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58-557: Transit service began with horse cars in 1887 as a private company whose owner was from New York City with day-to-day operations via Thomas M. Burt . The line was electrified for streetcars a few years later. The city did not renew the charter and the KPUC took over in 1927. The KPUC operated streetcars until 1946, as bus and trolley bus operations took over. The electric streetcars were scheduled to be retired on January 1, 1947. An ice storm on December 27, 1946 caused so much damage to

116-570: A 2.4-mile (3.9 km) distance between Sealdah and Armenian Ghat Street on 24 February 1873. The service was discontinued on 20 November of that year. The Calcutta Tramway Company was formed and registered in London on 22 December 1880. Metre-gauge horse-drawn tram tracks were laid from Sealdah to Armenian Ghat via Bowbazar Street, Dalhousie Square and Strand Road. The route was inaugurated by Viceroy Ripon on 1 November 1880. In 1882, steam locomotives were deployed experimentally to haul tram cars. By

174-738: A Lake Simcoe radial car from the Toronto Glen Echo terminal at 1:40 pm, and transferring to the bus to Beaverton at 4:10 pm. On July 12, 1928, the Orange Order held its annual picnic in Sutton and chartered all available radial cars plus a number of streetcars specially modified for radial service. The streetcars included four six-motor trains (pairs of ex- Toronto Railway Company streetcars operated in multiple-unit pairs), ex- Toronto Civic Railways double-ended car 2160 (class H-2) and three Peter Witt motors. From Glen Echo to Sutton, this

232-595: A design of a partly enclosed double-decker carriage hauled by two horses. The last horse-drawn tram was retired from London in 1915. Horses continued to be used for light shunting well into the 20th century. The last horse used for shunting on British Railways was retired on 21 February 1967 in Newmarket, Suffolk . In the United States the very first streetcar appeared in New Orleans in 1832, operated by

290-578: A double-track line on Yonge Street, one reason being it would have to pay the town $ 600 per mile per track. In 1912, North Toronto voters relieved the railway of the requirement for double track. A legal decision at Osgoode Hall overrode the permission the Ontario Rail Board gave to the railway to build the diversion. However, after the Town of North Toronto was annexed by the City of Toronto in 1912,

348-469: A passenger depot for the radial line. Newmarket exempted the railway from property taxes for 10 years and allowed the railway company to supply electricity to the town. To support this extension, the company built a steam powerhouse at Bond Lake with a capacity of almost 1,000 horsepower. A trip between Toronto and Newmarket took 90 minutes. In 1899, the railway acquired 200 acres of lakeshore land to create Bond Lake Park and generate passenger traffic for

406-464: A public transit mode in Toronto . Electric streetcars later replaced the horsecars between 1892 and 1894. The Toronto Street Railway created Toronto's unique broad gauge of 4 ft  10 + 7 ⁄ 8  in ( 1,495 mm ). The streets were unpaved, and a step rail was employed. The horsecars had flanged wheels and ran on the upper level of the step. Ordinary wagons and carriages ran on

464-653: A regional trip planner, shows that the same trip from Summerhill subway station to Lorne Avenue in Richmond Hill using the subway and Viva would take a little over an hour.) In 1897, the company's name changed again from the Metropolitan Street Railway Company to the Metropolitan Railway Company. With the extension to Richmond Hill, the line was now more a radial line than a street railway. By 1899,

522-430: A regular route, without the need to be pre-hired. Horsecars on tramlines were an improvement over the omnibus, because the low rolling resistance of metal wheels on iron or steel rails (usually grooved from 1852 on ) allowed the animals to haul a greater load for a given effort than the omnibus, and gave a smoother ride. The horse-drawn streetcar combined the low cost, flexibility, and safety of animal power with

580-882: A subsidiary of the municipality. In 2015, during the construction of the new Ion Light Rail system, remnants of the local streetcar system were unearthed. Roster as of December 31, 1972. City of Kitchener took over January 1, 1973. Trolley buses replaced March 26, 1973. Kitchener Transit launched with all new routes on July 3, 1973. All time streetcar fleet: Berlin and Waterloo Street Railway Company Preston & Berlin Street Railway Bridgeport and Berlin Electric Street Railway Kitchener & Waterloo Street Railway Routes as of December 31, 1972: Horse car A horsecar , horse-drawn tram , horse-drawn streetcar (U.S.), or horse-drawn railway (historical),

638-678: A wheel to travel along the wire. In late 1887 and early 1888, using his trolley system, Sprague installed the first successful large electric street railway system in Richmond, Virginia . Long a transportation obstacle, the hills of Richmond included grades of over 10%, and were an excellent proving ground for acceptance of the new technology in other cities. Within a year, the economy of electric power had replaced more costly horsecars in many cities. By 1889, 110 electric railways incorporating Sprague's equipment had been begun or planned on several continents. Many large metropolitan lines lasted well into

