At least as far as the most recent streetcar photos are concerned.
The photos below are the rest of the most recent additions to Bernie’s collection. Again, I can’t thank Bernie and John enough for their willingness to share and for the hours invested in front of the scanner 🙂
** I also found my street car list, so there will be a little more information on the various cars today.
This photo from 1919, shows the “Work Car”.
This photo also from 1919, shows and unspecified car.
Car # 101 in 1918, this was one of the Interurban Cars. The car was built in 1902.
Car # 56 from 1918. The caption on the photo reads: “Typical Belt Line or Sandwich Car”. This car was built in 1912 and was still in service when the streetcar system was shut down in 1938.
A view of the Car Barns on London St. (now University Ave.). The complex is the Junction today.
Car # 37 in a photo from 1918, denoted as being on the “Tunnel Route”. I’m not sure what that means, as the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel wasn’t built until 1930, although the rail tunnel was open. After 1919 this St. Louis built car was converted to a double ended car from a single end as seen in this photo.
From 1918, this photo is captioned: “Typical Car on the Ouellette Route”
From 1918, on Main Street in Sandwich on the private right of way. Main Street was paved over long ago and renamed Ojibway Parkway. This was likely on the part of the road around the poop plant today.
Another view of the London St. Car Barns from 1918.
Car # 29, another St. Louis product, in this photo from 1919. This car was out of the fleet by 1926.
An undated shot of the car bars. Likely from the 1930’s.
Car # 453, from 1925. Built in 1925 by the Ottawa Car Co. This car was brand new when this photo was taken. These series of cars were last ones bought. 451-453 were also the biggest ones in the fleet. They were 50’3″ long and had seating for 52 passengers.
Car # 452, the same as above, but built in 1924. As has been mentioned before, both 452 & 453 (above) were scrapped in 1938.
Re: The poop plant area. There was a sort of spa in that area, just around or to the south of John B street, in the late victorian/edwardian era. They say you can see a depression in the land where the canal was. I could never see it, but it’s there somewhere.
No ruins to be found of the spa that I could find over the years.
I am really enjoying this series on streetcars. Are there maps available indicating routes that these followed (SW&A and WE&LS)? Where did the WE&LS terminate in Windsor?
The ‘spa’ you refer to is perhaps the one referenced by Frederick Neal in ‘The Township of Sandwich’. They were out to discover oil in the 1860s and discovered mineral water instead. It was the Sandwich Petroleum Oil Company.
I love this site.Its so nice to look at all the pictures of Windsor.The street cars are really interesting to see.Its to bad we don’t still have some of them around so we could start them up again.It could be done and I think it would be a great for people to come to Windsor and see and use.It would draw people from out of town here.Maybe just one for the river front.From west to east Windsor along Riverside drive.
In Picture #6 (tunnel route) I am trying to figure out where that is in Windsor? I don’t recall seing those buildngs ever in any picture. In fact it looks to me to be more of Detroit. Did we have any of our streetcars go to the MCS and then into downtown Detroit?
ME – That shot is taken at the corner of Ouellette and Riverside.
The building behind the street car is the old CIBC building that was demolished to make way for the CIBC tower.
None of our street cars went though the tunnel. Cross border service began with a bus in 1929 across the bridge, and eventually shifted to the tunnel.
ME, I think the rail tunnel accomodated passenger rail service at one time. I wonder too if these cars made regular trips under the river to MCS. Although, that does look like a busy street corner somewhere in a downtown.
Thanks Andrew no wonder I didn’t recognize those buildings…they are all gone!
A big shout-out to Andrew, John and Bernie for sharing these photos with us. I LOVE these streetcars and wish we had the foresite to start planning a fixed-rail line in Windsor again. There would be no easier (note I did not say cheaper) one-off project that could work to revitalize our core.
The “tunnel route” at that time was most likely the foot/passenger tunnel that ran from the old MCR depot which was on the west side of the tracks and went under the tracks to the east side to a sidewalk on Wellington. That is where the streetcar would pick up and discharge passengers connecting with train. Andrew, if you look at the route map you received via email today, you’ll see “Route 5 – MCRR Depot” – that’s it.
As to the “Sandwich St. Private ROW” – that is Sandwich street just west of that gas station where Riverside drive meets with University today. The gas station today would be east of that streetcar in the photo. What was the private ROW then is now the south side of Sandwich from Detroit to University.
Thanks for the info Bernie, the private ROW threw me, as it lists “Main St. Sandwich”, on a map I have from the 1930’s the stretch of Ojibway Parkway that runs out to Ojibway Park past the Poop plant today is listed as Main St.
i love trying to figure out where these old pictures are taking place. in the “sandwich st. ROW” picture…..am i wrong in thinking that the street car is headed east, and everything to it’s right, beyond the fence would be what is now paterson park? right near the horizon of this picture, it looks like the road begins to curve to the right…is that where university and sandwich meet up, where the gas station is? i ‘m a little lost because i don’t know which way the car is headed.
er……one more question lol. concerning the “tunnel route”, the MCR and it’s foot/passenger tunnel. was the MCR located where the ontario truck driving school is today? i was just there last week, and as i was walking thru the marshalling yard i noticed a rather large slab of concrete that is beginning to sink. it’s definitly a “hatch” of some kind. i wonder if we were to lift that slab out of the ground, we’d find ourselves a nicely preserved tunnel?
There was an sidewalk from Wellington St heading west where the tunnel went under the tracks and came up near the MCR Station located off of Pelletier St., if Pelletier St. had crossed the tracks to Wellington that would be the area where the tunnel was. The area where the Ontario Truck Driving school is was never part of the MCR, it was an truck yard for many years, in fact at one time someone wanted to build an cemetery there but the people in the area didn’t want it and ended up with an truck yard instead.
thanks bernie!
I have a brass handle which came from the top of a seat back in one of the old street cars. People would grab the handles on the seats to steady themselves as the car would start rolling after a stop. Another relic from the street car era is Stop 26 Beach in Riverside.It was stop no. 26 (and I believe the last stop) on the eastern run.
Windsor & Tecumseh Elec. Railway actually continued further east to Stop 34 @ Lesperance rd. continuing south on Lesperance to the DUR station near Tecumseh rd. then back again to Walkerville.
Had to look it up, but for the record…
Stop 42 St. Louis Ave.
Stop 43 Jacques St.
Stop 43 1/2 Tecumseh
In picture #6, the streetcar is running east, I think, with Ouellte Avenue behind it. There is a sign behind the streetcar that could read “Bartlett’s” That was the name of a beautiful department store off Ouellette Avenue that lasted into the seventies, I think!
And the spa in Sandwich was so popular that there were steamboats that brought people out from Detroit to “take the waters.” I always thought what a shame it was that all that, a resort hotel, steamboat landings, a canal, should all have just disappeared into a miasma of industrial buildings and rot!
Is that where the old Stop 26 Pizza got its name?
The car barns are being turned into the new penalty box, one thing to say: good.
And Uzzy, yes that is where Stop 26 got the name. I questioned the same thing years ago, went inside and found streetcars painted on the walls and had my questions answered.
@Steve
Yes, I read that in the Windsor Star on-line this morning. And it looks like the owners are doing it right and preserving the history of the building.
The Star article mentioned the building being used to _manufacture_ streetcars. I always thought it was a simple car barn/maintenance shop?
The “manufacture” is new to me too, JeffS! There was another small error in the build date too, but that is reflected in the heritage property directory as well. It’s pretty cool inside and should make for a great location for a new Penalty Box location.
Apparently they are trying to preserve the rail on the interior floor to use in the restaurant. Very cool history.