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Saint John City Railway Company

During the 1880's more and more North American cities adopted the street railway mode of transportation. It became almost a necessity of life to these cities and in Saint John the opinion was often expressed that it was unfortunate that the street railway had come to an end. The People's Street Railway company still existed, but most of the records were destroyed, and the stock was considered so nearly worthless that few shareholders had even bothered to request new stock certificates to replace those destroyed in the fire. To build a new railway would require raising capital and this was an obstacle because since the fire most capital was being used to rebuild the city.

By the mid 1880's, the scars of the 1877 fire had diminished; in 1886, an offer to finance a street railway came from a syndicate of New York capitalists, headed by J. F. Zebley, which was then in the process of reorganizing the Halifax Street Railway. On August 5th, 1886, an agreement was reached with the shareholders by which the entire rights, privileges, and franchises of the People's Street Railway were leased to James Platt, the agent of the syndicate. On April 5th 1887, the New Brunswick Legislature modified the charter of the People's Street Railway Company, and issued a lease to the New York syndicate.

The basic conditions of the new agreement were much the same as those of 1866 with only a few changes. There was to be total reconstruction and the line extended to include a wider area. It was stipulated in the Act that work must begin no later than the spring of 1887, and that the line from Indiantown to Market Square as well as the branch to Haymarket Square must be completed within one year or the charter would be void.

By the time that the company was incorporated in New Brunswick, considerable capital had been raised, largely in New York, and construction work had begun. As early as February 7th, B.W. Ellis had been appointed consulting engineer, and Harris & Company, the well known car builders of Saint John, had been given the contract to roll the rails. The rails were horse car "step" rails, spiked to wooden stringers. A two acre lot on the south side of Main Street, closer to the city was purchased, and a car barn was erected. Beside the car barn, a stable was erected which held over one hundred horses. The car barn was used until 1925 when it was disposed of.

Construction started in the spring of 1887. The main line was completed and the stables were nearly ready by July 30th. Permission was granted to construct the branch line from Reed's Point via St. James Street to Carmarthen Street on September 21st. That same evening, the schooner Mabel Purdy docked in port bringing the first two streetcars, and the next morning, the schooner Thresher delivered two more. These cars were built by M. Feigel Car Company, New Utrecht, New York, now a part of Brooklyn. They were described as finely built and twenty feet long over all. Two snow ploughs were ordered from Harris & Company for delivery in time for winter.

On the morning of October 16th, the schooner Avis brought four more street cars. The official opening was October 17th with eight cars ready for service. Two more cars were delivered shortly after the official opening, with a grand total of ten ordered from Feigel.

The Daily Telegraph described the events of the formal opening

All eight cars were lined up at the square where they presented a sight well worth looking at. Fresh from the shop, their polished surfaces were perfect reflectors, and the swiftness and quietness with which they moved over the road made everyone wish to get aboard and enjoy a ride. Only one incident slightly marred the proceedings. On Mill Street, a drunken Haligonian had mounted the driver's steps, and so interfered with him while going down the hill that he could not apply the brakes in proper time, the result being that the horses became somewhat excited and swerving to one side broke the pole. The car had gained such an impetus that it ran against one of the horses and injured it somewhat. To show how slight an impediment such an accident is to traffic it can be said that the car was moved to one side and the track clear in almost less time than it takes to write it, and those following whirled swiftly by the scene and around the foot of Main Street into Paradise Row.

There was a gala reception held following the formal opening and included toasts to as Queen Victoria and President Cleveland of the United States.

It came as a shocked surprise when the people of Saint John realized the company intended to run the cars on Sundays. It was looked upon by many as a sin and a profanation of the Sabbath. A petition signed by twenty-two church ministers was presented to put a stop to Sunday runs, but to no avail, and within time people had no choice but to accept the idea.

Did you know? A man accidently dropped a fifty-cent piece into the fare box, and on finding that he could not get change, proceeded to stay on the car and ride back and forth ten times to get his money's worth.

A drive in these new cars was an enjoyable experience. They were such an improvement over the old cars of 1869 - 1876. Streetcars became the main topic of conversation for the next few weeks and many stories circulated.

Did you know? At this time a proposal was made for a subway to run under the harbour to connect the east and west sides. The horsecars would have been extended to run through this tunnel, which would have been the first underground city railway in Canada. But the plan was too far ahead of its time and would have been too costly. It would take another 15 years for the horsecars to run on the west side.

During the winter of 1887-88, service was provided with sleighs. In March, an attempt to put the cars back into action failed due to the amount of snow. By April the cars were running again. At this time the whole line was ballasted, making a smoother, safer ride than on the track as originally laid.

Extensions soon were added. First, a double track was laid on Main Street in the vicinity of the car barn, and then a new Brussels Street line on June 18th, 1888. The roadbed was completed and the rails laid. These were fully ballasted right from the start, unlike the original main line. Service began on August 22nd and required the purchase of new cars in 1888. This brought the total number of cars to fourteen. The total track size was seven files. In 1889 one more car was acquired.

Once the cars were running, things went smoothly. On hills, extra horses were hitched on to pull the car up and maintain scheduled speed. Extra cars were run in the baseball season, and also in connection with the excursion steamers on the river. Service was maintained on such a regular basis that the company actually issued a public timetable giving the times that cars passed principal points.

In 1888 new uniforms were provided to the crew featuring double-breasted coats, silver buttons, hats "like those of Pullman conductors" and badges lettered either "Driver" or "Conductor". In the winter, sleighs, nine open and six closed, were used, and straw was placed on the floor to keep passengers' feet warm. The track was kept open as long as possible, with the new shear ploughs and diggers using a six-horse hitch.

In 1892, a horse car passes the New Victoria Hotel on Prince William Street, while an elegant four-wheeled carriage waits outside. The horse car is the one with the white horses. Within a short time, the street railway had become more of a necessity than a luxury and the people of Saint John were proud of the new horse car system which was considered to be, for its size, one of the best-run in Canada.

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