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696-460: Is an animal-powered (usually horse ) tram or streetcar. The horse-drawn tram (horsecar) was an early form of public rail transport , which developed out of industrial haulage routes that had long been in existence, and from the omnibus routes that first ran on public streets in the 1820s , using the newly improved iron or steel rail or ' tramway '. They were local versions of the stagecoach lines and picked up and dropped off passengers on

754-612: Is now the Summerhill subway station . Passengers arriving from the south by the Yonge streetcar line , needed to get off on the south side of the CPR crossing and walk across the CPR tracks to board the radial cars. A 1905 photo showed that the terminal was off-street at the south-west corner of Yonge Street and Birch Avenue. However, a 1914 map showed that the terminal was relocated to the east side of Yonge Street. From its Toronto terminal,

812-698: The Pontchartrain Railroad Company, followed by those in 1832 on the New York and Harlem Railroad in New York City . The latter cars were designed by John Stephenson of New Rochelle, New York , and constructed at his company in New York City. The earliest streetcars used horses and sometimes mules, usually two as a team, to haul the cars. Rarely, other animals were tried, including humans in emergency circumstances. By

870-587: The Swansea and Mumbles Railway in Wales , using specially designed carriages on an existing tramline built for horse-drawn freight dandies . Fare-paying passengers were carried on a line between Oystermouth , Mumbles and Swansea Docks from 1807. The Gloucester and Cheltenham Tramroad (1809) carried passengers although its main purpose was freight. In spite of its early start, it took many years for horse-drawn streetcars to become widely acceptable across Britain;

928-531: The Toronto area, operated by the Metropolitan Street Railway , started out as a local horsecar line and transformed itself into an electric radial line extending to Lake Simcoe , following an old stage coach route. In 1904, the railway was acquired by the Toronto and York Radial Railway (T&YRR) and became the T&;YRR Metropolitan Division. In 1922, the City of Toronto acquired

986-804: The Toronto Transportation Commission started operating the T&YRR lines under contract. This included the Metropolitan line which the TTC renamed as the Lake Simcoe line. In June 1927, the Schomberg and Aurora line was closed. Between September 11–17, 1927, the TTC changed the Lake Simcoe line from standard gauge to Toronto gauge . The TTC also closed the Glen Echo shops and carhouse, and moved their function to

1044-453: The Toronto and York Radial Railway both becoming part of its Metropolitan Division. In 1905, the T&YRR relocated tracks in Newmarket from Main Street to a route running via sidestreets and lanes to a new station on Botsford Street opposite the town hall. The new station was equipped with freight sheds and later stationmaster's quarters on the second floor. The relocation of the tracks

1102-540: The Yucatan , which sported over 3,000 kilometers (1,900 mi) of such lines). Surviving examples may be found in both Brazil and the Yucatán, and some examples in the latter still use horsecars. Problems with horsecars included the fact that any given animal could only work so many hours on a given day, had to be housed, groomed, fed and cared for day in and day out, and produced prodigious amounts of manure, which

1160-539: The České Budějovice - Linz railway . Europe saw a proliferation of horsecar use for new tram services from the mid-1860s, with many towns building new networks. Tropical plantations (for products such as henequen and bananas ) made extensive use of animal-powered trams for both passengers and freight, often employing the Decauville narrow-gauge portable track system. In some cases these systems were very extensive and evolved into interurban tram networks (as in

1218-583: The 20th century; the last mule tram service in Mexico City ended in 1932, and a mule tram in Celaya, Mexico , survived until 1954. A few original horsecar lines have survived or have been revived as tourist attractions, and in recent years several replica horsecar lines have been built. Below is a list of locations around the world with operational horsecars that are open to the public. Metropolitan Street Railway (Toronto) The Metropolitan line in

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1276-673: The American George Francis Train first introduced them to Birkenhead Corporation Tramways ' predecessor in Birkenhead in 1860 but was jailed for "breaking and injuring" the highway when he next tried to lay the first tram tracks on the roads of London . An 1870 Act of Parliament overcame these legal obstacles by defining responsibilities and for the next three decades many local tramway companies were founded, using horse-drawn carriages, until replaced by cable , steam or electric traction. Many companies adopted

1334-449: The CPR crosstown line in the Town of North Toronto , and then abandoned the project. The T&YRR had laid double-track from Farnham Avenue and Yonge Street south to Walker Avenue with a crossover north of Walker. Starting in 1911, there was a dispute between the T&YRR and the town, which wanted a double-track line but objected to its being on a private right-of-way crossing multiple sidestreets at grade. The railway did not want to build

