Streetcar Sunday - Montreal, Canada

At one point, Montreal had a tram system that included 1,000 trams and 310 miles of track. The first Montreal trams were horse-drawn cars in 1861, but by 1892 the entire system ran on electric power.

As in many other places, streetcars fell out of favor in Montreal. In part this had to do with the perception that they were old technology, but as the automobile became more popular, drivers also felt that trams were inconvenient obstacles. At least a bus would move with traffic and could move out of the way, since they weren't confined to tracks.

Montreal began substituting buses for trams in 1951, with tram service ending once and for all in 1959. Well, not really once and for all, because like other cities Montreal is now planning to re-introduce trams.  The first line is scheduled for completion in 2013, with two additional lines to follow.

Andy Riga, of the Montreal Gazette, put together some interesting research on Montreal trams past and future here.

Here are some additional old views of Montreal with trams.

Sepia Saturday - Henry Hoyt Fackler

I planned to post a somewhat scary family photo today, but I couldn't resist the automobile theme for Sepia Saturday, so I chose this one instead. Stay tuned for scary picture next week.

This is my great grandfather, Henry Hoyt Fackler, standing in front of the Chevrolet he won from the American Legion in Colony, Kansas in about 1931. Imagine winning a car during the Great Depression and how exciting that must have been. What did he do to win it? Did he catch the biggest fish? Win a prize for best painting? Enter a raffle? Unfortunately, I don't know. He does not look nearly as excited in this picture as he should though.

 

Here he is again in about 1938.

Henry Hoyt Fackler was born in Pennsylvania in 1878, but moved to Kansas at some point before he married Etta Mildred Day in 1899.  I don't know much about him except that he had a store and that he and Etta had five children. Henry died in 1946.

Here's an earlier photo  (circa 1900) of Henry Hoyt and Etta.

Columbia, South Carolina

I just realized that I have five posts for North Carolina and none at all for South Carolina. To make amends, here are several cards from Columbia, South Carolina, capital city of South Carolina, and boyhood home of Woodrow Wilson.

Here are the backs of the cards in the same order.