Trolley Thursday 1/6/22 - Montreal Street Railway

Bienvenue, mes amies, dans un autre "Trolley Thursday" post! As one of Quebec's largest and most-populous cities, Montreal holds a special place in the realm of French Canada as the home of the most successful ice hockey team in the NHL, the "Canadiens", and that wonderful savoury delicacy, poutine. Prior to 1959, however, Montreal also laid claim to having one of the largest, most iconic and sophisticated transit networks in the Dominion, with well over 500 kilometers of track at its peak and boasting such cars as the famous Peter Witt and PCC cars in its roster. On today's Trolley Thursday, climb aboard this Golden Chariot and tip your hat to old Notre-Dame du Montreal, as we try to avoid being caught speaking English aboard the Montreal Street Railway! 

  

A Rocket to the Saints

A winter horsecar around 1877 in Montreal.
(Societe de transit de Montreal, or STM)

    Like many streetcar systems, Montreal originally started with horse-drawn cars. On November 27, 1861, the Montreal City Passenger Railway Company (MCP) opened for business following incorporation and construction over two months. The first line ran six miles along what is now Notre-Dame Street and was built with the help of an American, Alexander Easton. Despite the relatively breezy construction, enough to open a second line along Saint-Antoine Street days after opening, the MCP had to deal with that inhospitable blight: snow. Back then, whenever snow either packed the rail channels or spring melt made railed vehicles impossible to use, the MCP resorted to using horsecar bodies on skis for winter and wheeled omnibuses during spring, completely defeating the purpose of having a railed streetcar service. The horsecar was even something of an "elite" service, as despite the five-cent fare, it proved too much for normal workers earning a dollar a day, and the rich could afford to stop the horsecars wherever they roamed and even had them wait for them like a modern-day rideshare!

A horse-drawn summer trolleycar on St. Denis Street, 1877.
(STM)

"The Rocket" in 1892, heralding a new form of powered traction
in Montreal much like the steam locomotive of the same name.
Note the original net-based Eclipse safety fender.
(STM)

    By 1886, the MCP was displaced by the new Montreal Street Railway (MSRC, not that MSR) and thanks to the invention of American Frank J. Sprague's modern streetcar, the City of Saints seemed primed to begin electrification. However, the MSRC's owners at the time also had close to 1,000 horses bought and invested into the horsecars, and all seemed very hesitant to switch over as they cited safety and cost concerns. This hemming and hawing lasted another six years until September 21, 1892 (coincidentally, my birthday give or take a century and three years), when an experimental streetcar, "The Rocket", became the first electric car to run in the city and dispelled any bad faith the MSRC still had. Over the next five years, lines new and old were converted to electricity and the horses were put out to pasture as Montreal went "allons-y!" with modern electric traction. Another notable improvement around this time was the introduction of the "Pay As You Enter" car in 1897, a concept that would not gain traction in the US until 1905, which eliminated any free riders from boarding the streetcars.

The Rocket's interior, 1892, featuring a coal stove right in the middle of the car!
(STM)

Suburban Systems and Routes

Trolleys meet in a brisk winter's day at Snowdon Junction, 1904.
(STM)

    By 1905, the MSRC had carried well over 50 million people and the numbers just kept on rising. Part of this success was due to another early company that was closely twinned with the MSRC, the Montreal Park & Island Railway (MP&I). Incorporated under the Legislature of Quebec in 1885 and formed on December 27, 1893, the MP&I's goal was building up new suburbs in and around Montreal, including Lachine to the southwest, Saint-Laurent in central Montreal, Cartierville as its northern terminus, and Sault-au-Recollet (pronounced "Soo", like "Sault-Ste Marie") just up the Prairies River. With the MSRC wholly unrelated to the MP&I, the companies agreed to allow the MP&I to run through to MSRC's Montreal termini. By 1911, the companies merged to become the new Montreal Tramways Company (MTC), also absorbing smaller systems like the Suburban Tramway & Power Company and the Montreal Terminal Railway. 