1392-473: The Eglinton Division carhouse. With the gauge conversion, it was possible to run radial cars into downtown Toronto, but except for night express cars and excursions to Bond Lake Park, the TTC took little advantage of this. The Glen Echo carhouse later became North York Township Market and then as Lawrence Motors Limited. The building was later demolished and now occupied by Loblaw's store. In 1928,

1450-462: The Metropolitan line was extended to Aurora and Newmarket . Approaching Newmarket, the line left Yonge Street at Mullock's Corners, crossed fields along the route of the present Cane Parkway and William Street, crossed Eagle Street and proceeded north on Main Street to its terminal at Timothy Street. The King George Hotel at the south-east corner of Timothy and Main streets in Newmarket served as

1508-500: The Metropolitan line. During the 1901 season, there were 60,000 park visitors. In 1902, the Metropolitan Railway Company acquired the then unfinished Schomberg and Aurora Railway . Events when the Toronto and York Radial Railway was under the control of William Mackenzie and Donald Mann include: On August 1, 1904, the Metropolitan Street Railway and the Schomberg and Aurora Railway were merged into

1566-617: The T&YRR and contracted Ontario Hydro to manage the four T&YRR lines including the Metropolitan. In 1927, the TTC took over the operation of the Metropolitan Line to Sutton, and renamed it the Lake Simcoe line . In 1930, the TTC closed the Metropolitan Line but shortly reopened the portion between Glen Echo and Richmond Hill operating it as the North Yonge Railways until 1948. The Metropolitan line

1624-472: The T&YRR lines outside of the city limits. Hydro initiated a number of line improvements including track rehabilitation, a new station at Schomberg Junction, new waiting shelters, more passing sidings and additional service to Thornhill and Bond Lake Park. On November 2, 1922, the TTC opened the Yonge streetcar line to the city limits at Glen Echo. The old standard-gauge, single-track Metropolitan line along

1682-436: The TTC added a turning loop at Bond Lake Park, on the east side of Yonge Street just north of the park entrance. This allowed single-ended streetcars to supplement the double-ended radial cars in carrying crowds of visitors to the park. On June 28, 1928, the TTC started a combined radial and bus service between Toronto and Beaverton , with a transfer between the radial cars and the bus at Sutton . A period ad suggested taking

1740-420: The TTC reopened a portion of the defunct Lake Shore line between Richmond Hill and Toronto as the North Yonge Railways . This line was owned by area municipalities and operated under contract by the TTC. On October 9, 1948, service was terminated on the North Yonge Railways , the last surviving Toronto radial. The Toronto route section became a bus route and subway line up to Finch Avenue from 1970s, while

1798-467: The broad lower step inside. This necessitated a wider gauge. This broad Toronto gauge is still used today by the Toronto streetcar system and three lines of the Toronto subway . The Metropolitan Street Railway operated a horsecar line in then-suburban North Toronto from 1885 until the line was electrified in 1890; this horsecar line also used Toronto gauge. The first horse-drawn trams in India ran

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1856-532: The dispute over double track continued between the railway and the city. On June 25, 1915, a City of Toronto work team ripped up the tracks of the Metropolitan Line along Yonge Street from the CPR crosstown line north to Farnham Avenue. This was a result of a dispute between the city and the "Mackenzie-Mann traction companies" which included the Toronto Railway Company as well as the T&YRR. This

1914-681: The early twentieth century. New York City had a regular horsecar service on the Bleecker Street Line until its closure in 1917. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania , had its Sarah Street line drawn by horses until 1923. The last regular mule-drawn cars in the US ran in Sulphur Rock, Arkansas , until 1926 and were commemorated by a U.S. postage stamp issued in 1983. Toronto 's horse-drawn streetcar operations ended in 1891. In other countries animal-powered tram services often continued well into

1972-444: The efficiency, smoothness, and all-weather capability of a rail track. Animal power at the time was seen as safer than steam power in that early locomotives frequently suffered from boiler explosions . Rails were seen as all-weather because streets of the time might be poorly paved, or not paved at all, allowing wagon wheels to sink in mud during rain or snow. In 1861, Toronto Street Railway horsecars replaced horse-drawn omnibuses as

2030-463: The end of the 19th century the company owned 166 tram cars, 1000 horses, seven steam locomotives and 19 miles of tram tracks. In 1900, electrification of the tramway and reconstruction of its tracks to 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 1,435 mm ) ( standard gauge ) began. In 1902, the first electric tramcar in India ran from Esplanade to Kidderpore on 27 March and on 14 June from Esplanade to Kalighat . The Bombay Tramway Company

