Take it to the Streets

By now you all know the story of my great-grand uncle Horace, a Street Railway Motorman. I wrote about him in the blog post "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World!" and also in my family history blog post "The Day Horace got Stoned". Horace got hit in the head with a brick 113 years ago during the Street Railway Strike of February 6th, 1903.

Today we are going to pay homage to the Streetcar Workers.

Trainmen in Streetcar 1905

My grandparents didn't have a car. They lived in Verdun (now par of Montreal) and both of them took the Street Railway to work. I remember the tracks and power lines in Montreal that took the streetcars all over the city. Even after there were only buses my Granny still called them streetcars.

Perhaps you will discover your ancestor mentioned in one or more of these publications.


Relevant Links

The only official souvenir history of the street railway employees strike of San Francisco, April 19 to 26, 1902

Electric Railway Review / Journal 1906-1921

Street Railway Journal

The Motorman and Conductor: Official journal of the Amalgamated Association of Street and Electric Railway Employees of America,1908-1928

Motorman and Conductor: 1904-1921

In Transit: Official journal of the Amalgamated Transit Union 1902-1923 (2008)

Annual Meeting of the American Street Railway Association,USA 1897

Street Railway Gazette, Chicago 1886-1887

Annual report of the board of directors of the Rutland Railroad Company, VT 1908

Proceedings of the American Electric Railway Engineering Association 1911

Report of the Winnipeg Electric Railway Company ... 1921-22

Agreement and schedule of wages between B.C. Electric Railway Company Ltd., Western Canada Power Co. Ltd., B.C. Telephone Co. Ltd.,and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers – 1916

Rates of wages and hours of labour; street railway conductors and motormen. Canada 1914-1919

Poor's directory of railway officials and manual of American street railways 1890

Souvenir and official programme : fourteenth annual convention of the American Street Railway Association held in Montreal, Oct 1895

Proceedings of the American Electric Railway

Yearbook of the American Electric Railway Association and its affiliated associations

Brighton Tramway Corporation

Toronto as seen from the street cars : a passenger souvenir for visitors and residents 

Street Railway Review, Chicago (talks of Street Railways in other countries)

Vancouver Street and Street Car Directory 1910