Before cars were king

A century ago, the tram system offered Haligonians unprecedented freedom and mobility

BY KATIE INGRAM

W.R. MacAskill Nova Scotia Archives 1987-453 no. 4230

Trams were once part of the hustle and bustle of downtown life, screeching across tracks and stopping at the clang of the bell. Now they’re gone, and pavement covers their tracks, leaving them to rust beneath the streets, briefly glimpsed during road-work season.

“The tram car was pretty much the major source of transportation for the average working person,” says Don Cunningham, co-author of The Halifax Street Railway 1866–1949. “Most people travelled on them back and forth to work and (operators) knew everybody because they used same tram car for pretty much their entire adult life.” Compared to the buses to today, the tram cars were much more efficient, he adds.

According to a blog post on trams from the Halifax Public Libraries (“From the Birney to the Bus: A Brief and Not at All Definitive History of Halifax Public Transit”), originally the trams ran every 15 minutes. That’s a level of service users of most Halifax Transit routes today would envy.

By the 1940s, Halifax had over 80 trams in its fleet, but in 1949, replaced them with electric trolley coaches. Gas-powered buses came in 1969.

Even though they are long gone, Cunningham who was a child when the last trams rolled through, often thinks of what was. “When I was a kid, trams were just so much fun almost like a carnival,” he says. “They were noisy because they had the compressors and all that stuff running … but they were a real treat.”

Nova Scotia Archives Photo Collection: Transportation and Communication: Street Cars: Birney Street Car / negative N-7284

THE END

Despite switching over to buses in March 1949, several of the trams were used sporadically over the next month to cover small distances. For example Route 3 went from Richmond to Buckingham and Young streets. There were six routes in use until the end of April.

On their last official day in March, one of the trams was decorated with a cartoonish, crying face and two messages. The first, to passengers, read:

Good-bye my friends, this is the end: I’ve travelled miles and miles. And watched your faces through the years, show anger, tears and smiles: Although you criticized my looks and said I was too slow, I got you there and brought you back through rain, sleet and snow.

A passage on the back read:

Farewell to all you motorists — today my journey ends! So let’s forget past arguments, shake hands and part as friends. You’ve followed me around the streets and many times you swore because I beat you to the stop and dared you to pass my door.

Birney Car no. 140, [between 1947 and 1949], Douglas Parker collection of photographs of Nova Scotia Light and Power Co. tram cars, CR60.16 – Halifax Municipal Archives.

SPARE A DIME?

• In 1925 the cost per trip for an adult was $0.10 ($1.57 in 2021) and $0.05 ($0.78 in 2021) for a child. • A weekly tram pass in 1940 cost $1.25 (equivalent to $22.31 today).

THE COMPANY THAT WENT NOWHERE

There were many different companies involved in the street railway system. One was the Halifax Railway company, which was founded in 1884, but couldn’t secure enough of an investment to stay afloat.

FINDING THE RAILS

To locate the remaining tram rails, the HRM uses ground penetrating radar, which can determine an object’s location underground. If the rail is deep enough, it’s usually left alone.

THE SIMPSONS

When the Simpsons department store opened in Halifax’s West End in 1928, it became part of the tram line, with a loop of rails in front of the store.

JUST HALIFAX

Bus routes go all over the HRM, shown by Routes 1, 5 and 7 on this map.

The trams were confined to urban Halifax, leaving many neighbouring communities without a public transportation system.

DISASTER HITS

The Halifax Explosion clobbered the Nova Scotia Tramways and Power Company. Nine employees died and many others were injured, one car was destroyed and many others were damaged.

HERE & THERE

The Belt Line was actually comprised of two tram lines, Route 1 and 2.

DIFFERENT TIMES, DIFFERENT LINES

The lines in this map are from 1945. While the idea remained the same, the service expanded and changed over the years. For example, in 1927, the routes were as follows: Route 1 and 2: Belt Line Route 3: Richmond - Gottingen/Oxford Route 4: Armdale Route 5: Dingle Route 7: Agricola - South Park Route 8: Windsor - Inglis Route 9: Point Pleasant Park Route 10 and 11: Forum/Exhibition (These were only used for special events.)

RUNNING AMOK

During the VE-Day riots in 1945, Tram 126 was set on fire and left to burn in front of St. Mary’s Glebe on Barrington Street.

FANCY CARS

Each seat in the tram had its own heater and the seats could rotate so passengers could face each other. Like buses of today there were also advertisements lining the interior.

For a timeline of Halifax’s transit evolution, surf to unravelhalifax.ca.