2088-466: The interchange of cars. The railway would choose standard gauge . On February 1, 1897, the Metropolitan line was opened to Richmond Hill ending at a station located on Yonge Street at Lorne Avenue. Each one-way trip between the Toronto terminal (at the CPR crosstown line) to Richmond Hill took 45 minutes (versus 3 hours for the stagecoach), and there were 4 round trips per day. (In 2016, Triplinx ,

2146-452: The line continued north cross-country through Sharon , Keswick and Jackson's Point to Sutton, the line's northern terminus. Between Keswick and Jackson's Point, it ran parallel to Metro Road and the shores of Lake Simcoe, often within view of the lake. The average operating speed was 32 km/h (20 mph). (As a comparison, the average speed of the subway Line 2 Bloor–Danforth is also 32 km/h (20 mph). ) Events prior to

2204-485: The line left Yonge Street to continue cross-country to Newmarket where the line ran a short distance in an alley west of Main Street. The Newmarket radial station was on Botsford Street across from the old town hall, with the track running along the town hall's west side. (In 1904, the line ran in the centre of Main Street Newmarket, but was relocated to the alley in 1905.) At about Queen Street in Newmarket,

2262-414: The line ran northwards on the west side of Yonge Street until the northern brim of Hogg's Hollow . Just south of St. Clair Avenue West, the line passed the line's carhouse on the west side. At Davisville, the railway had an electrical generation station. At the southern brim of Hogg's Hollow, the line descended an 8% grade. (In 1922, the southern terminal would be at Glen Echo at that southern brim.) From

2320-495: The merger creating the Toronto and York Radial Railway in 1904 include: In 1877, the franchise was granted to the Metropolitan Street Railway of Toronto. The president was Robert Jaffray. In 1880, brothers Charles and W.A. Warren bought a controlling interest in the Metropolitan Street Railway. On January 26, 1885, the railway started a horsecar line on Yonge Street between the crosstown CPR rail line (near today's Summerhill Station ) north to Eglinton Avenue . The line

2378-468: The mid-1880s, there were 415 street railway companies in the US operating over 6,000 miles (9,700 km) of track and carrying 188 million passengers per year using horsecars. By 1890 New Yorkers took 297 horsecar rides per capita per year. The average street car horse had a life expectancy of about two years. The first horse-drawn rail cars in Continental Europe were operated from 1828 by

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2436-402: The northern brim of Hogg's Hollow, the line crossed from the west side of Yonge Street to run along its east side for another 19 mi (31 km) except for the sections through Richmond Hill and Aurora in the centre of the street. In Richmond Hill, the radial station was on the north-east corner of Yonge Street and Lorne Avenue, and passengers boarded radial cars in the street in front of

2494-482: The overhead that it was not repaired. Cross-town gasoline buses started in the 1930s. Trolley coach operation began on January 1, 1947, and ended by March 26, 1973. Transit operations were passed on to the City of Kitchener in 1973 and was operated with all-new bus routes as Kitchener Transit . Utilities operations, for gas, water and sewer services within the City of Kitchener are now run by Kitchener Utilities ,

2552-475: The section from Finch Avenue to Newmarket is now served by York Region Transit 's Viva Blue route. Stops include: Here is a list of Metropolitan line facilities from south to north in 1926: Once the Metropolitan line converted to standard gauge , it could interchange carload freight with steam railways, which it did with the CNR . Carload freight accounted for 10-15% of the line's revenue for many years. There

2610-403: The station. At the south-west edge of Bond Lake on the east side of Yonge Street, there were a carhouse and a power station. On the north side of Bond Lake was Bond Lake Park, a major source of excursion traffic for the line. Between Bond Lake and Aurora, there was a junction with the Schomberg and Aurora Railway which was a steam railway until 1916 when it was electrified. At Mulock's Corners,

2668-498: The streetcar company was charged with storing and then disposing. Since a typical horse pulled a streetcar for about a dozen miles (19 km) a day and worked for four or five hours, many systems needed ten or more horses in stable for each horsecar. Horsecars were largely replaced by electric-powered streetcars following the invention by Frank J. Sprague of an overhead trolley system on streetcars for collecting electricity from overhead wires . His spring-loaded trolley pole used

2726-613: The tracks forcing a rebuild of the line. In 1892, the Metropolitan line reached York Mills South (today's Glen Echo Road and location of the future Glen Echo loop). In 1893, the company's name was changed from the Metropolitan Street Railway of Toronto to the Metropolitan Street Railway Company (MStRyCo). In 1895, the province granted the railway the right to build lines in York and Simcoe counties, to use any gauge and motive power of its choice, and to make agreements with other railways (steam or electric) for connections, running rights and

