Ottawa's Streetcars Removed 50 Years Ago.
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- Опубликовано: 29 апр 2009
- This is a special commemorative video of the 50th anniversary of the end of the streetcar system in Ottawa Canada.
Source and permission to use the video is from Raymond Langlois.
It has some never-seen-before footage taken WAY back in the 1950's of Ottawa Streetcars in action. It was taken by Lucien Dauphinais, a Montreal Tramways streetcar
operator, who came up to Ottawa on numerous occasions during the 1950's with his 8mm film movie camera.
Some of the colour footage is a little fuzzy, but it is still useful as it shows the street scenes in the late 1950s in Ottawa. Includes Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter scenes .
It also has scenes of the 1000 series streetcars in Ottawa, rare because only 4 of this type were made, and they were withdrawn from service some time before the end of the streetcar era in 1959.
Regular venue Streetcar service in Ottawa came to on April 30, 1959.
There was a final farewell parade of Ottawa streetcars held on May 2, 1959.
Some Ottawa streetcars (most of which were made in Ottawa by the Ottawa Car Company) can be found in various museums in North America. Most Notably: Expo Rail in Delson, Quebec (South of Montreal), the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport Maine, and the Museum of Science and Technology in Ottawa. There are also the body of OTC streetcar 905, as well as the trucks and body of OTC streetcar 696 at the main OC Transpo Garage in Ottawa. Hopefully both of these streetcars will be fully restored at some time in near future.
Loved the streetcars...would be nice to see them back.
I arrived in Ottawa in late 61 with the AirForce and stayed on after my release. Most beautiful city, I just love it. Thanks for the videos.
Ottawa is a hidden gem don't tell everyone. Lol Ottawa is a boring city remember.
I remember riding these with my grandmother back in the early `50s as a child.
Ottawa is beautiful! they have beautiful parks, trails and...
STREETCARS. I am part of a restoration group which is bringing back streetcar 696 and 905.
Been a while. How much longer till we see them?
Clean and cool transportation!
Better than stinking cars!!!
Bring them back ASAP. ***
Nice video. Thank you.
Really enjoyed this video ... thanks for sharing.
Nice vid, thanks for uploading. I rode the streetcars in Toronto quite a bit when I lived there in the 80's, and now here in Ottawa we're finally talking about "light rail", 50 years after getting rid of ours.
Just to be clear,Ottawa's decision to get rid of the street cars was taking place in most major cities in North america at the same time.
The real push to get rid of street cars was coming from oil companies and the big 3 car producers ,who actively bought out a lot of the street cars,Toronto and San Francisco being the most notable hold outs.
Enter urban sprawl and the decay of living in the downtown core.
It's such a shame that they removed them, it would add such a charm to Ottawa...it tears me up inside how many things we pass over in Ottawa. Still love the city but it's not run properly.
Lovely. I was pausing and rewinding throughout.
I love Ottawa, been here since 76, it's too bad they took out the street car's, those lines would have made for an awesome tram line now.
Now we are going to have LRT !!! What a clown show, the Transitway and the LRT, the whole idea of any transit system in Ottawa was to get the buses off the downtown streets. Something they have still not got right, the Transitway, should have been left to the buses and the LRT line should have run it's own lines straight east/west, north/south. the LRT line should have gone from Trim Rd. in east, straight west to Bayshore and then Kanata. Then another line straight from Parliment Hill down Bank St. too Bank/Hunt Club and then to the airport and they should have made it so the line connects to Gatineau via the Prince of Wales Bridge, sure would save alot of buses running over to Gatineau.
Trim road along side the highway to Montreal Rd. near Greens Creek, then straight down Montreal Rd, Rideau St., Wellington, Richmond then cut over to Bayshore and head out to Kanata.
Make a loop from Trim to downtown to airport and same from west end, every second train goes south once it hits downtown, then comes back north and goes east to trim after hitting the Airport.
Now you have OC Transpo, splitting the routes with the end of it, downtown.... so you have buses sitting in the downtown core, turning around in the downtown core rather than just passing through it, any idea as to how much extra this cost ? Alot more than a bus passing through downtown.
So what happened to a tunnel in Ottawa to get the buses off the downtown streets to make it easier for traffic ? Was that not the plan ?
It seems the more educated some people get, the less common sense they have.
you realize the trim rd to baseline and north south extensions are the second stage of the lrt. also gatineau has plans for a light rail system that will link ottawa's
Thanks for the memories!