A trolley stops on St. James Street, 1907. Admire the "steam railroad" clerestory,
peep the open windows without a pane of glass, suggesting this is at the height
of late spring, early summer.
(STM)

An MTC streetcar inspires a Studio Ghibli scene as it
speeds along the Lachine Line during a major flood, 1913.
(STM)

    After its great merger, the MTC became a 124-mile-long streetcar system encompassing much of central Montreal. By 1920, that number more than doubled as it almost all covered the streets along the St. Laurence River. Major thoroughfares included the Rue Craig (now Rue Saint-Antoine), Notre Dame Street, Rue Saint-Catherine, Rue Ontario, and Mount Royal north-to-south, and Rue St. Denis, St. Lawrence, Frontenac, and Park Avenue East to West. In 1923, MTC introduced numbered lines to the system, bringing the total route service population to just about 97 lines (with about a quarter to half being reverse-direction loop lines). Some, like the 91-Lachine, 17-Cartierville, and the 52-Mount Royal served normal suburban and commercial destinations, but others, like the 40-Bordeaux Jail and the 87-Canadian Pacific Railway Angus Shops often gave one pause as to check their ticket and transfer again. The former, the 40-Bordeaux Jail, ran a short route between the prison and the downtown courthouse, using a windowless prison car.

A map of the Montreal Tramway Company in 1923, produced by FiftyThree Studios.
Buy this and other maps for you wall at the linked website, and find the bigger version here.
(FiftyThree Studios)

Craig Terminus and Head Office, 1932.
(STM)

    Four terminals were also set up to handle the vast amount of streetcar lines, with one at St. James & Glen, one at Victoria Square, and two at the Place D'Armes along the St. Lawrence River. The Craig terminal was located at Place D'Armes along Craig Street (Rue Saint-Antoine Ouest), which opened in 1925 as a passenger station but came to house the MTC's offices by 1929, and it handled ten lines, while the later East terminal handled seven. The Victoria Square Terminal handled the more deep-downtown and industrial lines like the 5-Ontario line and the 23-Millen line that met with the 40-Bordeaux Jail, while the St. James & Glen was more mixed-used, handling the diminutive 16-Girouard and 97-Glen suburban lines and the 49-St James loop. However, while this incredible growth and coverage sounds good on paper, by the time the Craig Terminal opened, things were already not looking good for the MTC. Motor buses, first introduced in 1919, now had a proper division as of 1925, and it would not be long before what was seen as a helpmeet to the trolleys soon became a direct competitor.

A motorbus and a streetcar vie for competition at the Craig Terminus, 1926.
(STM) 

Phaeton on His Golden Chariot

The Mount Royal Incline Railway crosses the same-named Park Trail, 1900.
(Public Domain)

Streetcar No. 1326 emerges from the Mount Royal Park tunnel
on the 11-Mountain Line in 1933.
(Montreal Gazette)

    By far, the most popular and iconic line to run on the MTC was its Mount Royal Line. As a pleasure destination, the natural beauty and majesty of Mount Royal (which also named the city around it, Mont-Real) was one that the MTC was eager to capitalize on. Unfortunately, many citizens disagreed with turning Mount Royal into a tourist destination and many schemes, such as giant towers to rival George Eiffel and even early trolley lines were shot down entirely. However, in 1924, a proper parkside transport scheme stuck as a short western line into Mount Royal was opened (becoming the 93-Remembrance Road), followed thereafter by a longer eastern line in 1930 (the 11-Mountain), utilizing a 103-meter long (337-feet in old money) tunnel to reach the park terminal of Smith House. From here, the trolleys connected to the famous Mount Royal Incline Tramway, a funicular built to the same fashion as the Mount Lowe Railway in Pasadena, California, USA. The 11-Mountain line was said to be the most challenging streetcar line in all of Montreal, featuring a 10% grade, sharp curves, and requiring motormen to undergo special training just to run cars up the mountain.

"Golden Chariot" No. 1 or 2 poses with company dignitaries in 1905.
(STM)

A color photo of No. 4 in postwar service.
(Seashore Trolley Museum)

    The MTC had always had a fascination with chartered tourist cars, and despite the city having some of the harshest winters in Canada, it did not stop them from creating an iconic summer streetcar in 1905 that soon became the face of Montreal's streetcars as a whole: the Golden Chariots. These four wrought-railing, fin-de-siècle rolling amphitheaters were first created for a ten-mile counter-clockwise circuit around the three peaks of Mount Royal, and Nos. 1 and 2 were godsends for Montrealers looking to beat the summer heat in an open-top streetcar. Two more cars, Nos. 3 and 4, appeared in 1924 from the Youville shops and followed the same pattern as their predecessors, but possessed steel frames instead of wood. All cars seated fifty people on its amphitheater-like seats, giving them an impressive view of the city. However, despite being fitted with dynamic brakes for the 11-Mountain line, the cars were not in regular service to Mount Royal. This was due to some of the tunnels being too low to passengers standing on the upper tiers, which was a safety liability. Thus, the Golden Chariots only operated as chartered services up the mountain, and only in the summer.