2784-403: The west side of Yonge Street from Farnham Avenue was replaced by a new double-track, centre-of-the-road streetcar line. In March 1923, Glen Echo terminal was opened at the city limit at Yonge Street and Glen Echo Road. The terminal had a two-storey, buff-coloured building with Spanish roof tiles. The building had passenger and baggage facilities on the first floor and offices on the second. There

2842-592: Was a nine-metre wide platform between the radial and streetcar tracks to facilitate transfers. The site was also home to the Glen Echo Carhouse. Between 1922 and 1927, the Province and local municipalities built roads parallel to the line to Sutton as well as the branch to Schomberg. This allowed road traffic to cut into the revenue of the radial line. Events when the TTC operated the Toronto and York Radial Railway lines include: On January 12, 1927,

2900-403: Was a single-track radial line with passing loops. Between 1909 and 1914, the Metropolitan line was at its maximum length running from the CPR crossing at Yonge Street to Sutton . Here is a description of the line during that period. The Toronto terminal of the Metropolitan line was on Yonge Street at the north side of the CPR crossing which at that time was a level crossing. This is near what

2958-512: Was managed by Hydro-Electric Railways include: On August 16, 1922, the City of Toronto formally acquired the T&YRR lines. The plan was that the city portions of the T&YRR radial lines would be incorporated into the TTC, and the portions outside the city would be managed by Ontario Hydro as the Hydro-Electric Railways : Toronto and York Division. On November 1, 1922, Hydro-Electric Railways took over operation of

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3016-500: Was now at its maximum extent. The Grand Trunk Railway (formerly Midland Railway , previously Toronto and Nipissing Railway ) already served Sutton and Jackson's Point. After the arrival of the T&YRR in Sutton, the GTR reduced its passenger service there as passengers found the T&YRR service to be faster. In 1912-1913, the T&YRR partially constructed a diversion line 100 feet (30 m) west of Yonge Street from Farnham Avenue to

3074-787: Was set up in 1873. After a contract was signed between the Bombay Tramway Company, the municipality and the Stearns and Kitteredge company, the Bombay Presidency enacted the Bombay Tramways Act, 1874 licensing the company to run a horsecar tram service in the city. On 9 May 1874 the first horse-drawn carriage made its début in the city, plying the Colaba – Pydhone via Crawford Market , and Bori Bunder to Pydhonie via Kalbadevi routes. The initial fare

3132-477: Was single track laid to Toronto gauge , and used double-ended cars to avoid turning loops. At the CPR line passengers could transfer to the horsecars of the Toronto Street Railway . In September 1890, electric service began on the Metropolitan Street Railway. However, horse-drawn buses were temporarily substituted circa October 1890 to May 1891. The faster, heavier electrical trams had damaged

3190-468: Was the first contraction of the T&YRR. Until 1916, passengers had to walk 400 metres (1,300 ft) to transfer between the radial and city cars on Yonge Street. In 1916, electrification of the Schomberg and Aurora Branch was completed. Some S&A cars operated through to Toronto via the Metropolitan line, but most made connections at Bond Lake. Events when the Toronto and York Radial Railway

3248-533: Was the longest trip by city streetcars along the radial line. After the 1929 season, Bond Lake Park permanently closed. On March 16, 1930, the TTC closed the Lake Simcoe (formerly Metropolitan) line after radial car 74 from Thornhill arrived in Toronto at 1:15 am. The line had been losing money for years, and road competition was the major factor. Between 1925 and 1930, auto and truck traffic increased along Yonge Street from 4,925 to 11,163 per day, and bus traffic increased from 2 to 188 per day. On July 17, 1930,

3306-418: Was three annas (15 paise pre-decimalisation), and no tickets were issued. As the service became increasingly popular, the fare was reduced to two annas (10 pre-decimalisation paise). Later that year, tickets were issued to curb increasing ticket-less travel. Stearns and Kitteredge reportedly had a stable of 1,360 horses over the lifetime of the service. The first tram services in the world were started by

3364-453: Was to relieve traffic congestion on Main Street, as the street was not wide enough to conveniently accommodate both horse-drawn wagons and rail vehicles. On June 1, 1907, the T&YRR opened a 40 km (25 mi) extension of the Metropolitan line from Newmarket to Jackson's Point. On January 1, 1909, the T&YRR opened a 2.4 km (1.5 mi) extension of the Metropolitan line from Jackson's Point to Sutton. The Metropolitan line

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