Transit time travel: What if Calgary kept its streetcars?
As a transportation engineer and software developer, Saadiq Mohiuddin has taken an interest in Calgary's streetcar roots.
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He took a map of Calgary's streetcar network from 1945, a time when it was known as the Calgary Municipal Railway, and modernized it, making the routes easier to visualize.
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There were once streetcars running to communities south of the Bow River, like Sunalta, Killarney, Elbow Park, Manchester, Ramsay and Inglewood. Mohiuddin's map also shows routes north of the river's banks, to Riverside, Tuxedo Park, Mount Pleasant and Capitol Hill.
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'At a time when not everybody had a car, or a car might be for a Sunday drive, you know, or go to church, but not for daily commuting. People relied on the streetcar, and that's (what) made it possible to live there,' said Sanders.
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Streetcar accidents were occasional, but cold winters and slippery tracks made for Calgary's most noteworthy derailment.
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On Dec. 15, 1919, Calgary Municipal car number 68 barreled into Crooks Drugstore at the bottom of the 14th Street hill, near 17th Avenue S.W., according to Colin Hatcher's 1975 book Stampede City Streetcars.
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The incident killed two and injured several other passengers.
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Sanders noted that somebody had thrown the switch, causing the accident. However, it was never determined who did it.
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'After that accident, they decided a streetcar would not turn East on 17th Avenue. It just goes straight up north on 14th Street to 12th Avenue,' said Sanders, adding that the Number 7 bus follows a very similar route today.
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After the Second World War, most Calgarians saw the eventual replacement of streetcars as progress. Much of the city's fleet of streetcars was also aging or in need of replacement.
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As Hatcher wrote, 'Calgarians were, on the whole, happy to see the era of the tram quickly passing.'
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Street railways being dismantled and replaced by motor bus systems was the trend across North America, according to Sanders.
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The push of progress came, in part, due to the excitement for motor vehicles. Some automakers also offered deals and incentives for cities to go with buses.
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'It was new. It was exciting. You weren't confined to the streetcar tracks, you could go wherever you wanted to go . . . if there was a road, you could go there,' said Kerby.
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On Dec. 29, 1950, car 14 made an 'official farewell' run from Ogden into the city, completing more than 41 years of service in Calgary, wrote Hatcher.
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Heritage Park is the only place in Calgary where you can see — and ride — a streetcar.
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A small streetcar line encircles the historical village's parking lot, adjacent to a Max Yellow bus rapid transit stop. The park operates up to two streetcars during the warmer months of the year.
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