Author: John E. Baker
Title: Winnipeg's Electric Transit: The Story of Winnipeg's Streetcars and Trolley Busses
Description: Toronto: Railfare Enterprises, 1982. Hard bound, first edition, large quarto, illustrated throughout, Pp192. Very good in slightly edge-chipped and edge-torn, near very good dust jacket. From the blurb on the inside front of the dustjacket flap: Winnipeg's very existence was based upon transportation factors, and the city's prominence as a metropolitan centre stems from the fact that the CPR crossed the Red River at that point. Likewise its internal growth over the years was based on the efficient transit services supplied by the Winnipeg Electric Company. John Baker, a native of Winnipeg, has had a first hand knowledge of the Winnipeg transit organization and in his book describes the system and its rolling stock in a lucid and interesting manner. Winnipeg's Electric Transit traces the history of electric transportation in Winnipeg from the predecessor horsecar system to the final run of the streetcar in 1955 and the trolley coach in 1970. The 192-page, 300-photograph presentation will be invaluable to the urban historian and the electric railway enthusiast. It shows how Winnipeg and its transportation system developed together, each influencing the other. Winnipeg's Electric Transit describes, in a chronological narrative, the various companies involved, the amalgamations, the take-overs and name changes. It tells about the promoters who extended the lines far beyond the city limits in wildly optimistic schemes that would never pay dividends; about the strikes, wars and other social upheavals that affected both the city and the transit system. You will read the story of Winnipeg transit services from the early 1880s, when Albert Austin headed a group of citizens to inaugurate the first horse car system, until DC transit power was killed on October 30th, 1970 to conclude trolley coach operations in the Manitoba capital. In between, the author takes us through the years of prosperity and the years of adversity; strikes, wars and floods intermingled with rides on the open cars to River Park -- the use of Forney 0-4-0 tank locomotives, second hand from the New York Elevated -- and the purchase of 20 Minneapolis-St. Paul trams to replace the Winnipeg cars lost in a raging inferno in 1920. For the traction enthusiast, Winnipeg's Electric Transit tells, in a parallel narrative, of the myriad details that made up the development of Winnipeg's system; the tracks, the intersection configurations; the rolling stock and development of the distinctive Winnipeg car; the routes and operations. Included amongst the various illustrations are 300 photographs and several maps. Tickets and transfers from various periods are portrayed, and there is also an all-time roster of cars and trolley coaches. The author has spent 20 years researching the subject; assembling a collection comprising hundreds of photographs, as well as securing official rolling stock and track records, over thirty annual reports, a dozen maps, newspaper clippings, trade journal articles, old employees' reminiscences, schedules, tickets, transfers and other memorabilia. About the cover: On Sunday May 20th 1951, Car 706 has just swung off Main Street and is westbound on Broadway. The big steel car is on an East Kildonan run and will loop back via Boradway, Osborne and Portage. 1.2 kilograms unpacked - additional postage may be requested for shipment anywhere outside the province of Manitoba.

Keywords: Street Railroads Manitoba Winnipeg History, Transit Sytems History Winnipeg Manitoba 0919130313


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