RECALLING WELLAND’S TROLLEYS

[TODAY’S SENIORS, June 1990]

By Peter Warwick

The roar of diesel engines has replaced the clatter of trolleys along the streets of Welland, but memories remain. From 1912 to 1930 streetcars operated in Welland under the name of Niagara, Welland & Lake Erie Railway Co. {N.W & E).

Organized in 1910 by C.J. Laughlin Jr. of Page Hersey Tubes Ltd. (now the Steel Company of Canada), which owned the company as long as it operated, the N.W. & L.E. was incorporated in 1911.

While it was to have been an interurban line connecting Niagara Falls, Port Colborne, Fort Erie, Dunnville and Port Dover, it never got out of Welland.

Had the Niagara Falls –Fort Erie part of the line been built, it would have been in competition with the Niagara, St. Catharines $ Toronto Railway, then being built through the same area.

A standard 20-year franchise was granted the railway by town council July 4, 1910, construction of the line started in fall of 1911, with the first spike being driven by Mayor Sutherland of Welland on October 4.

Operations began March 24, 1912 on 1.74 miles of track using three streetcars built in Springfield, Massachusetts. Car barns were located at 30 Main Street South. The line ran North along Main Street South {now King Street} from the Michigan Central Railway {now PC Rail} to Main Street East and along Main Street East to the Grand Trunk Railway (now CN Rail). The fare was 5 cents or 6 tickets for 25 cents and cars operated every 15 minutes.

When the streets the line operated on were paved with brick. In 1913, the N.W & L.E.. agreed to pay $3,000 annually to the town for 20 years, the estimated interest on the money Welland borrowed to pay for the company’ s share of the paving. It also relieved the company from paying property taxes except for school taxes.

Extensions were built in 1912-13 on Main Street West to Prince Charles Drive and on Main Street North (now Niagara Street) to Elm Street, but were not operated at this time due to weight restrictions on the Alexandra Swing Bridge over the Third Welland Canal. Other extensions were proposed on Main Street East to Rosedale, about one mile, and on Main Street South to Dainville, about two miles, but these were never built.

The weight restrictions on the canal bridge were overcome in 1922 when two new, lighter trolleys were acquired and the West and North Main extensions were operated for the first time, increasing the company’s mileage to 2.9 miles. Service was reduced to half hourly. Since the extensions were only a few blocks long, they proved a disappointment with the passengers and service was abandoned after only six months of operation.

While the line was primarily meant to transport people from one part of town to another, at least one mother used the trolley to babysit her young daughter. The child was put on one of the streetcars and placed in the care of the conductor who looked after her until her mother was through shopping or visiting.

The peak year for the N.W & L.E. was 1917, when 693.843 passengers were carried and for the net income of $16,262. Thereafter traffic and income declined and in 1929, the last year for which statistics are available, only 320.118 passengers were carried for $775. Despite the small size and the 5 cent fare, which remained in effect until abandonment, the company never suffered a deficit.

Efforts were made to sell the streetcar line to the city for $1 before the franchise expired, but this was turned down and on July 4, 1930 the last trolley ran. A substitute bus service was started by F.I. Wherry of St. Catharines, but it too ceased after operating only a couple of weeks. The National Trust Company of Toronto, which had held a trust mortgage on the company for all of its life, was appointed receiver.

Today nothing remains of the line except for a few pictures, maybe a few tickets and lots of memories for the people who rode the streetcars.