The inauguration of the tram horse drawn (1861)

Gilles Proulx

Saturday, 22 July, 2017 17:31

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Saturday, 22 July, 2017 17:31

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We have an advantage on our ancestors. We know what will happen to them. We know, for example, that the tramway was horse-drawn (no more, no less a train urban rail pulled by horses), based in Montreal in 1861, would be only the prelude to the electric tram, which was inaugurated on September 21, 1892. We also know that this means of transport will not last 70 years, and that, on August 30, 1959, the last tram will be withdrawn from circulation.

Oh ! I hear you say, this is not serious!!! It was replaced by the bus. Then, there was the metro. Bored of the tram, otherwise a few eco-friendly ? Well, let me tell you that Montrealers have loved their tram. On September 21, 1892, something new had to emerge : the public transport. Before, everyone worked where he lived. A horse, it was expensive to feed and house them. To have a hackney-coach, he needed to be rich. Even the rich worked and lived generally in the same place. And then… there were the railways. But they were used for carting goods. As for the passengers, there were, but they went away. The tram has opened to us what has become the most normal thing in the world : the short-distance transport. Now, you can live somewhere and work somewhere else for a transit in transit or in solo. It is amazing to think that before 1861, in Montreal, there was not the embryo of the STM ! There was, of course, stagecoaches, but they were costly. The people had no access. This is now the favorite topic of the left in all the cities of the western world did not exist before that. Let us not forget that in those years, there were not more bikes. In fact, there were, but they were still curiosities. Nobody thought that these machines would become effective and would be the darlings of the supporters of transit. It was far from the BIXI ! And we had no idea yet that there could be an epidemic of obesity… In 1892, though they had talked about a future where the bike would be the mantra of the do-gooders in a society suffering from obesity, Montrealers would have burst out laughing.

“Frame,” personal

As early as the 1950s and 1960s, the buses are displacing the tram, but, at the same time, the car becomes more popular… and the unthinkable happens. Now, even the workers have access to a “frame,” personal ! Quickly, the auto is associated with another marvel : the bungalow. Yes, the suburban home is a marvel. Because of the modest families are owners of small areas with back yard and, sometimes, swimming pool. What was previously the prerogative of the rich. The automobile is, ironically, a means of transportation more efficient than the tram and the bus… to empty Montreal of thousands of its inhabitants left to buy a property in the suburbs. For a long time, one spoke of the “donut hole” : the exodus to the suburbs. But it is certain that in 1892, no one could have predicted the appearance of the Quartier DIX30. If it were up to me, I’d like to see the tram on two axes : Côte-des-Neiges and the town, but the costs will probably always move the authorities.

Photo courtesy of the municipal Archives of Montreal

The tramway was horse-drawn, active since 1861, was pulled, as its name indicates, by horses. Do y. The trains used steam and coal… which would have been impossible to endure in the city because of the smoke. It is only with the electric motor that the streetcar will eventually go to horse.

Photo courtesy of the municipal Archives of Montreal

The tram on the rue Saint-Laurent (in English of course), photographed in 1918.

– With the collaboration of Louis-Philippe Messier