A very tall "Golden Chariot" glides down Rue Saint-Catherine in this
mid-1950s view, judging by the Chevrolet at left.
(MTL Blog)

Other Notable Streetcars

St. Denis Carbarn, 1907.
(STM)

An experimental "Duplex" car from the Canadian Car & Foundry, 1928.
(STM) 

    At the same time the MTC peaked in 1923, their roster packed in well over 900 revenue and non-revenue streetcars encompassing totally different eras. These ranged from some of the first center-entrance streetcars from 1901 to the aforementioned Golden Chariots, to more pastoral fare like open-sided summer cars from manufacturers such as Canadian Car & Foundry, Ontario Car & Foundry, Preston Car & Coach, and even outside builders like J.G. Brill and their very own Youville Shops. No matter their heritage, type, or even trade name, the MTC liked to sort them into little classifications based on their number of ends (Single End, SE, or Double End, DE) and number of trucks (Single Truck, ST, or Double Truck, DT). Under this scheme, a little Birney would be labeled a "DE-ST" and a G.C. Kuhlman "Peter Witt" car (licensed to Canadian Car beginning in 1921) would be an "SE-ST". The MTC even rostered two funerary streetcars, which saw most of their use from the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic. At least we don't need those anymore... maybe.

One of two funerary cars run on the MTC, clearly showing its 1900s lines.
(STM)

An MP&T car in color, and with all-steel construction,
sporting a wartime Victory Bonds paintscheme on the 3 St-Catherine line.
(STM)

    The closest to a standard design fielded by the MTC before the advent of the Peter Witt and PCC cars was a double-truck, high-windowed design originally built for the MP&I, Nos. 1000-1999. These cars, originally built by the MSRC in 1902 and built until the late 1920s, could best be described as a baby "Perley A.Thomas Car", combining the short body of a double-truck Birney (46'6"-50') with the tall windows and high roofline of a Perley A. Thomas car of New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. One noticeable thing about these cars, and almost all Montreal cars not from outside sources, was the lack of a visible headlight. On Montreal's streetcars, light was provided by diffuse ground lighting under front hoods, lighting up the front of the car and its route sign, while motormen were expected to depend on the cars around them and streetlights for illumination. 

A builder's photo of MTC No. 1902, a one-man car built in 1926
by the Ottawa Car Company. Note the lack of a headlight hood.
(STM)

Life After Wartime

A PCC streetcar in 1951, looking oddly blind without a headlight.
(STM)

Passengers transfer from streetcars to buses on
the 22-Notre Dame line at Montreal-Est station, 1952.
(STM)

    The last cars purchased by the MTC were the ever-ubiquitous PCCs, and unlike Toronto, Montreal's fleet was rather small (at 18 cars) and came much too late around 1944. Because of this, the city's transit entered World War II at an incredible disadvantage, depending on old steel and wooden cars to handle the sudden influx of defense workers and soldiers swarming the island after gasoline and tire rationing rendered cars (a sign of elite status) useless. A lot of closed and redundant lines also returned to service at this time, pushing the MTC to its breaking point by the end of the war. In 1947, the company reported its best ridership yet as almost 400 million people heavily depended on the streetcars. Unfortunately, despite the MTC's fortunes, city perception had turned against the streetcar. A constant criticism that haunted the MTC since its formation in 1911 was the monopoly it held over all of Montreal: trolleys, buses, etc, and a perceived lack of maintenance and upkeep compared to Toronto. This also led to popular support of bustitution beginning in 1937, with the first trolleybus route on Beaubien street opening to service.

