1886 to 1920

The Great Fire
Vancouver is incorporated as a city in 1886. On June 13, a devastating fire destroys the young city along the swampy shores of Burrard Inlet. Almost overnight, Vancouver begins rebuilding, with the help of such characters as Gassy Jack Deighton after whom Gastown is named.

Development spreads south…Within five years, the population of Vancouver has exploded to 15,000 people. Streets are laid out, and development spreads south towards False Creek and beyond. The need for a system of public transportation grows more pressing.

The first electric streetcars
Several promoters submit plans to city council and finally, on April 6, 1889, the Vancouver Street Railways incorporated and begins laying track down Granville Street. The directors of the company intend to use horse-drawn rail cars, but Henry McKee, a lawyer from Omaha with a lot of experience with American street railways, persuades them to opt for electricity instead. This decision causes a delay while the company sells its horses and stable, strings trolley wire, and purchases six cars from the American builder, John Stephenson.

Merger with Vancouver Electric Railway
The streetcar company merges with the local illuminating company to create the Vancouver Electric Railway and Light Company Limited, with Mayor David Oppenheimer as director.

Car 14, the first electric streetcar
On June 26, 1890, with hundreds of curious onlookers crowding the sidewalks, motorman Aubrey Elliott and conductor Dugald Carmichael take Car 14 out of the car house on Barnard Street (now Union Street) and down Westminster Avenue (now Main Street) on a trial run. Two days later, the entire system, all 9.6 kilometres of it, opens for regular service at five cents a ride.

From 10 to 16
Vancouver’s first streetcars are small four-wheelers with bench seats and open platforms. They trundle along at speeds of up to 10 kilometres per hour. Two are smaller still, having been designed as trailers, which were later converted to power cars. Instead of numbering the cars starting at one, the company numbers them 10 to 16 in an attempt to impress visitors with the size of Vancouver’s transit system.

Doubling the line
With the initial success of its first line, the Vancouver Electric Railway and Light Company immediately begins planning for expansion. In 1891, the system doubles in size. Using the new Granville Street Bridge, the line crosses False Creek to the top of the Fairview Heights, where it turns east through an opening in the forest that will one day be Broadway. Reaching Westminster Avenue, streetcars turn north to link up with the original line.

The first true electric interurban line
During the same year, the Westminster and Vancouver Tramway Company inaugurates streetcar service in New Westminster, and constructs North America’s first true electric interurban line between Vancouver and the Royal City.

Recession slows growth
Before these street railways are firmly established, British Columbia plunges into a recession. The growth projected for the 1890s does not materialize. Expected development does not occur along Vancouver’s Fairview line. Fares fail to cover operating expenses, and the directors of the Vancouver system bemoan the fact that "profits from the sale of electricity have to subsidize the transit system."

A major reorganization
In 1895, the English company, Yorkshire Corporation, join the Bank of British Columbia to reorganize the Vancouver and New Westminster systems into one company, the Consolidated Railway and Light Company. Meanwhile, a newline is built down Robson Street in Vancouver to the fashionable West End.

The B.C. Electric Railway Company
On April 15, 1897, after the Consolidated Railway goes bankrupt, its two promoters launch a new company to run the electric utilities, lighting and streetcars in the province under the name British Columbia Electric Railway Company Limited (BCER). The future looks promising, as a new line reaches down Pender and on to Georgia Street to Stanley Park. Advertising appears on the cars for the first time. Busy lines are double-tracked to allow cars to pass freely without waiting at sidings.

Streetcar expansion
The first decade of the 20th century sees expansion of streetcar lines in New Westminster, Vancouver, and the neighbouring municipalities of Point Grey and South Vancouver. By 1905, streetcars run through the West End on Denman Street, south down Main Street as far as 33rd Avenue, and east to Fraser Street, west to Greer’s Beach (now Kitsilano) where a beach house and dance hall attracts bathers on warm summer days, west on Davie Street to English Bay, and farther east on the Powell Street Line to Semlin Drive.

Building its own cars
As the system grows, BCER can’t get enough new cars to meet its needs. The company takes a bold step and begins building its own cars. A new car barn and large factory is constructed at the foot of the 12th Street hill in New Westminster. Thomas Driscoll is hired as the master builder. On April 2, 1903, he delivers his first finished products, Cars 50 and 52 for Vancouver, small four-wheelers painted green and cream.

Brill cars appear
The company makes arrangements with J.G. Brill, the largest streetcar builder, to manufacture cars on the Brill design with Brill running gear at its New Westminster plant. These are larger double-truck vehicles in the Narragansett or curved-side style. They set the pattern for virtually every streetcar built over the next several years. The double-truck cars make their first appearance on the Kitsilano line. They soon see duty on all the lines in Vancouver, and New Westminster.

North Vancouver’s streetcar system
The fourth, and smallest, streetcar system in the BCER network begins operations in North Vancouver after residents petition the company to start a service. Power lines are strung across the Second Narrows on tall masts, and using six four-wheelers due for retirement, public transit comes to North Vancouver on Labour Day, September 3, 1906.

Forerunner to the SeaBus
At the time, a ferry system connects the North Shore to Vancouver. The forerunner of today’s SeaBus, the ferry departs from Columbia Street and crosses the inlet to the foot of Lonsdale Avenue. The new streetcar line begins at the ferry wharf. Ascending Lonsdale through the heart of North Vancouver’s business district, the line eventually extends up the hillside as far as Windsor Avenue.

Population boom
Between 1900 and 1910, the population of Vancouver almost quadruples, fulfilling the prediction in the local slogan: "By 1910, Vancouver then, will have 100,000 men." All these newcomers need somewhere to live, and the city experiences a construction boom. Streetcars spearhead the development by spreading out in all directions from downtown. New homes quickly follow.

The Toonerville Trolley
By the eve of the First World War in 1914, Vancouver’s streetcar fleet numbers 232 cars. One of the best remembered of the new routes is the Oak Street Line, nicknamed the Toonerville Trolley after a popular cartoon of the era. Extending down Oak Street all the way to Marpole, the line is single track beyond 16th Avenue.

The war years
During the war, competition arrives on the scene in the form of jitneys. These privately owned automobiles, usually Model T Fords, motor down the street to pick up passengers ahead of the streetcar. By 1916, BCER counts close to 500 of these interlopers running during rush hour, compared to 160 streetcars. Matters come to a head in 1917 when frustrated transit workers go on strike. The province at last responds with an official inquiry. In 1918, civic officials ban the jitneys.

The first fare increase
The end of the war inaugurates a time of change for the streetcars. In July 1918, BCER raises fares to six cents, the first increase in the 28-year history of the system.