I loved the Britania line
Born in Ottawa, worked for the trolley tour bus company 25 years ago, our garage was in the original generator building on Victoria island. Love your video l fix the audio please!
They even later removed the trains from downtown. Ironically, years later it is reported that a famous city planner was riding in a taxi with a university of Ottawa professor and when he went by what is now the Conference Centre, in looking at the building stated "...beautiful building...would make a great railway station" !!! Toronto and Montreal kept their central stations - right n the heart of the city...but Ottawa....!!???
'Centennial revitalization project'. And you can still see after 50 years, no one has a good idea with what to do with the old CPR yard (aka Lebreton Flats).
@@nikthetrainnerd1211 We know very well we want a hockey arena there.
Thanks for posting this. My great grandfather was probably driving/riding one of those in your video as he was a streetcar conductor in Ottawa in the 40 & 50's...
It was a dumb idea to remove them. Look at how Toronto is still using them and they are a tourist attraction and cost less to run than buses. Why such destruction of our heritage? They also tore beautiful theatres (Capitol, Regent, etc).
Yes Ottawa has made some major mistakes nobody can deny that. But let's be proud to live in a great city.
Canada has no heritage according to Marxists.
To answer your question, the automotive industry.
There was a particular Mayor that undid all this I believe.
This video makes me cry... Ottawa would even be much more beautiful should the streetcars had remained.....
This is the best video of its type ive ever seen! That includes the vintage music!
Great video, it really shows how much damage the NCC has done to the city of Ottawa over the past 50 years.
The overhead wires were unsightly and people often twisted their ankles while crossing the road and inadvertently stepping on the track.
The reason they were retired, however, is that throughout the 1940s and 1950s General Motors was aggressively promoting it's modern buses and offering generous discounts and incentives to cities that abandoned their streetcar lines in favour of brand new buses.
WOW!!...Very cool video to see, my grandfather drove these back in the day and retired shortly thereafter and then my Dad worked for OTC/OC nowadays...Nice to see old vintage footage of this, thanks for sharing :-)
There are some reminders of streetcars still in Ottawa; outside Works burgers near the Queensway on Bank is the last standing pole that once held the wire though which streetcars got their power.
Near the crossing shown here on Richmond Road, there is a stone roadbed
where the track once ran.
I have a similar video to this one taken around the same time. I should put it up.
You should put it up if you still have it!
The thing about it is that it would be so easy to put it all back. Most of the old right-of-way was converted to parks, and the old garage (a storage-rental place) and power plant (a rock-climbing facility) are still standing. It would be easy to lay down new tracks, put up new poles, route the old Sparks St. line along Wellington, and rail problem solved!
Shoulda waited to watch the rest of the film...woulda answered my own question.
Thanks for posting...
You do realise that Ottawa is planning to restore and run streetcar 696 and 905 when light rail is done construction in 2018. So, Ottawa will have that charm again. =)
TheRUclipsr111 yeah, hi, 5 years later we can say that’s a no go
In 1959 buses were modern and convenient. They could make detours at the drop of a hat, they could pass stalled cars and be sent out to the new suburbs and have their routes changed or modified without any need for construction of new tracks and wire installation. In 1959 no one ever thought gasoline would ever be in short supply nor did anyone give any thought to the effect it had on the environment.
It’s a shame Ottawa had a massive network of rail tracks that were removed, only to go back and install a straight line in 2019 for billions of dollars. LRT is also garbage service, breaking down constantly, pieces are falling off the trains, undersized from the get go, crammed stations etc. The old trams should have been kept.
Ikr, we should’ve kept this streetcar. I think the only good things the NCC has done for Ottawa is Gatineau Park and the fact that they stopped a massive highway project all around Ottawa in the 60s.
magnificent video, why are there not similar videos also for montreal?
The "new GMC bus" was probably the #2
Wonderful video. I'd love to see more footage of 'old Ottawa',
Streetcars did have their drawbacks. Ice on the wires or tracks, as well as power interruptions or stalled cars ahead of them. could stop the cars in their tracks and block major roads (after all streetcars can't just be pulled to the side of the road). Streetcars could not make detours and changing or adjusting the routes meant laying new tracks and installing new wires.
They should have kept the street cars like they did with the TTC in Toronto Canada and they could have then upgraded the system with new rolling stock and expansion.
