Sunday, November 27, 2005

First Montreal Electric Tramway-1892

Translation:
THE GOOD OLD DAYS
the no. 350 "Rocket" was the first electric tramway put into service by the "Montreal Street Railway Co." in 1892. The net in front of the vehicule was to receive any pedestrian that the tramway would have picked up and to prevent any serious accident.
This picture may have already appeared on this site.
 
(More interesting events from the SHGV archives)

15 comments:

les__f MSN said...

Hi Guy 5479,.....Does the shgv have pictures of Montreal's 'funicular' railway trams that ran up the Mountain,...  or a story on them by chance? .....it's quite a contraption........ .....that is one very steeply angled track,..............and Here's an old shot of a tram on StDenis .....................HF&RV

fresco750 MSN said...

Hi Les, The streetcar photo that you posted on St Denis looks like the streetcar is on the wrong side of the street, you know-like The British side. You can see the rear of the streetcar & trolley pole. Did we ever have the British side of the street driving in Montreal? I have read that the streetcars in St John, New Brunswick & Vancouver, British Columbia used to run on the British side of the street & were changed over around 1904. I always thought Montreal had normal side of the street driving. I enjoyed the Mt Royal incline railway photos. My grandparents told me about riding the incline. I have seen the Pittsburg incline & been on the one at Niagara Falls, Ontario. In sports news I was able to watch the Grey Cup in Florida. Great game even though the Als lost. I liked hearing about Edmonton Head Coach Danny Maciocia who grew up in Montreal. HF & remember the Als.

les__f MSN said...

Hi Fresco,...I don't really know about which side of the street Montrealer's drove on historically,......but I am quite certain ,they don't care which side of the road they drive on as long as they can get by.........hahahahha   As for the Mountain Tram,.......I liked those pics too,....and I thought I had several others,.....but I cannot seem to find them at present........inany case good to hear your lives were not disrupted too much by the 'windy conditions'.........and good to see you back on the site.....( your knowledge of trams,bus's & the like ) far exceed my limited knowledge..........HF&RV

guy5479 MSN said...

Hi Les_F, Those are terrific old pictures and I don't recall seing them before. I will make copies and show them around at the SHGV. Guy

guy5479 MSN said...

Les_F, Do you know the year those pictures where taken. I would imagine they were taken around 1900. Guy

les__f MSN said...

I am not sure what year they were taken,.but I will have a look around,...and see if I can find out,.....I have had these pics 'saved'on my PC,.for sometime,...so I will have to try & think of which site I was on when I found them,......there is a credit for the photo,at the bottom of each picture ( Montreal Archive ?) as for the St Denis photo,I thinkk the year was on that one,........ Glad they were of interest........    HF&RV

jmhachey MSN said...

Hi Fresco 750 (Walter) ! In ref to : Message Board: First Montreal Electric Tramway-1892 Message: No 2 I would say that the streetcar is running on the right side on the street (not on the left side as in England). I think that some confusion may arise from the darkness of the pic (specially the tram) and also by the fact that a horse drawn chariot is moving on the wrong side of the street. I have never heard of traffic running on the left side of the street in Montreal. Here is a photo of St-Denis St.(corner Viger) taken in 1907; from that pic, one can see that the traffic is running on the right side.   JM

jmhachey MSN said...

Hi Les ! The photo was taken from this site: http://www2.ville.montreal.qc.ca/archives/gariepy/themes/paysages/montreal_05.shtm JM

les__f MSN said...

Thanks   JMH,...it gets hard to Remember which sites held what,.......and of course I don't always bookmark the sites I find or I'd need a separate hard drive just for web address,............but I'm sure you know that feeling ,..as you seem to research as many or more than I do..................Can you Imagine 'not having' the ability to surf the internet,.......Unbelievable,....I always was a supporter of the local Library systems,.( I still do support them),....but it sure is a lot quicker to search for things,.......and not have to go out of the house..........                 --HF&RV--

guy5479 MSN said...

Jean Marie Merci beaucoup pour la photo et l'information. Guy

fresco750 MSN said...

Thanks Jean-Marie, Is it cold up in your area now? Is the Pope Catholic? Great photo of St Denis Street streetcars. The St Denis Street streetcars stopped when I was nine years old but I still remember them. St Denis had the trailer streetcars. I loved riding in the trailer car. I think Montreal always had traffic in the normal direction unlike some other areas of Canada. Still it sure looks like the streetcar & sled are on the British wrong side of the street in the photo that Les posted. Can anyone explain this or am I just on the wrong TRACK ? Sorry-Walter

les__f MSN said...

Well I  have two 'Trains ' of thought re: that photo,...1: the sled is walking towards the traffic,.and is actually pulled over to the side,.looks like he's behind an indent in the snowbank sort of,......just like walking on a rural road without sidewalks,.s you should walk towards the traffic,.so they can see you & of course you can see them,....You wouldn't want a tram bearing down on you from behind,it wouldn't provide much warning to pull over & get out of the way,......2: it could be something simple like a reverse negative when printing(unlikely,.but possible),...Other than that I don't really have different 'line' on it.                          --HF&RV--

fresco750 MSN said...

Montreal Streetcars to return? http://www.cbc.ca/montreal/story/qc-streetcars20060221.html  

les__f MSN said...

Good slide show available on that site Fresco,.........Thanks,....makes it easier to view,...   I've heard the mayor of Montreal is in favour of bringing back a tram/streetcar,.....spome opponents are not in favour,.due to the traffic tie ups that do occur,....(ever get stuck behind one in Toronto,......pain i t a ....) but with all the reclaimed land along Montreal's waterfront,....which runs from Downtown,.almost through to StAnnedeBellvue,.......as well as along the old Lachine Canal,......I would think those would provide a very straight thru,tram line,..with little impact on other main street traffic,............I wonder if it will come to pass ??

fresco750 MSN said...

Hi Les, I don't think I ever got stuck behind a streetcar but that would be only because I chose to ride the streetcar rather than drive. I love this Montreal Mayor and I hope he gets the Tramways back on track. I think I read somewhere that Vancouver may get light rail streetcars. It's great that Vancouver still has the trolley busses and the Sky Train. Like I say, you live in God's Country. It doesn't get better than British Columbia.