Page 16Starting in 1921, the New Brunswick Power Company began a long range program
to modernize and improve the Street Railway. Until this time very little track
renewal had been laid out and most of the lines still had their original rails.
Some of the rails in central Saint John dated back to 1894. Many of the cars
were old and the conversion to one-man had done nothing to their condition or
appearance. One of the modernizations was to place the passenger door on the
other side of the car.
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In 1923 the Federal Light and Traction Company of New York, who already
controlled several traction companies in the US, bought a majority interest in
the New Brunswick Power Company's Securities. This meant they now had assumed
control of the Saint John Power Company. The new management spent considerable
amounts of money to continued to renewal of the tracks. During the next eight
years almost the entire track system had been rebuilt, this meant that by 1930
there was hardly any street car track more than ten years old.
The company decided, in 1924, to rebuild its newer cars in its Wentworth
Street shops, and then gradually replace the older cars with newer ones, since
it could not afford to purchase brand-new cars. Robert Harris, a master
mechanic, was appointed to do the rebuilding of the cars. Twenty-four cars
would be rebuilt in 1924. This included the last six open cars which he
converted to closed. The rebuilding of the cars included allowing only one door
per side at the front of the car, to be used as both entrance and exit. The
seats, which were rattan cross, were replaced with wooden seats that were more
durable. To complete the cars' modernization, the Power Company decided to
introduce a new colour scheme. The cars would now be painted in New Brunswick
with creme trim. The window and door frames were done in mahogany. By November
11 the same year the first rebuilt cars were put into service.
In 1925 the old car barn on Main Street, which could be dated back to the
days when street cars were drawn by horse, was demolished. It was destroyed
because it was rarely used since most operations were done at the Wentworth
Street car barn.
Due to visibility problems cause by the fog that would roll in for the Bay
of Fundy, the colour scheme of the street cars would be changed again in 1927.
This time Persian scarlet enamel with Pullman cream trim was used. The sash and
door were done in cherry red. During this time two more cars were built, a salt
car and a work car. In 1928 four more passenger cars fleet. These cars were
similar to the cars that were rebuilt before except instead of having wooden
streets in had leather-covered cross seats. The four cars nearly took a year
complete because they were mostly done during spare time, but they managed to
go into service before the end of 1928. The last four cars that the company
would require were rebuilt during the next year. The Saint John Power Company
had 47 cars in 1927, when they finished their plan of modernization and
rehabilitation by 1930 the number had been reduced to 34. The company met its
policy which was to give maximum service at the minimum cost.
Despite the high ticket cost of 8 ¢, the average fare people payed was
only 5.5¢ due to the widespread use of the weekly pass scheme. Thanks to
the help of Harris the street railway system became self-sufficient. The
company even came up with ideas that other companies copied such as a newspaper
box. The Wentworth car barn even won an award for tidiness in 1930.
The improvements made during this time period would enable the New BrunswickPower Company to survive the depression of the 1930's and the war years of the 1940's and outlive many similiar street railway systems.
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