Ottawa Electric Railway Important Dates/Events

For dates and events after August 13, 1948 to August 1, 1972, click here to visit the Ottawa Transportation Commission (OTC) timeline.
For dates and events after August 1, 1972, click here to visit the Ottawa-Carleton Regional Transit Commission (OC Transpo) timeline.

Quick Facts

• First Bus Route - Introduced February 26, 1924

Timeline

1893

• August 13 - Ottawa Electric Railway (OER) formed by amalgamating the Ottawa City Passenger Railway Company (OCPR) and the Ottawa Electric Street Railway Company Limited (OESR) into one company. This was achieved by a original deal ratified by both parties and the City of Ottawa on June 28, 1893.

1899

• July 23 - Sunday streetcar service begins operation.

1900

• April 2 - Britannia Streetcar opened.
• August 10 - Rifle Range Streetcar opened.

1903

• May 4 - The Ottawa Electric Railway Company entered into a contract with the "Canadian Street Car Advertising Company" to manage and install adverts within the streetcars. The OER agreed to install the holding brackets at their expense, while the advertising company would change the adverts as required.

1906

• September 10 - Bank Street underpass is opened.

1907

• Gladstone Avenue was double tracked.

1908

• Cobourg Barn was built. Cobourg allowed for 48 single truck cars to be stored.
• August - Two "Pay as you enter" single truck cars were put into service. In the 1908 Annual Report (published February 1, 1909), the railway claimed those two cars were a success, and the Ottawa Car Company was in the process of building 12 more "Pay as you enter" cars.

1912

• Superintendent J. E. Hutcheson resigned in order become the General Manager of the Montreal Tramways Company. Hutcheson has been with the Ottawa Electric Railway since the incorporation of the company in 1891. He was succeeded by Frederick D. Burpee who joined the Ottawa Electric Railway in 1893.
• Streetcar routes were assigned a route letter in 1912 in order to improve route identification.
• A new 1,000 H.P. substation was installed on Albert Street and land was also purchased to build two more in other locations in Ottawa. One in lower town, one in the south end.
• Expansion to Cobourg Car Barn was completed.
• 20 Double-truck P.A.Y.E. (Pay as you enter) cars were under construction.
• Track along Sparks Street and the Plaza were renewed with 93 lb. rail.
• New tracks constructed on Queen Street between Elgin and Bank.

1913

• October 17 - The Bank line is extended south to the "Ottawa South Loop" which consisted of tracks on Sunnyside, Seneca and Grove. This extension was made possible by the opening of the new Bank Street Bridge.
• November 24 - Preston Street line opens and is connected to Rockcliffe Park.

1914

• February - The "Ottawa Traction Company Limited" was formed to take over the Ottawa Electric Railway stock.
• August 4 - The Dominion of Canada officially enters the Great War (now known as World War 1). For transit, this resulted in war rations which limited capital expenditure projects. As a result, any expansion efforts were put on hold.

1916

• Motormen and Conductors were granted the right to sit. Previously, motormen and conductors were required to stand at any time that the car was in motion. The union, Amalgamated Association of Street and Electric Railway Employees of America, Local 279, convinced the Ottawa Electric Railway management that the streetcars could be safely operated while seated. Management agreed to allow the motormen and conductors to sit except in heavy traffic situations when the old rule of no sitting had to be followed.

1918

• September 16 - Late night car service was extended from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.
• November 11 - The Armistice is signed in Europe, putting an end to the Great War (World War 1).
• Throughout the year, there was an influenza epidemic, when theaters and churches were closed and business hours reduced. This affected ridership on the Ottawa Electric Railway, which recovered as soon as the restrictions were removed.

1919

• The Amalgamated Association of Street and Electric Railway Employes of America, Local 279 walked out on strike for a period of 18 days from July 1 to July 18. Service was restored on July 19. This was the first strike that shutdown transit in Ottawa.
• A new loop is opened on the St. Patrick Street Line, just west of the St. Patrick Street Bridge.
• A short section of remaining single-track line on Gladstone Avenue around the terminus was double-tracked.

1921

• New rails were laid on Wellington Street, as well as on Somerset Street between Bank and Bay.
• July 13 - St. Patrick Street Bridge opens. Streetcar traffic resumed later on July 26.

1922

• Revenue service is removed from Broad Street.
• September 15 - Civic Hospital loop is opened.
• September 22 - Bronson line is opened to Findlay Avenue, near the canal. Hull loop opened as well this day.