Track workers work on the line on Decarie Boulevard, 1950.
(STM)

An 18-cent ticket from the 
Montreal Transport Commission, 1966.
(Musee McCord)

    A lot of these maintenance issues were then further exacerbated by World War II, when the company struggled to get the proper materials and, thus, deferred maintenance, throughout the war. After the war, the Canadian economy was also booming, which meant people now had the money and the means to purchase a car instead of depending on the streetcar. The biggest blow to the MTC came in 1948, when its contract with the city following its formation in 1911 was due to expire. With this impending doom, the MTC decided to just sell its assets to the city under a publicly-owned transportation authority and jump ship. In 1950, city legislation created the Montreal Transportation Commission (MTCom, but different) to take over the MTC's assets, accomplishing this by June 1951, with the full intention of completely bustituting Montreal within the decade. A lot of the inner city routes through major thoroughfares like Rue Sainte-Catherine were the first to go, closing in 1956 to a grand parade of streetcars and other historic equipment, but others with private right-of-ways remained in service. 

The grand finale on Papineau Avenue, as "Golden Chariot" No. 2 carries
company dignitaries and leads a line of streetcars on the last day of Montreal's streetcars.
(STM)

What happened after just goes without saying.
(STM)

    The end finally came for Montreal's streetcars on August 30, 1959, when the last railed streetcar paraded on Papineau Avenue and Rosemont Boulevard, the "44-CPR Tracks", closing the book on 100 years of the MTC. The now-redundant trolley lines were replaced by 1,300 trolley buses, but even then these were not the answer Montreal was looking for, as the buses were not as flexible as diesel buses and continued to clog a lot of downtown streets, angering motorists. The buses were also a logistical problem, as they were constructed by Brill and it was getting harder to source parts from across the border. Thus, in 1966, the trolley buses too went the way of the dodo without a ceremonial parade. The City of Saints now turned to the diesel bus for its transit. As for any future of rail rapid transit in Montreal, that currently lies with the rubber-tired Montreal Metro under the city, which will not be discussed here because while important to the city, it is not a trolley.

A preserved Montreal Metro car built by Vickers Shipyard and 
now located at Exporail. Look, it's got RUBBER TIRES-!
(Michael Berry)

Notable Survivors

"Golden Chariot" No. 3 hits the diamond at Exporail in excursion service.
(Michael Berry)

"The Rocket" in her new home at Exporail, where she's been
on display since 1963. What a legend.
(John Smatlak)

In total, 37 Montreal Street Railway cars have found new homes on both sides of the border, with 21 preserved at the Canadian Railway Museum or Exporail in Delson-Saint Constant, Quebec, 8 at the Shoreline Trolley Museum in Branford, Connecticut, USA, 4 at the Connecticut Trolley Museum in East Windsor, Connecticut, USA, and 4 at the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine, USA. All four Golden Chariots have made it to preservation after working one more sightseeing route until Fall 1958, with Nos. 1 and 3 at Exporail, No. 2 at Seashore Trolley, and No. 4 at Connecticut Trolley,  with all but No. 1 in operable condition. Other survivors include multiple MP&I 1000-1999 cars from various manufacturers, with the oldest (No. 1046, built in 1902) displayed at Exporail since 1963. Even "The Rocket", originally built in 1892 by Brownell, is miraculously preserved at Exporail after the MTC set it aside for its historical importance as No. 350. It's clear from the sheer numbers of these cars tucked away at these four museums that the legend of the Montreal streetcars will live on forever. Maybe, one day, they might even return to grace the streets of Montreal once more...

Montreal "Golden Chariot" No. 2 on display at Seashore Trolley Museum,
next to California Street Car No. 48.
(Jim Strain)

Thank you for reading today's Trolley post, and watch your step as you alight on the platform. My resources today included the archives of the Canadian Railway Museum in Delson-Saint Constant, Quebec, the Connecticut Trolley Museum in East Windsor, Connecticut, the Shore Line Trolley Museum in Branford, Connecticut, and the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine, as well as the Societe de transport de Montreal's history page. The trolley gifs in our posts are made by myself and can be found under “Motorman Reymond’s Railroad Gif Carhouse”. On Tuesday, we look at our first interurban line with the London & Port Stanley Railway! For now, you can follow myself or my editor on Twitter, buy a shirt or sticker from our Redbubble stand, or purchase my editor's self-developed board game! It's like Ticket to Ride, but cooler! (and you get to support him through it!) Until next time, ride safe!