known for emitting steam whistles—are incredibly rare. To be precise, six of the seven running steam clocks globally are the handiwork of Saunders, a famous Canadian horologist.
Three of these seven functioning clocks are located in British Columbia, Canada:
The Gastown Steam Clock: The most famous of his creations.
The Whistler Steam Clock: A smaller, alpine-style steam clock built by Saunders for the resort town of Whistler.
The Port Coquitlam Clock: Another custom-built Saunders creation located in a community square.
The remaining four clocks span the globe:
Otaru, Japan: This massive, 5.5-meter-tall clock was made by Saunders as a gift from Vancouver to Japan. It is currently the largest working steam clock in the world.
Indiana, United States: Another Saunders-made piece located in the American Midwest.
Katoomba, Australia: Unveiled in 2014, Saunders built this clock as a monument to commemorate the region's late-19th-century coal miners.
Jersey, UK: The only clock not built by Saunders. Designed and built by the British clock making company Smith of Derby in 1996, it sits on the Jersey Waterfront in the English Channel. While it historically relied entirely on steam, it was later retrofitted with electrical mechanics for reliability while maintaining its iconic steam display.
The steam that powers the Gastown clock travels through underground pipes connected to a generating plant at West Georgia and Beatty Streets, which provides heat to the downtown core.
After spending nearly half an hour admiring the creation, my only regret was not being able to meet its creator, as I had a flight to catch. I only recently learned through an obituary in the Vancouver Sun that Raymond Saunders passed away in November 2024 at the age of 84.
Saunders worked on virtually every public clock in Vancouver. Born in Courtenay on February 7, 1940, he moved to Vancouver in his teens. His love affair with horology began when his father gave him a box of old alarm clocks to rebuild. After working in the clock department at Woodward’s department store for 11 years, he struck out on his own.
In 1974, a group of local businessmen commissioned him to build the Gastown clock. He accomplished the task over the following three years, sealing his legacy in the clock world. He kept busy restoring timepieces and advising clock collectors right up until his death.