1924

• February 26 - First Bus Route introduced. The service consisted of a bus route as an extension of the Elgin Streetcar from the loop on Elgin, across the Pretoria Bridge, Hawthorne, Main to Clegg. It ran every 15 minutes, from 6 AM to midnight. Service was announced on February 25, 1924 in the Ottawa Citizen (Page 1). The official notice published in the Ottawa Citizen on February 26, 1924 indicates the service operated from 7 AM to midnight, with 15-minute service from 7 AM to 9 AM, 12 noon to 2 PM, and 5 PM to 8 PM. 20-minute service was provided at all other times.
• October 23 - First red Ottawa Electric Railway streetcar ran on the Laurier-Holland route. This was the start of one-man operated streetcars, which as a result, required passengers to board via the front door to pay their fare instead of the previous procedure of rear door boarding. The red cars were how the railway showed passengers which door they had to board. Prior to this, all streetcars were painted a dark green colour.

1925

• October 1 - Lindenlea extension is opened in Rockcliffe Park.
• Revenue service is removed from the Rifle Range line.

1926

• April 30 - Tracked installed on the Cummins Bridge, these tracks are never used.

1929

• Broad Street wye is removed.
• December 10 - Experimental Farm line is removed from service.
• December 19 - Tracks on Laurier Avenue East moved from the north side to the center of the road.

1933

• October 28 - The Ottawa Public School Board served the Ottawa Electric Railway, a one months notice that the Ottawa Electric Railway's buses would no longer be required to transport school children. For several years prior to this, the Ottawa Electric Railway regularly provided buses to the Ottawa Public School Board for crippled children and brought them to "Sunshine Classes". They also provided other charter services on-call. The reason for the notice was the school board purchased their own bus, and did not require the O.E.R. buses anymore. The Ottawa Electric Railway initially saw this as a violation of it's exclusive franchise but did not pursue the matter. This is the first known instance of a school bus in Ottawa.

1936

• The Ottawa Electric Railway began experimenting with 2 diesel-powered buses. They then purchased 1 more diesel-powered bus and converted 5 gasoline powered buses to diesel upon seeing the success of diesel motors. The 1936 Annual Report of the Ottawa Electric Railway company claims that the total of 8 diesel-powered buses was the largest group of diesel buses in Canada.

1938

• February 22 - Col. George Patterson Murphy passed away. George was a director of the Ottawa Electric Railway for 21 years.
• February 25 - Major F. D. Burpee passed away. Mr. Burpee was Vice-President and Manager of the Ottawa Electric Railway for 45 years.
• June 28 - Hon. Thomas Ahearn, President and founder of the Ottawa Electric Railway, passed away at the age of 83 after serving 40 years as President.
• July 20 - Thomas Franklin Ahearn, the son of Thomas Ahearn was appointed President of the Ottawa Electric Railway company Board of Directors.

1939

• April 25 - The Ottawa Electric Railway replaces the Elgin Street streetcars with buses. This was the first rail-to-bus conversion. Last car to operate the Ottawa East, Elgin Street line was Car 858.
• July 10 - The "Ottawa Traction Company Limited", applied under the provision of the Companies Act to dissolve itself.
• September 1 - Riverdale Bus was inaugurated by the Ottawa Electric Railway operating from the Clegg Loop (at Main and Clegg) to Bank Street via Riverdale. This started out as a 6-month trial which was later extended by another 6-months.
• September 10 - Dominion of Canada declares war on Germany, which results in rations on capital expenditure projects. During this period, procurement of vehicles was controlled by the "Dominion Transit Controller".

1940

• May 14 - John M. Ahearn resigns as General Manager of the Ottawa Electric Railway.
• July 23 - David N. Gill was appointed as General Manager of the Ottawa Electric Railway.

1941

• Government Wartime Prices and Trade Board restricted the building of buses in order to ration raw materials required to build buses. The Ottawa Electric Railway, facing a surge in ridership, applied and was granted permission to order 10 buses from the United States.

1942

• April 25 - Bay loop is opened.
• July 9 - Upland Airport Bus service inaugurated. Service ran between Bank and Grove Loop and the Airport via what is now Riverside Drive.

1945

• May 7 - Germany surrenders, which puts the end to World War 2 in Europe. Japan continues fighting, which resulted in Canada starting to mobilize troops to go west.
• August 14 - Japan surrenders, putting the end to World War 2.

1948

• August 13 - Ottawa Electric Railway (OER) purchased by the City of Ottawa for $6.3 million. City of Ottawa assumed control of the OER, its vehicles and properties. The Ottawa Transportation Commission was formed to operate the OER assets.
• Rehabilitation of steam plant.
• Nine buses ordered.
• Purchase of 136-140 Nelson St. to protect sub-station right-of-way.

References

• "Five and a half years of progress" - The Ottawa Citizen - January 2, 1954 - pg. 7