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Streetcar elegy

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Between Tonya Davidson’s post on the Centennial year and the above video of Ottawa’s old streetcar system, it seems it is History Week here at Spacing Ottawa. It was Eric Darwin from West Side Action that first drew our attention to this amazing colour video, mostly shot in the late 1950s, of streetcars plying Ottawa’s roads and avenues. The segments are haphazardly joined together, but as you’ll see, the route took the cars through Confederation square, along Sparks Street, past LaBreton Flats — and the old Brading’s Brewery — before swinging through Hintonburg and then the long run west to Britannia Park along the Byron tramway.

Here’s an excerpt from “Headlights” the long-out-of-print journal of something called the “Electric Railroaders Association”, as cited by Anthony Clegg:

Present services in Ottawa consist of seven rail lines and three bus routes. Fares in the city are four for 25 cents with transfer privileges, an additional five cents being charged on the four-mile private right-of-way line to Britannia Park. On a pleasant Sunday afternoon in summer it is not uncommon to see two-minute service on this route, carrying throngs of picnickers to the park, which is owned and operated by the street railway.

Of interest also is the inter-provincial line across the Ottawa River to the city of Hull, Québec….all lines operate through the beautiful Plaza in downtown Ottawa and pass many of the majestic government buildings, including the Parliament building and the Confederation building, both of which in the opinion of many are among the most impressive in the world. The modern streetcars of the OTC fit very well into these surroundings.

We had to read that bit twice. Two-minute streetcar service (on a Sunday!)… seven different lines…a rail link to the Quebec side…dare we even dream of that today? Yet we had it all — in 1951.

UPDATE As a commenter pointed out, we were remiss in our credits for this amazing piece. As Charles said “At least credit Carlington Community Association President Michael Kostiuk for finding and uploading the video, and Montreal streetcar operator Lucien Dauphinais for shooting the footage so many years ago!”

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7 comments

  1. Definitely an unfortunate loss. Somewhat inevitable, given the attitude towards streetcars in North America as a whole (and the fact that the infrastructure needed massive investment to maintain by 1959, as I recall), but as sad loss nevertheless.

    Anyone interested in the history of the capital’s streetcar system should check out Ottawa’s Streetcars by Bill McKeown. It’s a great history, very in-depth, and contains some fantastic photos. I used it for an essay a few years ago, and found it very fascinating above and beyond the academic use. You can find more info about it here: http://www.railfare.net/ottawasstreetcars.html

  2. I second the recommendation of Ottawa’s Streetcars. It’s full of fascinating stories, has approximately seventy million photos, and there are maps, including a big one on the reverse side of the dust jacket.

  4. That is a fascinating video. I particularly like the winter scenes showing Ottawa transit at its most difficult. I feel that there is a huge lesson to be learned here about planning and transit in Ottawa however this is of course only through hindsight which is good at revealing the mistakes of past generations. But perhaps looking at how it used to be in Ottawa and the lessons learned from transit routes, usage and style back then can impact how and what we do now.

  5. At least credit Carlington Community Association President Michael Kostiuk for finding and uploading the video, and Montreal streetcar operator Lucien Dauphinais for shooting the footage so many years ago!

    (Incidentally, I posted the video on my own blog last year right around the 50th anniversary of the last streetcar.)

  6. Moved to tears here. Not just thé streetcars, but the views, the old streets in colour, the old cars… What a gem of a video!