Once Upon A Time Peterborough Had Streetcars

We've posted this old picture on our Facebook page several times of streetcars in downtown Peterborough back in the day. And some people were like, "Peterborough had streetcars?" Well yes it did.

Peterborough historian Elwood Jones from Trent Valley Archives explains: "The streetcar line at its peak around 1910 or so was shaped like an elaborate H with terminals at Lock Street and the river; on Water Street north of the Auburn Power Plan (a favourite place for police speed traps); just south of Jackson Park; and at Byersville, near what is now the Evinrude Centre."

Photo circa early 1920s, downtown Peterborough (the last streetcar ran in 1928)

Elwood tells PTBOCanada there is no clear reason on why the streetcars stopped running in 1928:

"The city seemed unable to get someone to run the streetcar on a franchise basis. Border Transit, based near Windsor, won the franchise but with supplying buses instead of street cars. Border Transit was still running the bus service until into the 1980s when it became city operated and subsidized."

Elwood tells PTBOCanada about the GE connection to the lines:

"In simplest terms, the first street railway lines were developed for testing street cars that were then manufactured by Canadian General Electric. CGE soon stopped building the streetcars, but kept manufacturing street car motors for at least 30 or 40 years."

Interesting stuff, eh?

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