AUTOMATA STREETCAR
The Streetcars
The streetcar system in Nelson was established in 1899 and operated until 1949, serving over a period of 50 years during which the community slowly developed and matured.
It was originally set up as a public company, with stock listed and traded on the London, England stock exchange. The original investors anticipated that Nelson would become a major population and industrial centre based on mining and smelting, but an early economic recession combined with a dramatic drop in the price of silver relegated the remote mountain community and it's streetcar system to a more quiet and reserved future.
Early Public Transit
Many streetcar systems in North America started as private companies with interests in transportation and electricity distribution. As the age of streetcars ebbed in the early 1900's, the transportation portion typically became unprofitable and resulted in either abandonment or adoption by communities as public transit departments.
Within a few years of its founding, it was apparent that Nelson's streetcar system would not be profitable and the company decided to withdraw from Nelson. The company's assets were leased to the City of Nelson, to be operated as a public transit service.
The City council was reluctant to enter this service, but was motivated by the desire to retain the operation as an economic development asset (a streetcar system marked a community as a major economic centre), and also to ensure the citizens retained transportation services in an era with few automobiles and no buses, when shoe-leather and horses were the only alternatives. It was an era before towns and cities widely embraced publicly-funded transit as an essential service, and the City's support was often minimal and sometimes reluctantly provided. Underfunding would plague the system to its end.
Nelson's Historic Streetcar Roster
Often cited as the smallest streetcar system in the British Empire
The City's First Streetcars 1899 - 1904
The Nelson Electric Streetcar Company originally acquired 2 small streetcars and began operations in December of 1899. The following year they acquired a special excursion car to serve Lakeside Park.
However, they quickly ran into financial difficulties when the area's economy was badly effected by an economic depression early in the new century, which was accompanied by a dramatic drop in the price of silver. Mines and smelters throughout the West Kootenay region were forced to close, and plans to extend the streetcar line further up the mountain to a proposed satellite community below Hall Mines were abandoned.
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To cut costs, the Company sold one of the original cars to the BCER in Vancouver, and began to scale back service. By 1903 the company was threatening to leave Nelson.
Car 1
Nelson's first streetcars - Car 1 and Car 2 - were double-truck, double-ended vehicles, but the design proved to be unsuitable and expensive to operate.
Car 2
Car 2 was heavily damaged in the system's infamous opening day accident when it derailed after losing it brakes on a steep section of track. It was repaired and then sold in 1902 as a cost-cutting measure.
Car 3
Car 3 was very popular for summer excursions to Tramway Park, which the streetcar company helped to establish on the lake shore as a way to generate passenger traffic.
The Fragile Years 1905 - 1908
After a prolonged period of intermittent and tentative service, and as an alternative to permanent closure, the City of Nelson reluctantly took over the streetcar system through a lease agreement.
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As part of the agreement, City staff assumed supervisory and operating roles, and the company provided a smaller, lighter-weight, single-operator streetcar which could be less expensive to run. The larger Car 1 was relegated to a secondary role, used for special occasions and for larger crowds.
Despite the reprieve, costs continued to climb as wear and tear accelerated. Tragedy struck when the carbarn and the streetcars were lost in a devastating fire in 1908. The fate of Car 3 during this era is unknown - whether it was sold, scavenged for parts, or lost in the carbarn fire.
Car 1
Car 1 was kept as a reserve car, used only when required to serve larger crowds.
Car 3
Car 3 was very popular for excursions to Tramway Park. After the company sold the park property to a lumber company, the City responded by founding Lakeside Park.
Car 4
Car 4 was a less expensive design to operate - it required less electricity and could be driven by only 1 operator - although the City continued to use 2 crew as a safety measure.
The Phoenix 1910 - 1924
After the loss of the operating equipment the 1908 fire, the community endured 2 years without a streetcar system. Business and civic leaders, however, were encouraged by the resurgent growth of railways, forestry, and agriculture (fruit orchards), and stepped in to establish a new system using the existing tracks. The carbarn was rebuilt and 2 large, modern streetcars were acquired in 1910. The following year, a new sweeper car also arrived, which was used to clear snow and slippery leaves from the tracks - deemed essential on the steep mountain-side route - and which could also serve the community by plowing snow from the streets along the track.
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Despite the modernization and the new start, the system remained financially fragile and was soon taken over again by the City.
Car 1
The new cars were larger, faster, and more comfortable, with electric heaters to use during the winter. They were also numbered as Car 1 and Car 2.
Car 2
The new cars were also heavier, which provided a smoother ride over rough track sections, and better traction in the winter.
Sweeper Car
The sweeper car supported the systems by cleaning snow and slippery leaves from the tracks. It operated from 1911 - 1949.
The Challenging Years 1925 - 1945
In December of 1924 the City acquired a 3rd streetcar to use as a spare vehicle - it enabled a better maintenance schedule for the main cars which being worn out too quickly, and could help the system accommodate larger crowds for sporting events, festivals, and steamboat arrivals. In theory, it might also allow the streetcars to be run more frequently along the line, to attract more passengers, though in practice the location of the only "passing track" limited service to 30 minute intervals.
As automobiles became more reliable, affordable, and numerous in Nelson, the streetcar system faced increasing competition for passengers, and revenues began to fall further behind expenses. Private automobile owners also wanted better roads and infrastructure, which diverted the community's attention and financial support away from the public streetcar system, and a long period of decline and deterioration began.
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Other major challenges included the Great Depression, which severely limited revenue and curtailed public investment, and World War 2 which severely limited access to spare parts, steel track, and electrical components.
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Car 21
After Car 23 arrived, Car 1 was given a major refit and overhaul, then renumbered as Car 21. the colour was also changed from green to red. It then operated until 1949.
Car 22
Car 2 also received a major refit and overhaul, as with Car 21, and was then renumbered as Car 22.
Car 23
Car 23 was acquired second-hand from the streetcar system in Cleveland, Ohio. It was built in 1906, and still operates today in Nelson as part of the Nelson Electric Tramway Society's museum operation.
The End of an Era 1945 - 1949
The economic challenges of the Great Depression of the 1930's was followed by rationing and scarcity of replacement parts and materials during World War 2. Ironically, increased ridership during the war years, as people opted to save gasoline rations and preserve their car tires, significantly increased the wear and tear on the streetcars during a time when replacement parts were very hard to find.
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By 1949, the City's streetcar system was in poor shape and needed to be overhauled or replaced. Although the majority of citizens voted in a referendum to keep their streetcars, the City council opted to replace them with buses and Nelson's small system was retired. The era of Nelson's streetcars as public transit had come to an end.
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On its last run, Car 21 stops for photograph on Baker Street alongside its replacement transit bus.
Car 21 and Car 22 were stored on at Lakeside Park loop for a couple of years, pending their sale or disposal, though were ultimately taken across the tracks into the park and converted into greenhouses. They remained there for a couple more years, but their ultimate fate is unknown. Car 23 was initially moved to a different park in the Uphill area for use as a heated changing room at an outdoor skating rink, then was sold into private hands and relocated for other uses. It was ultimately rescued and restored in the 1980's and is now operated as a popular local museum attraction at Lakeside Park and along the Nelson waterfront. The fate of the Sweeper Car is unknown.