The main reason why the TTC kept their streetcars was because of how much trackage they had. The TTC evaluated that if they converted to buses only, it would cost more (tear up the tracks, build new facilities, etc...). For Ottawa, and many other towns and cities, this was not the case.
Yeah now I wish they could do the same with our Scarborough Rt
Works better than the “O” Train
For years and I'm talking the 70's here the old streetcar tracks on Beechwood would push the pavement and crack it. The funny part is and this is the end of Beechwood that turns into Helmlock at the base of Oakhill the tracks ran into someones house. My dad told me that the line ran along Rockliffe Park. If you go along the Rocliffe Parkway there is a short retaining wall with a flat space where the Streetcars used to run towards downtown.
Damn it would've been nice for the city to keep at least a few running. A nice attraction to the CAPITAL of Canada. Ahh, oh well.
I never saw the street caes but I remember the green busses.
1959 is 50 years ago.
The last streetcar service was on April 30, 1959.
Some Ottawa streetcar equipment were sold to other cities and for example an OTC snow sweeper was used in Cornwall until 1971 when that City terminated its electric street railway. It is now in the Seashore Trolley Museum at Kennebunk Port Maine. It still has the original Ottawa paint scheme too.
it's hard to watch this, only because of the shame of removing them from the city.
similar to Chicago Streetcars
awesome video, are there any remaining streetcar tracks in the city of ottawa that are accessible by bus? and still intact?
Great job! Why where they removed? I don't think I'll ever see in my lifetime light rail in Ottawa, other than the one we have....it's sad.
this is cool i was born in 85
i wonder if those streetcars were well heated .
I recognized some streets & roads but not all of them. It would be great if someone could name & add the name of every street & road to the video. It's a real brain-teaser for me; I was a taxi driver for many years in Ottawa & I still can't make out all the locations.
very interesting.....
We should’ve kept them ugh
Everyone drove a lot slower back then! It'd be nice to see people driving slowly like that again and less cars on the streets would be nice too.
The cost of car ownership over a life time is crazy especially if you have to drive regularly or for long distances or both. So many of those work hours get burned away by car costs and it's only going to get worse.
I hope the new Light Rail will be electric. It would be a good idea to future proof the transit system: Thorium based nuclear reactors!
The old Peter Witt. Use to ride those. And the PCC after that. Then came the CLRV. And the new low rider streetcars are here. With the big fiasco in Toronto who knows what we will be riding or how to pay.
@STMclassic If the rails are still there in various spots, brush will have made them hard to see. Best bet is to see if you can print out a map out the routes and see if you can find them in areas not heavily developed. In all likelihood though, almost all, if not all of the rails, are either gone or long buried.
@LordlyJeremy Easy in that respect, but remember that a certain mayor was voted in with the promise to kill light rail because he felt cars should be the only ones on the road. Motorists are more likely to fight such a measure for either light rail or street cars because they feel a sense of entitlement that both the streetcars and light rail would take away from them, particularly in downtown. The sense that they, and they alone, own the road.
Does anyone know what year this would be?
You do realise that LRT (Light Rail Transit) construction has started and that there will be 2 OTC streetcar; AKA the ones in the video.
The way the LRT construction is going, we can expect it to be fully up and running some time around 3018.
they turned a right of way into a bunch of PARKS.. not transit.. now cloging up roads with busses
There is something seriously wrong with this video. Can it be corrected?
Ottawa got rid of a whole network of streetcars that go to every corner of the city only for 50 years later to end up with a tiny 8 km light rail line to nowhere? At least the city is rebounding with lrt expansion 👍
Uchenna Okorie are you talking about the o-train?
@@FullOfMalarky Yeah
Uchenna Okorie they’re planning to extend the o train to all of us out in the boonies and the airport but they really have to fix how the Otrain passes the oncoming train. As it stands today, the train on the way to greenboro stops on the tracks basically to let the other pass because they didn’t build long enough dual tracks.
@@FullOfMalarky That's what I mentioned above
Wonder if they ran in the wintertime?
Of course! The streetcar system had a variety of snowploughs and snow clearing equipment, including huge rotary brushes for cleaning down into the tracks. In really bad storms the snow clearing equipment, and sometimes even regular streetcars with small plough blades, would run all night to keep the lines clear for the next day.
You can't walk or cycle?
We have the O train now which is going to be much better